Spanakopita

This Spanakopita was one I saw on the SBS show - Food Safari. It was made by a lovely chef named Dimitra Alfred and I made it exactly to her family recipe except that I used Yarra Valley Persian Fetta instead of normal fetta and Allpsice instead of Nutmeg. Gorgeous.

The recipe can be found at the Food Safari Website.

vego heaven in Carlton

As a local Carlton-ite I have eaten at Shakahari a few times. I love the unfussy and crisp flavours as well as the great combinations of ingredients and interesting textures.

The best thing though, about this fantastic little restaurant is when you take a vegetarian there for the first time. Imagine this - I am not a vegetarian, and I think that this place rocks. Now take a committed vegetarian there and it is seriously like a religious experience - instant addiction.

J and I have done this a few times and we (evilly) enjoy sitting back and letting the unsuspecting vego fall in love with food (for some of them for the first time since becoming vego... seriously).

This time our 'victim' was J's boss from New York. This guy eats out at some of the best (vego and non-vego) restaurants in the world, he travels a lot, eats a lot, and is hard to impress.

Do I need to say it?........................LOVE

We had: Avocado Rolls (tempura-ed avo, Eggplant & Coriander), Tokyo Balls (Brown Rice, Kombu, and herbs glazed with Nori), and the Salad Combination for starters and thenthe fantastically named main courses of: the Golden Aztec Quinoa, the Red Red Passion, and the Artisan Fettucine.

The menu doesn't change much but why should it - they do what they do so well. Most excellent!

Marvelous Markov

J and I went to see a (bad but free) movie at Cinema Nova in Carlton the other night for Date Night. We ended up getting out of the cinema at about 9:30pm with low expectations of finding anything to eat between the Nova and home. We tried a few places on Lygon Street but all the kitchens were closed or about to be so. We thought we would try Markov Place (behind the Cleanskin shop on Drummond Street) which always has a great wine list and nice staff with great manners and fun attitude and where we could at least be assured of a decent post-movie wine. What we weren't really expecting though was a fantastic meal to go with it - but that is certainly what we got. We both ordered the Prawn Linguine with brocolli, Olives, and Tomato which was fantastic. I love that you also get your own bowl of Parmesan and two little bottles - one filled with garlic infused and the other with chilli infused olive oil, these rituals lift the dining experience above ordinary. I definitely recommend my 'secret' local little bar.

Retreat is Right

After initially getting excited about a grungy Sunday afternoon catch-up with an old friend at the Retreat Hotel Brunswick, I realised that what we we were actually doing was having a grown-up, leisurely lunch at the Retreat Hotel Abbotsford! Just as exciting - nowhere near as cool... In fact the Retreat in Abbotsford was the pub that propped up the menfolk from TV series 'The Sullivans' - I don't think much has changed much since. This is not a bad thing. Drinks are cheap, food is well cooked, reasonably priced, and tastes like real food - you know what I mean... The atmosphere is all that was slightly lacking. We had been told to book a table for Sunday lunchtime but honestly, while we were there only one other couple ate in the restaurant section and a few people ate in the bar - that's it (and not many other people were around to make up numbers either...) which was fine for us two girls who wanted nothing more than an ununterrupted natter to while away a sleepy Sunday afternoon in Spring, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it anyone looking for action! We ate mains only - I had the slow-cooked Lamb Shanks which were great, dark as dark and falling off the bone, only complaint - the 'greens' turned out to be one Bok Choi a vegetable to which I am not particularly partial. My friend had the shiny boiled meat - sorry, I mean Corned Beef! to which I am totally impartial to the point of extreme dislike, but which she said was quite agreeable. Both of us were happy with our meals, the venue and the price. Not rushing back though, if you know what I mean...

Klever Kamel

Last weekend my very best (male) friend was in town from the Gold Coast. As you may imagine, he doesn't get to sample too many spicy culinary delights up there... So we took him along to Kamel in Albert Park. Kamel has been open for a few years (2003 as I recall) and is branded as an African and Middle Eastern cafe. They have an absolutely great menu, and even though I always thought Saganaki was Greek, I am not about to argue - this food is tops! On Saturday night we had a party of four, sat upstairs, and shared all the dishes: Saganaki, an Olive Plate, Stuffed Mushrooms (a highlight) Roasted Pumpkin, Lamb Cutlets, and something else that I can't recall but am sure was fantastique! Really, this place is gold. Cheap, tasty, different - best of all the kitchen is so quick that you can really order the dishes as and when you feel like them- we ordered three separate times and it worked perfectly.