Gyoza Gyoza

115/117 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Nestled in the middle of Melbourne's Chinatown, Gyoza Gyoza is a small Japanese restaurant which boasts an Izakaya style gyoza bar. Gyoza Gyoza is a good place to get cheap bites and drinks with most of their tapas style dishes priced at $6.80.

Busy weekday night

Gyoza sauces and condiments

Pork and garlic gyoza $4.50

The pork and garlic gyoza was on special for $4.50 so I decided to order it. The flavour of the filling was good with a distinct garlic taste to it and although it was cooked well there was only a small amount of filling in the gyoza.

Beef tataki salad $6.80

The beef tataki salad had a good contrast of different textures with the tender beef and crispy salad as well as some sesame seeds on top. The dressing added a creamy sesame flavour to the dish which rounded off the dish nicely.

Gyu tan no shio yaki (Ox tongue) $6.80

The ox tongue was served on a hotplate with a plate of salt (shio) and lemon on the side. The dish was cooked well and had a good flavour profile, however being served on the hotplate lifted the dish to another level, as it kept cooking parts of the ox tongue leaving a slight crispy edge on some of the pieces of ox tongue.

Gyoza Gyoza can get quite busy on the weekend and it is easy to see why. With their quick service, cheap izakaya style dining and drinks menu, Gyoza Gyoza is a great place to visit with friends casually or for after work drinks.

Food Rating 7.5/10

Overall Rating 7.5/10

FOF Rotary Hotpot

481 Victoria Street, Abbotsford

FOF Rotary Hotpot is well known as a hotpot restaurant in the Abbotsford area and has gained immense popularity over the years as the first and only hotpot train in Melbourne. Located by the Abbotsford side of Victoria street, FOF Rotary Hotpot not only serves its unique variant of hotpot but also has sushi and other fried foods.

Victoria street

Very orange decor

Sushi fridge

The sushi was hidden in a small fridge with fogged up glass in the corner of the restaurant. I had to question the freshness of the sushi because of the presentation and appearance of the sushi, however it did not taste particularly bad.

Personal hotpots

The first thing you do when you arrive is to order one of the soup bases for your personal hotpot. The soup bases available were the spicy soup, miso soup, tom yum soup and the nutrition soup as well as a variety of condiments and sauces.

Hotpot train

There was a large variety of different items available for the hotpot, however only a select few of them were available on the train and the others had to be personally ordered from the menu. 

The service that night was quite slow as they were very busy, when we asked for our soup to be topped up we had to wait until it had almost evaporated all the way to the bottom. The food however was not bad and the soup base was quite flavourful. Overall I would say you get what you pay for. There are definitely better hotpot restaurants in Melbourne, however they may be more expensive and this is definitely a different experience.

Food Rating 6.5/10

Overall Rating 6/10

Yo-Chi

673 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn

There have been a lot of frozen yogurt stores opening around Melbourne lately and one of the more popular ones is Yo-Chi Frozen Yogurt. Yo-Chi is great place to relax and meet people with a laid back atmosphere over frozen yogurt.

Bright shopfront

Chic decor

Great hangout place

Variety of flavours

There were a total of eight available flavours when I visited Yo-Chi. I could not pick a single favourite flavour, however I equally enjoyed the salted butterscotch and coconut.

Toppings

Even more toppings

There are a good range of different toppings here, from fruit to chocolate and other goodies to add flavour or texture.

Chocolate and goodies

Almost all of the flavours and toppings

Vanilla, coconut and salted butterscotch

My friend chose to pick as many different flavours and toppings as they wanted and they enjoyed the mixture. I personally chose to have three of the lighter flavours and coupled them with the toppings that would add texture to the frozen yogurt, of these toppings the crunchy cornflake topping was by far the best and I felt like I could eat and entire bowl of the topping by itself.

The staff were also very friendly and helpful. They approached me to help pick out some flavours and offered to let me taste some of the flavours before I chose. Definitely a great hangout spot where you don't have to spent as much and I would definitely come back here.

Food Rating 8/10

Overall Rating 8.5/10

Richmond Oysters

437-443 Church Street, Richmond


Richmond Oysters has been a Melbourne establishment for over 50 years. Starting out as a single fronted retail outlet, Richmond Oysters has grown into one of Melbourne's most well known seafood restaurants while still maintaining their roots as a retail store with wholesale operations.

Restaurant front

Kitchen

Garlic bread $7.00

We ordered the garlic bread as a side to go with the platter as we wanted something with texture. It was nice and crunchy, but we ended up using some of the bread to mop up the left over sauce in the mussel pot as there was a lot of flavour in it.

Pacific oysters 3 ways $33.00

Deluxe platter $325.00

A beautifully arranged array of seafood goodness, the deluxe platter included all kinds of different seafood that was prepared in different ways. Not just a visual marvel, all of the seafood on the platter tasted fresh and well prepared with different textures and flavours. My favourites from the platter would have to be the pacific reef tiger prawns, the mussel pot and of course the lobster mornay.

Friendly service combined with a large variety of seafood created a great feast. I would definitely recommend Richmond Oysters for a seafood fix but be prepared to pay a hefty amount for it.

Food Rating 8.5/10

Overall Rating 8.5/10

Borsch, Vodka & Tears

173 Chapel Street, Windsor

Borsch, Vodka & Tears is a Polish restaurant and bar located on Melbourne's Chapel Street. Styled after a Kraków cellar bar, Borsch, Vodka & Tears specialises in Polish vodka, authentic wormwood absinthe and contemporary Polish dishes.

Na zdrowie!

A range of decor

Bartenders in action

White borsch $15.50

Dining at Borsch, Vodka & Tears meant that we definitely had to try their namesake dish, the Polish white borsch. The borsch was a hearty soup with lots of different elements and great flavours that helped warm me up on a cold night.

Bison wings $16.50

12 Hour roast pork $19.00

There were some ups and downs to the dishes we ordered. While the portion sizes were good for the price, the 12 hour roast pork was under-seasoned and the wings were slightly overcooked as well as the sauce not being as spicy as I expected it to be.

Orange and pomegranate caipiroska $16.00

The orange and pomegranate caipiroska was the highlight of the night. A great balance of sweetness from the muddled orange, a slight amount of pomegranate and mint flavour with the vodka base completing the drink.

Although the food had a few small issues to it, the great atmosphere and drinks of the bar as well as the attentive service made for a great experience. I will definitely be coming back to try out more of their extensive drinks menu.

Food Rating 7.5/10

Overall Rating 8/10

CJ Lunch Bar

Shop 2/391 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

I have been going to CJ Lunch Bar for many years now and a variety of things just keep me coming back for more. CJ Lunch Bar is a small Korean restaurant located at the end of Hardware Lane that specialises in Korean lunch food. Well known for their cheap and filling bento boxes for takeaway as well as their cheese and chicken bulgogi, CJ Lunch Bar is a great place for Korean comfort food.

At the end of Hardware Lane

Small interior

Side dishes

Bibim Naengmyeon $15.00

I decided to try the bibim naengmyeon today as I wanted something different from the hot food I normally order. It came presented well with a generous serving of the toppings as well as the red pepper sauce. The dish was flavoured well and has just the right amount of heat, something I would definitely order again.

The service at this restaurant is one of the main reasons I keep on returning. The staff are quick and efficient and the waitress who was serving me was very attentive. Even though it was busy in the restaurant, I was instantly brought more side dishes the moment I finished them off and all of this was done with a big smile.

Food Rating 8/10

Overall Rating 9/10

Malaysian Laksa House

449 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Malaysian Laksa House is a small eatery that replaced the popular Coconut House, which was known by many as having the best laksa in the Melbourne CBD. Eager to try out the new establishment's laksa, we dined here on a weekday night which happened to be a busy night. 

Busy night

Deep fried chicken ribs

The deep fried chicken ribs was a disappointing dish. The chicken was overcooked and dry and the coating was hard and difficult to bite through.

Hawker curry laksa $10.80

Combination curry laksa $9.80

They had quite a large range of different laksa ranging from the multiple types of seafood laksa to the hawker style curry laksa. I ordered the hawker style curry laksa, which was the traditional laksa base and ingredients but with a chicken drumstick and fried egg sitting on top. The flavour of the laksa was well developed with a good amount of spice, but the noodles were overcooked and soft.

Having replaced the popular Coconut House restaurant we were expecting good things from Malaysian Laksa House. However we felt that both the service and some of the food was lackluster, but with a little bit of improvement, this could definitely be a solid Malaysian restaurant.

Food Rating 5.5/10

Overall Rating 5.5/10

Mr Ramen San

Midcity Arcade, 208-210 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

A short walk from Melbourne Central, Mr Ramen San is a small and cosy store serving Hakata style ramen out of Melbourne Chinatown's Midcity Arcade. The Hakata style ramen they are known for comes from the Japanese prefecture of Fukuoka, which is known for both their pork dishes and as the home of the rich tonkotsu ramen.

Chinatown's Midcity arcade

Cosy atmosphere

The first things you notice when you walk in are the greeting of "irasshaimase" from the staff and the great atmosphere of the area. There are some funky posters of Japanese pop culture and timeless anime classics such as My Neighbour Totoro and Akira contrasting against the traditional Japanese restaurant decor.

Teriyaki charsu ramen, miso base $14.90 

It was a very cold night out so I decided to order the teriyaki charsu ramen with a miso soup base. The pork was tender and flavoured well, the ajitsuke tamago had the perfect consistency and the bean sprouts on top added a good texture. However, being used to the strong flavours of the Hokkaido style miso ramen, the light soup base was quite different from my expectations. The soup was not bad by any means, however there was barely any of the miso taste I expected and it left me wondering if I had actually placed the wrong order.

Although the bowl of ramen may seem small for the price, they offer extra noodles at no extra charge so the value is definitely there. The good food, the atmosphere along with the friendly and attentive staff make for a great restaurant and a must try for any ramen lover.

Food Rating 8/10

Overall Rating 8.5/10