Rubicon, North Melbourne

If you remember the scene where Carl and Roberta Williams meet for the first time in the original Underbelly, this restaurant is where the filming took place. Despite its claim to fame, and the Melbourne Crime Tours stopping out front, I enjoyed a casual lunch with my girlfriend J, just this Saturday gone.

It was definitely one of those memorable experiences where you sit down for lunch and a few glasses of wine but you end up hanging around for hours, several wines later, and you realise the waitress who has been serving you has long since knocked off.

The way this place this run is the way I would run a restaurant if I had the time and/or patience. Not only was the food lovely, the service fantastic and we left knowing the owner on a first name basis.

It is just your standard wood fired pizza and pasta place with a little bit extra. Not expensive and the decor is warm and inviting, there is also a large bar if you are just keen for a drink or two.

I ordered the Kangaroo Fillet with wilted spinach, mash and a red wine jus. The best thing about Kangaroo is its high in quality protein and low in total fat (less that 2%). How can something that good for you taste so great? The kangaroo was succulent and just about fell apart in your mouth. J ordered the Fettuccine Gamberi, king prawns, fresh tomato, garlic, chilli and olive oil.

To drink I had a glass of the Riverstones Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, slight lemon flavour on the palate, fine little glass of wine.

The service. What to say?! Our waitress was friendly and on the ball. The owner brought over a complementary glass of wine for each of us and hung around for a chat. I love this kind of place where you feel that you can return and always feel that little bit special. That's the way customers should be treated, and the business reaps the rewards when you tell all your friends what a fantastic time you had!

Will definitely be returning, thanks Teddy!

Rubicon Cafe & Bar

50 Errol Street

North Melbourne

Red Hill Estate Pinot Noir 2008 - Mornington Penninsula

Caught up with a girlfriend for a few glasses of wine on friday night at Radio Bar on Gertrude St Fitzroy.

We ordered a bottle of the Red Hill Estate Pinot Noir. It was a bright burgundy colour unlike most pinots, however it was still quite light with rich cherry and spice flavours. These were complemented by a subtle hint of oak. On the nose it was sweet and slightly floral.

Overall, nice drop for a friday night, would go well with a mild or creamy cheese.

Radio Bar

79 Gertrude Street

Fitzroy

Tramcar Restaurant, Melbourne

Anniversary = I get to go out for dinner and not have to pay... This year my partner took me on the Tramcar restaurant, the poor thing is running out of restaurants to take me to.

Taking into consideration all our surroundings, and the workspace for the tramcar staff, Here's my thoughts on food, drinks and service. Apologies for the lack of photos, camera was unfortunately left on the bench!

First up, we were greeted by friendly staff who directed us to a clean tram stop and the tram arrived on time. We boarded quickly and within a few minutes of being seated we were served a glass of sparkling. On the table, a roasted capsicum dip and a chicken liver and cognac pate with pink peppercorns, served with wafer crackers and poppy seed lavosh. The dip was as you would expect, tasted (and looked) like a typical dip you would pick up at the supermarket, but I would be lying if I said I didn't like it. The pate on the other hand was fantastic. We had a little pot of it and devoured the lot. It was smooth and creamy and the cognac flavour was strong but not overpowering. I loved this pate so much I was even thinking about it sitting in traffic on my way to work this morning.

We began our very slow tour around Melbourne as our Maitre'd introduced himself, the chef, our waiter and proceeded to explain the menu.

It's been a little while...

My last blog was posted back in November 2009! Doesn't seem all that long ago, this year is travelling by so fast.

But today I noticed friend of mine has started just started her very own foodie blog. She has inspired me to get back into it and conveniently gets herself a little free plug (and hyperlink - juganaut's foodie thoughts) for her troubles :)

So stay tuned, more to come...

Something I learnt...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Wonton Soup

As mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I attempted to make my very first wonton soup last week. Wonton soup is one of my favourite meals, and its always so cheap no matter where you go! But the challenge is finding a soup thats up to scratch.

Sometimes the wontons are tasteless or have little to no filling in them and are just little pieces of slimy wonton pastry floating in your soup. Other times the wontons can be sensational and full of flavour but the soup resembles hot water with some bokchoy in it. I figured the best thing about making my own was that I had the power to control how much flavour the soup should have.

Grampians Wineries Part 2 - Seppelt Winery, Great Western

After we left Best's it was a quick drive back down the highway to Seppelt Winery where we were booked in for a tour of the Underground Drives. The Drives were hand dug by Henry Irvine and his miner mates who had lost their jobs after the mining business dried up in the area. The Drives run over 3km and still cellar most of Seppelt's sparkling to this day.

The Drives were excavated during the 1800's from de-composed granite, making the climate for sparkling almost perfect. It was during the end of the 1800's that Sparkling Red was invented here at Seppelt.

Although Seppelt has now been taken over by the Fosters Group and become somewhat commercialised, Seppelt's history made for an interesting and enjoyable visit.
We tasted most wines available and our tour guide was knowledgeable and able to tell us which other wineries were worth visiting in the region. I would recommend a trip to Seppelt to anyone who has an interest in Victoria's wine history, or anyone who is interested in ghosts and spirits! It is said that the Drives are occupied by several spirits and that spiritual orbs can be seen in some photos taken down there. Upon inspection of my own photos later that day, I found a few photos with 'orbs' in them. However I'm still somewhat skeptical. You can see some of the orbs in the photo above and the one below.


Something I learnt...
Some of the bottles you see in the picture seem to be covered in a thick grey dust. In fact these bottles have only been in the cellar for a few months. The bottles are in fact covered in a black mould that grows from the de-composed granite. The winemakers used to spend lots of time removing it from the Drives, but after they conducted some tests they established that it does no harm to the wine or the people working there so it is now left there and makes for quite an eerie scene. It felt like extremely soft cotton wool.

SEPPELT WINES
Great Western, Moyston Road, Great Western VIC 3377.

CELLAR DOOR TIMINGS
Monday to Sunday, including public holidays: 10:00am – 5.00pm.Closed Christmas Day only.

CONTACT
Phone: 03 5361 2239
Fax: 03 5361 2328
Email: GreatWestern.CellarDoor@Seppelt.com.au

I'm learning!

I woke up yesterday and decided that I would love to start writing a blog. I have no writing skills and I'm not a particularly good photographer, but the idea of being able to write about some of the things I'm most passionate about seems like a good idea to me. If people choose to read it and enjoy it too, then all the more satisfying!

So here it is. My blog. I have been looking at some of the other blogs going around and realise I have a long way to go, but the journey will be fun!

Last night I cooked wonton soup for the first time! I had heard that it was extremely difficult and time consuming, however I found it fairly quick and easy (once the wontons were prepared). My flatmate has a fear of pork and any chicken that is not breast. So I decided to make chicken wontons and mince the breast myself so it would be edible for her. I was very happy with the outcome! There's plenty more to tell, but I will include that in my next post along with some photos.