"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

L is for Latvian

I must begin this post to say we had tried to go Lebanese a few weeks ago, but all to no avail as we couldn't get a car park within a bull's roar of East Brunswick, so bad luck Lebanon. Therefore, inspired by a Seinfeld episode in which Latvia was featured, we ventured to the Crimean, a thoughtfully renovated restaurant housed in the former Sir Robert Peel Hotel in North Melbourne. As the restaurant encompasses those countries encircling the Black Sea, Latvia itself is but one of those Russian republics featured.

Many people stagger OUT of restaurants, but on this occasion Mr X staggered INTO one. He had decided to wear a pair of shoes which had been hiding in the back of his wardrobe for a lengthy while, and unbeknowns to him (and mankind), they had developed leprosy during their enforced isolation! No kidding, his heels were literally falling apart as he walked, beginning with huge chunks being left behind on the car floor, followed by a leather trail a-la Hansel and Gretel along the footpath. It was extroadinary how both shoes basically exploded as he walked. Ms X saw the funny side of it while Mr X tried at least to appear sober as he entered the restaurant.

Once inside, we were shown to our table where Ms X ordered a wine and Mr X a Lasso pilsener from Slovenia (no breweries in Latvia apparently). A free Herring appertiser quickly appeared, followed by an entree of potato and quark vareniki for Ms X and chicken kiev croquettes for Mr X. Main course consisted of a Balkan filo pie full of zucchini, feta, dill, smoked tomato and honey sauce (guess who had that), and lamb meatballs with yoghurt sauce (for the other one). We also ordered a side plate of roast potatoes with paprika and kaskaval. very yummy and extremely filling, so much so that sweets were unbelievably eradicated from the menu on this occasion.

Whilst we my have taken a bit of political license with the Latvian side of things, it does crack a mention on their web-site and I'm sure I saw George Costanza dining in the corner with his Latvian hat on (he did kindly pose for me, as you can see). Waiting for the bill, Mr X attempted to sweep different sized chunks of leather under the table, and upon exiting he maintained excellent balance for someone who appeared to be walking on wafer-thin ice.

Scores:                           Mr X                        Ms X

Accessibility                    9                                9

Service                             8                                8

Ambience                        4                                6

Value for Money             5                                7

Food                                8                                 8

Total: 72

K is for KOREAN

We now have what we call our cult following. Those who ask when we see them 'what letter are you up to?' and of course, are more than keen to contribute their opinion for the next letter.
Ms X is thrilled to announce this blog entry's special follower goes to Queenie, her nail technician, from Nailz by Jade .  Queenie, we are sure will also get another mention when we get to V as I am sure Ms X will pick her brains for a recommendation then.
Why is Ms X mentioning Queenie now? Apart from doing a lovely manicure, It was she who steered Ms X to KOREAN sharing her knowledge and experiences of the Korean flavours, especially KIM CHI.

Now, let's get one thing straight. Korean is a lotta work and this workin' girl doesn't want to do  a whole lotta work in order to get fed by someone else. So with that said, it wasn't getting off to a great start!
Firstly, you have to be patient in finding the address. Shop H Healeys Lane, Melbourne. Hmm  thank goodness for Steve Jobs and google maps we eventually found not only Shinssi Hwaro but also Little Korea in a pocket of Melbourne that we didn't know existed!

The tables are all arranged with BBQs in the centre and flue over the top. There's not a lot of Korean-feel about the place however, given that we have both not been to Korea, we will cut them some slack on this.
With menus sorted, and food ordered, one doesn't know the routine however patience is a virtue and also an understanding that, relax and it will work out became the theme.
After several attempts to light up the thing ( they obviously didn't know about the ever ready bunny!) we got some action.

However- there was no action on this thing for our entree that arrived pronto.

Some fried dumplings and spicy fish cake with Kim Chi.....not a big fan of the old Kim Chi at all but we both loved the dumplings.

Ms X was still  worried that the BBQ wasn't heating up however she did know her place in regards to who had the balance-of-power and had to be resigned to sitting on her hands and practise that patience-thing.

If you don't want to see the raw product of what you are about to eat then maybe this place is not for you. We had ordered the pork belly and our waiter placed down the ingredients in front of us. I guess now was not the time for Ms X to begin worrying about her heart, cholesterol or waistline, however seeing the raw fat on what you are about to consume can't get the picture of Rosemary Stanton and Biggest Loser's Michelle Bridges out of your head.  

They do have these natty scissors that they cut up the meat with, so Ms X did a bit of trimming before it had time to go to her heart and thighs! Our second dish  DAK BUL GO GI- was the chicken and that also looked mighty similar to the pork and tasted very similar- given the sauces were the same.Washing it down with a Korean beer- CASS, also added to the experience for Mr X.

For novelty effect, then the Korean BBQ had its moments.  For flavour, maybe not....... or maybe we needed Queenie with us to order perhaps!

All important scores:

Food                           She    5        He    4

Ambiance                  She    6        He     7

Service                      She     6       He      6

Accessibility              She    6       He      3

Value                         She     5       He      4

TOTAL: 52