Melbourne Round-Up!
Travel is something I’d rank right up there on my ‘Bucket List’; things to do before I kick it. This is likely because new locations = new eats! I had the luck to score a trip to Melbourne during O-week before semester started. Ah, the plummeting economy does nothing for the exchange rates. So how did I, a humble student, manage to splash out for an overseas holiday? By mooching off this gorgeous lady here!
Nem – the one on the left, my gracious host + best bud
Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of Nem’s mother’s fantastic cooking, but I would strongly recommend adding Chaat Masala to your pantry. It’s mild enough for an absolute wuss like me and it does wonders for starchy food such as potatoes. Adding it to fish or mince is also well worth it.
Bad analogy of the day: Masala is like the only guy in the boyband who can sing. Everyone else is good to look at and adds some decent background music, but you only really listen out for the... uh... Masala. Ahem...
For the more adventurous, try Garam Masala for the full, painful chilli experience.
Moving on! The first food stop of the afternoon was EasyCafe, to satisfy a craving for bubble tea.
Asian-density = High
You can usually judge the quality of a Bubble Tea by how many international students you see milling around. EasyCafe is practically located in a basement, but the cafe is cheerfully coloured and features swing-chairs hung from the ceiling, making it a pretty popular.
Taro is a Godly flavour and I could not resist it’s purplely goodness. As strange as a starchy-vegetable-flavoured drink mixed with tapioca sounds, I highly recommend you try this at your local bubble tea cafe. EasyCafe uses sweetened pearls that are smaller than the ones sold in Auckland. They’re a bit harder and chewier than the optimum pearl but that’s hardly worth complaining about.
Next in line was the restaurant: Horoki – The Tales of the Wonderer. Who can pass up on a tagline like that?
Nem warned me the portions were small so it’s best to order more than one dish each, then share. For some reason we both had a craving for seafood.
Chips came in a standard portion with a seasoning of salt and curry powder. Refer to my ramblings about masala and you’ll get a decent idea of how good curry + potatoes is. Infact, here’s an equation for clarification:
Curry Powder + Chips > Chicken Salt + Chips
It trumps the mighty chicken salt. Behold! The size of the individual chip is roughly medium, (somewhere between shoestring and chunky). This suited the amount of seasoning well. And you can note that at this point I’ve been forbidden from writing any more about mathematical relationships in food.
The scallops were also done well, but it just didn’t steal the show. Lemon dressing and capers are a winner, and that’s all I can remember. Eat fresh seafood when y’can folks!
Octopus! In garlic butter
This is the first time I’ve tried octopus... and it’s chewy? I can’t put a distinct flavour on octopus and am beginning to suspect it’s really just about the texture. Garlic butter soup (well, that’s what it looked like to me) is great for dipping in with the bread though.
Salmon and spinach croquette with mayo and tonkatsu sauce
Haha, I didn’t realise there was salmon in the croquette till after we’d left. The deliciousness of this dish can only be described by the fact my mouth is watering as I type this (2 weeks later).
The Japanese mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce is a good balance between sweet and savoury. Coincidently it also goes well with fries.
Now, a common dilemma for me at restaurants is this: I’m here already, why not have dessert?
Stomach: NOOO!
The heart says yes, but the stomach does NOT agree. We left dejected and waddling slightly after agreeing neither of us were in shape to eat any more.
Horoki has a price range of $10 -$15 for most items on the menu, plus a tip. It’s a good value for what we were getting, but not exactly going to be a staple student restaurant.
Oh, as a mandatory link: Jem and the Holograms
Tidbits – Costs and Locations
19 Liverpool Street
Melbourne 3000
Ph: 03 9663 2227
Fax:03 9663 2237
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