Discovery XXIII

Late on a hot December afternoon my train left Huntingdale station. We arrived at the mysterious platform 13 at Flinders Street about 25 minutes later. After a short tram ride and a short walk up Little Bourke Street, I was at Curry Corner. But alas there was no Fern's brinjal pickle in stock so my detour was in vain.

Sadly I walked up Russell Street, past Jane Bell Lane, the old Magistrates Court, the old Melbourne gaol and the former Emily MacPherson College. Much of this precinct is owned by RMIT University, so there is an odd mix of old bluestone, modern courtyard and 1920s elegance, with the QV apartments presiding over the whole.

Behind bars

Crossing Victoria Street into Carlton, I continued up Cardigan and Queensberry Streets until I finally arrived at the venue for Discovery XXIII: The Last Jar, which being situated on the corner of Elizabeth and Queensberry Streets is somehow back in the city of Melbourne.

Hot and thirsty after my travels I settled into the snug with a Coopers. My first impression was of a very pleasant and friendly hotel. As it is built on a sharp angled corner it is rather oddly shaped inside but very cosy.

Snug at The Last Jar

Little by little the other discoverers arrived - one on bicycle and two on foot - and we repaired to our laminex topped table in the dining room.

The only drawback of our meal was the noise - the dining room is small and wooden-floored and there was a large table of revellers nearby, so we found it hard to hear each other over the din. But the food was delicious and the waiting staff were very attentive and quite charming with their lovely Irish voices.

Here is a picture of the remains of the soda bread.

Soda bread

And here is my dish of zucchini flowers (my favourite!) with salad and goats cheese.

Zucchini flowers

The chips (not pictured, sorry) were amazing - enormous and very crispy, rather more like roast potatoes than chips and so plentiful that we couldn't finish them all. The other discoverers enjoyed Irish stew, scotch fillet and porterhouse with green pepper sauce, served in its own dear little jug. And The Last Jar has a wonderful beer list. Between us we sampled the Coopers pale, Hawthorn pale, Mountain Goat and Hargreaves Hill.

The Last Jar is definitely worth the trip, however you decide to make your way there.



 

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Discovery XXII

Russia is definitely southeast of somewhere, so this week's discovery could claim to continue in the tradition of some of our recent excursions to Oakleigh and Carnegie.

On Tuesday evening the discovery team made their separate ways from the city, Richmond and Camberwell to meet in new territory at Nevsky in Elsternwick. They came by car, train, bicycle and on foot. For once nobody blinked an eye at the booking in the name of Boris.

Fireplace at Nevsky

On an unseasonably cold and windy evening we were very happy to be seated right next to the fireplace which effectively divides the restaurant into two self contained quiet spaces. Although there were not many people in the restaurant we had to wait a while to be served with a jug of kvass (a soft drink made of fermented rye bread) and a Nevskoe classic ale. The kvass smelt very much like stout, but tasted sweeter. Apparently it is usually consumed by peasants and monks. The Nevskoe tasted just like beer.

We decided to have a main course each rather than trying to share dishes on a rather small table. Except I decided to have three side dishes instead of one main: Euro frites (Russian for chips in beer batter), piroshki and red cabbage. The other discoverers had golubsti (stuffed cabbage leaves); veal stroganoff with buckwheat kasha; and sosiski (sausages and mashed potatoes with caramelised onions and port wine sauce).

This is how it all looked in the dimly lit room near the fire. I forgot to mention that the candles aren't real candles - they are battery operated tea light thingies. But very effective.

Russian feast

I know Euro frites are probably not authentic Russian cuisine, but I loved them. They were hot and crispy and plentiful, unlike some of the offerings we have suffered in the name of discovery. (Are you listening, Bridge Hotel?) The red cabbage was spicy and sour and delicious. The piroshki was not remarkable but very pleasant - just like I could have made at home using one of Anna Thomas's recipes.

The other discoverers were extremely enthusiastic about their meals too. I can highly recommend that you make the trip to Elsternwick for a special eastern European treat. If it is your local, I envy you.

After some coffee, sour cherry blini and more Nevskoe the end of the evening was upon us. Once again we took the traditional drive down Orrong Road (the entire span of it, this time), made the drop-off in Richmond and drove back over the river to the dark and quiet city of Boroondara. Meanwhile Mr 28 proved that a bicycle can beat a car any time.

 

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Discovery XXI

In keeping with Discovery tradition of keeping it local, keeping it within the group of four, keeping it early, and keeping it to Tuesday, on Wednesday a group of three discoverers made their way out to Oakleigh to Euro Bites, with a booking at 8.00 pm.

This change to the normal routine allowed us to to sample the favourite local of two of our friends, although sadly Mr 28 was unable to join us. Two discoverers travelled by train from the city, after a short detour to Siglo. Meanwhile I drove the short distance down the Princes Highway from Caulfield, after a couple of hours distributing type at the Ancora Press. Our two friends drove from their nearby home.

I haven't really been to Oakleigh (other than passing through on the train) since I lived there for a short time while I was studying at Monash, so it was very pleasant to reacquaint myself with the lively shopping and eating precinct. I was lucky to find a parking spot just a few doors from the restaurant, so I didn't have to brave the monster car park which has mysteriously appeared near the railway station.

Soon the group of five was seated and enjoying some Mythos while we tried to make sense of the menu. It seemed easier to leave the choice up to the locals, who warned us that we only needed a couple of main dishes as the servings were massive.

Dips

And so it proved to be. First we had some shared light mezze, including a platter of dips (tarama, melitzano and best of all the tyrokafteri), with feta, olives, grilled peppers and pita bread. You can see the tyrokafteri on the right of the photo. It is made with feta, ricotta and graviera cheeses and spices and is an exciting change from the more familiar dips. I do urge you to try it.

Next came kourkoti: delicate fried zucchini slices with skordalia, a lovely creamy mashed potato and garlic dip. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the kourkoti until they were nearly all gone.

Kourkouti

No sooner had we disposed of the mezze than a dish of potatoes nicely seasoned with lemon and oregano appeared, followed by rice; a gyro piato lamb platter with tzatziki and Greek salad; and kipouro meze, a vegetarian tasting platter with probably the best spanakopita I have ever tasted, along with gigandes (big white beans in a tomato sauce with carrots and spinach), roasted peppers, more olives and feta, felafel and hommus. And a little bit of salad. And more pita bread. Trust me, you will never leave Euro Bites hungry.

Kipouro meze

Some people found room for coffee and sticky sweets. Others found room for more Mythos.

After dinner and farewells in the warm almost-summer night we took the almost-traditional trip down the Princes Highway to Orrong Road, through the dark leafy streets of Armadale and Toorak, over the river to Richmond then back over the river to the city of Boroondara.

Oakleigh and Euro Bites - go there. Discover them for yourself.

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Discovery XX

After a two week rest break the discovery team reconvened to visit Thanh Ha in Victoria Street Richmond. Our researches having convinced us that the place was BYO, we gathered a 6-pack of Coopers, found a handy parking spot in front of Pho Dzung Tan Dinh (opposite Xiao-ting box, the scene of Discovery V) and walked the short distance up Victoria Street to Thanh Ha.

Mr 28 was ready and waiting but Mr 30 was slightly delayed, possibly from exhaustion after his mammoth road trip to North Queensland. Discovering that Thanh Ha is in fact licensed, we ordered a couple of Singha and a VB and stashed the Coopers away for later.

Menu with Singha

This is a picture of the menu. It is a very long and complicated menu so I was relieved when Mr 30 arrived and took over the ordering.

We started with an enormous light crispy pancake stuffed with beanshoots, tofu and other good veggie things. A bit like a Sri Lankan dosa but with more filling. After that the carnivores tackled some very pink prawns with pork. Then we had rice paper rolls with peanut sauce and vermicelli with sugarcane prawns.

While the food was lovely and very reasonably priced, the service was less than attentive, with some dishes served immediately but others totally forgotten. The stash of Coopers came in handy. The boys thought it was funny to affix Singha and VB labels to the bottles in an attempt to make them look like the restaurant's stock, but I'm sure the patient and overworked waiters (when they finally deigned to approach us) were not fooled in the slightest. Nevertheless we managed to avoid the corkage charge. Not that Coopers has corks.

On the way home we decided to drop into the Bridge Hotel to see if it could redeem itself after a previous disastrous discovery experience. We all agreed that it is just fine for a drink (especially with a little impromptu Woodies performance of Courtin' in the Kitchen thrown in to the indifference of the other drinkers), but on no account should any of us attempt eating there again. We'll stick with Thanh Ha.



 

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Discovery XIX

Wow.

I wasn't expecting much of Izakaya Mizu, a little Japanese restaurant on Riversdale Road near the Camberwell market, but this discovery turned out to be one of the best yet. Thank you to the marketers who popped a discount voucher into the letter box yesterday. This encouraged us to give it a try.

Our little group was smaller than usual tonight, with two discoverers offsite on interstate trips. Ms 31 stepped into the breach with aplomb.

Despite being situated on the wrong side of the great divide (Burke Road), Izakaya Mizu is licensed. Small consolation to those of us who had struggled up the hill with a bagful of Coopers on a very hot evening, or made the tram journey with a pile of Budweiser, but easily assuaged with a couple of glasses of Asahi. The complimentary dishes of bean sprouts in a spicy dressing made us feel very welcome too.

This is a picture of a garden on Riversdale Road, near the top of the hill, looking quite fetching in the evening sunshine.

Riversdale Road

The menu at Izakaya Mizu is very prettily laid out with coloured pictures of the dishes and it took some time to choose. We finally settled on eggplant with miso, seaweed salad, "spaghetti" with mushrooms, vegetable gyoza, and ribs to keep the carnivores happy.

Gyoza and eggplant

Ribs and salad

We had trouble deciding which dish was the highlight of the evening. The eggplant was beautiful - perfectly cooked and smothered in salty miso, served with some crispy fried noodle and green lettuce. The seaweed salad with broccoli, tomato, cucumber and iceberg lettuce added just the right accent of crisp refreshment. The gyoza were lovely - slightly scorched, soft little pillows of goodness - and the mushroom spaghetti was luscious, with an intriguing range of funghi. Apparently the ribs were OK too - at least there were only bones left when Mr 28 and Ms 31 had done their worst.

Next time, I have to try my all time favourites, the tofu and edamame - but tonight was all about discovery.

The host and the waiter at this restaurant are both absolutely charming and you should go there without delay.

And so we dispersed into the Boroondara night, Mr 28 with his Budweiser and me with my Coopers, already making plans for next week's big discovery.



 

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Discovery XVIII

Inspired by the Parma Daze review of the Bridge hotel, just over the bridge in Bridge Road Richmond, a depleted set of discoverers arranged to meet at 7.00 pm. On ringing to make the usual booking in the name of Boris, I was told that bookings in the dining area could be made only for 6.00 or 8.00 pm, but that we were welcome to try our luck in one of the bar areas.

And thus we met in the loft, where there were plenty of high tables and chairs. We chose a table with a view across Richmond towards the city. As the dusk settled in we were looking forward to our meal.

From the Bridge

Mr 28 chose the grilled chicken and bacon burger with chips, lettuce and tomato with "seeded mayonnaise"; the other choices were veal schnitzel with coleslaw, beer battered chips and mushroom sauce; and the eggplant parmigiana (hey, it's parma special Tuesday! only $13!) for me.

The first disappointment was the burger, which was devoid of lettuce or seeded mayonnaise, whatever that is. Maybe the chef didn't know either. The second disappointment was the mushroom sauce. According to my trusty discoverer companions, it tasted weird. The third disappointment was the eggplant parma. I should have been paying attention when I read the menu description, but what on earth are they thinking? Why would anybody prefer to eat soggy turkish bread rather than chips with parma? The other discoverers kindly chipped in with contributions of beer battered chips from their own plates, but sadly these chips were barely warm. The only good thing that can be said about them is that they were better than the eggplant, the burger and the schitzel.

The eggplant parma was presented as four rings of eggplant topped with napoli sauce and cheese, on a bed of salad with a couple of pieces of charred but soggy Turkish bread leaning on top. Two of the eggplant segments were fine, but the other two were cut so thick that they were uncooked and inedible. And there was no evidence of any nice crumb coating on any of these sorry vegetables. However the rocket salad was very tasty and I ate it all up.

I've enhanced the following photo using the new inbuilt editing features of FlickStackr (thanks for this update - it's great!) so it probably looks better than it really was. And remember the chips were not in the original.

When is a parma not a parma?

The only consolation to look forward to was the special Tuesday parma price.

Imagine my shock then on bring presented with the bill and discovering that the parma had been charged at full price! I was informed that the special parma deal only applied to chicken parma - eggplant parma didn't qualify. Well sorry guys, but don't mess with an angry vegetarian who has just endured an inedible eggplant parma without chips. It took a visit from the manager, but finally justice was restored and the discount was applied.

The best discovery of the night was yet to come. Mr 28 suggested a detour to Dan's on the way home. I had no idea that the Bridge Road instance of the discount liquor store chain boasted a secret car park, complete with lift access right into the store. Worth celebrating with a case of Coopers to help take away the nasty taste of undercooked eggplant!



 

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Discovery XVII

Finally, a true discovery close to home. We decided to try Greek Spot, a small and unassuming neighbourhood restaurant in Burwood Road Hawthorn. So unassuming that we must have driven past here a hundred times without ever noticing it.

Greek Spot jug

We drove to Hawthorn in a shower of rain and luckily chanced on a parking spot right outside the restaurant, after bravely executing a right hand turn across a stream of home-bound traffic. Mr 30 and Mr 28 arrived soon afterwards. Mythos beer and a jug of iced water set the scene for a quickly served and tasty discovery experience.

The vegetarian options on the menu were rather meagre, but a selection of dolmades, baked feta with tomatoes and olives, warm pita bread and Greek salad was delicious. The other discoverers shared a mixed grill of lamb chops, lamb skewers, lamb bits, chicken, bifteck, onion and chips to go with the delicious Greek salad of shredded green lettuce with very finely chopped tomato and onion.

One baklava, some more Mythos and a couple of coffees later we were out the door after our early dinner and into the gloomy Hawthorn evening. By this time the little restaurant was absolutely packed.

Obviously we are not the only ones to have discovered this very pleasant little spot.

 

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