Bia Hoi pop-up Vietnamese @ Small Block, Brunswick

After reading the tongue-in-cheek blog post tweeted by @JohnandNecia on Twitter this morning, and seeing timing is of the essence, I thought I would wax lyrical about the Cohen's of Brunswickistan impromptu dinner last night at the über schick pop-up eatery at Small Block Café on Lygon - Bia Hoi.

You see, 18 months ago, the Cohen's ventured off to Vietnam for a month long trip south to north, eating everything from crickets to rats to little un-born ducks still in their  egg - thank God I ticked that off my bucket list!! Yes, Vietnam, seems so long ago.

So, to last night. I only really found out about the joint yesterday afternoon, and seeing it is located at Small Block, owned by the always busy Mr Brunswick himself, Michael Hole, I thought the only thing to do was drag the family down for some flavour. And seeing the restaurant is called Bia Hoi, what else would a world famous blogger wear to said eatery then their very own 'Bia Hoi' t-shirt all the way from downtown Hanoi. Classy hey?

We walk through the door and the place is full. And walking out of the kitchen resplendent in her Vietnamese flag t-shirt is the all round good chick Chantelle, formerly of Vue de monde (along with me), Cutler & Co. and numerous other fine eateries. After a big old bear hug in the middle of the place and ruffling of hair by said Chantelle to the little Cohen's, we were seated out back with three lemonades and a glass of Brunswick's finest Thunder Road Brewery Kolsch;  so Vietnamese and so Brunswick.

So, the food. It's a short menu. It's actually a shortish piece of brown paper with menu items scribbled on. Remember, it's a pop-up restaurant. With a confident 'yes' from Erin, we ordered everything on the menu; Roast Pork Rolls, Prawn rice paper rolls, steamed eggplant, Green papaya salad and chicken ribs (chicken wings?) with sponge laffa. And only one photo of the dishes all splayed around the table. I cannot stand the incessant shutter bugs constantly trying to get the best angle of a lamb shank - its food people.

The pork buns were more like pork sliders, but even so they were awesome. oursum. 'Tastes yum' quote unquote from my almost 8 year old daughter Imogen. So yum in fact that I had to go and pay a visit to the always smiling Tommy in the kitchen; Tommy of St. Judes, Albert Street Food & Wine (with me again) and recently The Middle Park Hotel where he was charring meat fame. After a few minutes of blah blahs it was back to the table to take Henry to the toilet for the 3rd time and continue on with dinner.

The green papaya salad was as authentic as I remember from the numerous times ordered on our trip to Vietnam. Crunch and heat and crunch; that's what you want. That's what we got. The rice paper rolls, well I'm not sure. These were hoovered up - two plates worth (three per serve) by Imogen and her brother Henry. They looked great so you'll have to take my word for it, or ask the kids; just don't freak them out is all.

The steamed eggplant for me was the most surprising. On the plate it looked just like eggplant; poor eggplant. But when you stuff it in your gob and get the texture of the fried bits of prawn and a touch of heat it turns in to this flavour mash and explosion that quite rightly sexes up the appearance of it on the plate. You get that?

Bia Hoi is the brainchild of Peter - your amiable host -  and I assume others who are working there too. I don't have the chutzpah like other bloggers to corner the proprietor and ask them 20 questions ranging from where'd you get your inspiration to where'd you get your fabulous pants??!! So get on down I say. Bia Hoi is only open on Thursday and Sunday nights from about 6ish running till March 24th - perfect timing for all the food sycophants coming for the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. And they only accept the folding stuff - no cards people. (All food and bevvies were duly paid for by and on behalf of the Cohen's of Brunswickistan.)

So seeing I'm blogging about Bia Hoi, I think I have to give it a gold birk.

Koots Salle A Manger, 474 Glenferrie Road Kooyong

It’s been some time now that since I’ve added Birk review, not that I haven’t been out, just that lately I haven’t had too many experiences that have floated my boat. Yes I have been to MoVida and Gingerboy quite a few times recently. And yes, Gingerboy right now is my favourite eatery, but it like MoVida, have been critiqued so much that a recent blogger commented on the creases in the MoVida’s linen napkins – geez people, just eat and be happy!

And speaking of happy, it was me who was happy last week when I stopped in to Koots Salle A Manger in Kooyong last Thursday for lunch. Located in the hollow of Glenferrie Rd Kooyong, which is effectively a Roger Federer top-spin lob away from the Kooyong Tennis Club, Koots has recently celebrated 10 years service in the little village where with what locals say are the noisiest train signals in Melbourne. Add to this a chefs hat in the Good Food Guide, Koots has lasted a lot longer than plenty of other restaurants that have recieved sicophantic praise over the journey, let me tell you!

Having recently sold Koots some champagne – Pommery Grand Cru 1995 – I thought I would pop in before the lunch service and have a chat with the very likeable Denis, the maître d’, about this and that and how the ‘Le Blue’ will do in the World Cup (45 more sleeps to go people). The longer the chat went, the more the little dining room was attracting my attention. Furnished with huge cushioned seats and crisp linen table cloths with the walls being adorned with minimalist prints of various food stuffs, Koots seats about 35 in the front room with the bar able to seat a further 7 or 8. Yet it was the growing aroma from the kitchen that was becoming the real distraction. Denis, I said, can you fit me on the bar for lunch at about 2? But of course Tim, Denis replied. I went back to work and waited for my lunch booking.

Track about two hours and it was 1.15pm and I couldn’t wait anymore. Fifteen minutes later, I was back in the dining room and ready for lunch. A quick hello to Patrice, the chef-owner, who was having a chat to Denis in the bar, and I was seated at the bar looking out to the four tables of locals enjoying their lunch. A little more small talk with Denis and it was time to order. I went for the $30 lunch special, entrée and main with a coffee at the end. I like this option because Koots is not a restaurant that is pushing a very inferior glass of wine on to you, rather giving you the option to choose a glass that suits your meal, rather than a have a glass of un-oaked chardonnay or shiraz from Rutherglen or Mildura!

For starters I had the crumbed veal sweetbreads with frisée salad. It is a shame not more chefs are cooking with sweetbreads, offal from the thyroid glands and not sugar coated bread, because the gorgeous flavour that Patrice has extracted is quite stunning. The main consisted of twice cooked chicken with carved baked potatoes. The glass of wine that I was able to chose, was actually expertly chosen by Denis - 2008 Picpoul De Pinet Ormarine ‘’Sur Lies’’ Coteaux Du Languedoc, France – a blend of Roussanne, Viognier, Chardonnay and Sauvignon, and a wine that is only available at Koots. This is why it is better to spend an extra $10 over lunch and get the right glass of wine rather than something red or white! Quite possibly Melbourne’s best express lunch menu, simple!


Koots Salle A Manger, 474 Glenferrie Road Glenferrie 9822 3809
www.koots.com.au

Lazzat Kadah Pakistani & Indian Tandoori Restaurant - 61 Sydney Road Coburg

It's Friday night and I've had a lamb Tagines braising away for the last three hours. Henry is down and it is time to serve up for the two girls and me. Now braising meat for three hours you would expect it to melt in the mouth - this is as chewy as the proverbial old boot. The good news is that Imogen still wants to eat the couscous with some yoghurt; the bad news is that Erin and I are hungry.

Now since we have two children at home, Erin and myself cannot pop out to one of those fabulous media darling restaurants; you know the ones where they re-configure the molecular structure of compost and make it taste like foie gras!

Instead we are left with our bulldog clip of take-out menu's - and seeing we are trying to eat a little bit more healthier, pizza is out. Thai is mentioned, but we have to go and pick-up. What about a curry? It's Friday night and it's cold and we have a clean-skin - curry it is.

And what a curry it was!!

Lazzat Kadah translates from Urdu to 'house of taste'. No arguments here. There is a great selection of the 'crowd-pleaser' dishes such as vindaloos (my fave) to the more traditional types such as karela keema - bitter melon cooked with mince, herbs and spices.

Like I said, the vindaloo is my favourite, so it was a monty to be ordered. Now I like my curry hot, but the thing is we Australians do not have the same heat threshold as the creators of this dish, so it is always ordered, 'Australian hot'. Geez it was hot (very fortunate that we had an extra tub of yoghurt let me tell ya!). A milder chicken Makhani (which originates from Glasgow I am told) was also ordered along with the best Palak Paneer, spinach cooked with ricotta, herbs and spices, I have ever had along with the obligatory naan and roti. Thank God for tough lamb hey!

Now a lot of people don't pay much attention to their naan, but I do. A good naan has to be strong enough to hold a scoop of food in it without turning in to moist wheat before it hits you gob. This naan was spot on, holding its form long enough while I watched a performance from, 'So you think you can dance'; thrilling stuff it was.

I guess it is a good thing that restaurants like Lazzat Kadah do not get the same exposure as those media darling restaurants who redesign flavour, otherwise we would have had to wait until lunch time today for our order. The flavour here is real with no gimmicks whatsoever.

Now Brunswick over the last few years has really been getting it's act together when it comes to restaurants, and I think Coburg is going to follow suit very quickly. And like I say, Brunswick is the Gateway to Coburg.

Lazzat Kadeh gets a Gold Birk.

Melbourne's real 'Little Italy' - Mediterranean Wholesalers - 482 Sydney Road Brunswick

There is no mistaking the sounds and smells of Italy. When I first visited Italy in 1998, I spent the best part of three months working in Bardolino, a wine town on the eastern shores of Lake Gardi in the Veneto. When you live or work in Italy, there is a certain respect that needs to be heeded to the locals and local customs. In Bardolino, and I am sure in many other towns of Italy, it was that whatever was put in front of you was to be eaten or drunk – no questions. That spring I put on 5 kg’s while performing manual labour.

Every morning there was the unmistakable smell of coffee; the aroma was that robust that it would dead-set wake you up. Breakfast was generally a small affair (it was for me anyway) with everyone in the vineyard gearing themselves up for morning tea, or the Italian version of morning tea anyway. More coffee, cheese, ham – lots and lots of ham, salami and masses of bread. Lunch was generally grilled fish and dinner was huge.

Each evening the vineyard crew would sit down to what can only be described as a feast; pasta to start with, plates of olives, artichokes, sardines, anchovies, eggplant and a copious amount of other delicacies. Then there came more fish, braised lamb, plenty of veggies and then plenty of more other stuff – every night I tell ya! To finish off we would have a digestive; grappa, amore, strega – whatever and usually home-made.

Like I said, an extra 5 Kg’s.

10 years on and I am living in Brunswick (which we know) with my family and have sadly not been back to Italy since 1999. This brings us to Mediterranean Wholesalers on Sydney Road.

From the outside it’s just another Sydney Road facade, but as soon as you walk thru the doors the smells instantly transport you back to Italy. Everything, and I mean everything you want that is Italian and yum is here. EVERYTHING!!!

Coffee, pasta, cheese, salami, hams, lentils, anchovies, prosciutto, grappa, Barolo, Bardolino, canoli’s, bread, cake, sardines, tinned tomatoes, amore, beer, strega and even retsina. You know what, there’s even more.

Mediterranean Wholesalers is like Bunning’s – you go in there for some basil seeds and come out with three trailer loads of stuff that you don’t need, but hey, seemed like a good idea at the time.

Located at 482 Sydney Road, Mediterranean Wholesalers seems like it has been there forever. It is essentially split in too two areas – dry goods and deli area on the right and alcohol, coffee and bread on the left. The centre isle is essentially pasta heaven; any sort of pasta you can think of is here. The deli is down the back, but you already know this when you walk in from the scent of cheese and meat smallgoods. On the left there is a great assortment of wine, stuff that you will only find here, liqueurs, digestives and imported beers. And the beer is genuine, like the Stella Artois – this one is brewed in Belgium, not Sydney, and only $14 a six-pack – gold!

Also on the left is one coffee machine with one patrone behind the grips. You will not find any chai or soy or vanilla syrup. This guy makes coffee; cafe latte in the morning and espresso and macchiato in the afternoon. And if you get your daughter to ask nice, he will make a little hot chocolate for her.

Mediterranean Wholesalers is Italy in Melbourne. Lygon Street Carlton thinks it is Melbourne’s answer to Italy, but is so far off the mark when it comes to authenticity and quality. Mediterranean Wholesalers has the smell, or the stink - a really sweet stink, sound and soul of the Italy that I experienced 10 odd years ago (yeah yeah, I know it sounds corny).

By now you know I have a Birk rating for eateries. Now Mediterranean Wholesalers is not what you would call an eatery, but it has everything, so it is going to get a Birk – a gold one.

Buy your pasta there, buy your wine there and buy your cheese there. Just get there.

St. Jude's Cellars - Brunswick Street Fitzroy

It’s the gospel hour on cooked and bottled, and being Sunday and all, we’re going to talk about causes – lost causes.

St. Jude, one of those whacky 12 apostles, is commonly known as the patron saint of lost causes for his insistence that man live a squalid life and that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them. Geez, that sounds like fun.

Progressing two millennia, our lost causes have made their way to Brunswick Street in Fitzroy and created St. Jude’s Cellars, a little (quite large space actually) bistro come bar come cafe come wine shop has popped up at the old site of the Hideout Cafe.

From the get-go, St Jude’s Cellars is quite a sleek looking operation with polished concrete floors and a stark white ceiling. On my first visit I was fully expecting to greeted by some beautiful young thing in a monk’s apron, but of course, this is Brunswick Street, so the young pretty thing greeted me with a nod while tasting a newly opened bottle of wine in their best retro style t-shirt that probably set them back $150, but enough on haute couture.

Even though I have been there about 3 or 4 times, there is one item on the menu that I keep ordering; the Reuben sandwich – veal silverside, sauerkraut, gruyere and Russian dressing between two pieces of rye. I just love it.

They have a day menu there which changes often, with most of the dishes resembling mezze style plates with wild mushrooms with fetta, Thai style fishcakes, braised red cabbage and marmalade – another favourite and curried Spring Bay mussels. The dinner menu has a few winter staples such as roasted rabbit and braised ox cheek. The kitchen is also lucky enough to have Shona, who I worked with at Vue de monde, who is also currently doing a few other gigs around Fitzroy to fund a three month starge at Noma in Copenhagen.

The wine is a major pull for me here with a great wine shop selection that you won’t find at BWS or Dan’s. The great catch is that you just add $15 on the sticker price and have it in the restaurant or at the bar. My last visit entailed a couple of glasses of Sutton Grange 2008 Viognier from Bendigo in central Victoria, with a Rueben of course. I enjoyed the wine so much I bought a bottle for home (blog to come).

St Jude’s Cellars is a real bit of class on Brunswick Street that has unfortunately gone the way of nachos and thick crusted pizza’s since the demise of Interlude, Guernica and Bistro Inferno. Do yourself a favour and walk in for the Reuben and a glass of something something. And do engage the staff; they may wear expensive retro gear, but they are informative and good for a chat.

St. Jude’s Cellars – 389 Brunswick Street Fitzroy

http://www.stjudescellars.com.au/