Shophouse Kitchen

Shop 29-31, QV Square, Corner Swanston and Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Hong Kong style cuisine is a style of food that is under-represented, specifically in the Melbourne CBD. Apart from a few specific restaurants, such as D-House Cafe and the hidden Hayday Hong Kong Cafe, it can be quite hard to find these styles of restaurants outside of the suburbs. Shophouse Kitchen is one of these restaurants that serve the Hong Kong style cuisine, as well as offering many other Asian dishes in their expansive menu.

 Shophouse Kitchen

Coconut Juice

Baked seafood with fried rice $13.90

One of the dishes that I like the order the most at Hong Kong style cafes and restaurants is the baked rice. Usually I like to make a combination of the cream and tomato sauce for the baked rice, but there wasn't an option to choose more than one of these during my visit. I do however like to try things differently so I was not really fussed by this. Unfortunately, I did find that with just the cream sauce and the melted mozarella on top, that the dish was too rich for my taste. I believe that if half of the cream sauce had been the tomato based sauce, the dish would have been much better, as the tart flavour of the tomato would have cut through the rich cream and cheese to allow the seafood to shine through.

Food Rating 6.5/10

Overall Rating 6.5/10

Daniel's Donuts

819 Princes Highway, Springvale

Daniel's Donuts is a bakery specialising in donuts that is beloved by many. Due to their 24/7 opening hours, many people including myself, often find themselves visiting Daniel's Donuts for their donut fix at the strangest of hours, and as such, they have built up a loyal following, as well as a reputation for having some of the best donuts in Melbourne.

 Daniel's Donuts

Assorted Donuts

Although I love sweet treats, I can never stomach anything that is too sweet, which is the reason I dislike many mass produced donuts. I tried an assortment of donuts at Daniel's Donuts which included glazed, nutella and custard donuts, so that I could get a good comparison, and they did not disappoint. Each of the donuts were made perfectly with a soft donut and good filling to donut ratio, and most importantly, none of them were overpoweringly sweet, which was a surprise as one of the donuts was literally filled with Nutella.

I regularly visit Daniel's Donuts even though it is out of the way for me. With great donuts, 24/7 hot drinks and milkshakes and the release of the new durian donut, you should definitely give them a visit as well!

Food Rating 8.5/10

Overall Rating 8.5/10

Bottega

74 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Located on the Bourke Hill precinct of Melbourne's Bourke Street, Bottega is a small restaurant with a fine dining interior that serves an interpretation on modern Italian cuisine as well as a range of local and imported wines.

 Taleggio & leek croquettes

 Caciocavallo all'argentiere - Sicilian pan-fried cheese, roast chestnuts, beer jelly

Whenever I spot a new and exciting dish on a menu, I can't stop myself from ordering it and trying it out. When I read that there was a pan-fried cheese with beer jelly on the menu, I could not even begin to imagine how the dish would look or taste. Fortunately it was quite enjoyable, although I'm not sure if I would order it again myself.

 Saffron risotto, scallop carpaccio, fennel pollen

The saffron risotto was tinted a lovely and deep yellow from the saffron which was visually appealing, although it was very hard to pin down any of the subtle flavour that saffron can impart to a dish. This is not to say that the saffron risotto was not a good dish though, as the texture of the risotto was very pleasant and the flavour the scallop carpaccio added to the dish was beautiful and mellow. 

Bottega is definitely a great place to visit for a special occasion, with friendly staff and a great range of Italian dishes and wine. Theater-goers will also be happy to know that they also offer a pre-theater menu as well as private dining options.

Food Rating 8/10

Overall Rating 8/10

Cucinetta

Shop 4, 3 Murphy Street, South Yarra

From the outside, Cucinetta looks like any other small restaurant around the South Yarra area. However, they are one of only a few Italian restaurants in Melbourne to offer the "cheese wheel pasta". Apart from this specialty dish, they also offer a variety of Italian dishes on their ever changing menu.

Cucinetta

Cheese wheel pasta - cacio e pepe $23.00

Cacio e pepe is one of my favourite Italian pasta dishes, along with the Roman carbonara. Although it may seem like a relatively basic dish at first glance, cacio e pepe is a rich dish with defined characteristics, which allows you to enjoy the flavours of the cheese and pasta with a hint of cracked black pepper incorporated into it. 

There really isn't much to say about the cheese wheel cacio e pepe at Cucinetta, other than to simply give it praise. The pasta was cooked perfectly so that when it was finished, there was just the right amount of resistance, and just the right amount of cheese coated each of the rigatoni noodles after it was finished in the cheese wheel. Some black pepper and a small grating of cheese on top finished the dish perfectly, with the option to add truffle oil on top for an extra three dollars.

Although I have never visited Cucinetta for their other dishes, after just trying the cacio e pepe, I am more than happy to recommend people with a love for cheese and pasta to book a visit to Cucinetta.

Food Rating 8.5/10

Overall Rating 8.5/10

Gyoza Gyoza Doncaster

Westfield Doncaster, 619 Doncaster Road, Doncaster

A long time ago when only the Bourke street location was open, Gyoza Gyoza was one of my favourite places to visit for some Japanese-style gyoza. Since then they have expanded and opened a few new branches in the city as well as Westfield Doncaster and Chadstone. 

Pan-fried pork and garlic gyoza $4.80

As Gyoza Gyoza is a restaurant that specialises in Japanese gyoza, we had to try the pan-fried pork and garlic gyoza. The filling of the gyoza was quite fragrant with a nice texture, and the skin was the perfect thickness, which made the gyoza a tasty bite. I did however find that most of the gyoza only had a tiny bit off filling which was a little bit disappointing.

Soft shell crab mini burger $6.80

I was also slightly disappointed by the soft shell crab burger. The soft shell crab wasn't as crispy as I would expect and the other ingredients in the burger weren't quite balanced. 

I wont deny that Gyoza Gyoza definitely lives up to their name serving delicious gyoza, albeit with some serving size issues. The problem I found though was that although they are a gyoza specialty restaurant, their menu has a huge amount of different dishes ranging from the soft shell crab burgers we tried, to beef tatare and oysters. This problem inevitably leads to some dishes of low quality finding their way through, which is a problem many restaurants with large menus face.

Food Rating 7/10

Overall Rating 7/10

Yami Yami

1D Bank Street, Box Hill

Although Yami Yami has 3 restaurants throughout Melbourne, I have only ever visited their Box Hill location. They mainly serve a large variety of Korean comfort foods, which makes it a great place to visit if you aren't quite sure what you want to eat. But as they are a Korean/Japanese restaurant, if you look closely at their menu you will notice that they also serve some Japanese favourites, such as takoyaki and karaage.

Bulnak jeongol

There really is nothing better than a spicy Korean stew to warm yourself up during the cold winter days. While I usually go for the budae jjigae, or Korean army stew, I am also a fan of seafood, so I chose to have the seafood variant instead.

I am a bit divided when it comes to the food at Yami Yami. While I was quite pleased with the stew we were served, as it was an incredibly cold day, looking back on it there really was not much that was special about it. I would definitely not say it was bad, as I did enjoy it, but I felt like I would have enjoyed a stew at any other Korean restaurant just as much.

Despite this, I would still recommend visiting Yami Yami for some solid Korean dishes, as not only was the food enjoyable, but the staff were friendly as well.

Food Rating 7/10

Overall Rating 7/10

Co Do 2

347/349 Springvale Road, Springvale

Co Do 2 is one of a few restaurants that specialise in the Vietnamese noodle dish known as Bún bò Huế. The noodle dish which uses rice noodles served in a spicy and fragrant broth made with beef, chilli, lemongrass and other aromatics has been gaining popularity around Melbourne for a while now. 

Phở tái

Bún bò Huế đặc biệt

Having tried both the pho and the bun bo hue from Co Do and Co Do 2, I would have to say that I prefer Co Do 2 in Springvale over Co Do in Richmond. While I have never had bun bo hue anywhere near as good as they make it at Co do 2 from other restaurants, it is also the only dish I would ever order there. Everything else I have tried at Co Do 2 is sub par at best, so if you have a craving for this spicy and fragrant Vietnamese noodle dish, then look no further, but if it is other types of Vietnamese food you are looking for, there are plenty of better places to visit in the area.

Food Rating 7.5/10

Overall Rating 7.5/10

Brooklyn Depot

Shop 4/399 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Brooklyn Depot is a casual restaurant and bar which was inspired by old Brooklyn. They serve a variety of hand-crafted burgers, hot dogs, salads and desserts, as well as boasting a fully stocked bar and great bar food.

 Brooklyn Depot

 Fun guyi $14.00

Coney island $13.00

I chose to try one of their hot dogs, as the last time I visited Brooklyn Depot, I had a horrible burger experience. The Coney Island dog was actually a pretty basic chilli dog when compared to other establishments. Although I did describe it as basic, this is not always a bad thing, as some dishes are better off being basic instead of unnecessarily flashy.

Apart from my somewhat mediocre experiences at Brooklyn depot, my friend had quite a few good things to say about his mushroom burger. Other than the food, the service was also friendly and the atmosphere was relaxed. Brooklyn Depot would definitely make a great place for a hangout and some drinks, but I may think twice about returning only for the food.

Food Rating 6/10

Overall Rating 6.5/10