• Barley Background
  • Farewell UK
  • Melbourne Magic
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Guestbook

Middle Fish

11/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
A rare weekday off and Steve and I ventured North of the city and decided to have a Thai lunch to bring some sunshine to a grey day.

Walking into Middle Fish was pleasant as it was an airy, cavernous dining room with an intricate chandelier, exposed brickwork and some steel girders. All Melbourne industrial chic meets Thailand.

Picture
We decided to order a few dishes to share:

Mussaman - Dark Ox Cheek Curry w Peanuts & Fried Shallot.

Ka Nhom Jeen
- Crispy Fried Soft Shell Crab, Vermicelli Noodle with Pickles & Southern Thai Curried Fish Broth

Kha Na - Stir fry Chinese Broccoli with Chilli with Crispy Pork Belly

Kao Tom - Traditional Thai Breakfast. Brown Rice in Fragrant Chicken Broth w Shredded Chicken, Asian Herbs and a Poached Egg

The Mussaman curry was a hot - creamy and sweet with tender meat and not too heavy. The stir fry broccoli with pork belly was also tasty with a good chilli whallop.

The Kao Tom was homely and comforting - quite heavy on the white pepper and not quite the thick Chinese rice porridge I was expecting/

The crispy soft shell crab was less crispy and more a bit shrivelled and soggy. But the noodles and Thai fish broth was fresh and tangy almost lemony.

We enjoyed our meal at Middle Fish. I liked the premises. I liked the food. I liked the smiles and it's good value.

Middle Fish on Urbanspoon
0 Comments

The Auction Rooms

2/11/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sunny Saturday morning and we head to North Melbourne for brunch.

I love the big warehouse space and the large open windows. We had to wait a little before there was a table free but it wasn't too long.

Our table faced the open windows and it was so pleasant with the sunshine filtering through.

Steve had the baked eggs in a bean stew with Merguez sausages and I went with the belly pork and a fried egg.

Definitely Steve's dish was the winner; flavoursome tomato, eggs tht were oozy. spicy sausage, all delicious. The belly pork dish was just a bit bland. Belly pork cooked decently and a fried egg and some orangey notes thrown in; I guess to cut through the richness of the meat.

Service was attentively quick if impersonal.
Auction Rooms on Urbanspoon
0 Comments

The Crimean

3/8/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Friday night was Eastern European night with friends Shern and Jon. I'd heard so much about The Crimean that it seemed like it would be a fun place for four eaters and big drinkers!

Shern, Jon and I met earlier and had a few drinks and I decided to go with vodka in honour of the occasion. We met up with Steve at The Crimean as he was going straight there after work trip interstate.

The drinks menu is pretty impressive with various authentic Eastern European beers which the gentlemen tried and Shern and I kept hydrated with vodka cocktails.

 We kicked off proceedings with a chicken kiev croquette each and shared the beef and pork pelmeni with sour cream and paprika butter and pickled beetroot, smoked Bulgarian ewe's milk feta, walnuts.

The chicken croquettes were like those yummy mini kievs I used to eat as a child but so much better. Moist chicken meat, crispy crumb exterior and a heady garlic and buttery fragrance and flavour coming out from the meat.

The beetroot was nicely pickled with a sweet and tart tang and a smoky edge from the creamy feta and the walnuts added texures.

The best dish though was probably these delightful dumplings with the creamy and buttery sauce. Soft pillows of squishy meat and a light but chewy casing. Really scrumptious and more please!
Picture
I mentioned an impressive drinks list but there is also an impressive drinks trolley and it was wheeled out to us in between courses as is tradition apparently.

A vodka shot in between meals - why not? Shern and I enjoyed a beautifully smooth caramel vodka that was so fragrant but not surgary or sweet in flavour. The fragrance itself was enough to make it taste sweet.

Shern and I decided to share two main courses. We had the quince and orange braised lamb shoulder, chestnut and spinach kasha as well as the Hungarian goulash - beef rump cap, tomato, paprika, caraway, potato, carrot, bell peppers
.
The goulash was flavoursome and scented and flavoured with paprika. The potato balls were soft and floury and the beef tender that we cut it up with a spoon.

The lamb was equally tender and the citrus flavours kept it light. Both dishes were good. Shern commented that the lamb whilst good was like something she could cook at home whereas the goulash would be hard to re create and get the balance of spices right.

We shared some potatoes and crispy fried cauliflower as a table.

The Crimean is a great place to eat and drink. It's romantically dark with atmospheric lighting. Decor is Soviet elegance with high ceilings, grey walls and plenty to look at and admire. The welcome is warm, the food hearty and the drink flows; great place for friends to come together and enjoy.
The Crimean on Urbanspoon
0 Comments

    Fine Print

    For those that know us, this section will probably come with no surprise! Steve and I love eating out so this is our record of our time in Australia.

    This is a blog that is 100% written and edited by Steve and I. All opinions expressed are our own and are not influenced by any third party.

    Any sponsored posts are easily identified as such.

    Thanks for reading barleyblog.

    Follow @mindabarley
    View my food journey on Zomato!

    Archives

    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

    Categories

    All
    Albert Park
    American
    Argentinian
    Armadale
    Armenian
    Beaconsfield
    Beechworth
    Birragurra
    Box Hill
    Breakfast
    Bright
    Brighton
    British
    Brunswick
    Buffet
    Burgers And Pub Grub
    Burmese
    Busselton
    Camberwell
    Canberra
    Carlton
    Cbd
    Chinese
    Collingwood
    Daylesford
    Dessert
    Docklands
    Doncaster
    Elsternwick
    Eltham
    Elwood
    Ethiopian
    European
    Filipino
    Fitzroy
    Flemington
    Flinders
    Footscray
    Fremantle
    French
    Fusion
    Geelong
    German
    Glen Waverley
    Greek
    Hawthorn
    Hobart
    Indian
    Indonesian
    Italian
    Japanese
    Kew
    Korean
    Kyneton
    Launceston
    Malaysian
    Margaret River
    Mexican
    Middle Eastern
    Mildura
    Modern Australian
    Mornington Peninsula
    Northcote
    North Melbourne
    Port Fairy
    Port Melbourne
    Prahran
    Richmond
    Ripponlea
    Rutherglen
    Southbank
    South Melbourne
    South Yarra
    Spanish
    Steakhouse
    St Kilda
    Sydney
    Thai
    Thornbury
    Toorak
    Torquay
    Vietnamese
    Werribee
    Williamstown
    Windsor
    Yarra Valley
    Yum Cha

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.