james test

Update 31/12/2014: Cafe 369 has closed down, replaced by Mister V . Early on Sunday afternoon Michael would be leaving Melbourne for a conference. He wanted to get out of the house and do something fun first and this is how we justified a breakfast outing (despite already having eaten out on Friday and Saturday ). Michael steered us towards Rathdowne St in Carlton North, and I randomly picked Cafe 639 from the strip of options. The menu offered the usual suspects of eggs on toast with extras, muesli and pancakes. Unfortunately for me they were out of croissants, so instead I ordered the vegetarian breakfast while Michael picked the Sicilian frittata. These two choices actually have the same main ingredients: eggs, mushrooms, spinach, a hash brown, half a tomato and a side of toast. Our food was tasty like junk food is tasty: salty and a bit greasy. The toast was thick and white, the hash brown came out of the freezer, and the only real variation in flavour was a sprinkling of ...

This weekend Dad and Anne were back in town to celebrate Anne's sister's birthday, and we arranged to meet them for lunch near the birthday girl's South Yarra home. They introduced us to the Lawson Grove Shop, a cute little place tucked away in a residential area with a "milk bar" street sign pointing the way. The espresso machine, organic breads and gourmet jams are evidence that this is more a trendy cafe; the professional clientele in their designer weekend clothes, scanning the newspapers, confirm it. The only trace of old-school milk bar is a shelf of assorted groceries in the back corner. Lawson Grove Shop offers a short but attractive list of eggs on toast with a range of extras, a toasted sandwich, fruit, muesli and pancakes, then two extra specials on the blackboard: a high proportion are vegetarian. Michael and I had been craving a cafe breakfast that morning and we were happy to see that breakfast was on the menu for lunch. Michael picked Shanghai e...

On Friday night, Michael and I found ourselves in the city looking for dinner. My headache rebuffed Michael's suggestions of cocktails and tapas. I was in no mood for the sophisticated bars tucked in the alleys of the CBD, or the crowds of posing professionals spilling out of them. The Waiters' Restaurant was a promising alternative: Michael had read about this restaurant in Cheap Eats 2006, I in Mellie's blog . (As well as Mellie's fine review, this is a nice article about the Waiters' Restaurant's history.) Having been duly warned about the unsigned entry and rickety staircase, Michael and I were game to climb up and give it a go. At a little past 6pm we still struggled to get a table for two, being slotted right next to the door. Our waitress was outgoing and friendly, speedily fetching a bottle of water, and a tumbler of the house white for Michael. Now our task was to decipher both the standard menu and the specials, both displayed on blackboards ar...

This soup was another attempt to return to something resembling healthy eating after some overly cheesy meals. We originally planned it as an accompaniment for Another Outspoken Female's millet, pumpkin and almond pilaf , but our failure to find hulled millet anywhere meant it had to stand alone. Luckily, the soup was a roaring success - one of the most flavoursome soups I've eaten, with each spoonful offering new tastes: the sharp black pepper, warm spices, rich tomatoes, tangy lemon juice, nutty lentils and crisp celery all made appearances. With some chunky bread for dipping, it was probably one of the best meals I've cooked since this blog began. Savoury harira soup (once again, adapted from a recipe in Ken Charney's Bold Vegetarian Cooking , which is fast becoming my favourite cookbook) Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan and throw in a chopped onion, a couple of chopped celery ribs, 1/2 cup of chopped parsley, a teaspoon of turmeric an...

I ate lots of candy during and after the Halloween party, resulting in a craving for something fresh to eat and plenty of excess energy with which to prepare it. We had a can of black beans in the cupboard that Michael picked up at Piedemontes , so we searched through our recipe books for something new and Mexican-themed to try. Eventually we picked out black bean tofu tacos from Ken Charney's The Bold Vegetarian Chef, extending ourselves to some salsa too. The salsa recipe is inspired by one in Kurma Dasa's World Vegetarian Food, my main alteration being to use canned chipotles and half a teaspoon of their abodo sauce. The abodo sauce adds a fantastic smoky flavour to everything it touches but packs a mighty chili punch, so its use is always a delicate balance. The black bean tofu taco filling also had a bit of bite: thus the accompanying salad of iceberg lettuce, red capsicum and avocado was a fresh and cooling contrast. I dressed the salad with a bit of pepper and lots ...

On Saturday night we agreed to meet up with Mike and Jo-Lyn for dinner, before Jo-Lyn got into some serious study and the rest of us costumed up for a Halloween party and stuffed ourselves with candy (or was the latter bit just me?). Unfortunately my first suggestion, Animal Orchestra , was closed. Instead Michael and I had our first experience of Kake Di Hatti. This restaurant isn't glamourous or even tastefully decorated, but the clamour of voices echoing around the high ceiling are testament to its popularity. We were (curiously) offered a table that had a scrawled "booked" sign on it, but I was starving and didn't hestitate long before delving into the menu. There's plenty on offer for a vegetarian, with most of the meat curries having meatless options, and a further list of exclusively veg and legume dishes. We shared four items: malai kofta, saag paneer, muttar paneer and alu cholle. The kofta were particularly delicious, and all the curries were enjoy...

Cindy and I spent most of last week working our way through a massive, cheesy lasagne that we cooked on Monday (the lack of a relevant blog entry provides an indication or the overall success of that venture). By Thursday evening, our arteries were filled with cheese, and the only solution was a fresh, vegie-laden stir-fry. Generally, we've made up stir-fry sauces using some combination of seasonings mixed up with soy sauce and lime-juice. This time, in a concession to our food-blogger status, we opted for something more adventurous. Tamarind and chipotle sweet-hot sauce (adapted from a recipe in Ken Charney's The Bold Vegetarian Chef ) Start off by blending up 2 chipotle chillies (if they're fresh, you'll need to soak them in water first to soften them up) and a can of chopped tomatoes. Meanwhile, combine 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of cinammon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander, 1/2 a teaspoon of cumi...