Cheers to Lindy Burns for the interview and fellow interviewee Ellie from Breakfast Out. I managed to get in shout outs to Austin Bush, Noodlepie and the morbidly obese dog. Apologies for dissembling on the best pho in Melbourne question – I’m still not sure where that is.
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Author Archives
Jan 26, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 8 Comments
“It’s a minefield even for Asians”
I had dinner on Saturday at Poon’s Chinese Restaurant in Barkly Street, Footscray. It was the worst Cantonese meal that I’ve eaten in Melbourne. The service was gracious and friendly considering that they were packed and it was dirt cheap. The meal was a mistake but not an expensive one
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Dec 23, 2009 | Post by: Phil Lees 6 Comments
Footscray Market: Opening Hours
My local market doesn’t have a website, so as something of a community service, here is the opening hours of the Footscray Market over the Christmas/New Year’s period. 24 Dec – open 7:00am-6:00pm 25-28 Dec – closed 29-30 Dec – open 7:00am-4:00pm 1 Jan – closed 2 Jan -7:00am-4:00pm Normal
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Oct 19, 2009 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments
Xiao Long Bao in the Gastrodesert: Little House, Bundoora
I think that it was Australian food writer John Lethlean who labelled the region north of Heidelberg in Melbourne as a gastrodesert. On the surface, it’s gastronomically grim up north; the oleaginous wasteland of charcoal chicken and Smorgy’s. People speak with fondness of shopping mall food courts and premixed bourbon
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Sep 13, 2009 | Post by: Phil Lees 8 Comments
Hùng Vương, Footscray
You could probably map pho in Footscray as a means to learn Vietnamese legends of prehistory. Hùng Vương was a mythical king; the founder of the first Vietnamese dynasty. He descended from a dragon and taught the Vietnamese people to cultivate rice. Nothing of Hùng Vương’s past can be verified.
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Aug 31, 2009 | Post by: Phil Lees No Comments
Cycling the Red Hill Rail Trail
Just to expand my repertoire from writing about food, an article that I wrote back in early June is up at Wall Street Journal on my bike ride across the Mornington Peninsula and the Red Hill Rail Trail, south east of Melbourne. I, of course, ate and drank my fill
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Aug 10, 2009 | Post by: Phil Lees 6 Comments
Bánh Xèo from Đình Sơn
Yes, I’m going a bit nuts on the Vina diacritics. The equation that can’t be avoided when you travel for food is the one where you compare Third World prices to First World and try to account for the differences, offseting rent, ingredient quality and labour. It is a fun
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