Australia

Apr 06, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

Maybe people aren’t drinking it because it tastes like shit

There’s a short article over at The Age mapping the decline of the big Australian beers as a failure of their marketing. Their reason for the fall from grace of VB and Carlton: Image is also one of the reasons why there has been strong growth in mainstream craft beers

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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 14 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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Aug 07, 2009 | Post by: Phil Lees 7 Comments

The worst food in Melbourne

The worst food in Melbourne is here: View Larger Map At least it is, if you believe in the power of mob-driven restaurant reviewing and search Google Maps for the worst food in the city. Welcome to social media hell, Melbourne restauranteurs. Try litigating against that moving target.

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