Don't get me wrong; I have enjoyed the "modern Indian" food that Melbourne offers at Tonka and Mukka and whilst it's delicious, it's just not the same and it's pricier. And then the more traditional Melbourne Indian offerings have been ok but off the mark.

I arrived early on a Thursday evening and was warmly welcomed and shown to a table.

​Decor is very classic and traditional and so we expected the food to follow suit. There's a glitzy, shiny gold panel wall and some colourful dimmed lighting. I found the staff friendly and helpful and as I waited for Steve to arrive was served some poppadoms and dip.

The mint yoghurt dip was thick and creamy with a nice balanced flavour. The dark chutney was fruity and sticky and both went so well with the crispy, fresh poppadom. This serve of poppadoms exceeded my expectations and raised the bar for what was to follow.

As we were guests of the owner, I thought it would be a better idea to leave the menu choices to the restaurant staff so they could showcase what they were most proud of. Our waitress who was friendly and obliging helped us and we started off with:

• Veg Manchurian - Homemade Vegetable Balls cooked in chef’s special sweet and sour Indo Chinese Sauce
• Chicken Tikka

The Veg Manchurian was unexpected; potato patties almost suet dumpling like (but obviously not suet) were soft and pillowy topped with a spicy sweet sauce. At first I felt that the serve of 8 balls was going to be too much but surprisingly I managed to eat my share!

The chicken tikka was a classic representation executed satisfyingly well. Juicy and well flavoured; it was like chicken tikka should be.

The butter chicken was creamy and rich with the tang of tomato in the background. The lamb rogan josh was well spiced, not with chilli but with aromatics like warm cinammon, black pepper and cardamom that could be tasted. The meat in both dishes were tender.​

But it's no UK curry house...rogan josh in UK has bags of flavour; onion, coriander, tomato. The sauce is thick and the flavours run deep. And then there are baltis and bhunas and dupiazas and jalfrezis and none of this exists here on this side of the World. If it does, I've never found it and not for want of trying.

So the verdict is that the Punjabi Curry Cafe is a good neighbourhood restaurant offering classic Indian cuisine. It doesn't try to be modern or offer anything out of the ordinary but what it does send out of the kitchen is satisfying by Australian curry standards. Out of the Indian meals I've had in Australia, it fares well enough but it hasn't satisfied my craving for king prawn puri and a chicken rogan josh!

Whilst the story behind Papirica intrigued me; home cooking becomes a pop up and then a permanent cafe I have to admit that my experience of okonomiyaki, that Japanese pancake, hasn't really been all that positive. Granted I have never had it in Japan so have nothing to compare it to and the versions I have eaten have been on the heavier, mushier and greasy side of things so I'm not sure I'll enjoy this but happy to give it a try...

The menu is short and the meat is mainly pork. There are three different types of okonomiyaki, three rice dishes and three sandwiches. There is plenty for vegetarians too. We order:

• Pork with bonito flakes okonomiyaki with extra of mochi rice cake and a fried egg
• Buta kim chi donburi which is stir fried pork and kim chi with a sesame mayo dressing on rice topped with a fried egg

It's not too long before the dishes arrive. I do wonder if the place is busier whether there would be time delays. Both dishes look appetising. The okonomiyaki is pretty much smothered in sauce so we have to pull it apart to try and see what's in there. When we do so we see thin discs of pork, some dense rice cakes and the layered pancake with what looks like cabbage - almost rosti like.

The homemade sauce and mayo is not as overpowering as it looks and the pickled ginger adds a nice tang that cuts through some of the density of the dish. It's rib stickingly good. Great to share - not sure who I would fare with a whole one. I'd like to try it with cheese next time which is on the add on list.

The donburi isn't the biggest bowl of rice in the world but it's sufficient. The quality of the kim chi is up there. It's not as astringent and strong as some and I really enjoy this mellowed out version. There's tang and spice but just enough.

Special mention to the two fried eggs - perfect egg yolk cooking!

The okonomiyaki ends up being $21 with the extras and the rice dish $15. I'm sure there are cheaper and likely larger versions out there but I am convinced of the quality of both dishes that I think it's a fair price to pay.

I had my favourite kamo seiro with chilled soba noodles. It comes out on a tray with a hot bowl of duck broth, the bamboo mat of chilled noodles and a small bottle of the shichimi togarashi to spice things up. I love the chilled version because the noodles retain their bite whereas the hot version I find overcooks them. The broth is so flavoursome with slices of pink duck breast and pieces of eggplant and some enoki mushrooms.

Steve had the teriyaki chicken set lunch which is a small bowl of teriyaki chicken on rice and a plate of either warm or chilled soba noodles. He went with chilled and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was a tasty lunch that feels light on the tummy but satisfies the tastebuds. Welcome to the neighbourhood Shimbashi. We're going to be great friends. 

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.

Gloomy Sunday afternoon and we are in need of good cheer so we seek the spicy heat of Mexico and gather as a dining group of 4 at Hotel Jesus. It's a quiet afternoon for this place that gets pumping on a Saturday night but we like the chilled out downtime.

The laminated menu card with photographs of some of the dishes is a little twee but then so is the shrine of beer bottles en route to the bathrooms. It's all a bit kitschy tongue in cheeky. I'm less fussed about dodgy decor as long as the tacos are terrific.

Service is pretty friendly and prompt and we get ticking away on our order sheet putting in our individual requests for tostadas, tacos, quesadillas and volcanes as well as shared dishes. Arriba arriba we urge as tummies need to be filled!

The guacamole is super smooth and it's tasty with one large disc of a chip per person. Weirdly the bean dip comes with a whole basket of crackers and chips. Whilst the dip is not the most attractive to look at, it's pretty tasty with a swirl of chilli oil and a sprinkling of cheese. When are refried beans pretty anyway?

We share two plates of ceviche - white fish and seafood cocktail. I love the tomato dressing and the mix of fish, prawn and octopus in the seafood cocktail. Think bloody Mary style flavours spiked with fresh seafood. The white fish is ceviche is less chunky and more crumbly, not quite what I had in mind but still fresh and tasty.

We ordered our own choice of tostadas, tacos, quesadillas and volcanes which is effectively a melted cheese topped tostada. There's plenty of choices for topping - beef, chicken, pork, fish, prawn...And there are a medley of condiments to enhance the flavour experience including a Diablo sauce that apparently is the spicy one but I didn't find it too spicy...

I enjoyed the prawn ceviche tostada which does pack a punch of chilli heat and also the beef taco. The tuna quesadilla is like a slightly more gourmet tuna and cheese toastie and the volcanes are heavier and greasier than the other offerings with the addition of melted cheese.

There's something for everyone at Hotel Jesus. It's casual, it's cheery and it comes with fresh flavours and plenty of spice. Pretty pleasing really.

Ides opened up officially earlier in the year in the old Lee Ho Fook space after various pop ups. There was a bit of hype surrounding Peter Gunn and his ex Attica pedigree and fuel was added to the fire when Dan Stock wrote a scathing review in The Age, when Ides was three weeks old.

Steve and I had followed the tale of Ides from its beginnings and finally got round to writing our own tale of experience following our own visit.

We were a little early for our table but it was available and we soon settled into the calming slate grey tones of restaurant minimalism. It feels neutral and discreet but with a definite male influence - no soft tones or bright splashes of colour, it's all very muted and understated.

There's also a sense of serious industriousness as some of the dishes are plated up at the bar by Peter and one of his sous chefs. No kitchen histrionics though - it's all very zen and precise.

Some of the earlier concepts of not receiving a menu until after the event and receiving emails with video attachments pre and post meal seem to have fallen by the wayside. I agree with taking the direction away from that sort of novelty gesture and letting it be about the food.

So we are shown drinks menus and a food menu and my aversion to blue cheese which I provided with the booking is raised and acknowledged by the FOH Manager who is clearly a professional and an old hand at this hospitality game.

Sesame Roll with Peanut Butter comes first and that salty butter flavoured with peanut butter is deliciously moreish and goes so well with the warm seeded roll. We are offered bread throughout the meal which can be a sign that quantities of food will be small as was the case with our recent Automata experience in Sydney but not here. It is genuine generosity and I'm glad we declined because it meant we had more room for what was to come.

• Sweet Potato Soup with Spring Onion and Celery

Expecting a traditional, thick orange soup perhaps served in a small espresso cup as an amuse bouche, we were totally played! And looking at our dining neighbours' reactions we weren't the only ones. A clear, amber broth is poured into our bowls by Peter and his sous chef and we're advised to give it a stir to mix the celery and spring onion before eating. It's a delicious broth - very savoury and reminiscent of an Asian broth. It's pretty salty and probably just at the edge of being over seasoned but undeniably tasty.

• Crumbed Avocado - Prawn Tails with Avocado, Finger Lime and Fried Bread Covered in Brazil Nuts and Dried Currants with a Red Capsicum Syrup

This next course looks like a dessert or perhaps even a muesli bar and there's a fun throwback to the 70s feel about it with it being a cold prawn cocktail like dish. The capsicum syrup is almost sweet chilli sauce like and the avocado and prawn is a classic and delicious combo with the nut crumb adding some much needed texture. And Steve and I agree that it's a generous serve and they could get away with a 3/4 size but I like the generosity and welcome it.
​

• Rainbow Trout and Zucchini Rings - Roasted Rainbow Trout Stuffed with Chorizo and Seasoned with Rosemary, Raw Zucchini and a Blood Orange Sauce

The rainbow trout is perfectly cooked so it's still rare in the middle giving way silky flakes of fish that are seasoned with a subtle chorizo that doesn't overpower but does make its presence know. There's some spicing that's tongue tingling - sancho pepper we are told and the blood orange sauce gives it an intense citrus zing to cut through the richness of the fish. I enjoy this dish; Steve's not a huge trout fan and feels it all tastes quite "muddy" but I think that's more to do with his tastebuds reacting to pink fish rather than this dish itself.

• Lamb Wrapped in Parsley - Lamb Neck Cooked in Wax Flower Oil, Glazed with Mint and Wrapped in Roasted Parsley with Pumpkin, Peas and Mustard Seeds

The lamb is sweet in flavour partly due to it being a naturally sweet meat but also the cooking of it with the wax flower oil which enhances that flavour note. The meat is tender and the fat is rendered out of it so there's no unpleasant jelly bits or gristle.

• Blueberries Macerated in Rose with Cinnamon, Honey and Coconut

The first dessert is one we have watched Peter plate up during our time at our table and there's some dramatic blow torching and setting fire to cinammon sticks before a pretty wreath of berries and what looks like granola is presented to us. The wreath and the waft of cinammon is so Christmassy and who doesn't enjoy a reminder of that most wonderful time of the year? Flavour wise it's like granola and berries and it's light and refreshing so it also cleanses the palatte.

• Brown Sugar or Banana Ice Cream with Fried Basil and Matcha Sherbet

Final course is a scoop of each of the two ice cream flavours. Apparently the kitchen team liked both and couldn't choose so didn't and we get the two! Steve has the brown sugar ice cream and I have the banana both liberally sprinkled with fried basil leaves. It's very playful as the brown sugar ice cream has some sneaky pieces of banana in it confusing us and the banana ice cream has some sharp kiwi in it when we expected it to have banana! 

In spite of the grown up decor of the restaurant there are hidden jokes / plays on the mind that are evident and that is an unexpected delight. I love the flashback to the 70s and Christmas and the soup that is a broth and the ice cream switch. It's classic cooking, classic flavours but creativity abounds.

We ask about how often the menu changes and apparently dishes do rotate off every two weeks or so and records are kept of diners so repeat visits are not repeated adventures. There's a lot of care and consideration taken at Ides and I respect that. 

We can't help but compare Ides to a recent dining experience at Automata in Sydney which has two hats to Ides one. It's a similar concept in that it's a fixed 5 - 6 course menu and Ides is more expensive by about $25 but it's so much more satisfying both emotionally and in generosity.

Our last visit to Saint Crispin was shamefully a long time ago and with it being so close to home we really have no excuse! And with Saint Crispin offering one course, three course, five course and seven course options there really is a feast for all occasions. And this occasion was a long, lazy Saturday lunch.

We are warmly welcomed and take a seat at a table for two. The mood is relaxed and the pace is exactly how it should be for a weekend lunch. We deliberate over whether we're in for something light and easy or strapped in for the long haul. And the result is we fasten our seatbelts and go seven courses with matched wines. And of course we're enjoying pre lunch aperitifs too!

We're not left waiting for long before some sustenance arrives and it's split pea soup in a shot glass with pancetta crumb. There's also a Gruyere filled profiterole, some sourdough bread with butter and a caramelised onion and cream cheese spread too.

The soup is hearty and obviously anything with bacon is going to capture and win hearts! It's a little thick to come out of the shot glass so there's some uncouth scraping out with the knife. The profiterole oozes out a snowy white filling that is a yummy cheese sauce and the sweet oniony cheesy spread is delicious on the soft white bread.

The wine match is an orange wine made from the sauvignon blanc grape but it tastes nothing like a sauvignon blanc. There's no sourness; it's very well rounded and its gentleness just kisses the flavours from the food without overpowering them.

The pork was the first of the meat dishes and it was so pretty on the plate with shades of pink and lilac and purple on the plate. There's a big piece of pork jowl with a crispy layer and a cut of pork neck providing a leaner, denser contrast to the slippery fattiness of the jowl. 

I haven't had great experiences with jowl as it is so fatty but this piece and I get on pretty well. I do scrape out the layer of fat in between the crispy bit and the meat as I don't like the texture but the flavour of the meat is delicious. The red cabbage puree and beetroot enhance the sweetness of the meat. I like the blend of a fatty and a lean cut of meat. Some of the beetroot cubes are pretty salty so a slightly lighter touch might have been welcome. Its just on the edge of being ok. Steve eats everything on the platen with gusto; fat and all!

Head chef Joe Grbac serves us our next meat course and he kindly tells us we've been upgraded to the Sher wagyu instead of the chicken. As he tells us about the dish, I can smell an almost tobacco smokiness come through and I almost wonder if Joe has been out for a sneaky ciggy! But I realise as I dig in, it comes from the charred broccoli and anchovy mayo. There almost steely like charred flavours contrast the fresh green veggie notes but the jewel in the crown is obviously the beef.

There's a sticky, sinewy beef check marinaded for a week that just gives with the gentlest of pushes. It's tender and beefy and everything beef cheek should be. That heavy richness is then contrasted by the rump cap and with it being Wagyu it leaves that layer of delicious beefiness in the mouth. I don't need all the anchovy mayonnaise on the plate but that's a personal preference because Steve's plate is another clean round!

• Cheese: Roquefort Papillon, salt baked celeriac, celery panna cotta and rye
• ​​Granny Smith apple sponge, caramel, Calvados ice cream and vanilla

I don't eat blue cheese so I skip on the Roquefort and am presented with the apple option. I love that the apples are al dente and not over stewed like in a crumble. The sponge is golden and light and the ice cream is not sweet because the caramel provides the sugar hit. The little cubes of jelly add some concentrated hits of flavour. I was pretty full after the meat dishes but this manages to give me a second wind and I fell good in spite of having ingested so much deliciousness!

Steve loves the creativity of the blue cheese dish. The celery panna cotta hits the spot and he demolishes it. The dish is polarising; I would not touch it with a barge pole but it's another clean plate round from Steve. 

It was such a great lunch; finished with cups of tea and madeleines. The pace was perfect, the food fabulous and the service slick. I can't believe we've not been back for so long when it's this good! I think we've always had in our minds it's a bit fancy but really after this lunch, and the warm embrace we've experienced, we are resuming this friendship pronto!

Learn. Make. Eat. Drink. Shop.

That's The Craft & Co. mantra. Recently opened at the end of our street we decided to pop in for lunch. And I love all those things so to find them all under one roof, well it should be Heaven!

It's a huge space with an upstairs retail outlet full of gourmet goodies as well as space to make cheese, charcuterie pizza. And then downstairs is the microbrewery, deli counter and I think even a distillery as well as coffee outlet. There are tables scattered throughout as well as a covered courtyard and some street tables too. Phew - there's definitely a lot going on!

After a browse round, we sat at a table and decided to have some lunch.

Our drinks took a while to arrive and we had to chase them up. I ordered a lemonade that was on the juice menu and I specified that but instead I got the organic Hepburn Springs lemonade so I think the wait staff need to know what's on the vast menu a bit better. Steve enjoyed his beer though even though it was late and there was no apology.

My pet hate with service is when the diner asks a member of the wait staff to look into the delay and off they happily go but then they never report back. I think it's important to provide an update even if the dishes are seconds away. And yes my pet hate happened here...

Anyway onto the food:

• Moreton Bay School Prawns - Fried Crispy, Sumac Salt, Aioli
• The Craft & Co Chorizo - Served Soft, Fired on Grappa, Paprika

The school prawns were plump and delicious - seafood sweet, well seasoned offset by a squeeze of the lemon and a mustardy, garlicky mayo. The chorizo was also delicious; flavoursome, meaty not as soft as the description suggested. It came on a hotplate with still aflame from the grappa so a bit of dramatic theatre too.

And then our next courses arrived:

• Free Range Chicken - Brined in Whey, Fire Roasted, Pearl Barley Salad
• Steak Sandwich - Robbins Island 9+ Wagyu, Fermented Beetroot, Onions, Cheddar, Stone Cooked Ciabatta

Another pet hate sadly occurred; the menu didn't say the steak sandwich came with chips and so we ordered a side of chips so then we were overwhelmed by chips. And it wasn't as if the chips were that great either. Just normal chips - some crispy, some soggy, just frozen chips fried but we had a glut of them! And because we weren't asked at any point if everything was ok, I felt the need to provide the feedback to our waitress who conceded she should have mentioned it when we ordered. Let's hope she does it moving forward but again no outright apology, just verbal acknowledgement.

Onto happier matters; the chicken was delicious and a good serving size. The barley salad was also tasty with a sharp vinaigrette and the grains also soaked up the chicken juices. This is up there in the ranks of good roast chicken.

The steak sandwich looked good. Steve enjoyed it enough but it was heavy on the mustard and the whole thing was a bit sloppy with lots of beetroot and other filling which stopped the steak flavours coming out.

It seems a good place to drop in for a coffee and there's food for all budgets from a $7 panino chosen from the enticing items at the deli to the 30 something dollar chicken.

It wasn't an immediate hit for for me because of the hiccups in service and although it all looks shiny and new, it felt a bit flat. Almost too relaxing; no buzz and that might be because it's so big so although there were customers and diners floating about, it still felt a bit empty.

Definitely an interesting place but it hasn't triggered the love in me yet. I still need to be wooed and courted to come to the party!

We took a table out on the street and deliberated over the kebab menu. I went to place our order inside at the very clearly labelled order kiosk:

• A-rab - Lamb, smoked hummus, leaves and pickled bits
• East Coast - Maple glazed pulled pork, crackling, peanut butter hummus, leaves and pickled bits
• Hot crinkle chips and harissa mayo
• Corn dogg - Turkish sausage corn dogg with smoked mustard mayo

All that food came plus two soft drinks came to less than $50 so it's in line with gourmet fast food prices.

Food arrived quickly and we dug in. There were three corn doggs (not sure why it's spelt with a double gg) per serve and that was generous and we couldn't get into the third. Pretty tasty with crispy outer, soft mash encasing a salty, spicy sausage.

The main stars are obviously the kebabs and they were hefty in size. I had the pulled pork and enjoyed the sweetness of the meat and the tang of the pickles. Pretty messy eating! The pita was soft and pillowy. I couldn't taste the garlic yoghurt or spicy sauce much and it was just shy of being well seasoned.

Steve's lamb one was better. Big chunks of tasty lamb that was juicy and meaty. The chips were crunchy and I liked the spicy seasoning on them. The two mayos we had weren't that exciting and a small part of me might have just preferred ketchup!

In summary, nice enough and worth a try but we both personally have a preference to Jimmy Grants offerings. Sorry Biggie! We just feel Jimmy wins out by a whisker in terms of flavour and the friendliness of the wait staff.