This sunny Sunday we happened to be driving around and it soon got to lunch time and we needed inspiration...I consulted my list of places I want to visit and we decided to try St Cloud in Hawthorn East. There were a few tables dining so it was pretty straightforward to get seated. The place is modern, casual and a little bit funky.

The chicken wings were a bigger serve; four piece atop two cubes of sticky rice all glazed in caramel deliciousness. Thoroughly enjoyed the tasty sweet glaze and the tang of the pickles to cut through it all.

Prawn and pork spring rolls were also tasty with lettuce leaves, beanshoots and coriander to wrap together and dip in the piquant nuoc cham. From a doubtful start of scallops, we were much happier with what followed.

Having shared entrees, we chose our own mains:

• Pho special of the day (chicken) served with beanshoots, chilli, lime, sweet basil, sriracha and hoi sin
• 5 spice roast pork belly vermicelli bowl, herbs, pickles, nuoc cham

I had the pho which was a much darker broth than I usually see but I enjoyed the depth of flavour that was probably richer than what I'm usually used to which I wasn't quite sure was the best with chicken and maybe red meat would be a slightly better match. The noodles were a touch overcooked so a little bit soft and I really missed having some fresh coriander in it. It wasn't bad and it was tasty but I think Steve's main was far better.

Steve wolfed his vermicelli salad declaring it really good. I enjoyed the taster I had. Actually we enjoyed the whole meal. It wasn't perfect but it was fresh, good quality ingredients and definitely tasty enough.

A generous selection of snacks arrived very promptly. We enjoyed the pace of the courses for the whole meal and never felt that proceedings dragged or we were left waiting.
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• Parmesan and buckwheat, squid ink
• Pepper spiced kangaroo fillet
• Fried duck tongue with bamboo salt
• School prawn
• Gravlax of rainbow trout and its consomme
• Parker pretzel with sour cream and chive tofu
• Slimy mackerel, olive and tarragon

The table was filled with these appetite inducing morsels of delight. The buckwheat cracker with the salty parmesan melted in the mouth with a lingering seafood flavour from the squid ink; umami galore.

I enjoyed the fatty indulgence if the fried duck tongues - a bowlful with a beer on a hot day would be an amazing experience but they'd be heavy on the tummy but then again so is pork crackling and no one would complain about beers and pork crackling!

The Parker pretzel is like a pull apart brioche; the coming apart of the segments reminded me of the heady delights of the Tipsy Cake at Dinner by Heston. This is like the savoury version and not as indulgent. The tofu dip is interesting with an airy foamy lightness in the texture.

Pepper spiced kangaroo fillet served rolled up on a skewer was delicious. Perfectly seasoned so the natural game flavours of the kangaroo come out and cooked rare, it was so good. Perfect protein.

My least favourite was the gravlax, I thought the trout was a touch underseasoned and the cold fish consomme was just not that appetising. I think I'd prefer it warm but it's usually my personal preference for broth and soup to be hot.

First course was:
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• Murray cod, cuttlefish, ham stock, radish

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The Murray cod was sashimi style which I wasn't expecting. The sticky almost gluey ham stock was poured over the rosette of fish. As sashimi goes, I wasn't 100% convinced Murray cod is the best. It was certainly fresh but the texture was a little bit too chewy and it isn't the most flavoursome. The savoury ham stock helped with the clean flavours though adding some depth. I would have really loved a spoon to scoop up the ham stock that I couldn't devour with a fork. Steve said he would have loved some bread to do the trick!

My photo of the final course seems to have disappeared and it was a very festive red sight perfectly timed with lunar new year. Delicious chocolate nougat ish type chunks on top of caramel sauce and then the sugar whalloping hit is softened by the sour cherry in the form of granita. Definitely a crowd pleaser!

We had room for dessert especially after hearing my favourite, Tete de Moine was on offer! I found the triple cream a little bitey and ripe for me but I'm a cheese wuss. I liked the American goat's cheese and of course the carnation like ruffle of Tete de Moine was a wonderful way to end this sophisticated meal.

Woodland House is classy, elegant and a wonderful place for an indulgent celebration. It's worth of its two hat accolade. The food is refined and the service faultless. We found it approachable but with a sense of decorum and occasion befitting of its white tablecloths and and smart bow tie wearing owner working the floor!

We chose to wine match as it was just too much like hard work to make the decision ourselves and we really enjoyed the selections. The 2015 Simao & Co 'Old Vine' Shiraz from Rutherglen was a silky smooth treat to have with the Sher Wagyu and we also particularly enjoyed the 2015 Dappled 'La Petanque' Chardonnay from the Mornington Peninsula with the lobster.

The manor house in Prahran has not lost any of its former glory since when we visited last in its predecessor state, nor is it a carbon replica of days gone by. It has its own personality; discreet, strong but also understated and worthy of respect.

The first taste sensation is refreshing but there's a distinctive second flavour note that is really perfume like, similar to when you accidentally spray perfume in your mouth! We then headed to something more traditional and had French Martinis which were strong but fruity, well balanced and welcome! Final cocktail was the Chocolate Martini which intriguingly was clear in colour and came with two chocolate covered nuts. This one was my favourite and a great way to round things off on a sweet note.

We also indulged in a couple of nibbles:

• Peek Gai Tord - Organic Rice Flour Coated Chicken Wings And Crispy Roasted Chicken Skin With Sriracha Sauce And Pickled Onion

• Plah Meuk Khai Kem - Crispy Fried Calamari With Home Made Creamy Salted Egg Yolk Aioli, Chive and Spring Onion

The plates are small; 4 little wings and 5 pieces of calamari so order more if there are more of you. But the food was tasty and was decent enough as beer snacks go. The calamari was crunchy and the aioli interesting and I enjoyed the salty flavours of the wings.

Service was a little slow and the waitress although keen to help struggled to understand English. We were also bothered by a Smith Street character who uninvited sat at our table, tried to ask for money but then kept nodding off in a drunken stupor. The man at the table next to us tried to help and ask him to move on but he didn't listen. The wait staff didn't help and as two ladies it was a little intimidating. I ended up saying sharply that he shouldn't sit there and he went on his way but he did try to return! I think the wait staff need to be a bit more attentive to the outside tables.

Aimless meadering around the neighbourhood on a gorgeous, sunny evening that also happened to be Australia Day found us outside Bedford Street. Having driven and walked by so many times with plans to visit, we seized the day and took a table in the bright and airy dining room along with a small number of fellow diners.

The waitress was friendly and welcoming, explained that the chicken fried steak was not chicken but a choice of pork or steak which completely confused me but we hung on! Steve ordered the said confusing chicken dish in pork and I had the quarter chicken. We chose sides of mac and cheese and fried broccoli and share the fried chicken tenders which was actually chicken,

All protein came out looking similar but in just different shapes. All on the orange side of the colour chart with a dusting of paprika. The chicken that was actually pork was a very thing schnitzel that came with a mustard sauce on the aside. The quarter chicken had a jug of tasty gravy that went great with the specialty potatoes that are like squashed roasties. 

I liked the mac and cheese and felt it had good flavour. The quarter chicken was quite small but juicy and tasty enough. The chicken tenders were meaty. I think the schnitzel was too much coating and not enough meat.

Everything was decent enough if not memorable. Not dying to return but nothing to stop me from a repeat visit. The dessert pies on the bar counter looked pretty impressive too.

The pizza menu isn't the longest but the classic favourites are there; pepperoni, pineapple, mushroom, margherita and you can order by the slice or share large ones. We decided to go half and half and have the mushroom one and the pepperoni and peppers. It doesn't quite go to plan though as what arrives is half Margherita and half pepperoni but by the time we realise we have sliced up and started to eat. Who can resist pizza with so much melted cheese? It clouded our minds and we started eating before thinking!

We also share the mozzarella sticks that are gooey and come with a Napoli sauce. So delicious.

I would describe the pizzas as more American style than the Italian wood fired version. The base is still thin though. Whatever the style, it's darn delicious.

Quick casual eatery for Indonesian food where you order at the counter, collect your own cutlery and wait a short while for the food to arrive. The wait staff are friendly and happy to help.

I've been with my Indonesian colleague twice now for lunch and we've enjoyed both times. First time I had the Ayam Belado and found the grilled chicken tasty and the sauce fiery but delicious. This time I had the Nasi Oma which is really a bit of everything; a chicken skewer that had a great smoky chargrilled flavour, rendang which was meaty and flavoursome and egg with the sambal sauce. The tangy pickles helped cut through some of the sauce and richness of the rendang.

Worth a try if you would like Indonesian food.

I had a great Saturday! Caught up with Stef and Teresa and we went to a matinee performance of Burn the Floor at the Arts Centre which concluded with a cheeky Bellini at Fatto Bar in the sunshine. It was about 5pm and we wanted a delicious early dinnner. I'd seen social media postings about Seoulja Boy so offered it up as a suggestion and the price point seemed good so off we went.

At just after 5pm, it wasn't surprising we were the only table. We enjoyed a spacious booth a friendly welcome and before we knew it, drinks had been ordered. Cocktails come around $13 and I really enjoyed the tart fruitiness of the number known as Mo Problems.

The dining area is large and roomy with some bar tables, high level seating actually at the bar, booths for larger groups and a DJ station. It's charcoal and neon with the odd shot of hot pink - it feels contemporary, a little bit hip and a lot of fun.

There's some tongue in cheek humour at Seoulja Boy. He's a funny chap; cheeky "Seoulex" logo as well as other fun pokings of that RnB life but credible enough with live DJs playing music at a reasonable volume that it doesn't make conversing difficult. DJ started later in the evening and not when we arrived at 5pm! Also if you enjoy a good quote to make you smile, take a trip to the bathroom for some inspiration.

Through the course of the night we saw couples come in for a date; some lingered, others enjoyed a quick bite to eat. There were families and like us groups of friends so a good cross section of folk. I liked that mix of clientele and that some spent an hour there and others longer and we ended up there for 3.5 hours! But more on that later...

We decided to go with the $35 per person Feed Me option (minimum 2 people) which includes 4 of the anju (starter size dishes), 1 main and a dessert. For us, the Feed Me kicked off with:

• Kingfish sashimi, white kimchi and fish roe with yuzu soy dressing and wasabi mayo
• Nori crumbed prawn Kdog with mustard mayo

The sashimi was prettily presented and a generous serving for the 3 of us; about 4 slices of each. The balance of the citrussy soy and the mayo was good and the fish was certainly fresh. Teresa found a pin bone in hers but no major damage caused.

The Kdog is a plump croquette on a stick. More prawn flavoured mashed potato with a crispy crumb so more soft and fluffy rather than anything dense or meaty in texture. It's fun to eat and I don't like mustard but didn't find the mayo too overpowering.

The other anju dishes were:

• Lightly salted taro chips
• Edamame with roasted nori salt

Granted, on paper these two dishes didn't sound that interesting but they were actually very good. The edamame was good quality and didn't have that slimey goo that sometimes happens and the nori salt gave it a bit of a twist to the usual sea salt. The taro chips were crispy and not greasy so had a nice "beer snack" feel to it. Again, generous servings.

Our greediness meant we wanted supplementary items to the $35 menu! We were tempted by fried chicken, dumplings, pancake, corn...but we went with the interestingly described Sushi Slider - tuna on tempura kale, spring onions, fish roe and Seoulja Boy sauce.

It was attractive to look at - cubes of deep red tuna against a white cracker with shades of green running through as well shades of orange sauce and roe. Probably less slider and more sashimi on a cracker if I'm going to be fussy about words. It was a but difficult to eat as the kale is quite tough being the vegetable it is. The sauce is that Korean spicy chilli sauce with some sweetness; gojuchang and it's super tasty but I did feel it overwhelmed the fish a bit.  Not a terrible dish by any means but not as well balanced as the kingfish sashimi.

As there were three of us dining, rather than three serves of one main dish to share, it was organised that we could have two dishes that each served 1.5 so same volume but we could enjoy some variation. Great customer service, team Seoulja Boy!

• Korean style slow cooked braised short ribs sticky glazed and simmered on a low heat for tender, sweet meat
• Char grilled Porterhouse steak with Korean spicy ssamjang sauce and roasted garlic

So two different ways of serving cow and each different and delicious. We also each had a bowl of purple rice.

The ribs were just as tender as described and definitely had the sweet sticky glaze but not too heavy. Pretty tasty with the rice and a little but of the sliced green chilli and spring onion to make it a bit fresher. I really enjoyed the steak and we were advised to take a piece of the medium rare meat and have a bit of the chilli sauce, some ribbons of the spring onion and a garlic clove and eat it altogether. What a delicious mouthful and the garlic isn't too intense as it's been roasted to mellow it out.

Now having put in a sneaky sushi slider as an extra and with dessert to come, we really didn't need any more food but talk tuned to one of Seoulja Boy's specialty dishes being the Ddeokbokki Carbonara and we were lucky enough that the original Seoulja Boy i.e. Benny the owner provided us with a complimentary serving to try.

The chewy ddeokbokki (rice cakes kind of like gnocchi) were perfectly cooked; soft but still bouncy and that creamy, bacon and onion sauce was just amazingly delicious. It's definitely a rich dish and I don't know if I could eat a whole serve to myself but I'm they type to struggle with a whole portion of pasta carbonara anyway. This is a must order and yes, share away but make sure there's enough for everyone!

So having put away all this food, we were so full. The attentive waitresses checked in several times to see if we were ready for dessert and we had to ask for a ten minute breather. After a couple of ten minute breathers, we faced dessert. By the way, when we were asked about dessert it wasn't to rush us and we felt no pressure to have to leave.

Dessert was the creatively named C.R.E.A.M which stands for Cakes Rule Everything Around Me! Described has homemade cheesecake icecream and banana cake with a lemon dressing, we weren't sure about how all these flavours would work. But, no fear, dessert didn't let us down. The banana cake was soft and moist. The icecream had a lemon cheesecake tang. It wasn't the smoothest of ice creams and we mentioned that to Benny and he explained that because of some technical issues with machinery, the ice cream was being churned by hand! Well no wonder there were ice crystals and I can forgive that knowing there is some poor kitchen team member having to hand churn ice cream!

Seoulja Boy is a hit! It's not unlike Rice, Paper, Scissors which is close by but it's less frantic. I think it is excellent value for money and I'm looking forward to trying more of the menu. There's an incredible sounding pork belly main dish for two to share which I must sample! It's a place that can be all things to all men - casual lunch joint, quick dine and dash or a longer leisurely meal like our's. Suitable for couples and groups, it's a good place for good times!

The white table cloths and old world decor make it an occasion type restaurant for family birthdays where generations come together or grown ups night out or an intimate date. It's not stuffy, far from it, but it is classic.

We loved the sound of the dishes on the Tasting Menu so it was easy to go with that. The dishes came out promptly. Service was friendly although the one waiter who serviced our area was a little stretched when we were at maximum capacity and it wasn't always easy to get his attention. When we did manage to attract him, his response was speedy so it wasn't a bad experience.

The formula of the Tasting Menu hasn't changed from our previous visit. We started off with a series of small bites:

• Oyster shot with mirin and sake
  
• Ora King salmon and kingfish tartare
  
• ‘Black truffle’ potato croquette
  
• Tempura zucchini flowers with goat’s milk fetta
  
• Wagyu bresaola, enoki mushrooms, pickled daikon

The oyster shot was a yummy blend of sweet and salty with a deep savouriness to the liquid. Oyster shots are never the most attractive of dishes, reminding me of the animals preserved in liquid formaldehyde found in old museums and high school biology labs and this was the same. I guess the clear brown consomme like liquid and the shot glass contributed to this! But at least it tasted good!

Next I worked on the warm tempura zucchini flower which was a classic rendition with familiar flavours that have been proven to work and ever consistent, worked again.

The bresaola was well balanced in flavours too with some saltiness from the cured meat, a tang and a crunch from the pickle and then the earthy mushroom.

The salmon and kingfish tartare on a cracker was pleasant enough but need a little citrus kick I feel.

​The small disappointment was the small croquette that looked like a black truffle but didn't have much flavour to it and I found the filling a bit mushy and gluey. A small morsel though so not bad enough to have a huge impact on the overall enjoyment of this first course.

I didn't take a photo of the next course because it was more a dish of foam so it wasn't easy to see the individual tortellini:

• Mushroom wonton-tortellini, peas, truffled Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce

Where the previous fish dish was light and bright, this pasta came with a punch. Flavour wise the cheese foam was intense and rich. The tortellini filling was creamy and decadent and the peas added intensity with a sweet finish. It was delicious but I couldn't eat more than the three pieces served and for me the sauce was just on the side of manageable. Any more cheese in it would have been too overwhelming for me.

It was a little weird to have the noise of a 21st birthday party come through to the refined dining room and even weirder when I wen to the ladies' bathroom and could barely get in with all the young ladies vying for the mirror, reapplying lip gloss and spraying hairspray and perfume. I was transported back to the 90s when I would have been one of them which was a strange sensation given I'd just had a very grown up and civilised meal. This little experience just didn't quite sit with the whole fine dining package.

There are three, two hatted restaurants all within 15 minutes walk of home for us - Cutler & Co,, St, Crispin and here. At all three the food is of a strong standard. I struggle with the darkness of the dining room at Cutler & Co. on an evening and here I felt the ambience especially with the nightclub ending of our meal was also a little off. I think my favourite for food and ambience would be St. Crispin but it's a pretty tight two hat race.