Whenever I make plans to eat out with friends, the pressure is always on me to find somewhere! This time I said from the off, that I was not going to make the decision but I then followed that up 30 seconds later with a message suggesting trying Fratelli Fresh! So I guess I can't help myself but take control! Ha ha!

Four girls, one being vegetarian with a night of chatter ahead, what better than homely, hearty Italian? Walking into the building, it still reminds me of what it once was, Comme and then Stokehouse City. The fancy steakhouse The Cut is upstairs and we head right into Fratelli Fresh where the vibe is far far different to its predecessors. There's a Italian American feel with the black and white lettering above the bar which surrounds an impressively large pizza oven. We're shown to a cosy corner table and it's pretty comfortable with enough room between tables that we don't feel we're interrupting our neighbours particularly as there is plenty of giggling and incessant conversation.

We order some flatbread to share whilst we wait for lady number four to arrive. It's the:
Focaccia di Recco Cheese-filled Flatbread  with Stracciatella - Thyme
The cheese is sandwiched between two layers of dough. It's melted and stringy and there's a sharp tang from the cheese. Pleasant enough to accompany the glasses of wine we have ordered. 

Between the four of us we order:

Spaghetti al Pomodoro - Tomato, Basil, EVOO, Parmigiano Reggiano
Cheesy Casarecce ‘Cacio e Pepe’ -  Rapini, Pigs Cheeks, Pecorino Romano
Chilli & Lobster Paccheri - Large Tube Pasta, Tomato, EVOO
Conchiglioni all’Amatriciana - Pasta Shells, Smoked Pancetta, San Marzano

Shaved Brussels Sprouts, Fiore di Burrata, Walnut
Fried Potato Rosemary, Salt
​Bitter Leaves Honey, Walnut

The food doesn't take too long to arrive. Reactions are mixed - some of it doesn't look all that appealing and it's sloppily presented. The Spaghetti al Pomodoro has been plated on one side of the plate off centre but in a not on purpose kind of way. The Lobster Paccheri looks very red and over tomatoey...The waiter bringing our food doesn't help as he pretty much just dumps the plate heavyhandedly in front of us. Maybe it's this clumsiness that caused the Spaghetti al Pomodoro to slide to one side of the dish...

Anyway it's about flavour right? I had the Conchiglioni and the pasta is al dente just as I like it and it is tasty. One might say ever so slightly on the saltier side but tasty enough for me to plough through and enjoy. Generally speaking we enjoy our plates of pasta. The comment on the lobster pasta is that it's very lobstery...on the plus that means there's lobster in it, on the minus it could be interpreted as being too fishy. The carbonara style Cheesy Casarecce is probably the winner both in appearance and taste satisfaction levels although I have to say I generally struggle with a whole dish of creamy pasta.

Accompaniments are enjoyable enough; fairly classic and simple and not huge in size. The Brussels sprouts in a creamy burrata dressing I find delicious - fresh and creamy but it's pricy for the size of the serve I feel.

It takes a while for a plates to be cleared, dessert menus allocated and orders taken. Being tucked away in the corner means it's not easy to catch the eye of passing wait staff. We finish on coffees and a slice of banoffee tart of which I have a mouthful and again it's pleasing enough but not amazing. And again it's not a generous serve.

So in summary, I remember being really happy when I went to one of the Sydney outposts a few years back. This didn't seem to be as good and it's not Tipo 00 level pasta. But it's a comfortable environment, has a menu that has something for everyone and the food is decent enough so for a small get together where the chatter and the company outweighs the desire for groundbreaking cuisine and the food is really on the backdrop, especially during the week then Fratelli Fresh is a good bet...

It took a while for Tim Ho Wan to open its doors. The boards covering up the building work originally indicated an April 2015 opening if I remember correctly. That came and went...and the boards remained. I heard on the grapevine problems with planning permission, extractor fans and the like...Finally trade started and the queues snakes down Bourke Street so I kept my distance.

The grapevine continued to pump out news and opinions - long queues, good buns, not so good everything else, worth the hype, not worth they hype, just like Hong Kong, totally different to Hong Kong...What else to do but to dine and form my own opinion and join one of the many schools of thought? But I put it off due to the queues..and the mixed reviews dampened my ardour. Life's a bit like that...if everyone says it's amazing, the desire to be part of that intensifies.

​Walked past one weekday lunchtime and noticed the queue at 12:10pm was virtually non existent. Unfortunately had other plans so skipped but returned the next day at a similar time and there was a queue but not too bad so we joined the end and I asked the server how long it would be. She was surprisingly friendly - places like this don't seem to make that quality a priority but she said 5 - 10 minutes. In reality it was more like 2 minutes and pretty soon we were shown to a small table.

It's very HK cafe in style - lots of turning of tables, in and out, feed me quick type rather than long and leisurely lunch. That's ok though as we were on a 1 hour lunch break. There's a buzzer to request service and a tick sheet to place an order. The menu was smaller than I expected but I guess I don't mind that as it's more a place to dine in small numbers so don't need lots of variety as long as what limited offerings there are, are executed well.

Between the two of us we ordered:

• Baked Bun with BBQ Pork
• Fried Turnip Cake (unpictured)
• Vermicelli Roll with Sesame Sauce
• Pork Dumpling with Shrimp (unpictured)
• Spring Roll with Egg White (unpictured)
• Rice with Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom

Everything came quickly - I did wonder if the rice would as typically this takes a while in the more usual yum cha places. For this reason I refrained from ordering the Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf but after this speedy experience, no reason not to next time!

The baked BBQ pork buns are definitely tasty. Light and fluffy with a sweet crust and a chunky pork filling I like these more than the fluffy white ones which I find synthetic and the filling in those is all too often sweet, meaty mush.

I found the turnip cake a but too "cakey". Flavour was decent but texture a touch too gluey for me.

Vermicelli roll was presented so prettily with the stripes of contrasting sauce that looked like crispy bacon! And the texture was silky smooth so definitely very enjoyable.

We enjoyed the rice - generous chunks of chicken, ginger flavours. It needed a bit more sauce to penetrate to the bottom layers of rice. The chicken itself was very tender to the extent it kind of disintegrated in the mouth. This makes me wonder though if it's been over treated with bicarb of soda or some other chemical meat tenderiser...

Spring roll was crispy and golden and we enjoyed the lightness of it. Usually vegetarian spring rolls are filled with carrot (which I don't like) but this was different and very palatable.

I've never been to the HK outlet so can't compare. However I went to Tim Ho Wan thinking it wouldn't be as good as the original. I find that this happens with brands like Tim Ho Wan, Din Tai Fung etc. The original is always better even if the chefs are trained the same way, recipes are unchanged. I put it down to the water and air in each country!

Overall the food is decent. There are some really yummy items - vermicelli roll and pork buns and the other stuff is slightly better than the yum cha offerings. That's my opinion and I've struggled to find truly satisfying yum cha in Melbourne.

Yes, it's not a "yum cha" experience with trolleys and large round tables for families. It's not really set up for that. We paid about $50 in total for our food and I don't think that was unreasonable. It's affordable, it's quick, it's pretty yummy and it's an alternative to Taiwanese style Din Tai Fung. I'm not busting a gut to go again urgently but certainly wouldn't have a problem with a repeat visit.