After a fun day at the Boxing Day Test, we decided to stay close to home and enjoy the last of the evening sunshine at the Noodle House which is one of the many restaurants on the river strip. We secured a cosy table for two on the terrace where we could watch the passer bys and the bicycle challenge. The bicycle challenge is where one man has a counterbalanced bike that he challenges people to ride for a very short distance. He charges for the privilege but if you make the distance you get the charge plus more back. Needless to say he makes it look very easy and people get sucked in. Cue lots of swearing, cheering, screech of brakes and the sound of skin grazing the pavement!

Anyway back to dinner. The place was busy as can be expected for a sunny evening during holiday season. We ordered the son in law eggs as I wanted to try them and spring rolls to start. The eggs were a little strange. I expected them to be more flavoursome and spicy but the chilli sambal was non existent and the sauce tasted just like honey. Honey coated eggs are not a common combination. Steve liked the spring rolls but I was less effusive as I thought the wrap was crumbly and not spring roll like. Not a brilliant start admittedly. Neither dish was bad but we have learnt that in Melbourne where food standards are high, mediocre is not good enough especially when prices are high in this particular part of the city.

Next came Peking duck which was an improvement on two preceding dishes. The duck was meaty and the pancake wrappers good. It wasn't shredded like UK but in thick slices and I liked this.

Next up were a Malaysian chicken curry and a black soy with tenderloin char kway teow (fried rice noodles). The curry was fragrant and nicely spiced. The sauce was good with the steamed rice. The fried noodles were also good.

It's not exactly authentic Asian food; definitely more Westernised (or bastardised as some people like to say) but that doesn't stop it from being tasty. And as offspring of parents who sell Westernised Chinese food for a living but who also loves authentic, I say there's a time and place for both. There are times where I like a bit of sweet and sour Hong Kong style and other times where I'll fight my cousins for fish eye and partake in chicken feet!

The bill came to around $100 which I thought to be pricey for what we had but that's what it's like at Southbank. The prices are high because of the location and ambience. We could have had that food for half the price at a traditional place near China Town or on Victoria Street but we wouldn't have been able to sit outside on a pleasant terrace and instead would have been sat on plastic chairs at a formica table reading a menu on the wall all lit up with fluorescent lighting and a neon sign in the window. We wouldn't have had cloth napkins and we'd have been in and out in 25 minutes! So I guess this is why prices are higher! It wasn't as if the food was bad; it was actually pretty tasty but could definitely get the same quality elsewhere at much less but then at the lower price we'd have lost out on the ambience and the location....

For Christmas dinner, Steve and I decided to leave traditions behind in UK and do something different. We'd been to Nobu for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it so we booked it for Christmas dinner. Originally we were going to go for lunch and experience the set menu but when we spoke to the hostess to confirm our booking, we discovered it was open for dinner with the usual á la carte menu so we decided to change plans and go during the evening instead.

This plan suited us more as it meant we could spend most the day in our pyjamas and we could choose anything we fancied from the menu. Given how much the set menu cost, we figured we could order a lot of food and drink and still be within that budget.

I kicked off with an Apchee Martini which was a refreshing apple and lychee combination. Tart and sweet at the same time - delish! We had the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno pepper and coriander which is a firm favourite of our's and I think we'll order it every time we come if we're lucky enough to have more visits. I love coriander anyway so this is a winning combination for me and the warming jalapeno is just a great sensation and aftertaste. Love that tingle on the tongue!

Next up were the sashimi tacos with yellowtail, salmon, lobster and snow crab with a fresh tomato salsa. We both agreed the lobster and snow crab were the best. There was nothing wrong with this dish and it looks very pretty but now that I've tried it, I'd opt for another dish of the yellowtail sashimi instead of this.

Beef tataki with ponzu and garlic chips arrived soon after. This was a new one for us and one we will definitely repeat. Wafer thin slices of raw beef with a soy / citrussy dressing and what tasted like pickled garlic. Doesn't sound nice but absolutely delicious.

As we tucked into the beef, a couple similar age to us were seated at the table next to us and they commented on how appetising the dish looked. We proceeded to have some good conversations with them throughout the evening. Turns out they were from Sydney and were in Melbourne because he is a cameraman with Sky Sports and was filming the cricket. He's obviously a regular on the circuit as knows a lot of the people and commentators but he didn't name drop in an annoying way. Steve had mentioned before we went to Nobu that he was hopeful he'd spy some cricket related folk, probably not the actual players given it was the night before the start of the Test but perhaps some of the entourage. I guess this cameraman counts. He told us the England team were staying in South Yarra which is one of the suburbs about 10 minutes away and the Australian team were staying at the Crown Casino Complex which is where we were.

Back to the food; the crispy rice cubes with spicy tuna was next. We'd had this one last time and the rice cubes are just so deliciously chewy and crispy and moreish all at the same time that Steve couldn't resist and ordered this. The tuna is nice but it's the rice cubes that are the centrepiece of this dish.

Now for our hot courses. The black cod with miso was always going to be ordered. This is Steve's favourite dish of all time. He just absolutely loves it. He puts it down to the combination of taste and texture and being able to slowly savour it picking up each mouthful flake by flake.

We had a little interlude of tempura; scallop and shitake mushroom and they were both good. The Wagyu gyoza with goma ponzu was next. The goma ponzu is like a sesame and citrus dipping sauce. The gyoza were probably the only disappointing dish. They were tasty but just not that special and quite greasy so I'd give them a skip next time.

Steamed wole baby barramundi (I keep calling it barracuda - what's the difference huh?) with black bean sauce was one of my favourites. The flesh is like sea bass; soft and delicate and I loved the sauce that was just so tasty with the steamed rice. Steve still prefers the black cod but I like both and would be hard pressed to decide between them. Good thing that although both are white fish dishes, they are very different so we can always have both!

By now we'd had a lot of food but given it's Christmas and the time of gluttony coupled with the fact that we hadn't over indulged during the day meant that we pushed the boat out a teeny bit further and ordered one more dish. We went for the tenderloin tobanyaki. The tenderloin is seared and carries on cooking in the ceramic pot which is glazed with butter and sake. It's quite an understated dish where the quality of the beef is the main star of the show. I really enjoyed this rare piece of steak and prefer it over the tenderloin with wasabi salsa we had last time. The wasabi salsa dish is very memorable because it's quite unique and packs a punch but I prefer the restraint of this dish.

We had finished our bottle of T Gallant pinot gris so ordered two glasses of the Victoria pinot noir. The bottle of white we had was from a vineyard in Mornington about 90 minutes drive away and Steve had been to the winery as one of his Christmas excursions with work.

Dessert time and Steve made our waiter's day by ordering the rice pudding. I'd heard him encourage other customers to try it as it was his favourite but I guess when there's chocolate fondant, Japanese donuts on offer, rice pudding tends to be overlooked. Steve really enjoyed it though and it was a little different to the usual rice pudding as it came with a giant crispy rice cracker which the waiter told Steve to crumble into the pudding to get some crunch in the texture.

I went with the popular satandagi which are Japanese donuts stuffed with chocolate and pistachio served with a ball of almond icecream. I asked for a dessert wine and our waiter said he'd come back with something special. What arrived was a small carafe of what looked like runny custard on a bed of ice. He called it a mango shochu and said it was made on the premises and in different flavours depending on what fruit was in season. It tasted like an alcoholic mango smoothie. Totally yummy. It looked so unusual that our neighbours were fascinated so I offered them a sip and they ordered one too! Steve and I are such trendsetters!

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The service was impeccable; our waiter had such passion for the food and was so charming and the food was just glorious. Definitely need to go back again!

On a sunny mid week evening, Steve and I decided to use an Entertainment Book voucher and head to Grill'd to try there "healthy burgers". We've seen a few Grill'd outlets around in the City and the surrounding suburbs and they always look busy. The ethos there is that they produce delicious, cooked to order burgers that are made with love from high quality, fresh ingredients including super lean meat and there are chicken, beef or lamb options. The chips are fried in cholestrol free oil too to ease the guilt!

We went to the outlet at the QV shopping centre and both opted for the Mighty Melbourne described as "grilled 100% lean beef, tasty cheese, crispy trim bacon, free range egg, couple of slices of beetroot with salad, relish and herbed mayo" as well as one serving of chips between us. The burger came and as you can see in the pics was stacked far too high to eat so ended up being a deconstructed, eat with knife and fork job.

Steve's verdict on the burger is that it was a good burger and he'd happily have another one again. I'd agree with him although the size of them does make eating them rather messy.

After our trip to Mornington we had our evening meal at a Chinese restaurant recommended to me by a colleague as her family favourite. She had taken me earlier in the week when I had roast duck and soya chicken on rice and it was really good so I decided to take Steve to see if he preferred it over the roast duck and food at Pacific BBQ.

It's a little more dated than Pacific where we usually go for our roast duck fix and clientele is usually older Chinese folk compared to the students at Pacific. The two of us ordered a mix of roast duck, soya chicken and crispy pork, some stirfried green beans with mince and Steve had a craving for chicken and cashew nuts...such a typical white boy!

Anyway food came promptly and there was a lot of it. Portion size is certainly on the generous side and bigger than Pacific and pricing is similar. The rice came in an insulated pot which was put in an icebucket holder by the side of our table. I think what impressed me the most at this place was the Asian service with a smile which isn't reaslly that common over here. The Chinese restaurants here are pretty much quick table turns and service is brisk and brusque. At Minh Xuong I saw wait staff patiently explain things to customers and there was definitely a smile or two thrown into the mix which was refreshing.

Steve says he prefer Pacific because there just seems to be something special about the duck there but he can't explain what. Helpful! I like both however I find Pacific is friendlier to the solo diner in the way the tables are set out.

The Rocks at Mornington was recommended to us with a disclaimer that service can be slow but it's still a good place to go. It is in a lovely location and the deck area is a fun place to sit with a view of all the boats. Service was friendly and although the food did take a little while it fitted in with the laid back style of the place. We probably arrived just after the lunchtime crowd and although the deck was busy it wasn't overly so. There was a pleasant hum of activity but not so much that it was too frantic and disorganised.

We ordered the seafood mixed grill, small serving of mussels and some chips for us both to share. I enjoyed a glass of bubbles whilst driver Steve made do the with State's finest vintage water. We were really pleased with the quality of the seafood. The mussels were plump and juicy and it was nice to have them au natural with the grill and in the traditional white wine broth. The mixed grill cames with some aioli which went well with the prawns. Fries were golden and crispy just as we like them.

I would recommend The Rocks as nice place for a long and lazy lunch. However there is so much choice in Mornington that competition is stiff. It wasn't so mindblowingly good that I would forsake trying the other places.

We made plans with Ling and Noah to meet up for lunch at one of Noah's faves: Sofia's in Camberwell which is ideally situated halfway between where they live and where we are. We decided to take public transport so we could enjoy some wine and our research showed that there was a direct train from close to us to really close by the restaurant. Simple...or so we thought! What we failed to look at was how circuitous the tram route was and what we thought was a 20 minute journey was actually 45! We were half an hour late to meet Ling and Noah. What a first impression to give Noah!

Anyway finally we arrived with starving tummies and we quickly ordered. We'd been warned portions were big. Noah ordered soup as he wasn't too well and didn't have much of an appetite. Ling asked for a chicken salad, I went for a spaghetti in tomato sauce with prawns and Steve went for the old favourite - carbonara. Well the portions were humungous! Mountains of pasta and the chicken salad must have had a whole chicken in it!

So the quantity was there but what about quality. It was a little more than acceptable; not out of this world but excellent value. The pasta was cooked nicely with the right amount of bite not the soggy mush it can be. Sauce ratio was good so it wasn't too sloppy or dry. I'm sure there's better quality out there but I also know there can be much worse so this was a decent lunch. Service was attentive but not overly so and they seemed ok about Ling and Noah sitting there waiting 30 minutes for us! I think in some Chinese places where the food is cheap and they like to get people in and out quickly our tardiness could have been a problem so nice of them to be accommodating. Our share of the food came to $50 which included a bottle of wine ie £30 so the value is there.

After a quick walk round some of the shops in Camberwell we came to an ice cream stall called Trampoline. It's a chain and there's one near us in Southbank but we've never tried. Steve and I shared a tub with three flavours: hokey pokey which is honeycomb bits in butterscotch, lamington which is coconut, choc chip and raspberries and a white chocolate and berries. I really enjoyed the ice cream as it wasn't overly sweet unlike Ben and Jerry's.

Steve and I had bought Zoupon vouchers for Ibuki. Basically for the UK folk who don't have Zoupon, you sign up for free and a daily email is sent with an offer from a particular business. You only have 24 hours to take up the offer and it only becomes a reality if enough people sign up. So in this case it was buying a voucher for $50 which could be redeemed for $120 at Ibuki.

Prior to going but after we'd bought the voucher, I looked at some reviews and it was a mixed bag so expectations weren't particularly high. We booked for a Sunday evening because there wasn't a table available on the Saturday night. I assume they limit the number of voucher customers each night and Saturday will always be the most popular. The restaurant is located inside a hotel and it was relatively easy to find. The decor was pretty basic - think mid range hotel function room but it was clean and we were greeted by a smiling waiter and waitress.

It's a quiet and calm kind of place. There were about two other tables there when we arrived and more people arrived as we were eating so it wasn't completely dead. We decided to order some starters and then re-order after we finished with those. We started with some beef tataki which is essentially raw beef and it was dressed in soy with some Japanese mayonnaise and spring onions. Not very beefy but acceptable. It was a reasonable start to the meal. The gyoza came next and they were pretty good. Nice pork filling and a delicate skin on the outside.

We ordered some mixed sashimi. There was tuna, salmon, kingfish, little bit of squid, octopus and some pink fish that wasn't tuna. Steve declined the octopus so I had it. And actually out of it all the octopus was probably the freshest; not chewy, slightly gelatinous and pretty tasty. The rest of the sashimi was nice enough but nothing to blow the mind. Chicken yakitori (on the skewers) was a bit meh. I could do better with some marinade and chicken pieces. I didn't take a picture of the tempura but we had some of that. The vegetables were good with a nice crispy batter but the prawns weren't fresh and were mushy in texture. Here we took a break and ordered our mains.

There was big party in so the waitress was very apologetic and said the break could take some time but this was fine with us.

Steve chose a breadcrumbed pork and egg on rice dish and I opted for a beef dish which came on a big heated plate. We also had chawan mushi which is a savoury baked egg custard and some miso soup. The chawan mushi was good and reminded me of the eggy rice dish my Uncle Louis makes. Pork and rice was tasty. The pork was probably slightly too soggy and the breadcrumb coating not crisp enough. The beef was quite salty and stringy.

We declined dessert as far too full and the bill came to about $20 over our voucher. So in total we paid $70 for the meal which is really good value for what we had. In terms of quality it was bit hit and miss. I'd have resented paying full price for it all but was really happy with what we did pay so I guess everyone's happy! Incidentally the waitress there is lovely. She's genuinely very sweet with a lovely smile and a willingness to help.

Bear Brass is one of those bar / restaurants we often walk by and think about going in. We tried one night a few weeks ago but it was too busy. Anyway we decided to try again tonight and managed to get some great seats on the terrace with a view of the river and all the people walking by. We ordered a prosciutto pizza and a tasting plate which consisted of lamb chops, duck liver paté, spicy koftas in tomato sauce, kangaroo fillet and some olive bread. Our wine choice was a Riesling from an hour's drive down the road - Geelong. Bear Brass is buzzy and has a good vibe. Had to find a waitress to get menus and service but it was pretty busy and given it's a bar and restaurant I guess it's hard to spot who wants food and who just wants a drink.

The food arrive quickly. The tasting plate was pretty good and I would order it again. The lamb chops were marinaded well and tender. I think the favourite was probably the lamb. The koftas had a spicy kick to them but given there weren't that many of them it was a very palatable kick. The kangaroo was juicy and very lean with a gamey taste; also enjoyable. The paté was very rich and we could have done with more bread. It was tasty but I prefer my paté more rustic and coarse as this one was very smooth. The pizza had a nice thin base and a good base to topping ratio. It wasn't as good as the pizzas at +39 but Steve pointed out they are a good deal cheaper at Bear Brass so can't argue with that.

We liked the place enough to fill in a form for a loyalty card. They do midweek specials so I can see this becoming an easy place for post work dinners on the day we can't bring ourselves to cook!

I've actually been here a few times now. I was first introduced to this place in my second week in Melbourne by the Poms in Oz forum as they have monthly lunch gatherings here. Since then I've met other people here as it's a good location and easy to find and the menu offers something for everyone. Steve and I went together for the first time this morning for brunch because I knew it did pretty decent food and he could watch the cricket on the big screen in Federation Square.

I had a breakfast and Steve went for the chicken Caesar salad and we shared a huge portion of chips which we couldn't finish. It was lovely sitting outside in the warm sunshine. I enjoyed by breakfast which wasn't too greasy but had to give some of my hash brown to Steve as there was too much and leave some of my toast. Carb overload! I've had the chicken Caesar salad before and it was pretty tasty. It's not amazing gourmet food but it's decent enough and you're paying for the location more than anything else. However I have a discount card that gives me 25% off up to $25 so that makes it much better value for money. Service is efficient enough occasionally lacking in responsiveness but the times I've been, I don't mind slow service as it's a nice place to sit and people watch or in today's case watch the cricket.