Red Hill Community Market (Vic)

Now you are probably thinking that this does not look like a typical Melbourne cafe. If you are thinking along those lines that  is good. This post is more of an adventure piece. The Chommery and Co. rugged up, filled the ol’ truck with juice and set off for a one hour drive south of Melbourne’s CBD.

The destination was the Red Hill Market, operating on the first Saturday of every month from September through to May (refer to website for more details). Driving for two hours (return trip) on a Saturday is no small task, but I have been here many times and knew that it was well worth it. This market prides itself on hosting over 300 stallholders and is the self titled ‘Great Dame’ of Victoria’s markets. Established in 1975 this beauty seems to only get better each time I have visited over the years.

There is an array of fresh fruits and vegetables available at the market from the surrounding farms including locally produced cheese, bread, wine and dessert. The entire arts and crafts game is not really my scene, nevertheless there is plenty of it at this bad boy. I set forth on the first day of trading in September for one purpose – to eat! We slowly made our way around the stalls, eating as we went. I would describe it as a strolling degustation. One that I would strongly recommend to any foodie. Note: the Delgrosso’s apple juice above is liquid gold!

I have a rich history of scouting in my blood. My two brothers and I are all proud to say that we were once scouts, while my youngest sibling is currently a pack leader – making the family proud. Not to go too far off track, it is an organisation that I hold much respect for and my way of supporting the cause includes visiting their tent at the market. Not to mention, their scones totally rock!

Scones with jam and cream. Rarely would you order scones from a cafe or a restaurant so this was a real treat. They’re handmade by the Red Hill scout group in old barreled drums. You can’t beat home-made, fresh out of the oven scones. And $5.00 for 4 halves – you can’t go wrong.

These are famous caneles. These little gems may not look overly appealing but ask for a tester and you won’t be able to resist buying a few for the drive home. You are not going crazy if you think you have seen this treat before. The company Canele de Bordeaux supply these to many of your favourite Melbourne cafes but for some reason they taste so much better here!

I am sure you can tell this eating frenzy has no rules. Desserts can arrive before mains, and entrees at the end – it doesn’t really matter. An oven full of freshly baked sausage rolls and assorted meat pies is a hard one to miss.

The query was posed before eating this little beauty whether we should add some good ol’ tomato sauce. Let it be known that it was perfectly delicious on its own. This pie was the s#@*! It had generous chunks of lamb and was cooked in amazing rosemary juices. Dare I say – Better than four’n twenty.

Watching this gentleman prepare these Japanese delicacies is truly mesmerizing. You’ll stand and watch perplexed after placing your order for these small Japanese pancakes. Savoury and sweet varieties are available. Just a heads up, be prepared for a small wait – these take time to put the love and care into each one – but well worth it.

We had three different ones in total. Firstly, the chocolate with chocolate cream inside (Top left). Followed by tuna with cheese (bottom right) and lastly the green tea with red bean and cream (bottom left). These are served hot and squishy. The green tea was my pick of the day – save the best ’til last.

Poffertjes! YUMMMMMO! Who could say no to tiny pancakes! It’s like getting that precious part of the muffin in a mouthful, but of pancakes instead. Dusted with icing sugar and drizzled with maple syrup – here’s breakfast. If you ever make a smart move in your eating career you will take it upon yourself to chom a plate of these.

What’s Australia, and Melbourne, without a touch of cultural difference? So we threw in some gyoza, which were very delicious. $10.00 for a serve of 6. We had three chicken + shitake and three pork and shallot. Couldn’t for the life of me tell the difference, but they were great. As good as you would expect in a Melbourne bistro.

Had to save the best for last. The Flying Calamari Bros are a more recent stall to arrive at the market for me. I never saw this when I was a youngen. But I really feel that now I need to make up for some serious lost time. This store contains only one feature in their product line – a cone of calamari @ $12.50.

Worth every single penny. Wow. Just get them. And add the sweet chilli mayo. The calamari pieces are soft and only lightly battered. None of that rubbery crap which seems to plague many restaurants. These are truly heavenly and my market dish of choice.

Take it from me (or don’t – it doesn’t really matter) but this truly is a tremendous market if you are into your food. The stalls open at 8:00am sharp and close  very promptly and efficiently at 1:00pm. The Chommery approved suggestion is to arrive somewhere between 10 and 11am and try to give yourself a relaxing two hour wander from stall to stall. Have a loose $4.00 in change for the local Red Hill Lions Club parking service.

Enough from me – once again I leave it in your capable hands.
Maybe I will catch you at the next market.
Bye for now. :)


Hu Tong Dumpling Bar – Prahran

As Melbourne fast approaches Winter, with a deep chill in the air, leaving the house becomes a task in itself. My desires to travel to uncharted and unfamiliar restaurant territory is quashed precisely for this reason. You may have found yourself in this recent situation, deciding on a particular spot for dinner, coming to the conclusion to go with an old favourite after a lengthy discussion. Further, a place that allows bookings can prevent one from potentially catching pneumonia while standing in a queue for hours on end. Thus, we decided on Hu Tong Dumpling Bar in Prahran. Local – Check. Booking – check. Reliable – check.

This, my friends, is no ordinary door. This is both the entrance to the Hu Tong eatery and a gym work out all in one. If I was you, I would consider a few bicep curls before attempting to push your way through the heavy metal displayed above. Once we entered the restaurant we were glad to have a reservation. Even though we dined on a weeknight, Hu Tong attracts a variety of locals and families looking for a reasonably priced  - it was very busy. Undoubtedly, you will notice a ‘dumpling-preparation viewing station’ as you enter the main dining room. Take a minute to watch the cooks prepare excellent dim sum, in a multitude of varieties, which you will surely be chomming minutes later.

You will notice some of the most elegant restaurateurs in Melbourne sipping Chinese tea and chatting the night away, in the friendly spacious environment. While our numbers weren’t large enough to constitute a round table (my personal favourite), we did notice the unfortunate lack of the ‘lazy susan’ that saddened me ever so slightly. You will love the menu, which, in Japanese fashion, has many photos next to the available dishes. Usually, this does not bode well for a restaurant but in this instance I let it slide.

To begin warming our engines, we dined on vegetable dumplings (12 pieces for $16.80). The interesting green wrappers, with its chewy texture provide a casing for the insides, which formed a piece of vegetable mash. Vinegar, soy and chilli dipping sauce varieties all available for your coating pleasures.

Now we really start to get into the good stuff. The wontons with hot chilli sauce (8 pieces for $12.80) – a must order. These are very soft dumplings and the oil/soy/chilli sauce in which they are bathed matched perfectly with each parcel. Make sure to try to use a soup spoon to get some of the sauce with the wonton when eating. Amazing! Note: these were not very spicy, I would say more on the mild side of hotness.

The staff will always recommend Hu Tong’s signature dumpling dish of  Shao-long Bao (8 pieces for $12.80). Often staff will talk up a dish that often does not match expectations. This is not the case here. I have had these every time I’ve visited Hu’s and you will not regret ordering these. To break it down, these are pork dumplings with captured broth inside the wrapping. Not only are they delicious, but fun to eat as well. A must order. On the back of the menu is an in depth depiction of how to eat these dumplings. A good read, to ensure no spillage of the broth and full eating pleasure.

Peking Duck (Half a duck – 8 pieces for $33.00). Another great appetizer, Hu Tong excel in preparing this dish. Soft duck, crispy skin, warm pancake and a dash of plum sauce. Two pieces each really hit the spot, (especially because they were slightly on the smaller side). Once piece is never enough. There is a funny guide on the back of the menu with steps on how to eat the duck too. Bloody obvious though – chom it in the mouth in one go. Obviously!

Diced chicken in chilli sauce with peanuts ($22.80). This was an appealing and inexpensive large sharing dish. No unique chomming experience here, just a reliable Chinese plate that pleased all. Note: I had to remove the plethora of dried chilli skins from my helping – good practice of chop sticks. The waiter informed us that no vegetables would arrive with our main course but from the photo above it looks like either we got lucky or he gave us wrong information. Either way, it’s always good to have some vegetables – right?

The shredded beef with home made BBQ sauce ($28.80) can be viewed above. These beefs strips were heavily glazed and fried but totally addictive. Without question, the small amount of beef within the batter was of a poor standard. Nevertheless, myself and fellow chommers did not leave any left overs. The photo is quite deceiving in that it looks like a small serve, when in truth the mound of beef was built tall rather than wide.

I’m a little confused as to why Hu Tong is ranked as the third best Melbourne restaurant on Urbanspoon. Don’t get me wrong I have enjoyed all my visits to this spot, but number three – I don’t think so. Here we have a solid mid-range Chinese restaurant, that is family friendly and open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. It is a reliable spot to hit up some classic Chinese food out of the city- just off Chapel Street. Take it from The Chommery; do not hesitate to order more dumplings – that’s where the money’s at!. It’s called a ‘dumpling bar’ for a reason.

The Important Details…

Cuisine: Chinese

Noise: Loads of

Bookings: Yes

Suitable for: All

Dress: Smart casual

Price: $40 a head (not including alcohol)

My View: Superb dumplings found here

Address: 161 Commercial Road, Prahran (The Cullen Hotel)

Phone: (03) 9098 1188

Website: http://www.hutong.com.au

HuTong Dumpling Bar on Urbanspoon


Axil Coffee Roasters – Hawthorn

Axil Coffee Roasters is a brilliant cafe and could very well be one of the best in Melbourne. Need I say more? Probably not. Will I waffle on for a bit and talk about my experience? Yes. If your goal for logging on to this post was to decide whether or not to  try the lovely Axil, I would say, yes, go! If you keep reading, I have warned you that I like to have a good waffle. Mmmmm waffles.

A grand looking entrance that fronts onto to Burwood Road and is situated a few metres away from the corner of Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn. The only outside seating can be seen in the above photo. Personally, I think you will have a much more enjoyable Axil experience sitting within the beast.

A bright open dining area that makes use of the signature Melbourne exposed ventilation and hanging lights among other pleasant features. You may notice the great hanging pot plant display that divides the space between the eating-in customers and the abundance of staff working their butts off behind a long work bench on the right hand side.

The soy latte was creamy, bubble free and smooth($4.00). I wouldn’t expect anything else from a cafe that not only has their own Axil coffee products station, but also a full roasting factory at the rear of the premises. You can tell that the crew behind this joint are most definitely into coffee, as well as coffee related paraphernalia.

How can anyone go past a steak sandwich ($17.00)? But really, a classic Aussie favourite that dates back to when Captain Cook first discovered Australia. Served in toasted turkish bread with rocket salad and other nice insides, not to mention a decent quality fillet. The side potato salad with mayo and red onion was a nice companion. If the other sangas are also getting served in halves, could be an option to split with a friend to sample a second.

You may have heard of the BigMac index, more recently the iPod index. The latest one of all, taking Melbourne by storm is the smashed avocado and fetta index. Now that this breakfast dish has become a staple addition to pretty much every cafe in Melbourne, we can make our own measures and conclusions of each one. Lo and behold, the smashed avocado ($14.50) at Axil was pretty damn good. This was the consensus of the group and not just the humble opinion of  The Chommery. Points were awarded for the second piece of sourdough, the overly generous serving of mash and the complementary lemon.

Doesn’t the combination of greens, white, red, yellow and a few more shades of green just look magnificent. Even if this dish tasted like crap – which it certainly did not, I would have to give votes just for the amazing use of colour. These were the fritters ($17.00). A careful incision was made by no one else but a budding surgeon on this poached egg. He deemed it to be impeccably cooked.

A pasta/gnocchi dish is a very upmarket (dinner-esque) offering for a cafe – I wanted one of my fellow chommers to order it so we could see how Axil’s fared. We ordered the veal ragu with gnocchi (yes – I know that is penne ($21.00). The penne was a late substitution and we were all a little worried when we were informed of this by our bubbly waitress. The pasta was cooked exactly to our liking, al dente, and none of that watery soggy stuff either. The small cubes of veal were almost falling apart off the fork as you took each mouthful. What a great variation to standard cafe fare – a beautiful dish.

The food just kept getting better and better. The lamb wrap ($17.00) was really sensational. The lamb had been prepared in a similar fashion to the veal, in that it was as soft as cake – too good. An amazing (possibly home-made) tomato salsa and humus dressing formed a bed for the tabouleh to rest on top. My only criticism is that after I had been peer pressured to fold up the wrap and start eating it like a man, the package became much smaller. This in turn, meant my eating experience was much quicker.

I took the time to find the real definition of the word axil. Until earlier I thought it had something to do with bikes and levers. Dictionary.com defines it as ‘the upper surface of a branch or leafstalk and the stem from which it grows’ (WTF is correct). I tried several times to combine this with a witty ending note for my post using the name in some sort of pun. The result was negative. I will leave you on this note.

No more waffling, time to get serious. Axil Coffee Roasters is the bomb. Go and enjoy a beautiful breakfast or lunch.

The Important Details…

Cuisine: Cafe

Noise: Not quiet

Suitable for: All

Dress: As you like

Price: $15 – $25 a head

My View: One of Melbourne’s best Cafe – well in my top 10

Address: 322 Burwood Road, Hawthorn

Phone: (03) 9819 0091

Website: http://www.axilcoffee.com.au/

Axil Coffee Roasters on Urbanspoon


San Telmo – Melbourne

San Telmo is known to many as one of the oldest suburbs in Argentina. One that is very popular with tourists seeking a real Buenos Aires experience by walking the cobblestone streets while observing the antique stores that line the way. San Telmo, Melbourne, is known to many ‘in the know Melbournians’ as a new and exciting restaurant, which is churning out customers night after night, serving up excellent Argentinian fare. Due to my recent trip to the South of America, I like to think of myself as an adequate judge of this cuisine, and I tell you, the crew here are doing a bang up job.

Could Argentinian be a new food trend to take Melbourne by storm?

Located on Meyers Place in Melbourne’s city, San Telmo could be considered just a number in the scheme of top restaurants in this part of the city. Open for breakfast Monday to Friday from 8am through to lunch and dinner till late and from 9am till late on the weekends, you can rest easy that you will find a time that suits. A pleasant entrance, which isn’t too fancy, one would have no idea of the treasures inside.

The restaurant is a large space that spans from the formal entrance in Meyers Place through to the parallel lane way of Windsor Place. The above photo displays the open kitchen where you can sit and watch these guys boil while cooking many different pieces of meat. The floor is lined with black and white tiles around the kitchen and changes to dark red carpet for the majority of the restaurant. Staff in serious work aprons, cow hide along the wall, with a massive display of wines and thick leather place mats lining the tables are some of the interesting features you may notice upon arrival.

Empanadas are a very popular snack to get you through the day while touring Argentina and will often find their way to becoming an entree before any lunch or dinner. We ordered both varieties of Empanadas on offer – firstly,  beef, egg and olives. The other was provolone, mozzarella, basil and capsicum ($6.00each). To my surprise, these were heavily fried, which is interesting because I only remember eating baked ones during my travels. Nevertheless, they were a delicious treat to begin the feast and can be easily divided in half using a knife or the hands god gave you.

Humitas – fried corn, polenta and chipotle mayonnaise ($12.00). I like to think of polenta chips as the newer and cooler version of french fries and for some odd reason I convince myself they are healthier. They are, right? Delicately crunchy with a hot soft gooey inside, each bite was heaven. I may have overdressed the polenta sticks in the light mayo provided – it tasted so damn good it had to happen.

Ceviche is a common dish found in many South American destinations, from my experience, namely Peru. It  usually consists of raw fish dressed in a tangy or spicy sauce and served cold. We ordered the white fish, chilli, sweet potato and ginger ceviche ($16.00). Very soft, bite sized pieces of cold fish were used,  small enough to be fully coated in the superb dressing.

Provoleta – grilled provolone cheese ($12.00). Provoleta or saganaki? Are these one and the same or are they cousins? – one from Arg and the other from Greece. I am not going to debate backgrounds, I’d much rather just say: – Intense. The only word I can think of to describe how good this starter is. Squish that lemon juice all over and slice this warm piece of dairy up as well as you can out of the dark ceramic serving dish. We shared between three and that was perfect.

You will order a Chorizo Argentino – pork sausage ($14.00). It is a hefty price tag to pay for a single snag but once you sink your teeth into the pre-cut slices of juicy meat you will easily forget finances. Might I mention this is best suited for two people (three at a massive stretch) and once you have one slice, you are drooling for more. I found this to be a little oily in hindsight but considering how quickly this dish was chommed, it is amazing that any neurons had time to process a conclusion.

Zanahorias – Burnt carrots, thyme and goat’s cheese ($12.00). These soft, buttery carrots were a pleasant side to the upcoming meats. Might I mention the excellent use of melted goat’s cheese rather than the standard solid cubes you will find with breakfast.

Just to throw it out there, I have a fetish for ribs. They are fun to eat, are generally extremely flavoursome and just a top notch dish to put smiles on every face. Tira de Asado – Beef short ribs ($28.00) These ticked all my boxes as I chewed the bones dry of the salty but carefully charred little treasures. A decent size serve, cut up to share, is great to  put in the middle. My accompanying Chommer did not agree with my view of these treats with the comment “they have fantastic flavour but there is little meat and are thus predominantly fat and bone.”

Something inside bellows that you have to put some greens on the table. So we followed our thoughts and ordered Pimientos con heuvos – Grilled capsicum, with egg, beans and olives ($10.00). Very self-explanatory salad with a perfectly poached egg on top just in case you haven’t had enough protein in the meal.

We probably didn’t need to order any more, but we did any way and, before we knew it, the Asado especial del dia – 8 hour slow cooked lamb ($39.00) was perched on our table. This dish is only available after 6:00pm due to the lengthy cooking time and results in amazing, tender pieces of lamb that melt in your mouth (aka no teeth required for this succulent meat). Brilliant! – mind you there are still those fatty pieces which always accompany lamb.

You don’t always have to order dessert, you don’t, control yourself…..We will have one Flan de dulce de leche please. The Flan with caramel and salted peanuts ($14.00). A sweet end to a meal is always a good end to a meal. This perfectly sized, soft creamy option was a winner and ideal to share. A couple of mouthfuls is all you need. If you are a Where’s Wally expert, I’m sure you undoubtedly saw the problem with the above photo. (Don’t tell anyone, but someone couldn’t wait for the photo to be taken – a bite is missing from the rear end)

The standard of food and drink in Buenos Aires, Argentina was exceptional to say the least (of course, granted you know where to dine). During my short visit last year, we ate meat every night till the sweats came on and drank amazing red wines well into the early morning (probably too often). San Telmo is your more local alternative if you can’t get to Argentina in the near future. Besides the pricing, I found this place to be a very authentic Argentinian Bistro that includes a variety of Argentinian wines such as Malbec, which brought back some cherished memories of South America. Make a booking, aim to go with four people or more and don’t be scared to try it all because ‘La comida es rica! (the food is delicious!)

The Important Details…

Cuisine: Argentinian

Noise: Yep, plenty

Bookings: Yes, via phone and website

Suitable for: Over 18+ crowd

Dress: Casual – smart

Price: $65 per person

My View: Pricy authentic Argentinian well worth seeking

Address: 14 Meyers Place, Melbourne

Phone: (03) 9650 5526

Website: http://www.santelmo.com.au/main/index

San Telmo on Urbanspoon


Colonel Tan’s – Prahran

The chommer: Have you been to Colonel Tan’s yet?
Random:  Have I been to Cairns?
The chommer: No, have you eaten at the groovy Thai restaurant inside the club at Revolver.
Random: In Revolver? There is a Thai restaurant there? Bullsh*t!
The Chommer: You don’t have to believe me, but there is. It’s pretty bloody good too.

You will notice there is no real street frontage on Chapel Street and don’t consider yourself silly if you walk past the entrance on your first visit. I am a regular here and I still drive past the building many times, forgetting where to enter from. Combined with the fact that I am a terrible driver, and an even worse navigator – maybe I’m not the best one to listen to on directions. When you arrive, you will know you are here when you see the large menu on the side of the small entrance, a massive security guard out front and quite possibly the steepest stairs you have ever seen or managed.

For any one that has been to Revolver before, the inside is completely different to what you may remember what it was like on Saturday and Sunday nights (and mornings). The floor is clean from beer and other stickiness, you can breathe more easily and the temperature is cool, meaning you won’t be sweating (unless of course the chilli does it to you). There are sophisticated adults and sometimes children as part of the regular clientele. Assorted retro tables and chairs (similar to Galleon) with a large assortment of low couches are your options when eating. Note: I would request the tables – My intestines digest significantly better when I am sitting at a table during my meals. Many will never come to grips that Colonel Tan’s and Revolver are one and the same with alternating masks, depending on the occasion.

The feature of the dining room is the large island bar that stretches from the rear of the club along side diners at Tan’s. The fence/cage-like structure that falls from the roof is used to display many spirits on offer and is very different and effective.  The drinks list is comprised of an assortment of red and white wines predominantly sourced from Australian wineries, a page worth of cocktails and a very generous list of bottled beers, of which many are imported.

The Leffe Blonde beer ($8.50) imported from Belgium went down a treat with the Thai flavours to come. The colonel describes this beer as a ‘cherry popper ale and an old friend’. Our conclusion was a beer  that is  hoppy, light and you can taste the yeast.

To begin the meal for the evening, we had the pork and prawn donuts with chilli jam ($12.50). To be honest, I have never had donuts presented in a savoury manner, double skewered, heavily deep fried and served with a chilli relish. I hate to be highly critical, but these were not an amazing starter. The taste was good but everything deep fried usually is, so they were obviously eaten.

I did make sure that I ordered a dish that I knew I had a strong love affair with. The sweet potato and cashew dumplings with chilli soy ($12.50) are to die for. Even though the Colonel recently revamped the menu by including a handful of additional dishes, he made sure that he kept the classics. The chewy skin, combined with the soft warm potato makes for an amazing different version of the dumpling. Once you coat it with the sauce – it’s food bliss. Only issue – we were two – and given three. These most certainly are signature classics and a must order when you go to Tan’s. .

Thai beef salad with lettuce, basil and red onion ($ escapes me – sorry). The salad part of this dish made use of very uninteresting vegetables. It was saved by the tender slices of lightly cooked beef which were very delicious. The photo looks as though they were stingy with the beef, my eyes agreed at the time it was served. Surprisingly, there were quite a few of those slices hidden between the lettuce.

Fat duck noodles ($16.50). Another classic, which I order each time I visit here – these should never be taken off the menu. The shavings of duck, combined with the soft oyster based dressing and my absolute favourite flat rice noodles make for a top combination. I would recommend dividing this  between two or three people with another main for sure.

To be as bold to say that the Thai Green chicken curry with rice and salted egg ($15.50) is one of the best curries that I have ever had, is a potentially controversial statement. Well, it’s definitely up there in my favourites. Basil, tender chicken pieces and just enough chilli to give a little kick make for excellent solids. Unquestionably, the smooth, sweet, coconut sauce is where the money’s at. The portion isn’t large, to be fair neither is the price tag or maybe I’m just saying it because this leaves you wanting more.

Colonel Tan’s is proudly created by Karen Batson, the lady who is responsible for the amazing cheffing that occurs at Toff in Town and Cookie inside Curtin House on Swanston Street. Clearly, you will see that the Asian/Thai influence has run consistently through each of her beloved children and shines out of the Colonel Tan’s menu. Colonel Tan’s is a great casual restaurant, serving up the people’s favourite dishes in a semi-hipster bar environment. Not to mention, that this is a much more financially friendly Thai alternative in Melbourne. You may not see the Tan name winning three chef hats any time soon but you will always see many happy faces eating and drinking in the heart of Prahran.

The Important Details…

Cuisine: Thai

Noise: Reasonably loud and atmospheric range of music (often played by a DJ)

Bookings: Yes, via phone

Suitable for: 18+ generally (Children allowed if accompanied)

Dress: Casual

Price: Roughly $30 – $40 per head

Tips: Tuesday night is trivia night, students receive 20% off the bill when they present their student card, and those living in the Prahran post code 3181 receive 50% off the bill (excluding alcohol) on Thursdays

My view: Cheap, cheerful and generally very yummy

Address: 229 Chapel Street, Prahran (Revolver upstairs)

Phone: (03) 9521 5985

Website: http://www.coloneltans.com.au/

Colonel Tan's on Urbanspoon


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