New openings this week, some special events and an article I wrote for The Guardian

Just because I haven't published a blog post for a while doesn't mean I haven't been beavering away behind the scenes here at Melbourne Gastronome. I've finally brought my New Melbourne Venues and Melbourne Venues Opening Soon pages up to date, after the distractions of a five week trip to the US and moving house and being without home internet (HURRY UP, iiNet/Telstra). I've written little snippets about all the places I know of that have opened in Melbourne since 1 July 2013, or are going to open soon. Which ones have I missed?

This week alone the newbies include Andy Bedford's Charlie's Restaurant that opened yesterday in the site that was Marmalade and Soul, and the Van Haandel's Trocadero reborn as Fatto Bar & Cantina, opening tonight. Next week it's South Side Huxtaburger and Gelato Messina - expect huge crowds at both. And I was interested to learn that Dylan Roberts (former sous at Cutler, last seen running the Claremont Tonic kitchen) is consulting on a restaurant soon to open a few doors down from Hanoi Hannah. For more details see here and here, and keep checking back for updates.


Marina at Pelmeni Kitchen

Grilled snapper at Uncle

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU, HAROLD?! at State of Grace

René Redzepi talking 'bout brains at The Wheeler Centre
One page that I haven't got around to updating yet is the Melbourne pop-ups page, but I'll hopefully do so soon. In the meantime, here are some events worth noting:

- Good Food Month has kicked off - I attended the launch party last week and was impressed with Special Guest Star René Redzepi's candour in his speech about the meltdown he experienced over the pressures of going "from zero to hero" with Noma. He gave a great presentation the following night at The Wheeler Centre too. Browse the Good Food Month website for details of particular events: it runs until the end of November and there are over 300 events to choose from.

- As a fervent fan of the film CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman at their most smoking), I'm really looking forward to the Culinary Cinema movie matched dinner my gal BurgerMary is organising next week on the 14th with The Baron Said. If you're more of a Tarantino fan, they're doing a DEATH PROOF matched dinner on the 30th of November. Click for details.

- StreetSmart's DineSmart event runs from 11 November to 31 December 2013. I've been a fan of this initiative for years. Diners at participating restaurants are asked to make a small donation to StreetSmart on their bill ($2 or more), 100% of which goes to local grassroots charities supporting homelessness.


And for those of you who didn't already see me spruik it via social media, I wrote an article a few weeks ago for The Guardian on the Top 10 budget restaurants and cafes in Melbourne. What do you think of my list? I steered away from the obvious usual favourites like A1 Bakery, but the brief was to write about budget places in areas that are easily accessible by tourists. I decided budget meant all menu items are roughly <$20, and I tried to ensure the list had a mix of cuisines and old and new (though looking back on it now I wish the south side was better represented). Oh and to the guy who left a sarcastic comment about Thai slaw - it WAS som tam, you twonk.

Jinda Restaurant in Abbotsford: a Thai gem

Jinda Restaurant
3-7 Ferguson Street, Abbotsford (map)
9419 5899
Open 7 days, 11am-11pm
facebook


Krua Thai 2 in Richmond has been on my 'to visit' list for some time now, ever since a Thai friend of mine told me that they serve some of the best boat noodles in town. Last week I learned that the same family behind Krua has opened a new, much larger restaurant called Jinda in the side street off Victoria Street between the railway line and Punt Road, behind the little string of Thai restaurants.

The converted warehouse space (formerly a clothing clearance outlet) is beautiful, with loads of natural light pouring in through the many windows. Gold-framed portraits of the Thai royal family hang above the kitchen and on the opposite wall hangs a portrait of Jinda (the woman the restaurant is named after). Open since mid-July, the restaurant is filled with Thai students and families day and night.


Jinda's specialty is Thai noodles ($6 a small bowl, $9 a large bowl), which I was determined to try on my first visit. Most can be ordered with or without soup, with your choice of noodles (rice stick, flat rice, rice vermicelli, egg or glass). I went with the spicy pork soup with crushed peanuts, chilli powder and chilli vinegar. Savoury, spicy and tangy in equal measures, it was addictive and I wish I'd worked up the nerve to order a second bowl.


As well as including chilli powder the condiment station offers two types of chilli vinegar: one with simple sliced chillies in clear vinegar, the other in which the chillies are pounded and mixed with other spices.


As well as traditional noodle dishes, the menu offers more modern items like larb crispy chicken on rice ($12.90). We didn't order any, but the next table had some pretty amazing-looking 'prawn twisters' - spring rolls whose ends were twisted like Christmas crackers.


Minced pork gra pow ($9.90 with fried egg $2 extra), enjoyed on my second visit. You can order all the suburban favourites such as Massaman curry and satay skewers, but I'd advise trying some of the more unusual dishes, such as the guay jab (a pork based brown soup with rolled rice noodles, crispy pork and offal) or the mee gati (rice vermicelli with minced pork, minced shrimp and a coconut cream). I look forward to working my way though the menu over many repeat visits...

Doughboys Doughnuts pop-up in Melbourne CBD

Doughboys Doughnuts pop-up at Mr Nice Guy Thai
Shop J, 535 Little Lonsdale Street (enter via Healeys Lane), Melbourne (map)
9973 1761
Doughboys Doughnuts pop-up open 7-11am Monday-Friday (and maybe weekends in the future)
Mr Nice Guy Thai open lunch and dinner Monday-Friday, dinner only on weekends
website
UPDATE: Doughboys Doughnuts ended their pop-up at Mr Nice Guy Thai, but are now having a summer residency at the Mercat Cross Hotel, 456 Queen Street Melbourne - see their FB page for details and opening hours.


Popping up in the mornings for the next month or two at Mr Nice Guy Thai (the cute CBD sister cafe of Middle Fish) comes Doughboys Doughnuts, serving $4.80 doughnuts baked fresh from quality ingredients and "dipped on demand" with insanely sugary glazes. Joining them is Anthony from Market Lane Coffee, serving up ML coffee ($4) with characteristic skill and aplomb.


I recently returned from a five week trip to the US, where I tried the best do(ugh)nuts in Portland and San Francisco (respectively, Blue Star Donuts and Dynamo Donuts) which came in brilliant flavour combinations like cornmeal rosemary cherry, lemon Sichuan, and dulce de leche with hazelnut. The flavours at Doughboys Doughnuts are not quite as zany, but hoo boy they taste really, really good. Today's flavours were orange-zested vanilla icing with crushed up pistachios, dark Monsieur Truffe cocoa with crushed walnuts and hazelnuts, and lemon and lime zested icing with toasted coconut. They don't come any fresher than this.



Anthony mentioned to me that depending on how things go, they may end up opening for doughnuts on weekends too. Watch this space, non-city workers. Expect this one to be very, very popular - and if your heart is set on a doughnut you may want to call in advance to make sure they haven't already sold out.

(*cough* For those who, like me, aren't eating much sugar these days, you might want to approach with caution - I ate the equivalent of one doughnut by sampling the three flavours with two friends, and have been in a light-headed sugar daze for the last few hours...)

UPDATE: Doughboys Doughnuts ended their pop-up at Mr Nice Guy Thai, but are now having a summer residency at the Mercat Cross Hotel, 456 Queen Street Melbourne - see their FB page for details and opening hours.

For your consideration: New Gourmet Melbourne by Deck of Secrets

I'm excited to announce here on the blog that the Melbourne dining guide I worked on earlier this year, New Gourmet Melbourne, is now available for purchase!


Michelle Matthews, jet-setter extraordinaire and creator of the Deck of Secrets guides, approached me about collaborating with her on a guide to Melbourne's hottest new restaurants, dining bars and cafes. Having been a longtime fan of the Deck of Secrets, I was only too happy to accept. She and I developed the content together, then I joined the small team of writers (I wrote about a third of the cards in the deck, you'll see my name written on the bottom of each one). As someone who writes primarily online, I can't deny that holding the physical deck of cards in my hand is rather satisfying.

So if you've been wondering where all my reviews of Melbourne's new dining hotspots are, the answer is they're in the guide. Please buy a copy! The decks of cards retail for around $9.95 and are sold at bookshops and newsagents around town (see the list of stockists for your nearest option) and online from Readings and Book Depository. And for iPhone users, if you'd rather a virtual deck there's a New Gourmet Melbourne app for $1.99. Let me know what you think!


Oh, and just a reminder: although I haven't published any other new blog posts recently, I am frequently* updating my new stand-alone pages dedicated to New Melbourne Venues, Melbourne Pop-ups and Melbourne venues opening soon - so be sure to keep checking them. Did you know that THREE places (Jimmy Grants, Shop Ramen and N2 Extreme Gelato) opened last Friday night in Fitzroy alone? Madness!

*I have been updating them frequently since I published them on 1 July, but having said that, on Saturday I'm heading off on holiday to the US for five weeks. I won't be able to monitor the Melbourne hospitality scene as closely from the land of the free and the home of the brave, so any tip-offs about new/upcoming places that you could send my way (by email, Twitter or blog comment) would be greatly appreciated...

Soi 38: pop-up tour of Thai noodles

Soi 38 is one of the events featured on my new list Pop-ups of Note. To see the full list, click here.


Why have a food truck when you can have a food cart? Andy and Tina from the Thai/Viet Melbourne food blog Krapow own a gorgeous little food cart, manufactured in the Bangkok suburb of Thonburi and imported to Melbourne for the specific purpose of introducing Melburnians some of the delicious Thai noodles dishes that aren't so well known here. The Soi 38 team includes Top, a Thai chef whose food at Appetizer and then Tidlom demonstrated his commitment to bringing more authentic Thai flavours to Melbourne. Having Andy and the other Soi 38 team members all sport blue Vin Vin vests, the kind worn by Thai motorcycle taxi drivers, is a lovely touch.

The Soi 38 cart has already popped up at a few street festivals, but starting next week on 19 July, Soi 38 will have a six week Friday night residency at North/West Melbourne cafe Sketch & Tulip. From 5pm each Friday night, they'll be dishing up $5 bowls of noodles (you'll want a couple of bowlfuls cos they're so damn good) and beers. Of course, each table will have khreuang puang (condiment caddies) containing fish sauce, white sugar, crushed dried chillies and chillies in vinegar, so that you can tweak your dish to your ideal calibration of hot, sour, sweet and salty.

The noodles will change each week:
- July 19: Kuay teow reua nua nahm (beef boat noodles)
- July 26: Kuay teow Sukhothai muu haeng (dry sukhothai pork noodles)
- August 2: Kuay teow tom yum muu nahm (hot and sour pork noodles)
- August 9: Kuay teow bamee bpuu (dry crab egg noodles)
- August 16: Kuay teow bamee bped nahm (braised duck egg noodles)
- August 23: Kuay teow tom yum muu haeng (dry hot and sour pork noodles)

Andy invited me to a family and friends night for a free preview of the boat noodles last week. I've only tried boat noodles in a few Thai places around town, but love the depth of flavour in the broth and the Soi 38 version was by far the best I've tasted! Andy can give you a better rundown on boat noodles than I can:

"Thai Boat Noodles (kwaytiao reua) are a delicious and intensely flavoured but little known traditional Thai dish. They are associated with central Thailand, and are so called because they used to be sold from small boats along the canals and rivers. These days the vendors have moved onshore and the most famous boat noodle restaurants are found in 'boat noodle' alley near the Victory Monument in Bangkok. 

Each bowl of Boat Noodles starts out with a mound of delicate rice vermicelli noodles and a scattering of water spinach and crunchy bean shoots. Added to this is a trio of gently heated sliced rump, tender braised gravy beef and a springy pork ball.

The bowl comes to life with the addition of the complex broth exuding notes of cinnamon, soy, star anise, lemongrass, galangal and pandan and more. The finishing touches are then applied with a touch of garlic oil, a few sprigs of fragrant coriander, a sprinkling of finely sliced spring onions and some crunchy fried pork crisps.

Thai Boat Noodles leave their more well-known South East Asian counterpart, Vietnamese Pho in their wake. Unfortunately Thai Boat Noodles are just not very well known in Australia, it is my dream that Soi 38 will be one of the first small steps in changing that."

Soi 38 is a charming labour of love by people passionate about Thai noodles, and I strongly encourage you to head down to Sketch & Tulip over the next six weeks. Further details can be found on the Soi 38 website and FB page. If you pay them a visit, be sure to wish Andy congratulations as Tina gave birth to their son on Monday!

New and upcoming Melbourne restaurants, cafes and bars

Happy New Financial Year! To celebrate, I'm sharing my reference lists of Melbourne hospitality venues that are going to open soon, or have recently opened. Links to further information, reviews and third party sources provided. As these are standalone pages that I'll be updating as new information comes to hand, my hope is that they'll end up acting as something of an historic timeline for Melbourne food and drink openings. Let me know what I've missed!

For the list of anticipated places opening soon, click here.

For the list of places that have recently opened, click here.