Umaido

Box Hill Central, 1 Main Street, Box Hill

Umaido is a small udon restaurant which sits in the middle of Box Hill Central Shopping Center. Originally Umaido was a self service restaurant, similar to those which are popular in Japan, but they have since changed into a normal restaurant with a wider menu.

Umaido

Bukkake ontama mentaiko udon $7.20

The udon served at Umaido is usually cooked quite well, however the flavours were out of balance. Mentaiko is usually something which adds a different spice and flavour to dishes, however the mentaiko used in this udon dish only left it with an overpowering fishiness.

Tori karaage $7.80

The chicken karaage here was quite possibly the worst chicken karaage that I have ever tasted. The chicken was dry and the coating was soggy and falling apart, which made for a very disappointing dish.

Japanese vegetable korokke $3.80

While Umaido was a restaurant I quite enjoyed visiting when they just opened, a lot has changed since then. Instead of the excitement and fun of a self serve line, the atmosphere has changed into a drab and dreary one. I would much rather make the journey to the city and visit Udon Yasan instead of Umaido if I were craving udon.

Food Rating 4.5/10

Overall Rating 4.5/10

High Tea at Alluvial Restaurant

Intercontinental Melbourne - The Rialto, 495 Collins Street, Melbourne

High Tea at the InterContinental will have a new home starting from the 21st of January 2017. The new location at the Alluvial Restaurant means that the offering will be enhanced with the addition of a dessert buffet, chocolate fountain and lolly bar.

From the moment you enter the beautiful Alluvial Restaurant for the first time, you are instantly taken away by the beautiful architectural brilliance, which is only enhanced by the extravagant layout of elegant tea cups, roses and menus for the High Tea.

The Intercontinental Hotel

Architectual brilliance

Live string trio

TWG teas

The High Tea offers tea from TWG, one of the finest luxury tea brands in the world. The TWG brand was established in Singapore in 1837. Given the luxury status of the brand, it is difficult to find in your typical cafe.

The range of teas on offer included the English Breakfast, French Earl Grey, Moroccan Mint, and Silver Moon. The tea I personally tried was the Moroccan Mint tea, which exuded a brilliant minty fragrance as it was being poured. The tea itself however was not as strong, as explained to me by a representative of TWG at the event.

Elegant layout

High Tea menu

Buttermilk Scones with Darbo jams, lemon curd, double cream

Asparagus & ricotta quiche tartlet

Beef Wellington

Smoked cod croquette with red pepper coulis

Ham with Jarlsberg cheese sandwich

Cucumber and tzatziki on swiss white

Tomato relish on light rye

Salmon and cream cheese bagel

The High Tea menu was a concoction of both savoury hot items, cold sandwiches and scones. As a lifelong lover of scones, I could not help but start from the top of the stand and work my way down. Made by head chef Clint Jackson as an interpretation from a old family recipe, the scones were perhaps some of the greatest that I have tried. The savoury items served, as well as the sandwiches, each had their own unique flavour interpretation from modern classics, such as the salmon and cream cheese bagel and beef wellington, which gave the offering some character, as opposed to some High Teas which may come off as a little boring.

Chocolate fountain & lolly bar

Dessert Buffet

Dessert Buffet pt.2

As the new addition to the High Tea, the beautiful dessert buffet acted as the centerpiece of the room. The dessert buffet boasted a vibrant range of desserts, from the velvety macarons to a selection of small cakes as well as fruits and donuts.

The dessert buffet was not only there for its looks, as the selection of cakes was beautifully balanced with the right amount of sweetness. My favourite from the selection would definitely have to be the chocolate brownie with peanut butter and walnut, although the chocolate mousse and crushed hazelnut pot I tried was slightly too sweet for me.

High Tea at the InterContinental Hotel was an absolutely wonderful experience which I would recommend everybody to try at least once. I was lucky enough to be invited to be a part of a sneak preview of what the High Tea will be and I will definitely be back once the High Tea comes out.

We were invited and dined courtesy of The InterContinental Hotel, to read more about the story behind the High Tea, check The InterContinental's blog here.

Food Rating 8.5/10

Overall Rating 9.5/10

Secret Kitchen

222 Exhibition Street, Melbourne

Secret Kitchen is one of many Chinese restaurants around Melbourne which offer daily yum-cha. One of the things that set Secret Kitchen apart from competing Chinese restaurants is their live seafood aquarium, which is known as the biggest in Melbourne.

Secret Kitchen

Jasmine tea

Eggplant with minced chicken and salted fish hot pot $24.80

Special lamb hotpot

Spiced salt and pepper baby beef ribs $36.80

Pan seared prawn with duck yolk $38.80

The prawn dish was the most lackluster of the dishes we were served that night. The prawns themselves were very tough and overcooked, while the duck yolk was dry and very salty, which was not a very good combination. 

Wok tossed pipis with spicy seafood X.O. sauce $28.80

The wok tossed pipis were the first of my two favourite dishes served that night. The pipis were cooked nicely in very flavourful sauce, but the thing that I liked the most about this dish was that the pipis were clean and did not have any grit in them.

BBQ roasted and suckling pig platter $42.80

The BBQ platter was the second of my two favourite dishes of the night. The dish itself was a combination of duck, char siu, BBQ pork and suckling pig, which contained lovely flavour, as well as the pork having amazingly crispy skin.

Stir fried mushrooms in superior soy sauce $28.80

Coconut milk and black glutinous rice cake $8.80

Green tea osmanthus cake $8.80

Banana fritter with ice cream $8.80

Banana and red bean pancake $9.80

As Secret Kitchen is mainly a yum-cha restaurant, the desserts on offer were very similar to those you would find at a yum-cha lunch. My favourites were the green tea osmanthus cake, which had three different layers as well as a very fragrant overall taste and the banana fritter which was fried perfectly with a good amount of ice-cream goodness.

A Chinese feast like this can only really be judged as a whole. Although the meal had its ups and downs, I would say that it was quite pleasant overall. The quality of the food was definitely higher than I would normally find at a large Chinese restaurant, but that is definitely reflected in the pricing of the menu items.

Food Rating 7.5/10

Overall Rating 7.5/10

Kitchen Republik

Box Hill Central, 1 Main Street, Box Hill

Kitchen Republic also formerly known as Food Republik, is a large restaurant area which resembles a food court. They have cuisine on offer from different restaurants, such as Old Tong's Beef Noodle, Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao, Taiwan Cafe and Dessert Story, all condensed into a single area.

Taiwanese XL fried chicken rice box $11.50

The Taiwanese fried chicken rice box is one of the most popular items on their menu. The cheap and filling rice box is perfect for a quick lunch, with a crispy coated chicken fillet, a fried egg, vegetables and rice included.

Hsin hsu pork balls noodle soup $10.90

Fried chicken maryland noodle soup $10.90

The food served at Kitchen Republic is very similar to the standard Taiwanese style food you can find in many places around Box Hill. What sets Kitchen Republic apart from the other restaurants would be that they have many different restaurant's menus all condensed into a single restaurant menu, so you can enjoy a wide range of food, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert or even just a snack.

Food Rating 7/10

Overall Rating 7/10

Bhoj

New Quay, 4/54 New Quay Promenade, Docklands

Bhoj is a long standing Indian restaurant with many years of history in Melbourne's Indian restaurant scene behind it. Having started out as a restaurant in Templestowe in Melbourne's east, Bhoj soon moved to the current waterfront location in the Docklands and has been there for 13 years now. While the first thing that people think of when it comes to Indian cuisine is curry, chef and owner Rajesh Mehta has brought out more than that in Bhoj, with Indian street food favourites and other regional dishes. 

Bhoj

Papadums

Red chilli, coriander & mint and sweet tamarind chutney

The chutney served with the papadums showcased a variety of different flavours found in Indian cuisine. The contrasting flavours of the spicy red chilli, refreshing coriander and sweet tamarind chutneys were an excellent beginning the to meal, as it worked wonders on our appetite.

Pani puri

Pani puri is an Indian street-side favourite. The rice crisps, also known as puri are served with the pani, which is a hot and tangy coriander infused water. We were informed that as it was our first time trying the pani puri, it might be slightly strange, so we were served it with some sweet tamarind chutney. The dish itself was a fun mixture of flavours and textures, which when combined with the refreshing hit of the pani, was quite enjoyable.

Hoshiapuri champaan 

The hoshiapuri champaan were hot lamb cutlets marinated in malt vinegar, cumin powder and medium spices, barbequed and finished with a tangy sauce. One of my favourite dishes of the night, the spiced lamb cutlets were cooked very nicely, albeit slightly dry and were absolutely bursting with flavour.

Sounth palak papdi

Gunpowder chicken

The gunpowder chicken was coated in a South Indian five spice gunpowder batter, then deep fried. The chicken itself was quite tender and the spice left the chicken with a good amount of seasoning and flavour. The problem with the dish was that the batter was very thick and absorbed some of the oil, which caused the coating to be dense and unpleasant.

Selection of curries

After we finished our entrees we were already quite satisfied and full. However, as we were just starting to relax, our mains arrived. Although all of the curries that we were served each had a unique set of flavours from the spices and aromatics, our favourite would have to be creamy butter chicken. The dish was smooth yet mild which meant you could taste the flavours without it being overpowering.

Raita

The food at Bhoj was a vibrant display of much of what Indian cuisine has to offer. The meal we were offered had both large bold and large flavours as well as portions, as we could barely finish it. There are many different dishes to try at Bhoj and the relaxed atmosphere as well as the waterfront location make it a must try if you love Indian cuisine!

We were invited and dined courtesy of Bhoj.

Food Rating 8/10

Overall Rating 8.5/10

Melba

1 Southgate Avenue, Southbank

Melba has long been known to Melbournians as one of the best, as well as one of the most expensive buffets in Melbourne. Housed in the luxurious Langham Hotel, Melba Restaurant fits right in with the opulent beauty of the surrounding area, as it brings its quality food and service to Southbank, which is an area known for its many fine restaurants.

The buffet

Fresh seafood 

The seafood on the seafood display looked beautifully fresh and was one of the first displays I decided to visit. The mussels and prawns were both lovely and I consumed more than my fair share of them, however while some of the oysters were quite fresh, a couple of the oysters I picked out had an odd taste to them which was a bit nasty.

Sashimi cabinet

The sashimi cabinet was always attended to by a chef which sliced the fish to order. I tried a little bit of all the fish that was available, which had a fresh flavour and firm texture.

Antipasto and cheese

Five spice pork belly

Roast duck

The hot food on offer at Melba was best described as mediocre. While some of the items were excellent and flavourful, a lot of the items had become dry due to the heat lamps they use. While it was not bad, I would definitely expect a restaurant of Melba's caliber to be better, as it is definitely one of the most expensive buffets in Melbourne.

Dessert cabinet

As I was getting full on the hot food at Melba, I started eyeing the dessert cabinet. There were a range of colourful desserts on offer, my favourite of which were the chocolate mousse, bread and butter pudding and the different slices available. The desserts were not too sweet and the textures of the smooth chocolate mousse and soft bread and butter pudding made the desserts a lovely conclusion to the buffet.

Food Rating 7.5/10

Overall Rating 8/10