I’ve been a bit down on the phở scene in Footscray over the last few months. One of my regular go-to joints, Phở Tam on the corner of Leeds and Ryan streets has been hugely inconsistent on the soup front. They do a great bún riêu and have the hardish-to-find
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Dec 18, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 1 Comments
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
Sierra Nevada is the brewery that probably gets most craft brewers hooked on the idea of American Pale Ale; there is no end to the pale imitators and delightful, almost flawless copies. Their India Pale Ale, the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, will with any luck spawn another round of
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Nov 25, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 5 Comments
Alfajores in Maidstone
Melbourne’s west never ceases to dumbfound me when it comes to food. Maidstone is one of Melbourne’s least remarkable suburbs and thanks to the housing boom is making the direct transition from unremarkable council flats to unremarkable McMansions; rusting Camrys in the front yard making way for houses that touch
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Nov 10, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments
Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale
Kona Brewing Company calls this a “Hawaiian-style” pale ale rather than an American pale ale, the only differentiator being that Hawaiian style pale ales must display an active volcano on the label. This lava-filled terroir holds no influence over the beer itself. I don’t imagine that any of the ingredients
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Oct 25, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 1 Comments
Food bloggers prove that they can pull punters
Huge congratulations to Penny, Ed, Billy, Jess and Matt for pulling this together: five Melbourne food bloggers stepping into a commercial kitchen to offer the general public a chance to critique their food. They hardly need my plaudits considering the event has sold out, which finally and affirmatively answers the
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Oct 13, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments
Spam Musubi: Hawaiian sushi innovation
I’m starting to think that I may have gone a bit soft over the past few weeks. I called this non-beer surprisingly refreshing. I enjoyed this slice of spam strapped to brick of rice and served at roughly the temperature generated by salmonella having hot and dirty sex. Frankly, I’m
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Oct 10, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees No Comments
A fine selection of local grindz
The Hawaiian “plate lunch” is an excuse to anchor any protein to an icecream scoop or two of sticky rice. They seem to be both cheap filler and endlessly variable. I’d imagine that you could quite easily write about nothing but the numerous variations on the polystyrene clamshell filled with
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