Discovery XL

For our fortieth discovery the regular discoverers were again reduced by half, but we decided to team up with another two family members for a 'taking it to the people' early discovery and car pickup. Our destination: Aangan in West Footscray. Initial contact was made at the Sherlock Holmes, over a Thunder Road Collingwood draught and a cider. The next stop was the 220 bus stop on Queen Street.

While in general I highly recommend you get on the bus, in retrospect I think that taking the train to West Footscray and then walking to Barkly Street would have been more efficient, and probably more fun. But eventually the bus did clear the city snarl and was happily bowling along Footscray Road. From Footscray station it was only a few minutes to our destination.

Aangan is rather bigger than I expected but at 6.00 pm it was still fairly quiet. We had taken the precaution of booking for five in case Mr 31 was able to join us, which meant that we enjoyed a more generously sized table than the standard offering for four, and two sets of pappadums. This was a nice bonus.

Lamb saag was shared among the carnivores, with tawa paneer and dal tadka to keep me happy. Aangan has so many paneer dishes on the menu that I felt obligated to try one. It arrived sizzling on the hot metal tawa, with onion, capsicum and mushroom. The dal was a good contrast: not too rich, nice and runny and pleasantly spicy. We also shared garlic naan (which is OK but I have to say I prefer plain naan, which doesn't interfere with the other flavours) and a filled naan with potato. Quite delicious for a treat, but the crispier texture of the plain or garlic naan would be preferred by many. Next time we should try a parantha perhaps.

Paneer, dal and naan

With the meal we enjoyed a Haywards 5000 or two (or three, in my case) making a grand total of 25,000. The girls were sensible and stuck to lassi. And gulab jamun.

The trip back to the sleeping city of Boroondara via the equally quiet streets of Sunshine was uneventful, and we were soon settled happily on the couch. Mr 31 was somewhat unhappy at missing out, as it was his suggestion to try Aangan after he had tasted their food at a street festival. Nevertheless he rang for an update and seemed pleased with our choices. We'll definitely go back as there is so much to choose from: Aangan has a wonderful array of vegetarian dishes. I'd recommend going with at least four people so you can sample a good range of flavours and textures. And Haywards.

 

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Discovery XXXIX

Discovery was reduced to two on the evening of the first match of the so-called Champions Trophy featuring Australia and New Zealand at Edgbaston. The venue? A familiar couch and comfy chair in front of the Fox sports channel.

Mr 31 arrived bearing the discovery dinner, courtesy of Tandoori Den. More an old family favourite than a new discovery, this long established Camberwell restaurant provides consistently good food and service. For my sister's surprise birthday party a 'few' years ago, we simply took the pots and pans down the road and returned with them full of steaming goodies. We haven't had Tandoori Den takeaway for a while, but back in the day we often ordered dal saag. This was always obligingly provided and we didn't discover until much later that it wasn't actually on the takeaway menu.

Tandoori Den takeaway

But back to discovery. We ate mushroom jal frazi and aloo gobi with rice and naan - plenty for two, with leftovers. We discussed why on Indian restaurant menus, spinach is palak or saag, lentils are dal, potatoes are aloo, cauliflower is gobi, peas are matar but mushrooms are mushrooms. On looking up my favourite Indian vegetarian cookery book by Jack Santa Maria, I discovered that mushrooms are khumbi. So we are no closer to explaining this phenomenon.

New Zealand (especially Daniel Vettori) were looking good, but Australia recovered with some crucial wickets towards the end of the innings. During the slow passages of play we amused ourselves with the social media reaction to Dave Warner's brain fade in 'an Aussie themed bar' in Birmingham. Mr 31 was able to advise from experience that going into a Walkabout bar in the first place was a bigger mistake than the ill-timed off cut (experience of Walkabout, that is, not of ill-timed off cuts. Mr 31 was a handy batsman in his day, as well as an excellent keeper.)

Unfortunately the match was washed out around 1.00 am. Mr 31 headed home in disgust and I went wearily to bed, happy that I would be having Tandoori Den curry for dinner again in a few hours time.

 

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Discovery XXXVIII

"The Laurel Wednesday night for new menu, quiz night (jackpot at $240) and the state of origin on the big screen!"

Such was the suggestion posted on the discovery team's social networking site of choice. Having agreed that the new menu was sufficient qualification for a new discovery, the discoverers were off to The Laurel again. As there is no way I am ever driving across the city in peak hour again (see Discovery XXXVI), the city worker, the Docklands worker and I met in William Street at 5.55 pm, in good time to catch the 5.56 55 tram to Flemington Road. The changeover to the 59 tram was accomplished without incident and we arrived at 289 Mount Alexander Road at the appointed hour.

The Woodies @ The Laurel

We were greeted by the other half of The Woodies, disappointed to find that there were no tables left in the quiz room. (Boris had obviously forgotten to book.) So we were delighted to discover that a table just outside the doorway, out of the crush but with a good view of the screen, had been reserved for 'Bevan' (not Boris) by pub management (thanks Steve!) for just such a bunch of disorganised discoverers. And so we happily settled in for the quiz and the $15.00 Wednesday special meal.

Our choices were spaghetti with sweet potato, char grilled capsicum and asparagus in creamy garlic sauce; warm Asian inspired beef salad with feta (this from the regular bar menu rather than the specials, but still good value); and porterhouse with salad and chips x 2. Having dined well at The Laurel before (see Discovery XXXVI) I had high expectations. The spaghetti was very good: creamy and rich and well supplied with vegetables. It went very well with a Coopers pale ale.

Spaghetti

This is the warm beef salad, which looked quite nice and was readily devoured by one of the carnivores.

Warm beef salad

While we were eating, the quiz got underway. It took The Woodies team a while to settle into the format as none of us had ever been to an electronic quiz before. But we soon got the hang of it and were proud to be actually ahead of the bunch in the third round. We also won a prize of a bottle of bubbles when Mr 'quick fingers' 31 was first to place the correct answer to one of the music questions. We would have been happy to accept a podium finish, but were slightly chagrined to come fourth over all. As Steve behind the bar dryly remarked: "What colour medal do you get for coming fourth?".

Leaving the boys to mingle with the crowd and watch the end of the State of Origin, we jumped aboard a passing 59 tram to Melbourne Central, where we managed to just miss the Alamein connection. So our return to the leafy and dripping city of Boroondara was via a 15 minute wait and a walk down the back lanes of East Camberwell.

And yes, the Bodleian Library is in Oxford. How odd that the only team to know the answer to this question was the one containing two librarians!

 

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Discovery XXXVII

Discovery was rather erratic over April and May, with various discoverers interstate, busy with deadlines or otherwise engaged. After the fractured Cafe Lagenda/Laurel episode (see Discovery XXXVI), it was some weeks before the discoverers (minus 1) were able to reconvene.

The venue this time was Agraba in Errol Street North Melbourne. Agraba was chosen somewhat randomly but turned out to be an extremely pleasant place with above average Middle Eastern food, so I can recommend it if you would like to give it a try. You could eat there before (or after) catching a performance of Impro Box at Club Voltaire, perhaps. It's easy to get to, with tram 57 stopping virtually at the door. This is a good thing as there is no way I am ever attempting to cross the city by car in the evening peak again, after the Anzac eve debacle (see Discovery XXXVI). And it's a relatively easy walk from North Melbourne to Flemington, as Mr 30 can attest.

Errol Street was fairly quiet early on a cool late autumn evening. We were pleased to be seated next to the cosy (imitation) wood fire, with a choice of cushioned benches or chairs. Pavement dining would be a nice option in the warmer months.

Although the menu is small it is easy to put together a varied selection and there are lots of vegetarian options. We chose a few dishes to share: haloumi; baba ghanoush (which came with a basket of both crisp and soft pita bread); lamb with rice; cauliflower and broccoli with taratour; and falafel with pickles. The falafel were excellent - nearly up to the Abbatengelo family standard, which can never be surpassed. The pickles were great, particularly the lovely bright pink turnip pickles, although the green chilies were pretty good too. Just a pity that one of us doesn't like pickles at all. Well maybe not such a pity - all the more for Mr 30 and me!

Sadly I omitted to take any photos on the night. The interior of Agraba is quite dark and mysterious and my photos would probably not have done the food justice. Perhaps you could have a look at this blog post from off the spork - it's a very fair review of the banquet menu, with lots of excellent pictures.

The trip back to the dark and sleepy city of Boroondara was achieved quite efficiently by way of the 57 tram and a train from Melbourne Central. I found myself wishing that Burke Road could somehow miraculously be transmogrified into Errol Street, but I suspect that this is not going to happen in my lifetime.

The discovery continues.

 

 

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Discovery XXXVI

Discovery XXXVI fell on the eve of Anzac Day. The plan was to have early tea at Chef Lagenda in Flemington before heading to the Laurel to watch The Woodies in their special Anzac Day eve performance.

Anzac Day eve special

In the late afternoon the discovery of a suspicious object caused trains to cease running between the city and Essendon. No matter: I'd already decided to drive to Flemington by way of the city. The trip into town was as usual fairly congested and just a little slower than I expected, but I was confident that an hour would be ample time to drive the short distance up William Street and Flemington Road to Pinoak Crescent, even on the eve of a public holiday with an unscheduled train stoppage. But alas, traffic in Peel Street and Flemington Road was either stopped or at a slow crawl all the way, and it took an hour and a half to drive about five kilometres. We should have walked, which is what many people were obliged to do, as the trams in Flemington Road were so overcrowded they were impossible to board.

And so it was that we arrived at Pinoak Crescent, in the dark and rain, just as Mr 30 and Mr 28 were leaving Cafe Lagenda after their laksa. We decided it was easier to keep driving directly to the Laurel. After some unpleasant experiences with a roundabout, a car without headlights and the Dan Murphy's car park, we found a nice spot in a quiet side street and at last were embraced by the warmth and conviviality of the Laurel. The horrors of the last two and a half hours were quickly forgotten.

We settled into the bistro and ordered veal scallopine and the roasted vegetable stack. And beer and cider to cheer us after our harrowing journey. This is the vegetable stack. It was elegantly presented on a large rectangular white plate and quite delicious, each vegetable with its own individual flavour and texture blending into a harmonious medley.

Roasted vegetable stack

In the interest of editorial balance, a picture of the veal scallopine is also included.

Veal scallopine

After dinner we repaired to the sports bar. Friends and family mingled with the locals to enjoy a great selection of originals and covers by The Woodies. The crowd favourite was Wonderwall, but for some reason I just love the Johnny Cash classic Ring of fire. The Johnny Cash original is obviously the best, but I also love Eric Burdon and The Animals' soulful rendition. But the latest and greatest version has to be the beautiful harmonies of The Woodies. Thank you Woodies!

The Woodies in the sports bar

 

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Discovery XXXV

Inspired by a '50% off sensational waterside dining' deal, the discovery support vehicle was despatched to Beach Street Port Melbourne via Collins Street, a round trip of over one hour. Our destination: Boat.

The other two discoverers who had sensibly approached on foot and by tram were already seated at the bar, sharing a beer (the last available bottle of their chosen variety). Soon we were seated at our table with a nice sparkly view of the Spirit of Tasmania departing from Station Pier. Although there were only a few other diners we were left quite alone for some time and had to call attention to the waiting staff to order our drinks and entrées.

After another quite long wait we were served our wine and Peroni, and then after another decent interval our starters arrived. We were quite impressed with the generous serves of crunchy zucchini chips, saganaki and calamari.

We had made the decision to delay ordering the main course until we had sampled the entrées. This proved to be a mistake because by the time we were able to attract attention again, not only the seafood platter but the fish and chips were no longer available. The waitress obligingly provided the lunch menu to extend our choices, and we settled on chips, 'classic' Greek salad, a bowl of vegetables and prawn risotto.

The chips (actually a rather meagre bowl of shoestring fries) arrived before too long, but there was another lengthy interval before the salad, the vegetables (a small serve of nicely cooked zucchini and broccoli) and finally the risotto arrived. The salad and vegetables were both very good, if not generously sized portions, but the risotto was just that little bit underdone, although tasty and well supplied with prawns, according to those who sampled it. Meanwhile we polished off another bottle of wine and Peroni.

On the boat

Really it should not have taken almost three hours for this dinner to be served and consumed. We were very pleased that the discovery vehicle was on hand to transport us quickly back to the city of Boroondara via the dropoff at Southern Cross station. Mr 30 opted to walk home, which he expected to take an hour and a half - a long walk, but not as long as this discovery dinner.

 

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Discovery XXXIV

Discovery XXXIV broke with tradition for the first time since the 2012 Olympics, with the event being held at home to celebrate the new kitchen.

As with all discoveries, no mobile devices were permitted; however we were allowed to watch the footy channel while eating our dessert of strawberry cake and Easter eggs. The strawberry and yoghurt cake is a recipe of Neil Perry's published in The Age. While mixing the ingredients I thought it must have been a mistake that there were no eggs; however I pressed on and the cake turned out very well, with a nice grainy texture from the polenta. But I certainly didn't believe it would take two hours to cook. In fact it was ready in about an hour, but maybe that's just thanks to our lovely new efficient oven.

The previous course was served at the dining table. Nothing too adventurous: dal (my favourite Anna Thomas recipe from her first book, The Vegetarian Epicure, 1972); cabbage dom (another 1970s favourite, copied onto catalogue cards from an unknown source); pilau rice from Jack Santamaria's Indian Vegetarian Cookery; and pappadams with brinjal pickle (Ferns, of course) with a few other condiments.

This is a picture of the preparation area near the new kitchen sink. This was taken before the tiling and painting were completed, but may give you an idea of the space and light that have been opened up by the renovation.

Kitchen sink

With the ban on mobile devices no photographs were permitted in the dining room, but here is a picture of the much splattered cabbage dom recipe. Don't be afraid to use too much chili. And if you can't be bothered with the 'curd', ie yoghurt, which in my experience needs mixing with a little arrowroot to prevent its curdling when you mix it with the curry, and may make the dish a little too sour, use coconut milk instead, which adds a nice creamy richness to the simplicity of the potato and cabbage.

Cabbage Dom recipe

You may notice that the cards are of different stock and written with different pens. The recipe was originally written on both sides of the first card (the recto and the verso?) but over the years I got so annoyed with having to turn the card over to check the ingredients that I finally had the bright idea of rewriting the second segment of the recipe onto a separate card. As a new librarian at the time of writing out the original recipe perhaps I should have known better, but my initiation into cataloguing was at St Kilda Library which boasted one of the earliest automated catalogues in Victoria, so I knew little of the technology of catalogue cards. My next job at the Victorian Railways technical library was to remedy this deficiency, but that's a whole 'nother' story, as they say.

 

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