"R" is for Russia

The winter wait finally saw Mr & Ms X trek off to Elsternwick to the Nevski Russian Restaurant in Glenhuntly Road. With only Romanian, Rwandan and Russian to choose from, the choices were somewhat limited, and even though Latvian had been one of our previous visits, the largest country in the world got the nod.

The restaurant is named after the famous main boulevard of Saint Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt - home of their Chef and apparently a magnificent city full of culture, architecture and history. A warm atmosphere greeted us with the traditional way of combating a freezing Siberian winter - a fake gas fireplace, but the place was buzzing and several tables were actually conversing in the native tongue.

There was even a piano-accordion player strutting his stuff in the

corner. A nice touch.  A waitress with a strong Russian accent showed us to our table and presented us with our menus. Ms X took a while to pick out her international vino...a Barossa Valley favourite. Funny, I'm sure there's a Barossa Valley somewhere in  Australia as well! Mr X supported the Russian cause by selecting a Hebckoe beer, a Pale Lager brewed by Baltika Breweries in St. Petersburg.

Entrées consisted of Piroshki s Myasom, a house-made baked pasty filled with minced beef, and Blinchiki s Myasom, thin crepes filled with minced beef and pan-fried in butter. Again we shared the meals and again had similar opinions of each one. The words "peasant food' were mentioned on the back of the menu, and that's probably what we got. Tasty, simple but probably a bit bland and a bit too expensive for what we got.

Main course arrived soon after. A plate of Golubtsi contained minced beef with herbs, spices & pilaf rice wrapped in cabbage leaves, then oven baked in a tomato & sour cream sauce, and Sibirskie

Pelmeni, which are Siberian meat dumplings filled with beef & pork mince, served with fresh dill and sour cream. (eating the Siberian Dumplings took me way back to my Year 11 literature studies, when we had to read "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich". I'm pretty sure his Siberian Labour Camp Dumplings included fish eyes and stale bread - which might have been slightly more tastier than what we were served up!). We left at least half the dumplings for the next intake of prisoners.

Ms X then decided she needed sweets to soothe her peasant palette and chose Kroshka, an apple & raspberry crumble with vanilla ice-cream. Mr X went for another Hebckoe.

An interesting night, but probably too expensive for the fare that was served up. Russian Fries never arrived and had to be re-ordered (but at least they didn't charge for them), our water finally turned up after entrees and the dumplings were pretty ordinary. A 'close-talking' waitress also added to the disappointment.



SCORES                          Mr X              Ms X

Ambience                            6                     6
Parking                                6                     6
Service                                4                     6
Value                                   3                     5
Food                                    3                     5

TOTAL: 50

"Q" is for .......

"Q" is for .......hold on......wait for it......wellllll......I'm afraid you will have to wait until the weather gets a bit warmer.

No more clues, but the anticipation is building!!!!

                                  

P is for Portuguese

The list of "P" countries is not an elaborate one, but it was easily solved when Mr X stumbled across a relatively secluded eatery called the Madeira Restaurant, located in beautiful Bay Street, Brighton and specializing in authentic, Portuguese Cuisine. (Madeira, is an island, which is part of Portugal and is located in the Atlantic Ocean, and is the place where their food and it’s inspiration comes from).

After a smooth drive along the esplanade we located a car park relatively close to the restaurant, although the parking is a somewhat tough assignment in the area, especially with so many eateries on offer. A warm greeting from a friendly waitress and an intimate table in a crowded space was a bit of an overwhelming introduction, as the table beside us was filled with a large group of (we guessed) Portuguese revellers who were out for a good time. We had no hesitation in quickly ordering BEFORE this group put the chef behind the eight ball! But a packed restaurant was a very encouraging sign.

An entrée of Bolo do Caco (homemade Madeiran Garlic Bread) and Chorico (Portuguese smoked sausage, warmed in a garlic butter sauce and served with a side of bread) appealed to our senses. Mrs X decided on a Portuguese sangria for the palette, whilst her off-sider picked a Sagres, followed by a Superbock (the former a pale Portuguese lager beer and the latter a strong pale lager). The Sangria was described as fruity and slid down easily, whilst the beers were surprisingly mild and tasty.

The entrees soon arrived, and whilst the garlic bread was wholesome, it was the Chorico which hit the mark. Very tasty and appetising and blended well with the bread.

Main course for Mrs X was a chicken espetada , which were char grilled chicken breast fillets on a large, vertical skewer attached to a chain skewer, with traditional Madeiran Style Trinchado sauce, and savoury rice. More resembling an ancient Portuguese torture device than a cooking implement, the amusing sequel was watching Mrs X carve the meat from the suspended device! Mr X ordered a delicious chicken peri peri, which was half a chicken char grilled, served with chilli sauce and a Madeiran Trinchado sauce complete with chips and a side salad.

A very filling meal saw us both decline the invitation to explore the sweets menu, (but a quick McDonalds drive-through saw us load up with a chocolate sundae and a mini ice cream cone for the trip home). Our friends beside us had a great time and fortunately the act of eating (especially form those unusual skewers took their mind off talking and the culinary ambience returned.

I think I would fail miserably if I had to sit for a Portuguese Naturalisation Test, as my knowledge of Portugal and everything associated with that country is very limited (was Vasco Da Gama Portuguese?), but I am quite impressed with their flair for cooking. Maybe a visit to Nandos will soo be on the agenda.

Scores:                         Mrs X                Mr X

Ambience                        8                        7
Parking                            8                        8
Service                            8                        8
Value                               6                       7
Food                                6                        7

Total - 73

O is for Oriental

Ok, Ok, we can hear you loud and clear. "O is for Oriental! You have got to be kidding!"
The letter O happened to be a major blocker in our Alpahabet Eats. There was a lot of thinking, a lot of consulting others and we were stuck. Oh how we longed for an Omani  restaurant in Melbourne; travel or price would not have got in our way however the best we could come up with after our extensive research was a current chef in one of the large Melbourne hotel restaurants who once worked in Oman!
That wasn't going to do so the next best thing was ORIENTAL. Sigh..........pathetic I know but we had no other option as P, Q, R, S etc... are breathing down our necks.                                                              

We quite fancied the word "oriental' in the title, surely there was an Oriental Palace somewhere in Chinatown?
NO 

Orchids Garden it was to be.

The menu lacked originality. enthusiasm and excitement. It was same, same, same, so we opted for the satays and the chicken and sweet corn soup and we got bland, bland, bland.

For mains we shared a chicken and cashew dish followed by a honey chicken accompanied with rice.

To be diplomatic we left the majority of both dishes, refused a 'doggie-bag' and wondered if we should have a toasted sandwich when we got home because we were booth starving.  In our alphabet-eats adventures to date the restaurants have been staffed by the country of our choice as well as expats from those countries eating at those establishments. The Orchids Garden was very western through and through. The table of young people who sat beside us with their beers under their arms were informed that it was only BYO for wine. With that info the group got up to leave however, in a very Aussie way they were reassured with a 'she'll be right mate' attitude and were soon tucking into their Number 26. Peking Duck!

Scores:                           Mr X                        Ms X

Accessibility                    5                                5

Service                              3                                3

Ambience                         4                                4

Value for Money             4                                1

Food                                  3                                1

TOTAL: 33

119 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

N is for Nepalese

"N" is for Nepalese, and our expectations were very HIGH!!! (a-la Everest. Hmmmm). A short drive to 349 Victoria St. West Melbourne saw us get a lovely car park outside 346, unfortunately however, the numbering was all askew and 346 turned out to be nowhere near 349. Never mind, if it was good enough for Sherpa Tensing to climb 10,000 meters in a vertical direction then a 500 meter walk in a horizontal direction was nothing for us.We were warmly welcomed and shown to our table and immediately ordered some naan, a plain flour bread cooked in a tandoori oven.

The place was extremely busy both with sit-down customers and those ordering take-away, which was an encouraging sign. As is now the custom with alphabet eats, all three of us ordered and shared our three entree choices. These consisted of vegetable samosas (home made pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes and peas with tamarind chutney), momo (steamed dumplings mixed with Nepalese spices and herbs), and chhoila (sliced eye beef fillets marinated with Nepalese herbs and spices). A variety of tastes were on offer and the quantities were more than generous.

Main course saw us ordering butter chicken (boneless chicken fillets cooked in tomato-based makhani sauce with cashew nuts and cream), (Mr X's favourite) lamb shanks (cut up lamb shanks with fresh herbs and spices, Nepalese meat and masala, and fresh cumin powder and potato), and beef korma (beef cooked with cashew nuts sauce finished with cream). By the time we had finished we were lucky to be able to walk to the exit, let alone scale any Nepalese mountains.

Whilst we were extremely full when we left, we were also slightly disappointed. Having eaten at Ghurkkas on a number of occasions, and being very comfortable there, we were expecting something better.

Scores:                        Mr. X        Ms X

Accessibility                   7               8
Service                            6               7
Ambience                        6               7
Value for Money             5               6
Food                                5               6


Total - 63                                                             

M is for Moroccan

So we have had you wondering if we were over our food-journey, haven't we? Well not quite-we hit a hurdle caused by some disappointing choices and then some difficult letters in the alphabet. After losing some momentum we have rallied and are now back, committed!

'M" presented us with several options and we settled on Morocco and "La Paella" in Brunswick. The place didn't inspire us from the outside however we are never fooled by facades because it's the food that counts! As you may see from their sign they are Moroccan/Spanish and after  sampling their menu they definitely lean more towards the European flavours.

We started with a veggie raif - moroccan flaky bread stuffed with vegetables in moroccan spices and a lamb raif - moroccan flaky bread stuffed with lamb mince & spices; which were served with salad & yoghurt .

Our entree was tasty however it was a little dry and did need the yoghurt .

For main course we steered away from the Spanish- inspired dishes that were tempting us. Ms X finds it hard to ignore a paella when one presents itself however it was important that we ensured that we kept true to the purpose of our visit.
So, despite the paella calling her, Ms X ordered the lamb couscous - tender lamb cooked with seasonal vegetables in Moroccan spices served with couscous.

Now Mr X has a similar problem when there is a lamb shank in sight. (Rumour has it that his freezer once contained 24 lamb shanks, just in case of an emergency!)
So it was always going to be the lamb shank for Mr X - tender lamb cooked in moroccan spices with mash potatoes.
If you are looking at both pictures and are thinking that we have made an error or that your eyes are playing tricks on you then don't be alarmed. They were the same dishes, same flavours except one had some bones and the other some couscous!
As we settled the bill and proceeded to leave, Ms X heard the chicken , the seafood and the vegetable paellas calling from the kitchen in disappointed yet smug tones saying 'that'll teach you for trying to end our relationship tonight!"

Scores:                           Mr X                        Ms X

Accessibility                    9                                9

Service                            6                                6

Ambience                        4                                4

Value for Money             5                                 4

Food                               6                                4

TOTAL: 57

La Paella 217 Sydney Rd, Brunswick 3056