Melbourne

Apr 10, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 3 Comments

Pancakes at Fandango

This is my favourite breakfast in Melbourne. Ricotta whipped with honey, maple syrup, strawberries, banana and pancakes with bacon. You wouldn’t want to eat it often but your life is incomplete without it. It hits the perfect savoury/sweet balance; that urge that can only be sated by true American barbecue,

Read More
Apr 07, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

Sensory Lab, Melbourne

I don’t take coffee too seriously. I’m aware that there are more aromatic compounds in your java than in a glass of wine but I don’t personally seek them out even though I draw a good part of my income from describing tastes to other people. Call it a cognitive

Read More
Feb 13, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 4 Comments

Sapa Hills, Footscray

There are two generations of Vietnamese restaurants in Footscray, Melbourne. The first emulates the tile-and-mirror-walled, cheap metal table joints of the streets of Saigon. The architecture sends a message that hosing down the walls could be a priority, the hall of mirrors effect suggests that the appearance of being busy

Read More
Feb 02, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 4 Comments

Welcome, ABC 774 listeners

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.

Read More
Jan 26, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 7 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

Read More
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

Read More
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

Read More
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.

Read More
Page 2 of 612345...Last »