restaurant

Amarin Thai 2

- Alex 6 Comments

The parent company of Amarin Thai 2, Jusuda Pty Ltd, has gone in to liquidation.  The restaurant is no longer open.

date of visit:  Wed 28 October 2009

Sometimes you can have a night out and, in many respects, everything is good but there is one small thing that mars the evening and it is that thing that springs to mind every time you recall the occasion.

That’s our mid-week dinner at Amarin Thai 2.  It was a lovely evening, the food was good verging on excellent and the price was more than right.  And the service was sloppy.  Guess which bit I find easiest to remember?

It was a warm Wednesday evening and, over an apéritif (that would be a Coopers or two) at the Exeter we discussed dinner.  There is something about balmy weather which makes me crave spicy, yet light, food so Thai is always high on the agenda.  Amarin Thai 2, on the south side of Rundle Street, offered reasonably sheltered outdoor seating, sensibly priced meals and it wasn’t too busy.

We chose our table so we were shielded from Rundle Street’s hustle and bustle by pot plants and started by ordering drinks.  This normally isn’t too tricky, but for some reason we struggled.  Andy ordered a Singha and the response was “I don’t think we have any”.  We’re talking about 7pm on a weekday, the restaurant had about 5 other patrons – surely you know if you have what is arguably the Thai beer.  I ordered a glass of Gewürztraminer.  It transpired there was a sole Singha left but no Gewürz.  I changed to a Riesling

The food caused no such issues.  We began by sharing a spicy squid salad which was delicious:  cool but not cold, full of flavour spicy but not searing and laced with all the flavours you’d expect from Thai food (onion, lemongrass, coriander).  For main course Andy chose what I would describe as a Thai version of popcorn chicken, which really does the dish a disservice!  At the end of the day, it was battered, fried chicken served in a spicy Thai style sauce with plenty of filler vegetables like capsicum and onion.  But it tasted good!

I ordered the chicken larb in an entrée size.  Although the flavours were good this is normally a dish which is scary in its spiciness.  Amarin Thai 2’s version was just a little tame …

The bill, for 2 entrées, a main, shared rice, a beer and a glass of Riesling came to $66. After our Entertainment Book discount, we paid $50. To be honest, I’m not sure I could complain about either price were it not for the indifferent service.

Things didn’t start well with the drinks issues, and I could have dealt with being asked if I were ready for my main course, but clearing my plate while Andy was still eating was just plain rude. The usual excuse (the restaurant was busy and staff are trying to turn tables, which, by the way, doesn’t cut it) certainly didn’t apply. It was just sheer thoughtlessness.

And, if you’re wondering, yes, I had to go to the till to ask for our bill and yes, I was given the bill for a different table.

Amarin Thai 2

Casual Thai on Rundle Street

Good, sensibly priced food doesn’t compensate for sloppy service.

Rating:2.5 stars
**1/2

Balzari, Melbourne

- Alex 1 Comment

 

 

Fri 9 Oct 2009

OCTOBER 2011: BALZARI HAS NOW CLOSED

We found ourselves in Melbourne with only an old copy of Australian Gourmet Traveller as food guide.  On the basis of little more than a footnote we decided to head to Balzari on Lygon Street and see if the menu appealed.

I am a huge fan of Italian food but find nothing more depressing than Italian restaurants that can do nothing better than produce a menu dedicated to classics such as Carbonara and Bolognese: especially when they are so often poorly executed shadows of what they could be.

Fortunately, Balzari was having none of that.  The menu was short and senisbly price and … interesting.  I stuck my head in to the bar and booked us a table (6pm was only a couple of hours away, but still worth doing, especially on a Friday night).  The waiter was friendly, efficient and took the time to give me a card so I could get in contact if anything changed.  That’s the type of thing that makes me think someone is investing some energy in his or her job.

When 6pm rolled around we were offered a choice of inside or outside table.  Choosing the best of both worlds, we sat indoors but by the large windows and munched the excellent bread, and even better olive oil, while picking over the menu.  Decisions made, we washed down the remainder of the bread with a carefully chosen Roero Arneis.

I started with ‘fritole’ – described as savoury anchovy, lemon and parsley doughnuts with lemon aioli, while Andy had chosen the ‘muset’ – a house made pork sausage, with cabbage, pancetta and fresh horseradish.  The debate was on about who had won.  Frankly, the indulgent little yeast based fritters more than took out honours:  they were small enough to fit in the mouth but with all the lovely aioli, who would want to do that?

The evening took a slightly dodgy turn when our main courses arrived.  Or rather, my main course arrived but Andy’s Berkshire pork tagliata had morphed into the crab tagliarni.  A bit of confusion (mostly on my part) ensued … which saw Andy and me sharing the crab tagliarini while sending my pork cannelloni back to the kitchen to wait for the tagliata.  Even in the retelling the story is hardly straightforward!

The important point is that we ended up with an extra dish (gratis) and it was excellent.  Spaghetti with chilli, oil and garlic is one of my favourite foods but, as far as Andy is concerned, it is like having bread and butter for supper.  Apparently, add crab meat and it’s a very different kettle of fish …

As we were demolishing the bonus food, our waiter checked that we were not on a schedule … and then, our main courses arrived in tandem.  The pork cannelloni was lovely:  the pork sauce was smooth and rich and the white sauce was bubbling and browned.  Andy’s pork tagliata was also good:  the pork had been rubbed with a rosemary heavy spice mix and then seared.  It was tender and moist and very tasty.  It was also served with roasted fennel and orange salad.  Such a shame to spoil good fennel with orange … I stayed well away!

Being rather full, we declined to even look at the dessert menu.  Something which I now regret, as the website tells me I could have had panforte with my coffee, or even a small fried pastry or swapped my coffee for an affogato.

Pudding-less, we waddled out of Balzari our collective wallet $150 lighter.  While we hadn’t skimped in any way, we were not charged for the crab tagliarni.  We still reckoned this to be excellent value.  Service, from booking through to leaving, had been excellent and staff judged the pace of our meal well.  We were never short of water, we could have eaten a tonne more bread and the confusion with the main courses was handled well.

I rarely eat out, eat Italian and come away feeling that I’ve not been ripped off and not eaten something I could have whipped up at home.  Balzari exceeded expectations on all counts and we would return without hesitation.

Executive summary:  interesting, and tasty, northern Italian food you’re unlikely to knock up at home mid-week.

Contact:  Balzari, 130 Lygon Street, Carlton (Melbourne), Victoria, 3053, phone: +61 3 9639 9383.

Balzari on Urbanspoon

Balzari

Interesting Italian in Melbourne

Rating:4.5 stars
****1/2

Paul’s Seafood Restaurant

- Alex 3 Comments

 

 

Tuesday 13 October 2009

Sometimes you just want something quick and simple to eat.  You don’t want to spend a fortune, you don’t want to take 4 hours over your meal and you don’t mind stepping back in time.

And on such an occasion, if you also happen to feel like fish, then Paul’s on Gouger Street, should hit the spot.  But let’s establish, from the start, that you’re not heading in to fine dining territory.  I saw this because quite a few web reviews I’ve read have complained about the restaurant being a little basic:  I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up!

We headed there for an early fish supper on a rainy evening and Paul’s delivered on everything that counted:  quick, cheap, fresh and unfussy.

Seated at a barely dressed melamine table we scooted through the menu – which consists of fish.  The specials consist of fish.  A plate of tartare sauce arrived at the same time as our drinks.  Hopefully by now you get the idea that this is a seafood restaurant and there’s little point in coming if you want something else!

We started by sharing an entrée of whitebait and followed it with the special salt and pepper soft shell crab and a piece of whiting, crumbed.  For much of the fish you have a choice of battered, crumbed or grilled, one or two pieces – so the health conscious and hungry can be accommodated.  All the meals are served with a very simple salad:  some lettuce, some tomato and, in what I can only presume is a nod to the 1970s, a slice of orange.

All the fish is cooked at the front of the restaurant, ready to go straight from the fryer to the plate of salad and then to your table.  We enjoyed fresh, perfectly cooked seafood:  the salt and pepper soft shell crab was notable for not being greasy and for tasting of … salt and pepper, rather than salt and chilli or (far worse) salt and grease!

We finished up in an around an hour:  far from ideal for a leisurely Friday evening out but perfect for a school night.  The service was friendly and efficient and didn’t compromise on actually looking after us.

For a shared entrée, two main courses, two beers and one glass of wine the bill came to just over $70.  With our Entertainment Book voucher we saved 25%, making the final bill just over $50.

Yes, Paul’s is more fish caf than restaurant – and I certainly don’t mean that in a disparaging way.  It’s like having supper at home – but without the hassle of shopping and washing up!