A relaxing drop

REVIEW: THE FIRST DROP CAFE

First Drop is located on the corner of Baptist and Telopea Street and surrounded by single-storey terraces. Technically, we are in Redfern, although from our table on the footpath, it feels like Surry Hills.

The service was very friendly, helping us to expand our initial table of four to an table of eight, carefully ensuring that we don’t creep in front of the neighbouring home, a former butcher’s shop.

Coffee was to standard – by which I mean, none of the more common problems, like being too cold, bitter or burnt, raised their unenviable heads. The ability to make a faultless coffee should be in every café’s competency.

The poached eggs with bacon on English muffins were just that. Completely unadorned. The eggs needed a bit of salt (I don’t expect my poached eggs to come out salted), and the bacon had a tad too much fat still on it – however, depending on the night before, that is sometimes a good thing. Unfortunately the yolks were too cooked – does anyone like poached eggs with firm yolks?

Fortunately, for the morning’s experience (and this post), OP’s breakfast was much more exciting. Next to my poached eggs, the chorizo with tomato bruschetta and sauteed garlic mushrooms brightened the table with colour. Too much salt had been added to the mushrooms, especially as the chorizo brought its own natural saltiness to the dish.

What I liked about First Drop was that it keeps things sweet and simple. Most tastebuds on a Saturday morning couldn’t care less about truffle oil or bacon from the south of France – what they demand is simple, tasty food that is well prepared. For the prices that First Drop charges, it would be more than fair to pardon the fact that the food, as I have described, could have been better tweaked and finessed.

And having eaten, we weren’t rushed from our table, nor was there a line of waiting diners eyeing us off. We were able to take our time, relax with full bellies and ease ourselves into the weekend. And best of all, the bill worked out to be only $13 a head.

Details:

The Place: The First Drop Cafe

Where: 69 Baptist Street, Redfern (Ph: 9690 1611)

Food: Cafe

Tip: Don’t make too much noise – you will upset the neighbours!

Butcher’s Bill: $13 a head (breakfast and coffee)

Who should go: Great place to start the weekend – especially after a long working week

 

Notes from Melbourne – Part V

REVIEW: HAIRY CANARY

With a name like Hairy Canary, I expected the room to be a lot more yellow that it actually was. Occupying a relatively small space, Hairy Canary was filled with diners and drinkers. I think when Sydney-siders complain about the lack of Melbourne-type bars and restaurants, it is places like Hairy Canary they have in mind. Without a booking (I am not sure if they take bookings), we were lucky to score a table at 7pm on a Saturday night.

What initially impressed me most about Hairy Canary was that they knew how to make, and serve, a gin and tonic. This subject is deserving of its own post, so I won’t digress here – but there are few things more annoying than when I order a gin and tonic, in either a restaurant or a bar, and it comes out in the wrong type of glass. You cannot charge upwards of $7 for a drink, and not expect drinkers to have some expectations. For the record, a gin and tonic is served in a high ball glass. This annoyance may seem silly – but then, what would you think if you were served a martini in a wine glass?

The menu is mostly Spanish – with a few pizzas and some bistro-type food thrown in.

For starters, we chose two items from the tapas menu, the potato cigars and un-Spanish flat bread with dips. The potato cigars reminded me a lot of spring-rolls, potato wrapped in pastry deep-fried – and because spring-rolls are one of my weaknesses, I was pleasantly surprised.

We were recommended the paella by our Melbournian friends, which is what we decided upon, and a mushroom pizza to accompany.

The paella was stacked high with seafood and salad – for me, it could have done with a little more rice. The reason for this may be due to the fact that there were four of us sharing it. If only between OP and me, the paella would have been more than enough. The saffron was not very strong, and the paella as a whole didn’t have the usual richness which I am used to. I suspect this may be because not all of the seafood was cooked in the rice. As a result, the rice felt more like an accompaniment to the seafood, instead of the centrepiece. That said, the paella did taste quite delicious, such that each of us suspended a part of our civility in cleaning every last morsel from the serving dish.

The pizza was very good, but was unhelpfully not sliced when it came out. The mushroom flavours were allowed to roam as the cheese was not overdone. The base was good – somewhere between the crispiness of Ventuno’s and the crunchiness of Rococo’s. But whereas Ventuno and Rococo’s base/crust were a joy in themselves, Hairy Canary’s performed a more traditional role in merely supporting the main act – the pizza topping.

Despite the crowds, the service was friendly and energetic, which contributed a lot to the whole vibe of Hairy Canary. The extent to which good service can markedly improve a dining experience – making the food taste better and slight errors seem insignificant (like the unsliced pizza) – should not be underestimated. To demonstrate, as I read what I have just written about the food, I am struck by the feeling that it is too critical. I don’t want a reader to think that they should not try Hairy Canary, because, when I think back, dinner at Hairy Canary was probably the most enjoyable dining experience I had had in a long time.

The next morning, OP and I took a $90 taxi to Avalon airport, where we had our last, and depressing, meal in Melbourne – $3.50 for two slices of toast with butter and jam.

Details:

The Place: Hairy Canary

Where: 212 Little Collins Street, Melbourne (Ph: 03 9654 2471)

Food: Mostly Spanish

Tip: Let the bar/waitstaff recommend a drink – I wasn’t disappointed!

Butcher’s Bill: $160 (2 entrees, 2 mains, 1 side and a whole lot of drinks)

Who should go: the place is so cool and unpretentious, its a great place to start a night

Read about the rest of my Melbourne trip – Part I, II, III and IV.

Notes from Melbourne – Part IV

REVIEW: THE FITZ CAFE AND THE BOTANICAL

FITZ CAFE

Our first choice was Babbka on Brunswick Street, but there was a queue for a table – it being 10am on a Saturday – so we crossed the road and decided on the evidently popular Fitz Café.

The outdoor seating area was full and there were a handful of free tables on the inside. Unfortunately, being popular also meant that the waitstaff were run off their feet, and it took at least 20 minutes before someone took our order.

I ordered the bacon and eggs (omelette style) in a panini. I had thought that a panini was a small, crunchy bread roll, so was a little confused by the large soft bread roll that came out. My searches on wikipedia show that I was acting under a misapprehension.

Luckily I asked for a side of chilli jam to give the panini some kick – the bacon inside the omelette didn’t quite work for me. The bacon was soft, not crispy, and completely overwhelmed by the egg.

OP’s vegetarian breakfast was precisely as it was described on the menu. Poached eggs served on corn fritters, a large grilled mushroom, sautéed spinach, grilled tomatoes and chilli jam. I didn’t try any, but OP seemed to enjoy it.

Breakfast at the Fitz was passable, not spectacular – but then again, so are the prices, so I really shouldn’t complain. If the service were quicker, our experience would have been better, and the Fitz would probably get a higher turnover of tables, considering the popularity of the place. All-in-all, OP were neither impressed nor disappointed.

THE BOTANICAL

After the Fitz Café, it was more shopping on Brunswick Street before heading back to town then on to a tram to South Yarra.

The first time I walked past Botanical, I didn’t realise I had passed it. It wasn’t until I crossed the road and saw their sign above their awnings did I realise where they were. Instead of re-crossing the road, we took a short stroll in the Botanic Gardens (I wish we had more time to spend there), before returning to the much-talked about Botanical. .

Although it was about 3pm, but after breakfast and a rather lazy day, OP and I were quite content to tuck into the “grazing menu”. Feeling somewhat decadent (we were on holidays after all), we decided on the cheese plate and a couple of wine to relax ourselves into the afternoon.

I find it hard to wax lyrical about cheese. I enjoy the stuff, and have been known to eat huge slabs of camembert in one sitting. But, like with wine, I haven’t yet developed the ability to describe, in words, the subtleties I smell and taste. And when I do, I sound pretentious. So forgive the bare-bones description. Perhaps talking about wine and cheese is also like dancing about architecture.

There was a hard gruyere with initially gave a subtle bite before relaxing into a softer sweetness.

A Roquefort which was more bearable than most blues I have tried. It is a pretty good blue for beginners. I remember trying a real stinker many years ago which turned me off blues for quite a while.

A soft goats cheese which the Botanical menu names “Chabichou du Poitou”. This was OP’s favourite. I definitely had the most complex flavours of the lot, and had to be taken slowly.

Lastly, my favourite, a creamy Munster – although I won’t pretend to be able to blind-taste the difference between a Munster, Brie or Camembert – I love them all!

Botanical has an extensive wine list for those connoisseurs out there. OP and I had a glass of the 2004 Perrin Reserve Cotes du Rhone and 2006 Kumeu Pinot Gris, Kumeu.

Sitting by the window at Botanical with OP, I was overcome by the wish that time would suspend itself and that we had just a few more days in Melbourne.

Details:

The Place: The Fitz Cafe

Where: 347 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (Ph: 03 9417 5794)

Food: Cafe

Tip: Get there before the crowd, otherwise be prepared to wait

Butcher’s Bill: $40 (Juice, coffee and breakfast)

Who should go: Brunswick St shoppers who need a mid-morning energy kick

and

The Place: The Botanical

Where: 169 Domain Road, South Yarra (Ph: 03 9820 7888)

Food: Modern Australian

Tip: Spend a lazy weekend afternoon grazing by the park – bring good conversation

Butcher’s Bill: $43 (Cheese plate and a couple of wines)

Who should go: anyone with a group of friends

Also read Part I, II and III of my trip to Melbourne.

Notes from Melbourne – Part III

REVIEW: THE GRILL AT GROSSI FLORENTINO

It was recommended that we have dinner at the wine bar at Grossi Florentino, as it has a quieter feel that the bistro and restaurant. However, having rang Movida and Three One Two and being told there were no available tables, we decided on the bistro at Grossi Florentino (The Grill), not wanting to take the risk with the wine bar and its policy of no bookings.

The old-style décor of the bistro room at Grossi Florentino gives it a warm, intimate feel. However, it also means that the noise from the diners and the open kitchen seem all the more deafening. It looked like we scored the last table for the evening and sat along the long bench down the side of the room that parallels the kitchen.

Despite, and due to, the full house (it seemed that many of the diners were attending the theatre later that evening), the service was attentive although it felt too rushed. What was lacking was a sense of calm with the service. The open kitchen means that the kitchenstaff are probably a little bit more restrained in their communications with one another (although it does mean that we were able to share in some funny moments and appreciate the fine food even more), but it does mean that the stresses and mania carry over to the floor staff.

Put shortly, the food was very, very good. The entrees and mains were of a hearty size, which balanced that the accompaniments which were a little pedestrian.

Entrees were the roasted pork belly, and a warm lamb salad.

When I order pork belly, I really only order the crackling. It is easy to slip up on the crackling (too salty or vinegary, not enough crackling), but happily the Grill acquitted itself marvellously. There was only the thinnest layer of fat under the crackling and the flesh itself was bordering on the dry side. However, which such a generous serving, I make no complaints and gladly recommend it.

Mains were the lobster tortellini and the chargrilled scotch fillet.

Ordering steak in a restaurant is boring (what you are really paying for is a good cut of meat), but what else would I go for in a place called the Grill. After the generous entrees, there wasn’t much room for the steak and accompanying potatoes, but OP and I were on holidays and had plenty of time to burn. I still wonder how many people get through three courses dinners. The steak was cooked well (in my case, rare) and the rosemary rubbed into the flesh was a nice touch.

OP’s tortellini must have been good, because, after complaining that she should have ordered the entree size instead of the mains, she finished it off.

We should perhaps have gone for a lighter dessert after such a heavy dinner, but in this battle between our head and our hearts, our hearts won, and we settled on the chocolate marquis with praline crumble. A little boring, perhaps, compared to the other desserts on offer, but it went down a treat. Again, the praline crumble seemed a little too ordinary next to the rich chocolate, like all the other accompaniments that evening.

We each needed an espresso to get back to the apartments, and the only thing to note is that they seemed to be on the expensive side at $5 a pop. It’s funny that after a $200 dinner, what I remember are the $5 espressos.

Despite all the noise, OP and I enjoyed our evening at the Grill. Perhaps because the service was not exactly perfect, we were more able to relax than if we were in a “proud” fine dining establishment. If we were to summarise our experience, we would say that the food is generously sized and well prepared, and the service friendly and quick – in the end, what more can you ask for?

Details:

The Place: The Grill at Grossi Florentino

Where: 80 Bourke Street, Melbourne (Ph: 9662 1811)

Food: Modern Australian

Tip: Book beforehand and be prepared for noise

Butcher’s Bill: $200 (entrees, mains, desserts and drinks)

Who should go: relaxed fine diners

Also read Part I and II of my trip to Melbourne.

 

How to spin a yarn

THEATRE REVIEW: C-90

In this one-man show, Daniel Kitson leads you through a quirky and innocent story about Henry, a would-be super sleuth trapped in the monotonous reality of a boring life.

The storyline is simple, it begins and ends with Henry going about his last day at a compilation tape archive facility. We are introduced to numerous characters along the way, including Millie, the lollipop lady, who sees herself as a guardian of the future, but who the librarian sees as a nutjob.

What makes this performance work is the ability of Kitson to tell a yarn. He wanders down rabbit holes and shoots off on tangents, in a matter-of-fact kind of way that keeps you wanting to learn more when you are not laughing out loud. That he was formerly a stand-up comedian is evident in his excellent timing, and his ability to turn the most mundane of observations into something funny. Kitson keeps up the energy and the pace for the entire 75 minutes of the production, which, in itself, is a wonder to behold.

Although I found C-90 to be genuinely funny, I didn’t find it as funny as some of the rest of the audience (the theatre was near full on only the second night of this run and, surprisingly for the Opera House, most of the audience were on the younger side of 30). At some parts, which only brought out the faintest smile in me, some members were letting out peels of laughter. I hope that this may be put down to the fact that, becuase the performance did not start till 8pm, there was plenty of time before doors opened for a few drinks at the Opera Bar.

I did have the lingering suspicion that some of the audience were offered free tickets and asked to provide “canned” laughter – as some parts were completely unremarkable, and it was the same people who were laughing at these moments. But without more than my suspicions, I think my “drinks before the show” theory is probably on the mark. In which case, it is always great to be a part of a lively audience.

If you concentrate hard enough you could probably find themes dealing with routine, aspriations, the human need to feel valued and the trait of keeping hobbies. However, even without taking an academic-type approach, C-90 is worth seeing (even without an expressive and slightly drunk audience). Daniel Kitson is an excellent performer, and, in his comedic hands, the mundane storyline and characters are tenderly elevated to a level of humour and interest that all audiences should enjoy.

Where: Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House

When: To 30 September 2007

Principal Cast: Daniel Kitson

One Man’s Rating (out of 5):

Notes from Melbourne – Part II

REVIEW: BISTRO VITE & ROCOCO

No Melbournian would have made the error we made on Friday morning – Southbank and South Yarra are not the same places. We had intended to go to Botanical for breakfast, on the recommendation of a friend, but ended up at Bistro Vite, having alighted at the wrong tram stop next to the NGV.

BISTRO VITE

We walked down Southbank – which reminds me a lot of Sydney’s Darling Harbour in some respects, there is a food court the size of all the outdoor eating places and the mall-type shopping seems almost out of place in a location that demands to be opened to the views on offer – and decided on Bistro Vite.

Coffee was ever so slightly burnt that it was forgivable, and the breakfast was exactly what we ordered. My monsieur croque was exactly how toasted cheese and ham should be, with thick white bread, light ham and rich cheese. Probably not the best when you have a full day’s walking ahead of you. OP’s eggs benedict were of a pass standard – the yolks were not runny, but otherwise we couldn’t complain. On a plus side, the service was surprisingly cheerful for a Friday morning.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA

The remainder of the morning was spent at the NGV, and after an hour or so in the Guggenheim exhibition, OP “granted” me 45 minutes to zip through the rest of the gallery. I do not pretend to understand art in great detail – I know my Picasso from a Pollock – but, as the anti-elites are often heard to say, “I know what I like”. Art, like poetry, takes time to appreciate. Unfortunately, while I can afford to keep Keats and Thomas on my bedside table, a Nolan or Whiteley is a little out of my budget. This is probably why about half of the Guggenheim exhibition went over my head. The reasons why I didn’t appreciate some of the artwork fall into three rough camps:

1. I don’t know what I am supposed to be looking at or what the artist trying to communicate?
2. I could have done that if I had thought of it first or why would anyone think of doing that?
3. I understand what the artist is trying to do and it is very clever, but I just don’t think it is a worthwhile endeavour – think of many of the Guinness World Records, will being able to clip hundreds of clothes pegs to your face ever amount to anything more than a circus act?

We should have joined the guided tour which would have “ejucated” us a little.

ROCOCO

We then took a tram to Acland Street in St Kilda, one of my favourite Melbourne strips because of its beachy feel. After many a clothes shop, we took a window seat at Rococo for lunch. We expected pub-type food, but were very pleasantly surprised by Rococo’s fare. A tomato based gnocchi and the four seasons pizza were impressive.

The rich tomato, olive and bacon sauce had OP polishing off the bowl.

The mildly salty anchovies, tangy tomatoes, artichokes and moist mushrooms of the pizza were well served by the thick and crunchy pizza base – it made me feel like a kid again. Despite being somewhat busy (the outside eating area was full and there were 4-5 tables occupied inside), the service was friendly, attentive and efficient. St Kilda is well served by such a relaxed but polished dining establishment.

Details:

The Place: Bistro Vite

Where: Southbank Promenade, Melbourne (Ph: 9690 9271)

Food: French

Tip: More known for its dinner than breakfast

Butcher’s Bill: About $30 (Breakfast, coffee and an orange juice)

Who should go: for breakfast? only tourists – the locals were nowhere to be seen

and

The Place: Rococo

Where: 87 Acland Street, St Kilda (Ph: 9525 3232)

Food: Italian

Tip: Grab a seat in the sun, then follow up with a cake from Acland Street’s many bakeries

Butcher’s Bill: About $50 (pizza, gnocchi and drinks)

Who should go: anyone looking for relaxed Italian food in a location that is the closest you will get to a Sydney beachside feel south of the Murray