Boran Noodle Shop, Klong Toey, Bangkok

Boran, simply put, is a traditional Thai-style noodle shop set in a modern air-conditioned retro Thai-style cafe.  Located on the second floor of the Exchange Tower makes it within walking distance to Asoke BTS via the sky walkway.

Retro posters adorn the walls, along with a retro looking portable tv that takes pride of place on a high shelf next to the semi-open kitchen.  The dark wooden stools and tables that populate this noodle cafe is a salute to the old school markets and stalls.  

The menu comes in Thai, so if you don't read Thai (like me) just request for one in English instead.  Saves having to work out how to decipher the menu with limited or no Thai reading skills. 

Unsurprisingly, reading from the title of this post, it's all about the noodle here. The main showstopper - in my opinion - being the traditional boat style noodle soup.

Simply pick your protein from pork or beef in your preferred style: meatballs, sliced, braised, combination and so on.  Then select the broth; aromatic boat style, clear soup.  Move on to choosing your noodle from thick rice noodles to egg noodles to glass noodles.  And finally don't forget to specify whether you require a large or a small portion.  Prices range from 55-105 baht.

They also have a small selection of dim sum: pork or prawn shui mai, prawn har gau (all 45 baht each), bbq pork buns and a couple of others for 25 baht each.

My steamed prawn shui mai came out alarmingly quick.  This is good if you are super hungry, bad if you are a little wary (like me) of why food comes out so soon.  But, I have to say they were plump, juicy, and really quite tasty considering.  Just remember that this is Thai style dim sum, not Cantonese style dim sum.  Yes, there is a difference!

Now for the braised beef boat style noodles.  I chose glass noodles (woon sen) as they are made from mung beans and therefore, I regard them as a healthier alternative to rice noodles. 

Below is a small, but very generous portion.  It had lots of yummy fresh veggies; cabbage, greens, coriander and beansprouts.  The braised beef was super tender, although a little fatty.  But nothing that a bit of carefully orchestrated biting with good chopstick skills can't solve.  Besides, cooking with the fat still on the meat only helps to tenderise it during the cooking process and adds a bucket load of meaty goodness to the flavour of the soup.

On a separate occasion, I came back to try their braised pork boat noodles, again with glass noodles.  The pork was less fatty, but still super tender.

You can make it as salty, sour, sweet or spicy as you like with the traditional four condiments that is mandatory for Thai noodle soups.  Thai noodle soup served without these four condiments is like serving a scone without jam and cream.

Drinks here include old fashioned rock sodas, iced teas and coffees, Singha beer and a handful of other soft drinks. 

Service is quick, friendly and easy going.  It may not be as cheap as a street stall, but in my book, it is certainly more comfortable and you do get very generous portions.

BORAN
2/F, Exchange Tower, 388 Sukhumvit Rd, Klong Toey, Bangkok
Tel: +66 (0)88 022 4022
Nearest BTS: Asoke, exit 6.  Walk along the skywalk and take the walkway into the Exchange Tower on the right hand side.  Boran is the second shop on the left as you enter the building.

HOURS
Mon-Fri: 7:30am-8:30pm
Sat-Sun: 10:30am-8:30pm

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Hai Som Tam Convent, Silom, Bangkok

Love Thai food?  Then I'm guessing you may very well know which region of Thailand 'som tam' (papaya salad) comes from.  For those of you who don't know, it comes from the northeast region of the country, known as Isaan.

Isaan has its own language, a dialect derived from the Lao language, but written in Thai alphabet.  Their food is hotter, they don't use coconut as liberally as the rest of Thailand and it gets so freakin' hot during the early part of the year.

A friend of my dm's who is Isaan has to eat som tam everyday, otherwise she just doesn't function very well at all.  It's akin to those who have to drink a shot of caffeine when they wake up or those who have to eat potatoes everyday.  The last one may sound a little absurd, but I knew a guy back in my uni days who had eat potatoes everyday.  No, he wasn't Irish, although he may have had Irish blood running somewhere down the line.  Each to their own I say, each to their own. 

Now, pretty much every Thai girl, woman, man who-is-watching their figure that I know simply loves som tam.  Why?  It's tasty, it's cheap, it's healthy and did I say it's tasty?  OH yes, it sure is.  I love it too.  And yes, I am a woman who-is-watching her figure. 

On Soi Convent off the busy Silom road, you'll find the aptly named Hai Som Tam Convent on the right hand side as you walk up from Silom.  Not hard to spot, just look for a big space with strip light ceiling and bright plastic green stools:

It's farang friendly, meaning the menu has been translated into english and some of the serving staff can converse in the language too.  Otherwise, just use the universal sign language of pointing to what you want on the menu. 

Works like a dream, unless the font is so small that it makes your finger look like a podgy sausage and no matter how much accuracy you aim for, sometimes the wrong dish inevitably gets ordered.  Yeah, happened to me once, can't remember where, wasn't in Thailand, but let's just say it definitely wasn't what I intended to order.

As I read through the menu, I couldn't help but watch the chef chopping the grilled chicken (gai yang) just in front of me.  Of course I had to get me some of that juicy looking meat.

And here is half of my lunch: sticky rice (khao niew) 15Baht, small portion of grilled chicken 70Baht (or 100Baht for large portion).  Comes with a plate of raw cabbage and green beans, and sprigs of fresh Thai basil.  The two chilli sauces are a hot and a sweet. 

The other half, som tam at 40Baht is a decent size.  Freshly grated papaya, dried shrimps, peanuts, tomato, chilli, green beans all in a yummy, ever so slightly sweet dressing.  Just be careful if you don't or can't take hot chilli, just ask for it without.  I ordered mine with just a little chilli and I found it fairly spicy.  Many locals think I am a bit of a chilli wuss.  Compared to them, I am! 

I got here before the lunch time rush so service was quick and attentive.  There are loads of waiting staff so even during busy times, service will still be quick. 

This place is clean and I even got lots of friendly smiles and laughs as I took my pictures.  They didn't seem to mind at all.  If you're in the area and looking for a som tam place, take a visit to Hai Som Tam Convent. 

Otherwise if you live fairly close by but can't be bothered to venture out, they do deliver at a charge of 80Baht.  Although I am not sure how easy it would be to order if you can't speak Thai, would love to find out ....

Hai Som Tam Convent
2/4-5 Soi Convent, Silom, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel:  +66 (0)2 631 0216  / 2514
Nearest BTS: Sala Daeng

HOURS
Mon-Fri: 10am-3pm
Sat: 10am-2pm

Closed Sundays

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Boon Tong Kee, Zion Road Riverside Food Centre, Singapore

Hawker food, with alfresco dining by the river and less than a ten minute stroll from where I live, lunch can't get more exciting ....

Zion Road Riverside Food Centre sits across the road from the Great Wall City shopping mall.  It doesn't look like much from the roadside, but it's right by the river and is really quite pleasant looking.

There are a variety of different stalls, selling all sorts of different things.  But it was Boon Tong Kee that caught my eye.  If only because of the neon lit visual 'article clippings' hall of fame that hangs below their signage.  Not being able to read chinese, let alone speak it, unfortunately I couldn't read any of it.

However, the menu is translated into English and the Auntie was very helpful in making sure that I got what I wanted.

I ordered the kway chap, which is a Teochew dish made up of flat rice noodle sheets in a dark soy sauce soup.  It comes with a plate of braised hard-boiled egg, duck meat, beancurd, crispy belly pork, char siew pork and pig intestines covered with a slightly sweet gravy-like sauce.  I decided to forgo the pig intestines as I'm not a big fan of the chewy stuff.  Instead, I asked for extra char siew.

This all cost me the grand total of $3.50.  That would probably only just buy me a cheap, unsatisfying sandwich in the UK.



The rice noodles were silky smooth and the soup had a subtle Chinese herbal flavour.  The various meats were tender and tasty.

Not sure those without a Chinese palate would like or appreciate this dish, but I rather enjoyed it.  Seeing as there are so many other stalls, it's a great place for a casual cheap eat.

Boon Teng Kee

#01-24, Zion Road Riverside Food Centre,  70 Zion Road, Singapore 247792

HOURS

11am-10pm

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The Chicken Rice Ex-press, Singapore

A fast food chicken joint in an old shop house ... you'd be forgiven for thinking that the name of this place sounds more like another regular fast food chicken outlet in similar vain to KFC.

It's clean, airy, and doesn't have that fried chicken odour wafting around the place for a start.  And there's 'alfresco' pavement seating under their big awning.

Chicken Rice Ex-press is self-service, and serves up hainanese and soya chicken with an assortment of other asian dishes.  For $6, you can get their special set which includes chicken, vegetables, soup and a lime juice or barley drink. 

A whole chicken will set you back $25.  Not bad if you can't be bothered to cook at home.  There's char siew or roast pork as well as meat and vegetables with rice on offer. 

The cooked chickens are hung in a glass cabinet with the chef ready to chop the chicken on order.  For those who aren't in-the-know, the pale skinned chicken is hainanese and the dark skinned chicken is soya (soy sauce).

I decided to get a soya chicken breast special set.  It was placed onto a tray fairly quickly and I sat down to eat at the ready.

The chicken was lovely and tender on top of sliced fresh cucumber, the soup was fairly bland though, and the bok choy topped with oyster sauce (which tasted like it had been a little watered down) and fried garlic was a nice addition, if just ever so slightly on the soft side. 

The rice cooked in chicken broth had a subtle flavour and a nice slice of ginger.   

All in all, it wasn't bad considering the price.  I would certainly go back for the chicken, give or take the soup and bok choy.

For $6, it's value for money and I can see why it's popular with the lunch time crowd.

The Chicken Rice Ex-press

107 Killiney Road, Singapore

Tel: +65 6736 1928

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Pho 99 Vietnamese Delights, Singapore

When you think of Vietnam, what dish do you instantly think of? 

For me, it is the wonderfully fragrant phở bò, pronounced more like 'fuh', not 'foe' as I innocently thought many moons ago.  It is, as many of you probably know, beef noodle soup.

My Vietnamese butcher at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, Australia told me that his mother would slow cook the broth for up to 24 hours.  I gasped when I heard this, thought it was a joke.  When he shook his head and told me that it was indeed true, I realised why he didn't seem keen on wanting to sell me any.  It's a labour of love for his mother and I am sure it is one fine broth.

Now armed with this knowledge, whenever I visit a place for some phở bò, I often wonder how long they have laboured over their stock.  Despite my romantic ideals, I doubt as long as my Melbourne butcher's mother.

I know for certain that I would not have the patience nor the inclination to watch over a broth for that long ... unless it was the elixir of youth and longevity.

Nevertheless, since leaving Melbourne, I have not had any phở bò and quite frankly, I missed it.  So when I read about this place over at Camemberu, well, I had no choice but to take my good self down there today.

It's on a street called Amoy and you can't miss the two big forest green awnings with the words 'Phở 99 ... Vietnamese Delight' in bright red and yellow respectively.

I arrived just after the usual mid-week lunch rush, 2:30pm and I was delighted to find that I had the choice of most tables.  I chose a table by the window looking back into the restaurant with a good view into the kitchen. 

You can see two girls washing dishes who casually glanced over when I took this photo;  one of them was singing a Vietnamese song and she had the most beautiful soft sounding, almost hypnotising voice.  The other two girls sitting down were preparing spring rolls against a huge backdrop image of beautiful Ha Long Bay.   

As I surveyed the lunch menu, the lady told me about the lunch special.  For $11.90 (no tax or service charge on top), I could have a choice of one of the six mains on offer with 2 pieces of deep-fried spring rolls and a drink.  Well, I was hungry and so I went for the obligatory phở bò with a homemade lemon barley. 

You get two table condiments here - chilli in oil and hoisin sauce.  You also get a plate of herbs: Vietnamese basil and sawtooth coriander; a wedge of lime and fresh slices of mostly de-seeded, red chilli.  My homemade barley in the background; refreshing, not too sweet and just what I needed to cool down.

I didn't have long to wait and when my food arrived, it was heaven.  My first phở bò in I don't know how long ... about six months I think?!

The soup was just lovely, the noodles were soft, the beef was tender and no gristle was present.  The hoisin sauce was just a tad sweet, not too much, just right.  Unfortunately, I went a little overboard with the chilli in oil, so next time I think I'll be a bit more conservative.  My only gripe - why no beansprouts?  I love beansprouts in my phở bò and sliced onion just doesn't cut it as well.  Still, I had no trouble polishing it off.

As for the crunchy, piping hot spring rolls, they weren't exactly hard to munch down either.  Light, crispy and non-greasy.

Lunch today was good and I want to come back for an evening meal already.

A couple of things to note: toothpicks are provided on each table, bonus.  No napkins though (like many places in Singapore that I have discovered), so bring your own.  And if I'm going to be really fussy, I'm not a fan of cutlery sitting upright. 

PHO 99 VIETNAMESE DELIGHTS

57 Amoy Street, Telok Ayer Conservation Area, Singapore
Tel: +65 9678 8735

HOURS
Mon-Fri: 10am-9pm
Sat-Sun: 10am-8pm

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House Of Rice Roll & Porridge, Singapore

It's not every day that I feel like eating rice porridge, otherwise known as congee or 'juk' as I grew up calling it.

It's traditionally eaten as breakfast in the north of Thailand, a regular staple on any dim sum menu, and a sort of chinese comfort food.  A truly versatile dish: there are many different regional variations, it can be eaten at any time of the day or night, or as substitute for plain rice.

To put it simply, rice porridge or congee is rice that has been boiled down in water until the grains have broken down and have significantly softened.  Depending on the region, the consistency ranges from watery to almost gloopy. 

Personally I prefer mine leaning towards gloopy, but my late grandfather (who came from the Teochow region of China) used to like his watery.

House of Rice Roll & Porridge was on my path home today, so I decided to make a quick pit stop for a mid-morning/early lunch.

The place was clean and tidy which always makes for a good first impression.  Auntie greeted me with a smile and handed me a laminated menu as I walked in.

Written in both chinese and english, the menu is clear and easy to read.  There's an array of different items: sweet as well as savoury cheong fun; an assortment of congee including some interesting additional items such as intestine and pig liver; glutinous rice balls; specials; fried rice; snacks and desserts.

I ordered my favourite cheong fun of all time, char siew cheong fun (bbq pork), a fish congee, and a homemade lime juice to wash it all down with.

I didn't have long to wait, the char siew cheong fun arrived first, closely followed by the generous portion of fish congee.  Good job I have a big appetite.

I love the way they cut the cheong fun into bite size morsels.  In Hong Kong, they come in a stack of three long rolls.  This rice roll was soft.  With a melt-in-your mouth texture, the barbeque pork had been trimmed of any fat, and the sauce was neither too salty nor too sweet.  Although different from the Cantonese style that I am used to, it was delicious all the same.

The fish rice porridge had a sprinkling of green onions and crisp doughy cracker type things on top (sorry don't know the proper term for these?!). 

The fish was soft which was good, the consistency of the congee was thick and just how I like it.  I love my congee plain because then I can simply add condiments to make it spicy and salty.  Seeing how I am an chilli fiend, I spooned in lashings of chilli.  Oh, this was so good and so very filling.  Washed down with refreshing cold lime juice.  Yummy!! 

As I made my way out, I thought I'd take a snap of the framed press clipping from The Sunday Times regarding their durian cheong fun.  I'm not the biggest fan of durian.  Not just because of the smell, but also because of the texture, which for me is a little too slimey. 

However, Lazy Foodies did try it and now recommend it.  Perhaps I need to give this pungent smelling fruit another chance ... thus, it gives me an urgent excuse to come back to sample their prawn cheong fun.

A great little place serving good, simple, honest, value-for-money and to some, 'different' food.

House of Rice Roll & Porridge
89 Killiney Road, Singapore 239534
Tel: +65 6238 9028

HOURS
11am-10pm Mon-Fri
10am-10pm Sat-Sun

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Basement Café, Melbourne

The city circle trams rattles past this place on La Trobe street, near to the corner of Queen street.  It doesn't look like much from the outside, but enter this cafe and feel welcoming warm reception envelope you as sit down and relax. 

Décor has a musical theme.  Remember vinyl?  Well there's a vinyl decorated wall below the window counter, posters advertising bands and musicals on one wall, and lots of other decorative paraphernalia.

There are separate breakfast and lunch blackboards listing the days menu.  Service is super friendly in this funky cool cafe and also extremely efficient.

My lunching companion and I both ordered flat whites and they came with the much oligatory leafy pattern on top that I have become accustomed to whilst living in Melbourne.  And it still makes me smile each time I see it...

Food wise, we ordered a mushroom pizza with feta, pine nuts and rocket ($8); and also a pesto chicken salad with pine nuts and feta to share ($9).

Both came out at the same time.  Ingredients were fresh and tasty.  Pizza was thin crust, which is how I like it. 

The very generous serving of salad was yummy.  Gorgeous pieces of chicken breast, avocado and spinach leaves dressed with pesto; feta and pine nuts on top. 

They don't rush you here; they play some good background tunes, and they are more than happy for you to perch your bottom here all day if you wanted to.

A great find with fabulous service and delicious fresh food at amazing value!

Basement Café
350 La Trobe Street, Melbourne 3000
Tel: +61 (0) 9329 8000

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Sheni's Curries, Melbourne

Today I was excited to be trying out the much read about Sheni's Curries.  Mentioned in The Age Cheap Eats guide, the cuisine is Sri Lankan and Southern Indian. 

Step down through the pvc strip curtained doorway to enter a small, but adequate curry eatery.  A counter full of delicious looking curries and other assortments await hungry diners.  Being a Friday, they offer Friday lunch specials and I decided to go for the mixed special - $9 for a small or $10 for a large.  Saving my stomach from too much consumption (and my little wallet from a dollar), I opted for the small. 

As you can see, I got three different curries, a popadom, various accompaniments and even a bit of salad.  Unfortunately I can't remember what everything was. 

All I can say is that my lunch had the spicy kick of typical Sri Lankan cuisine and managed to finish all but a few small morsels left on the plate, due to feeling rather full.  It was certainly delicious.

Lunch times get really busy with queues of office workers lining up.  If possible, grab a seat by the window to have a street view whilst reading one of the available papers on the window shelf. 

This place also does take out and I think they now open for dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings until 9pm.

Cheap, cheerful and good spicy value for money.

Sheni's Curries
Russell Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: +61 (0)3 9654 3535

Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8-9pm

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Thanh Nga Nine, Melbourne

Having been fairly healthy and watchful over my food all week, I was looking forward to eating out tonight.  Seeing as my dining companion and I were opting for something light and fresh, we unanimously agreed on Vietnamese. 

We took a short walk to take the 109 tram from Collins Street in the CBD and we were on Victoria Street in less than twenty minutes. 

Having been to the area twice before myself, I wanted to experience a new place tonight and boy are there a lot to choose from.  Walking up Victoria Street to choose a place to eat in, is a bit like being a kid in a candy store.  There is restaurant after restaurant, and unless one knows what they are looking for, it can be hard to decipher the good from the bad. 

So if a restaurant was packed, we saw that as a basis for 'it must be pretty good'.  I mean, who would eat in an empty restaurant during prime dinner time! 

We passed a few that we thought looked good and decided to go back to 'Thanh Nga Nine'.  It was heaving (which we of course saw as a good sign) and once we entered the restaurant, we were shown a table for two by the front counter. 

Sitting down, menu's were placed on the table for us to peruse right away.  As is the case in many (if not all) Asian restaurants, there was an overwhelming abundance of choice.  Feeling rather hungry, we quickly narrowed it down to a couple of things we were familiar with. 

We started with a 'King Prawn rice paper roll' ($8), followed by 'Beef Pho Noodle soup' ($8), 'Chicken in chilli and lemongrass' ($13) and 'Water spinach with garlic' ($12).

After having placed our order, we poured ourselves some tea from the flask that had graced our table when we arrived.  I also asked for a glass of tap water - which I have to say took a rather long time to arrive (and I had to ask twice for it).  When it finally arrived, it turned out to be hot water in glass!  Hmmm, never had that before when I've asked for a glass of 'tap water'.  Does 'tap' mean hot in Vietnamese?!  I don't think so....

Anyway, I didn't bother to make a fuss, I didn't want another long wait with the potential to get the wrong thing again. 

The condiments for our food arrived first - beansprouts and basil with lime wedge and fresh chilli slices for our beef pho noodles, and dipping sauce (nuoc cham) for our king prawn rice rolls.

The rice paper rolls arrived looking plump and well made.  Although they looked good, they were rather thin on the king prawn.  Those three pieces of prawn that you see in each one were actually halves as opposed to whole and the rest of the stuffing was cabbage, rice vermicelli and basil.  The dipping sauce was thick and gooey, and tasted pretty nice.  I've had better though and I guess you can tell I was pretty dissappointed with the small amount of king prawn.  In fact, we both were.

The beef pho noodles arrived in a big bowl.  We loaded in the beansprouts, basil and chilli with as much lime as we could squeeze.  Mixed the whole thing up and bravo, a yummy bowl of beef pho. 

We both agreed that the beef probably wasn't the 'raw slices of beef' that the menu had described, but rather more like pre-cooked slices of beef that had gone a bit tough.  The broth however was tasty and full of flavour.  

The 'chicken with chilli and lemongrass' arrived next and the waiter, who we think was actually the manager (due to being dressed in his own clothes as opposed to the dark red waiter uniform of the others) seemed a bit put out that he had to place the dish down, and then remove the finished prawn rice paper rolls plate.

Back to the dish though, the veggies tasted lovely with a subtleness of lemongrass.  Although I couldn't find any hint of chilli - in the dish or on my tastebuds.  The chicken was a little fatty for both our liking.  This was OK, nothing special.

The 'water spinach with garlic' arrived in the same manner by the same waiter as the previous dish.  The guy was obviously having a bad night or else is permanently rude.  Nevertheless, this didn't stop us from eating our meal.  Unfortunately for us though, these veggies were slightly overcooked and didn't have the crunchiness that they should do.

The food didn't blow us away, but then at $41 for the lot, I guess we couldn't expect it to.  Service was also off, which doesn't entice me to want to go back there again.  Unless they win an award for an amazing dish or improve their customer service with gold stars, this place isn't a winner dinner for me.  I thought it was only average.  And for a girl who loves to eat and likes to experiment in the kitchen, what do I know...

Thanh Nga Nine
160 Victoria Street, Richmond, VIC 3121
Tel: +61 (0)3 9427 7068

Hours: 10am-10pm Daily

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Pacific BBQ Cafe, Melbourne

I was in the mood for some bbq pork and egg noodles tonight, so what better place to try than the 'Pacific BBQ Cafe' that I had visited for a takeout the other week.  This place was so busy on my previous visit for takeout that I felt compelled to bring my dining companion here to try their bbq pork and roast duck.

We arrived for a fairly early dinner - six o'clock in fact.  It was about half full and we were pointed to a table by the window.  A waiter came over to with two cups of hot tea and utensils on paper napkins. 

Their menu is laid out underneath the clear glass table tops.  It's pretty vast and lists some rather random, somewhat interesting Westernised dishes such as spam and egg sandwich; french toast; fried chips; frankfurter in noodles; diced chicken with corn cream on rice and so on. 

We decided to stick with what this place is most probably known for - bbq and roast meats.  My dining companion chose the 'Mixed roasts (2 meats)' with soup noodles, choosing roast duck and bbq pork.  I also chose the mixed roasts, but with dry egg noodles along with roast chicken and bbq pork.  We also decided to share a plate of greens - 'Water spinach with garlic'.  Yummy!!

Seeing as we had to flag down a waiter by flailing our arms in the air, it was obvious that this would be the only way to catch their attention.

First thing to arrive was the water spinach and it was an unbelievably generous portion.  So generous in fact that we only managed a third of it and had to take the rest home in a takeout box.

The soup noodles with roast duck and bbq pork arrived next.  And what was nice about it was that the meat came on a separate side plate.  Again, a generous portion of noodles with a scattering of pak choy.

I had a little longer to wait for mine.  Not sure why as I was getting pretty much the same but with dry noodles.  When it did arrive, I was ready to eat.  I even got a small bowl of the chicken broth on the side.  The chicken was lovely, juicy and tasty and the bbq pork wasn't too fatty which is just how I like it. 

I can't remember how much the dishes were, but we paid no more than $30.  If you're hungry and you want something quicky, tasty and filling, this place is a good bet.  Don't expect service with a smile though, but do expect to walk out stuffed and hopefully satisfied (like we were).  For a casual Cantonese cafe, it's pretty good.

Pacific BBQ Cafe
213 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel:+61 (0)3 9663 9288

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Royal Derby Hotel, Melbourne

Having never ventured up to Brunswick Street, except for when I was being driven in a car after a meal in Lygon Street months ago (before I started this blog), I was very excited to be paying an actual proper visit to this part of the city.

The 'Royal Derby Hotel' was my destination tonight and it's on the corner of Brunswick and Alexandra Parade.  It's not a hotel as we English know it, it's a pub.  Not your average sort of a pub though.  It's got a cool vibe and a funky eclectic interior with super comfy chairs, a pool table and lots of seating in the outside decked garden area.

You may think it strange that I went to a pub to eat, but I had heard about their 'Award winning' pizzas and at $6 a pop, well who can say no to that! 

My fellow diners and I arrived to a lively pub with eclectic furniture and decor.  We had a table reserved for our group and were shown to the lovely leather couches by the pool tables. 

We ordered a pizza each and since I can't remember the names of the pizzas, I will say that the ingredients were fresh and tasty.  The pizza bases weren't to my personal preference though.  They were thicker than I like, but this is not to say that everybody would or does like super thin paper crust pizza bases like me!

Have a look for yourself...

At $6 a pizza, I was comfortably full and didn't need anything more.  Now, a thin crust at these lovely individual sizes wouldn't have sufficed seeing as I have a healthy appetite at the best of times. 

There's a gorgeous beer garden at the back to enjoy on warm beautiful evenings.  The dance floor gets busy later on at night.  This place is chilled out enough to enjoy a relaxing drink with friends or a good boogie after a few drinks.

Royal Derby Hotel
446 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3065

Tel: +61 (0)3 9417 2321

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Thanh Thanh, Melbourne

Last night, I was back on Victoria Street and this time, I decided to try 'Thanh Thanh'.  A fellow foodie told me that her husband used to frequent this place with his Vietnamese friend as students.  His friend had highly praised it and they still continue to come here.  So of course, I wanted to pay this establishment a visit. 

Arriving just after seven o'clock, there were already throngs of tables full of delicious looking food and hungry diners.  Looking around, I noticed that there were students, couples and families.  I loved the fact that there were families in here with their young kids, it gave the place a friendly, cosy feel.

Sitting down, a waiter came over to place a vacuum flask of tea and two drinking cups down on the table for us .  He also gave us a menu each.  Everything is listed in Vietnamese and English, as one would imagine it to be. 

My fellow diner and I decided to start with some 'Rice paper rolls with prawn'.  At $7, we got four wonderfully rolled rolls!  The peanut and carrot dipping sauce had a smooth consistency that wasn't too gloopy nor too thin as to drip like water.  They were deliciously fresh and plump.

The main meal consisted of a shared plate of 'Rice with grilled pork chop' ($9) and 'Chinese broccoli with garlic' ($14). 

The grilled pork chop with rice was a generous portion, two pork chops on the bone and finely grated cucumber.  The pork chop was simply delicious.  It had a marriage of flavours - not sure what, but at a guess I'd say fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce and garlic.  I know they were whole chops, but I'm not a big fan of sucking meat off the bone and having to cut off fat.  Nonetheless, not exactly hardship for a delicious piece of grilled pork.

The chinese broccoli was equally as delicious.  Gorgeously green, they were juicy and crunch.  The roasted slices of garlic (which looked similar to sliced almonds) were beautifully golden and crisp (unlike the Cantonese style of cooking).  Although they were absolutely sublime, neither of us could polish them off and believe me, I tried my very best to.  We also left a lot of rice.

A truly filling and tasty dinner.  Not exactly a feast, but it really felt like it once we had finished.  We were both so full! 

You get free tea in a vacuum flask here, there are condiments of chilli sauce, soy sauce alongside a box of toothpicks on each table.  The staff were helpful when we were ordering the grilled pork - explaining that shredded pork is in fact the pork skin rather than the meat itself.  

A very pleasant experience and another good Vietnamese meal.

Thanh Thanh
296a Victoria Street, Melbourne, VIC 3121
Tel: +61 (0)3 9428 5633

Mon-Sun: 9:30am-10pm

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