Thai Terrace

53 Portman Street
Oakleigh, VIC 3166
Ph: 9569 8283

I used to complain that after moving buildings for work, we were stuck with nothing to eat. While we used to be able to previously go to Pinewood, Brandon Park, Glen Waverley, Clayton and Springvale for lunch, our new location in Bentleigh East looked like a dessert in terms of food. However, our Friday lunch crowd have slowly found more and more gems in the 'burbs to dine at. As I previously mentioned, we foundShyun and Remezzo. You can also add Thai Terrace to that list of gems. In fact, there are even more that I shall try to slowly blog.

We found Thai Terrace purely by accident. Our lunch group have moaned for years about why Thai restaurants don't open during lunch time. So there we were one day going to Oakleigh to get our usual souvlakis. As we were walking down Portman Street, my food specific eagle eyes (I can't find anything usually even when it's right in front of me) spotted Thai Terrace. I stopped to look at it, and it looked closed as I didn't see anyone inside. We were about to continue walking when we saw the waitress put some chairs outside. We all let out a collective cheer, I kid you not, and rushed inside.


Since that fateful day, we have never looked back. Our dining adventures at Thai Terrace have been quite constant and we've tried a lot of the menu and established our favourites. Basically there is one golden rule when dining at Thai Terrace:
"Take the number of diners and divide the number by two and round down, and that gives you the number of Pad Thais you should order". Their pad thai is seriously one of the best in Melbourne, and so addictively good that everyone always wants more of it. So we found ourselves always under ordering it and came up with that golden rule which seems to be the perfect ratio. They have a prawn and chicken version of the pad thai, and both are stunning. They even cook the pad thais in quantities of at most 2 to maintain that smokey flavour. Below is the famous pad thai, with a Beef and Basil Stir Fry and a Green Curry Chicken as well. The stir frys all have excellent "wok" flavour and the beef and basil is slightly sweet and delicious. I'm not a big fan of green curries but some of my work mates adore this smooth curry.



The Vegetable Samosa are again a stunning highlight. Crispy pastry hold these delicate vegetable centres. The sweet chilli sauce gives it another complexion but I actually prefer it without the sauce so I can taste the vegetables inside. My other favourite dish besides the Pad Thais is their Red Curry Duck. The sauce is smooth and rich, with chunks of roast duck and lychees even. A lot of restaurants don't bother putting in the lychee but I find it adds that extra dimension to the dish and I love it. The Chilli Beef has a kick and is my third favourite dish. It's again both sweet and savoury and goes great with the rice.



It's such a pleasure to dine here for lunch as you can rarely get Thai food at lunch time in the 'burbs. As there is a big group of us, we get to share a variety of dishes and hence have a great meal each time. For lunch, it's probably a bit more expensive than the usual meals, coming in around $15 each time with drinks. The restaurant is extremely small and sometimes there are a few other diners. It feels almost like we have the restaurant exclusively and I like that. The service is literally just the owner herself I think. The chef is probably her husband from what we can tell. So hence, the meal is fairly slow so allow some time for it. But trust me, you will not regret it after you have their pad thai. My work mates drive especially there to get takeaways constantly now, so high praise indeed. This place has officially been giving the "Jordan two thumbs up", which is our measure of quality dining venues for lunch.

Overall Rating: 15/20, Excellent Pad Thai and some delicious Thai food at reasonable prices.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

The Wharf Hotel

WTC 18-38 Siddeley Street
Docklands, VIC 3005
Ph: 8680 6000
Website: The Wharf Hotel

The Wharf Hotel is a newly opened gastropub inside the World Trade Centre. It is among a group of restaurants and pubs that are opening and taking advantage of the empty space on the other side of the Yarra River.

The pub is beautifully decked out and has a nautical theme running throughout. There are probably five separate areas which can cater to different groups. Upon walking through the port hole type corridor, you will be greeted by the dining table service booths straight in front. On the right there is a small seated drinking area with access to the main bar. Further inside there is a standing area, again with access to the main bar. There is a secondary bar to the left with indoor standing room and outdoor seats overlooking the stunning view of the Yarra, Polly Woodside and Crown Casino.

Ling and I were offered a massive booth just for the two of us to dine at. The booth was extremely comfortable with cushions scattered everywhere. It felt a little strange as eight people could easily have been seated at that booth and there were the two of us, feeling like little islands amongst all that plush leather seating.

The hotel manager Greg came and looked after us and explained a bit about The Wharf Hotel. Basically, they're aiming to be a gastropub that serves to both diners and customers wishing to come for a drink. Their target clientele are office workers after hours and friends and family on weekends. I personally can't see a family or couples going there for meals. More likely it will be friends going for a bite before or after another event. The meal itself didn't feel like the event for me, just because the surroundings are extremely loud and I prefer to be able to carry out conversations without resorting to constant shouting.



The menu is very large, with a variety of tapas style meals to share, or larger mains for one person. The beer menu is impressively diverse, with over 50 types of bottled beer Greg informed me. The wine menu looked adequate with decent Australian wines.

We took Greg's suggestions and started with a trio of tapas style sharing items. We picked the Roasted Pork Belly, Chargrilled Calamari and Black Pudding and Eggs. I personally thought the pork belly was average, with the skin not being really crispy. Ling though liked it a lot. The chargrilled calamari really had that nice charred flavour, possibly a bit too much for my liking as it overpowered the sweetness of the calamari. It was extremely tender though so was still good. I was perplexed why poached eggs and black pudding was on the menu but luckily I ordered it. It was sensational, with a gooey egg contrasted perfectly by these crispy fried black pudding that just crumbled away in your mouth and packed a bag full of flavour.


For mains, we shared a huge Chateaubriand Steak served with salad and Roasted Potato. Don't let the photo of the steak fool you, that was what was left after we finished eating. It was absolutely massive. It was extremely tender and cooked medium rare just as I had asked for. The flavours were quite nice, but needed a bit more dynamics I thought. The roasted potatoes on the other hand were absolutely divine. They had been roasted with garlic, rosemary and some truffle oil. I know that food snobs would turn their noses at truffle oil, but it worked on these potatoes. It was so fragrant and they were mooreish to the point that we kept eating them after we had given up on the steak. Lastly to finish off, we shared an Apple Strudel with Blueberries. The strudel was good, with a great pastry and soft filling. The slight negative is that it was very sweet, which meant I ate three spoonfuls before giving up.



It's hard to judge the service as the hotel manager Greg looked after us all night. I did notice that it got extremely busy towards the end of the night and I would guess that table service would be neglected more as waiters tried to service the bar first. The atmosphere there is very boisterous and you have to talk quite loudly to be heard. I think this place would suit a group of friends wanting a quick meal where they can share the tapas and then kick on with some drinks or head elsewhere afterward. Alternatively, this would be a great place to come to nearing the end of your night out, again to have a few bite to eat and some drinks. The view is stunning and I can see myself having a drink on the patio area in summer while looking at the night skyline.

Overall Rating: 13/20, Great place for a light meal and drinks with friends.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Thanks to Jenny Brookes from Harvey Publicity and to The Wharf Hotel for the complimentary meal.

Photography Friday #17 - Negative Image

Following from my previous Photography Friday #16 - All Aboard, today I bring you "Negative Image". I wanted to try playing around with negative images and modifying the colours to get different effects. The original photos looked rather ordinary but I love the effect that I've gotten by creating a negative image and tweaking it a bit. The window has a real moody feel while my friends fingernails look super artistic.

Streat Graduation Ceremony

Streat is a new social enterprise that has started in Melbourne. Basically, Streat consists of food carts around Melbourne which serve simple grab and go food that have been cooked by disadvantaged and homeless kids. These kids are given the opportunity to obtain a skill in hospitality, hone them through actual work and hopefully help change their lives.

Streat was started by Rebecca Scott and Kate Barrelle after travelling for many years and seeing a similar program being operated in Vietnam. This inspired Rebecca and Kate to start a similar venture in Melbourne. I was lucky enough to be invited to their first graduation ceremony in Melbourne. A group of eight kids had finished their hospitality certificate from the William Angliss Institute and were graduating that night. I spoke with some of the kids and it was great to hear how Streat had turned their lives around. They now had a purpose in life, support and a future. One kid I spoke to said he used to live on the streets and now he actually loves cooking and was looking forward to his apprenticeship at Charcoal Lane. I really hope they do well and never look back. Congratulations to Rebecca and Kate and the whole Streat team for doing such a great thing.



So what's a party without some food right. I bumped into Joyce at the ceremony, moving about the crowd with her baby bump. We sampled some of the food and it was all very delicious. There was corn bread with guacamole, kangaroo meat balls, vegetable samosas (totally delicious), rice paper rolls and spanakopita. I made sure I tried at least three of everything just to ensure the quality was adequate.



Streat is a great initiative so look out for their food stalls around Melbourne city. Drop by and say hi to the kids and grab a bite to eat to support this enterprise.

Thanks to Fiona Brook from Harvey Publicity for inviting me to the graduation party.

China Red

Shop 6, 206 Bourke St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph:9662 3288
Website: China Red

The HuTong franchise has made quite a splash in the Melbourne Restaurant scenes. The original HuTong Dumpling Bar in the city is one of the most discussed restaurants on blogs and restaurant listing websites. People's opinions on it are quite polarised, you either love it or you hate. I personally have had good experiences at both HuTong Dumplings Bars in the city store, and the Prahran store. So when I was invited to China Red to meet up with my friend Matt, who had come from London for a holiday/job searching trip, I was was looking forward to it.


I've read quite a few reviews of China red, and of course every review mentioned the touch screen self ordering system. It's funny how easily impressed we can be with some fancy restaurant innovations. I was super impressed when I first saw the cafe order buzzer that tells you to come get your coffee. Then I was also impressed with the service buzzers at Korean restaurants where you press the button and a waiter comes over. The touch screen ordering is in the same category, a good idea where you wonder why no one else has done it earlier.

A good idea on paper doesn't always result in an improved experience. I would say that that the self ordering is a good thing that makes it easier to order. There is still regular table service by waiters, so any confusions or mix ups can still be sorted. In general, we were able to order all our meals and drinks easily using the touch screen.

As for the food, I would say that it's very similar to the other HuTong restaurants. We ordered a variety of Dumplings, Xiao Long Baos, Shanghai Fried Noodles, Chilli Won Tons, Assorted Stir Fry Vegetables and Chive Pancakes.


The Dumplings are all very good, as is the Xiao Long Baos. I might be having post positive experiences but I still think HuTong in the city does the best Xiao Long Baos. They probably all use the same recipe and I'm sure the chefs all make them to a very strict standard, but I just feel like the city ones are the most delicate. That's not to say these are bad, they're still some of the best Xiao Long Baos in Melbourne. Others may disagree but I think the various dumplings are also some of the best in Melbourne. I judge dumplings on a few criteria. I like the skin to not be too thick and either be crisp when fried or soft when steamed. The filling needs to have flavour, a combination of the supposed meat that's in it and I usually like the taste of some vegetable or herb to be in the dumpling as well. Finally, if after eating the dumpling and there is a residual strong meat smell in my mouth, I don't think it's a good dumpling. Worse still, if I burp afterward and there is a strong smell, then I know they've used really bad meat parts to make their dumplings, and I don't enjoy that. The rest of the food was also very similar to HuTong and all good.



The layout of the restaurant feels quite crowded as it's a small area. The booth seating gives privacy but as I've mentioned in the past, loses the vibe in a restaurant. The service was quite good, with the staff helping clear up unclear items on the touch screen menu and also bring us various items and clearing the tables quickly so the arriving food could fit.

I'd recommend China Red, especially if you can't get into HuTong in the city. The menu is slightly different to HuTong but we didn't really get to trying those items. Most of the items we tried are available at HuTong and given a choice, I'd rather dine at HuTong as I feel it's done better there.

Overall Rating: 14/20, Good dumplings at good prices.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Reviews by other bloggers:
Spatula Spoon and Saturday
Half Eaten
Jeroxie

Photography Friday #16 - All Aboard

Following from my previous Photography Friday #15 - I Can See Ghosts, today I bring you "All Aboard". I'm sure everyone has taken a train at one stage or another. The train station is always a curious mix of things, with graffiti usually lining the walls, people who try to avoid making eye contact, overhead wires, and of course the train itself. I tried to capture the sights that you probably have seen many times while you waited on the seat being bored.

Sukhumvit

1258 Malvern Rd
Malvern, VIC 3144
Ph:98247099

I absolutely adore Thai food, and I also love stumbling on good restaurants that I would normally not venture to. So it was with much joy when Adrian, Dennis and I decided to just walk to the nearest restaurant to Adrian's house and try out Sukhumvit. The restaurant is located on a small strip of shops near the corner of Burke and Malvern Road, and is quite hard to notice. I wouldn't have driven there on purpose to eat, but I might go back in future as the Thai food is slightly different to other places in Melbourne.

The restaurant is very small and typical of your suburban eatery. It is nicely decorated and was fairly quiet on a Friday night, but I did notice a lot of people getting takeaway. We got settled at our comfy table and browsed our menu while the waitress poured us some nice chilled water. Again, one of my personal pet likes is when places pour me ice tap water without needing to ask for it.


After careful analysis of the menu and working out all the permutations and costs, we once again settled for the banquet menu. It's so funny that at most Thai places, we usually browse the menu for ages when we first go to a place, and then settle for the banquet because we want to try everything and it's usually the best value for money.

The banquet started off with an assortment of five entrees for each person. The little entrees were very interesting and some things I hadn't tried before. The curry puff and fish cake were excellent, but I was most interested in the other entrees. The two steamed entrees were very beautiful and the addition of palm sugar in both savoury dumplings gave them a strange flavour. One of them I liked more than the other. The fried dumpling with taro was my favourite and reminded me of the taro type dumpling at yum cha.

Anti-clockwise from bottom right:
*Curry Puff - Deep fried puffs filled with minced chicken and potato
*Bussaracum - Steamed flower shaped dumpling filled with seasoned mince chicken and palm sugar
*Tod Mun - Deep fried Thai fish cake
*Puak Sod Sai - Filling of mince chicken, prawn and mushroom deep fried in a wrapping of taro pastry
*Khao Kried - Steamed dumpling filled with mince pork, crushed peanut and palm sugar

Once we had our entrees, we shared three mains. The banquet usually contains four mains but you need a minimum of four people. They were happy to do the banquet for the three of us and dropping one of the mains, the vegetable stir fry. This left the Thai beef salad, green curry chicken and stir fried prawns. The Thai salad was spicy and refreshing, and the curry rich and flavoursome, great for pouring over the jasmine rice. However, to my utter surprise and delight, the prawns were super awesome. I don't really like prawns much, but these tasted so good. The prawns were covered in a light batter and then fried to crispy goodness. But it was the really delightful sauce that made it work for me. It blended well with the prawns and also really highlighted the cashew nuts, a definite winner for me.


Top, Left and then Right:
*Goong Sam Rod - Crispy king pranws stir fried in Thai style sweet and sour chilli sauce
*Yum Nuer Yang - Thai beef salad
*Gaeng Khew Whan Gai - Green Thai curry

We finished our meals extremely satisfied, after the second filling of our steamed jasmine rice. We were offered tea and coffee to finish, and we got some calming green tea that came in this ingenius tea pot. In one position of the tea pot lid, lifting the handle actually locked the lid into place so you could pour it without worrying that the lid would come off.

The service throughout the night was very efficient and friendly. The restaurant filled up a bit more throughout the night and the atmosphere was a gentle buzz. My only small complaint, if you can even call it that, is I would have liked the banquet to include dessert, even if something simple like a scoop of ice cream. It would have finished off the meal perfectly. Otherwise, it was a very enjoyable meal in a very relaxing atmosphere and I would go back to eat there if I was in the area.

Overall Rating: 14/20, A relaxing restaurant with some unique Thai food.
Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Product Tasting: Cuttlefish and Dried Mango

I saw Agnes' Twitter one day about her love of dried mangoes, which then lead me to declare my love of dried cuttlefish. So we decided to have a meetup and do a tasting of a variety of brands of cuttlefish and dried mangoes. I-Hua was also interested and decided to join us for the tasting extravaganza. So Agnes, Alastair, I-Hua, Ling and myself met up and all brought a huge amount of items to try. For a very detailed review of the day's tasting, please read Agnes' review.

We met up at Old Town Kopitiam at QV, and ordered some delicious Malaysian food. Everyone ordered drinks, and since the advertised sugar cane drink that we all wanted was not available, we had some delicious Malt Shakes and Three Colour Drink. My three colour drink was layers of coffee with varying amounts of milk. It was very nice, but quite sweet. Everyone else got the malt shake which was milo milk with milo sprinkled on top. I ordered a Mee Rebus, which was very good. Everyone else also liked their meals of Curry Chicken, Mee Goreng, Laksas and even a dessert Roti.



Once we were all full, we kicked our second stomachs into gear and got into all the snacks. We tried a variety of cuttlefish, from flattened, to strips, to sugared, to chilli and they were mostly....BAD. I couldn't believe our luck. I had bought some cuttlefish that I usually eat but left them at home. So a last minute stop by the Asian grocery store in QV resulted in lots of rather bad cuttlefish. There was probably only one pack that was ok and had some flavour. I-Hua's sugar cuttlefish didn't really do it for me, although I-Hua really loved the sugar one. But the worst cuttlefish was also the most anticipated. I-Hua's "satay stick" cuttlefish was so foul that I had to spit it back out.


The Ken Ken cuttlefish needs special mention because on the packet it says it's the "Chewing Gum of the Orientals", how hilarious but true at the same time. I constantly chew on cuttlefish until my jaws ache.


Next it was onto the dried mango tasting. Some of the "mangoes" weren't really mangoes, but instead dried fruit or pickled mango. All of the other dried fruit were sickly sweet and no good. The pickled mango that I love from Box Hill was not with us, instead, we got some rather flavourless pickled mangoes. Finally, the saving grace of the whole day was Agnes' Costco bought Philippine Brand dried mangoes. They are the bee's knee, so addictively delicious. I've since bought three 850g packets from Costco and I'm still addicted to it.


Despite our awful luck with the cuttlefish and dried mangoes, it was still great to catch up with everyone. Next time, I think we need to taste test something a bit safer like chocolates. Maybe cuttlefish dipped in chocolate?