Thai Urban Kambah 24 April 2019

Present: Kim, Ron, John, Megan: Karen and Jim were still swanning about in Italy so Ron was showing facebook photos of their gourmet journeys.  Andrew still on sabbatical.

We had:

Vege spring rolls: delicious, not too oily
Betel leaves with coconut and fish on top, absolutely yum.
Deep fried tofu.  Okay, not silken but hard tofu so not remarkable.
Money bags, the winner out of all of them (only just before the betel leaves)

Red Duck curry, an essential when we go to Thai: lovely with the lycees
Sweet pork belly: very tender, the dish most liked
Chilli and basil prawns; okay, nice touch with the basil but not raved about.

Dessert was banana pancake and black rice with custard.  Both really nice.  The rest of the dessert menu looked special as well.

Overall, it was a fabulous meal, all the dishes were good.  Not many people were there so the noise level was not an issue at all.  The service was a bit haphazard, there were lots of wait staff there but they were very casual about it, and it seemed okay for us to call out for attention or go up to them.  It was all very relaxed.

Banana Leaf Restaurant in Kingston 10 April 2019

Present: Megan, Ron, John, Kim

We didn't have Karen or Jim, they are slumming it in Italy, so we had to make the menu decisions by ourselves.  And Andrew is still on his extended retreat in Ballarat.

We had chicken pan rolls with tomato sauce for entree.  We queried the tomato sauce but apparently that's what all Sri Lankans have with this dish.  Kim thought they basically looked like a chicko roll but tasted way nicer.  They came in the form of a pancake wrapped around spicy chicken then pan fried.  It was very doughey but Ron didn't agree.  Some of us thought it was yummy, others thought it was only okay, Kim prefers spring rolls.

The lamb shanks were very spicy, very tender, we all liked it but someone said that the clove flavour was a bit much.

The hoppers were really nice.  They came on a large plate with a few accompaniments.  The presentation was great, the fish was lovely, the hoppers themselves were overrated but altogether it worked well.  It would be better as a dish for one person but still okay to share.

The lamphreys came wrapped in banana leaf was nice though reminded us of a biryani, surprise, surprise.  Ron thought it was too hot because he ate one of the whole chillis that came in one of the little dishes that accompanied it,(silly boy) but that was just his bad luck.  The rest of us didn't and really enjoyed the dish.

The others had some kind of cake for dessert which they said was nice.

We recommend this restaurant, lovely and quiet, service good and owners happy to chat.

SOI VIII restaurant in Griffith 27 March 2019

Wednesday 27 March 2019

Diners: Ron, John, Jim, Karen, Kim

Entrées

Chicken mince, crab and water chestnut patties – delicious. These came out nice and hot.

Battered vegetables – the batter was crispy and had some shredded coconut. Also delicious and a bit different from Japanese tempura.

Mains

Panang duck in a spicy red duck curry sauce with grapes – was a little too spicy for us but had nice flavours.  We liked the grapes!

Pad Thai with prawns and chicken – nice sauce, generous size.  This dish was also a bit different from the usual drier style of fried pad thai noodles.

Wok tossed squid and prawns with garlic and herbs – this was our favourite dish.  The sauce was delicious and had a nice charred flavour

Massaman beef curry – delicious curry, very tender beef.

Coconut rice and plain rice

Dessert

Fried ice cream – good

Comments – reasonably priced.  The restaurant is spacious and on the night we were there it was not too crowded so it was easy to have a conversation.

Flavours of India 13 March 2019

Present: Jim, Karen, Kim, Ron, Megan Andrew who kindly put off his return to Ballarat for a day so he could be with us.

We had:

Sweet potato and Spinach chaat which was deemed delicious,  crunchy, with a wheat crisp which added great texture to the dish.  A favourite.

Gohbi Manchuria, which was a cauliflour something but didn't taste like cauliflour.  Deepfried and battered, spicy, very tasty, a combination of Chinese and Indian .

Masal fish fried: Only okay, not the best option, didn't taste like fish, Andrew said good.

Coconut lamb: comments were very good and really good.

Anglers Fish curry: Fabulous, loved the subtle flavour of the curry leaves, very tasty.

Butter Chicken: Good,okay (a bit too much tomato) disappointing from Andrew, 5/10

Chana Masala ie chick pea curry: good, tomato based and tasty

Beef saag, good to very tasty.

Desserts were presented well, gulab jamun came with a mousse type thing and not much syrup; the kulfi was a bit over the top but tasty all the same.

Green Bamboo at Swinger Hill on 27-2-19

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Present:

Everyone, Jim, Karen, Ron, Megan, John, Andrew, Kim.  Andrew is still with us from Ballarat, we are trying to keep him here for as long as possible.

Jim brought along some wonderful French champagne which we all greatly appreciated and could get used to.

Comments below are an amalgam of comments written by all of us on the night.

We had;

Rice paper rolls: very tasty, fresh, met expectations, great flavour

Spring rolls: hot and fresh, 5/5, crisp, yum, good

Caramelised prawns without the pepper: probably needed the pepper, otherwise a bit bland.

Lemongrass lamb: Favourite of Megan, Kim and Ron.  Very flavoursome with strong lemongrass flavour which married well with the lamb, delicious.

Pork and green pepper: nice pepper flavour, very subtle and tasty, melt in mouth , good.

Mint leaf chicken: This was the winner, lovely and fresh, strong Vietnamese mint beautifully cooked, exceeded expectations, flavourful, very nice.

Beef curry: Karen thought it looked more like beef in a curry powder sauce a bit disappointing: others thought it was a great compliment to the other dishes.

Pepper fish in hot pot: Tasty, very nicely done. Other commets Okay.

Fried icecream was delish, yum, not oily;