Barolo Modern Mediterranean Dining

Barolo
http://www.barolo.com.au/



Many times when we need FOOD, I get confused and instantly forget the list of places I want to visit. Maybe I'll try physically writing a list...

Anyway, Barolo was an occasion when I actually knew exactly what I wanted. The criteria for the evening was: pasta in the CBD. Barolo describes itself as 'modern Mediterranean' and had some knock-out pasta dishes on their menu (yes, I research these things online). I was really eager to give it a go.

Ultimate Indulgence: Chocolate Babka

Chocolate Babka
Home Cooking



Lots of sources I've read for making babka claim that it will be one of the fattiest, sugar-loaded recipes recipes you'll ever attempt. I ignored all that and went for it anyway. Until a couple of months back, I had no idea what babka was. I've heard references to it on Seinfeld (you much get chocolate babka and not cinnamon babka if you want to impress) but could never put name to image or taste.

One fateful day, I had a taste of the choc-cinnamon babka at Max Brenner in Sydney. It was, in one word: delicious. I had it warm and topped with oozing chocolate. It's still such a fresh memory in my mind.

It didn't really occur to me to bake my own babka until I came across a recipe in Nick Malgieri's 'The Modern Baker'. I really like this cookbook and he gives a lot of tips so I thought that if ever I'm going to try and make my own babka, this is the recipe I'll follow.

Malaya Corner Restaurant

Malaya Corner Restaurant
Shop 38, 341 Mains Rd, Sunnybank

I thought I had the eateries around Sunnybank all tried and tested. Wrong. Malaya is one of those places that I've heard friends rave about but I was sort of skeptical and so it's managed to skip my restauranting radar.



That is, until recently when a friend took me there. We had a pretty early dinner on a weekday so the place wasn't that full. Malaya has a reasonably spacious floor area with a slightly cafeteria-feel. the menu is extensive and there are so many pages of things to look through.

"A Chai Latte ATE me" - The Three Monkeys Revisited

Three Monkeys Coffee and Tea House - Revisited
58 Mollison St, South Brisbane



When I thought about re-blogging places I've already visited, it did occur to me that this might be perceived as pointless and space-consuming. I argue that it's not (obviously, since I'm the one writing and publishing this post). If I revisit somewhere and the new experience is significantly different to the previous one, I feel like my readers have a right to know! This might mean new food, a sudden lapse in standards, renovations or whatever.



In the case of Three Monkeys, there's not much point in me constantly updating you with new cakes that I try there because well, they don't even have a set selection of cakes. There's new stuff going in by the hour...

What I do want to talk about is this awesome Chai tea I had. I ordered it with soy milk (extra 50c) and was thinking - this better be a bloody good Chai because it's so exxy.

Caravanserai

Caravanserai
http://www.caravanserairestaurant.com.au/



When I'm planning to go out and eat in a group, I can't help but think of Turkish or Greek food. The servings are generous and it's a style of cuisine that begs to be shared and eaten with friends or family. Even the environment of most Turkish restaurants are conductive to group situations: loud, colourful and warm.



I read about Caravanserai on Vogue Forums a while back and had it mentally bookmarked for a future event. It's located in West End but because my knowledge of West End doesn't extend much beyond the Boundary and Melbourne intersection, I hadn't ever seen it around. Last night, I had a small gathering with old highschool friends and we ended up at Three Monkeys so I thought it was the perfect time to find Caravanserai and try it out for dinner.

L'Acadamie Hotel - bargain 3 courses

L'Acadamie Hotel
http://www.lacademie.com.au/



My mum's not as much of a foodie as me but every now and again, she'll give an excellent recommendation. I've been to a few 'training' food institutions before - namely the Mt Gravatt Tafe, Southbank Tafe and UQ Customs House. Most of these were good experiences so I was keen to try L'Acadamie which is the Shafston College's teaching facility.

The fact that sealed the deal was: $14.95 3 course meal. At that price, there's no reason not to at least give it a go. I made a booking for weekday lunch and it really wasn't difficult to get a table.

Endless Noodles

Endless Noodles
Shop 1/70 Pinelands Rd, Sunnybank Hills



I've already pondered over how my 'taste' has changed since I was a child. There's the broad pattern of change. Point in case: I used to detest all forms of seafood. Now, though I'm not a seafood expert/connoisseur/snob by any means, I'm tentatively exploring seafood on menus more and more.

This is slightly on the same vein of thought but as well as these MACRO taste changes, I get MICRO food changes. Profound theory? Possibly. What this means is basically: periods of craving a certain type of food. At the moment, as we're aware, it's Italian. For a while, it was noodles. Sometimes, I have a really specific desire in mind. In my noodle phase, I was specifically after rustic, handmade noodles with simple flavors.


Perhaps subconsciously, what my body was trying to say was that it was craving Endless Noodles. Endless Noodles is the only place I know that makes dishes exactly like what I was after (that's not entirely true - there's one other place but I had a dispute with the owner there and basically got kicked out so it doesn't count).

Vegan Wild Mushroom Risotto

Vegan Wild Mushroom Risotto
Home Cooking



I was at the shops with a list all prepared for getting ingredients to make a salmon curry. Evidently, I got distracted (as usual) and bought 2 punnets of mushrooms: portobello and Swiss brown.

Pondering over what to do with these... I went for the obvious options: a pasta and a risotto. This is the risotto that I made. I'll post my mushroom carbonara later on.

Castelli's Fresh Pasta Cafe and Pizzeria

Castelli's Fresh Pasta Cafe and Pizzeria
2/11 Nash St, Rosalie



If I could pick my dream house/apartment now, I'd plonk it in Rosalie. It's my favorite suburb to chill in, beating other great contenders like West End, New Farm and Bulimba. I dig boutique village suburbs. The idea is: walk down the street and there are cafes, gourmet delis, restaurants etc at your doorstep.

Nash St in Rosalie has this vibe perfected. It's never rowdy or dangerous. My only qualm is that it's hard to find a parking spot but I suppose that wouldn't be a problem if I lived there.



Castelli's is somewhere I had passed on several occasions and wondered about. Again, in my pizza/pasta-craving mood, I thought I'd finally give them a go.

Pistachio, Yogurt and Cardamom Cake with Lime Syrup

Pistachio, Yogurt and Cardamom Cake with Lime Syrup
Home Cooking



Whilst I never feel like munching on roasted pistachios as they are, I am a huge lover of pistachio-flavored things. I don't mean anything with that 'fake' flavor or anything green... it's a little bit more sophisticated than that. But not much.

I totally dig pistachio gelato (only the good stuff though) and pistachio cakes and things naturally attract my attention. I've put off making any pistachio dessert myself because they are quite expensive.