Mugen Ramen & Bar - CBD

During my placement break, Stoph and I ventured to Mugen Ramen & Bar. I've always wanted to come here after watching various ramen in Japan vids on Youtube. They had tsukemen here which I was super keen to try.

Super cute menus that served as place mats as well

My Wafu Tsukemen

I ordered the Wafu Tsukemen which had a dashi and soy sauce broth, house made thick noodles served with Slow Cooked Pork (Chashu), Bamboo Shoots and Seaweed ($13) with an extra egg ($2). The noodles were cold which I wasn't used to (duh it's tsukemen lel). The broth got cold pretty quickly :( The  broth was pretty damn salty if you sipped it so I thought that sucked since I am definitely a broth person. It was nicely thick so it could coat the noodles when you dipped them. The toppings were standard and nothing to sing about. I finished my meal slightly disappointed that I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. Guess nothing beats a bowl of steaming hot ramen. As I finished the last of my noodles, the waitress came by and gave me a little pot of fish broth to pour into the dashi and soy sauce broth so I could sip it. What an unexpected bonus and it really topped the meal off for me!

Yay fish broth to make it sippable!

Stoph's Katsu Curry

Stoph got the Katsu Curry which is the Japanese curry & rice with pork cutlets served with a fresh green salad ($13). You can honestly never go wrong with Katsu Curry and this one was yummy. Only minor complaint was that the curry was slightly runny.

Lunch for 2!

Option for overlooking the kitchen

Overall, we had a good time at Mugen Ramen and Bar. We sat at the basement bar, which had a cosier feel as it was darkly lit and had a Japanese film projected on the wall. Upstairs there were small stools where you could watch the kitchen at work while you ate. Service was lovely. The food was pretty good and I now know that tsukemen tastes nice but probably not a staple for me to always return to. They have a Mugen Lunch Specials which IDM trying if I'm ever back in the area.


Taste: 8/10
Presentation: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Value for Money: 8/10


 

Dinner by Heston - Southbank

The day had come. Dinner by Heston!!!! I went with my sister and 2 cousins for the 6pm sitting. We had heard of lots of hype and since this was Heston, my god, Heston, we were excited for a magical evening with interesting explosions of flavours.

It was a mission to find since we weren't familiar with Crown but ooooh so fancy. The entrance was super dark and we may or may not have not realised there was a sliding door and stood like idiots in front of it for a while instead of stepping forward woops.

Complimentary bread and butter :)

Lemme just say that this was absolutely divine. The house-churned butter was legit the best butter I've ever tried and it's just butter! The night was looking very very good, if this was an indicator of the food to come. Only downside was the crust was a tad hard but yum who cares, butter it up and it's good to go! 

(Non-Alcoholic) DRANKSSSSS

Our drinks for the evening was the Peter Piper's Pickled Lemon Lemonade, Sarsaparilla Soda and Lemon and Bergamot Spider. They were all priced at $12 and came in various sizes. 

My Entree: Rice and Flesh (c.1390)

I ordered the Rice and Flesh ($36) for entree and I loved it. It consisted of saffron, curried kangaroo tail, red wine and amaranth. While the flavours were too strong for the others, it was just so robust and really packed a punch for me. Was my favourite dish of the night. 

Q's Meat Fruit (c.1500)

The Meat Fruit ($38) was a must eat on our list and it did not disappoint (for me at least). The grilled bread was deliciously crispy and was a treat with a smear of the mandarin, chicken liver parfait. I happily finished Q's entree as she found it too creamy for her liking (like dude it's parfait...).

Hay Smoked Ocean Trout (c.1730)

 T got the Hay Smoked Ocean Trout ($32) which was a pickled lemon salad with gentleman's relish, wood sorrel and smoked roe. She found it enjoyable with a lot of subtle flavours.

Frumenty (c.1390)

C.N. got Frumenty ($36) which had grilled octopus, spelt, pickled red moss, chervil emulsion and smoked sea broth. The smoky broth was poured onto the dish and we all loved the theatrics of it. The octopus was super tender and all but one of the components worked well together. Everyone had a taste of the chervil emulsion and agreed it tasted quite funky.

My main: Slow cooked Pork Belly (c.1820)

Not going to lie, my main was a massive step down from the entree. The pork belly was cooked well but there wasn't enough sauce to tie everything together. And don't get my started on that spelt parcel because it was gross and gooey and after one bite I was done. 

Beef Royal

My sister got the special of the night which was the Beef Royal ($70) which was a slow cooked beef short rib with a red wine reduction. The meat was tender and she happily devoured it.  

Powdered Duck Breast (c.1670)

My cousins got the Powdered Duck Breast ($54) which was cooked with ale and artichokes. Their duck was cooked perfectly and yummy. However, they found the other components average hence making their main quite boring to eat.

Our Mains!

 We ordered a side of fries ($12) and they were fab, no ragretz!

Tipsy Cake (c.1810)

YASSSSSS, time for dessert. The Tipsy Cake with spit roast pineapple ($30) was recommended by our waitress at the start as it needs 40 mins notice time. It was easily our favourite dessert of the night. The brioche was nicely soaked in the brandy cream sauce but still light and buttery, yummmm. I can see why it is highly raved by many.

Spring Tart

This dessert was so weird. The Spring Tart ($26) had compressed strawberries with rose, basil yoghurt cream and goat milk's ice cream. Half of the components worked well together and I tried to eat around the other half. I liked the strawberries, chocolate sponge thing and strawberry gel. The basil yoghurt cream that was piped on everything was a pain to scrape off to salvage some strawberries. The goat's cheese ice cream was just a no. Honestly it just didn't make any sense to all 4 of us for this combination of flavours. Probably should've read the menu properly before thinking ooh yum strawberries, let's order this.

Brown Bread Ice Cream (c.1830)

The Brown Bread Ice Cream ($26) was pretty and that was it for me. The salted butter caramel was far too sweet and the ice cream was far too salty for me. When eaten together it balanced out a tiny bit but then again my tongue was just not liking it. Q thought it was palatable though.

Sambocade (c.1390)

OMG, do not get me started on this Sambocade ($24). It was a goats milk cheese cake, elderflower & apple, perry poached pear and smoked candied walnuts. Seriously, why did we think this was a good idea. It just didn't taste good at all, just no.

Dessert setup was rowdy but left more to be desired ya feel

Nitro Ice Cream Cart

 

Seriously, dessert was pretty disappointing so when the nitro cart around, IDMMMM man. We were so full but since we were at Heston, yeah might as well go all out. We got two vanilla cones with all the toppings. It was quite tasty but melted super fast.

At the end of the meal we were given a complimentary Earl Grey-infused chocolate ganache with a caraway biscuit. I only had a few bites because I was so incredibly full but it tasted very rich and decadent.


We reflected at the end of the night that we weren't as satisfied as we expected to be. Perhaps we are picky eaters, perhaps historical British inspired cuisine is not to our palate or perhaps Dinner by Heston, isn't as amazing as it is hyped up to be. I thought the night started really strong with that silky butter and scrumptious risotto and then it went downhill from main to desserts. Seriously biggest disappointment of the night were those desserts with the exception of the Tipsy Cake. On a more positive note, the service was impeccable. Would I go again? Probably not. I'm sure there's other fine dining ventures that will leave me happy that I emptied out my wallet for a delicious feed.

Taste: 6.5/10
Presentation: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Value for Money: 7/10

The Bottle of Milk - Lorne

As part of our post undergraduate degree celebrations, the squad went down to the Great Ocean for the rowdiest trip of all time. On our last day in Lorne, we went to The Bottle of Milk for lunch. All the menu items looked tasty but I settled for the What a Pickle which had prime beef, tasty cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, house mayo, relish, dill pickles and dijon mustard ($12.50). StophAn and Shomoko got the Nelly ($13.50) and Mingang ordered the Foul Burger ($11.50). 

What a Pickle ($12.50)

FRASHHHHHHHH

 This burger was mintttttttt. It was jam packed with flavour and everything complemented each other. The salad was super frash. The size was massive and it was a struggle to finish but worthhhhh! Tbh there were too many pickles but I didn't mind since they fell out as I was eating it anyways. It would've been amazing if the meat was pink and juicy. 

Nelly ($13.50)

Stoph was a fan of her burger. A honestly can't remember much about his burger but I think that is a fault on his memory rather how av it would've tasted lel. The avocado looked so good tho and I regretted not adding any extra for myself. 

CUCKOOOO CLUCK CLUCK

Mingang's Foul Burger had a chicken schnitzel breast, lettuce, tomato, onion, house mayo and relish in it. She said it was nice but just too much for her as she barely finished half.

Hot Chips ($4.80) w/ Chilli Mayo ($1.50)

The chips were pretty dece with some really good crispy ones. The sauce was a nice accompaniment.

 

OOOF looks appetising az

 

Overall, we had a pretty darn good feed. We actually waited 2 hours for the lunch even though we were starving and it was worth it. It is quite close to the beachfront and then a pier down the road so we had plenty of views to enjoy. The other boys had a few complaints that the meat itself was a bit dry. The burgers were yummy and if you're ever down in Lorne, it is definitely worth a visit!! My fav burgers are still in Melbourne but this is a memorable one.

Taste: 8.5/10
Presentation: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Value for Money: 8.5/10


 

Bowery to Williamsburg - CBD

Sadly we went to Bowery to Williamsburg before the lunch period so I couldn't get the Reuben Sandwich with the Pickle and Mac & Cheese combo so I settled for a Breakfast Reuben ($12). A got the same as me, Mingang had the Merguez Sausage Shakshouka Baked Eggs w/ Zatar Pita ($18), Stoph got the Hot Smoked Salmon & Fried Egg Bagel ($12) and Shomoko ordered the Vanilla Berry Waffle ($18). 

Breakfast Reuben

My Reuben was frankly pretty disappointing. I've heard rave reviews about the Reuben sandwich so I figured this should be amazing because it was the same flavours. It was far too salty and just sickening to eat towards the end tbh. A was also not a fan.

The smoked salmon was nice but the dill schmear was just a tad too thick for Stoph's liking.

Merguez Sausage

Mingang really enjoyed her dish. We both noted that this is a super generous serving size because the standard baked eggs from other brunch places are usually in served in tiny cast iron pans or cocottes. There were so many eggs which was great!

Shomoko loved her waffles so much she nearly made orgasmic sounds. Shomoko pls. She basically force fed us her waffles and they were indeed on point.

Complimentary Hershey with the coffee, YAY

Overall, it had a couple mixed reviews. While I wasn't a fan of my bagel, everyone thought their meals were decent. Once again, I ordered the least pleasant dish which was no surprise to anyone. It's pretty small inside, since it is mainly one longgggggg bar so I wouldn't say it is ideal for big groups. I would probably give Bowery a miss if I am looking for my next sandwich/bagel fix.


Taste: 6.5/10
Presentation: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Value for Money: 8/10

Naughty Boy - North Carlton

Q decided it was yonks since we had brunch together so we spontaneously went to Naughty Boy and dragged H along. It was a nice day so we requested to be seated outside. I ordered the Mr Benedict which had pulled ham hock, poached eggs, apple cider hollandaise, grilled sourdough ($17.90) and lychee, mango, coconut water and mint juice ($8). Q got the Grilled Atlantic Salmon ($21) and Pavlova Insta Shake ($12). H ordered the Sweet Corn and  Zucchini Fritters ($18.5) and Salted Caramel Insta Shake ($12).

My Mr Benedict

My Benny was pretty good and the serving size was plenty. I guess it was my fault for ordering such a creamy dish since it got sickening towards the end. Would've loved for the apple slaw to not be so heavily dressed so that I could get some much needed crunch from them. My juice on paper sounded delicious but the mint was way too overpowering and I could only detect hints of lychee. 

Q's Grilled Atlantic Salmon

My sister enjoyed her salmon dish as it was cooked to perfection. The potato and bacon galette was a winner as well. A minor complaint was the avocado mousse as it tasted quite funky.

H's Sweet Corn and Zucchini Fritters

H really liked her vego dish. The fritters were crisp and jam packed with flavour while the tomato & Persian feta salad was light and fresh. I had a few bites and it was quite tasty, made me regret my dish wah.

Our spread! 

Pavlova Insta Shake

This was super picturesque as the extra bits gave it a lot of height and colour. It consisted of coconut milk, vanilla & lime passionfruit curd, meringue, kiwi fruit, mixed berries and strawberry fairy floss. The Persian fairy floss and meringue were fun to eat. The shake itself was quite average and we didn't end up finishing it.

Salted Caramel Insta Shake

This had Nutella, sticky date rice pudding, peanut brittle and butterscotch cream. I love love Salted Caramel and I guess expected far too much from this. It was just milk tbh. Milk shakes would be so much more amazing if they were icier but I guess that is a personal preference.


Overall, we had an alright time at Naughty Boy. As per usual, I got the short end of the stick when it comes to food and enjoyed my dish the least. Naughty Boy is quite trendy right now, with the OTT shakes fad but I don't see myself frequenting this Cafe. Everything looked visually appealing so that is a big tick for them. It is pricier than usual brunch places as the bill did come up to $90+ for 3 people but we knew coming in that we wanted to get the much raved about drinks. The shakes look sickly sweet but they do pull a lot of it back when it comes to the milk itself so it is alright, just not amazing. They did forget the side of fries we ordered but we didn't mind too much because we were so full anyways. The waiting period was slightly longer than usual as well.


Taste: 7/10
Presentation: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Value for Money: 7/10

Father's Office - CBD

Another Thursday, another feed for the uni squad. After much debate on where to go (anywhere but Noodle Kingdom) we the girls decided to go to Father's Office and the boys trailed along. There was a lunch deal going on for select menu items for $15 and we were sold. S and I went splitsies and ordered the Fried Chicken Burger (w/ crispy buttermilk battered chicken thigh on a toasted milk bun with jalapeno pepper coleslaw and dijonnaise mayo) and 1/2 Rack Pork Ribs (w/ smoky Kansas City BBQ sauce). K and A grabbed the Fried Chicken Burger and Chicken Fried Steak (Scotch fillet fried in a crispy buttermilk batter) and Mingang opted for Fish and Chips (seasonal white fish coated in a rosemary and ginger beer batter, shallow fried, served with tartare sauce). 

Fried Chicken Burger

The Fried Chicken Burger was defo the best dish out of the ones we ordered. I like how the burger bun wasn't brioche like other places as there was great balance of flavours. Only downside was the promise of jalapeno coleslaw because I felt like there wasn't enough zing for me. 

My Half

The ribs were tasty and separated from the bone easy which was exactly what I wanted. I'm not usually a fan of BBQ sauce but this was aighttttt.

Sadly, the Chicken Fried Steak was disappointing. It just had a weird texture and because it was sliced so thin, there was a lack of depth in flavour. The gravy also slightly congealed and not that pleasant to eat. Bad luck to the guys for being adventurous and choosing this.


Steph and I tremendously enjoyed what we ordered, both agreeing the Burger was more filling only because there were more things going on. Mingang's Fish and Chips were decent but a little bland for my liking. The chips were nice and the little pots of sauce that came with our dishes were just so darn cute. Service was normal as it was self-serve at the bar. I've been eyeing the Father's Office Sampler so I would not mind coming back here for that. Father's Office also has a special going on from Wednesday - Saturday's where everything from the A La Carte menu is 50% off so that is a great bargain I will store away for a night of late eating and drinking.



Taste: 7.5/10
Presentation: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Value for Money: 8/10