Shimbashi

Shimbashi is a favourite of mine – they offer consistently authentic quick Japanese food, although I must admit, I do have a ‘go to’ order that I pretty much always pick. This visit was no exception – we stuck with the teriyaki salmon set, which includes quite a decent-sized bowl of teriyaki salmon on a bed of rice, plus a plate of soba or udon served either hot or cold. The teriyaki sauce on the salmon isn’t your average out-of-a-bottle sauce – it’s sophisticated, having just the right amount of sweetness without being too much. The salmon is perfectly cooked into heavenly flakes, and the Japanese rice is so tasty with the extra sauce. The soba is handmade, so has a nice springy texture, and the soba sauce is again just right – well-balanced and not too salty. I particularly like the tempura bits you are served to scatter on top, and the spring onion adds great flavour to the dish overall. There’s a reason I keep ordering this dish – it’s great value, has great flavour and takes me back to Tokyo. What more could I ask for?

Shimbashi Soba & Sake Bar, 17 Liverpool Street, Melbourne VIC, http://www.shimbashisobamelbourne.net/

Lotus Restaurant

You know that feeling, when you look at the dessert menu at a restaurant, and want everything? This was my dilemma at Lotus. However, one item stood out above the others, so we made the call and went for it. The Lotus Garden ($15), with a white peony tea bavarois, poached peach, raspberries and raspberry puff sounded irresistible. When it arrived, the stunning presentation only confirmed the choice. Dotted with edible flowers and microherbs, the pale peach colour and the vibrant raspberry red was visually striking. This dessert has all the textures happening – from the crisp of the raspberry puff (think prawn crackers for texture), to the pop of the fresh raspberries, to the soft give of the poached white peach, and the smoothness of the shiny, glazed bavarois (similar to a pannacotta) – making it an exploratory adventure. All of the flavours worked so well together, and a mouthful with all of the elements was utter heaven. The sweetness of the white peach was offset by the tartness of the raspberry, and the white peony tea flavour added a delicate but not particularly sweet floral note. I’m not sure I could go past this next time, as much as I’d like to try the rest of the dessert menu. Note: between dining and publication, the Lotus Garden has changed on the menu, so this exact flavor combination is no longer on offer.

Lotus Restaurant, Level 1, The Galeries, 500 George Street Sydney NSW, http://www.lotusrestaurant.com.au/

Bowery to Williamsburg

Latkes? What are latkes? I usually try to order the unusual things on a menu, and this drew my eye for sure. I met an old friend for breakfast on a Saturday morning and we holed up along the long communal table at Bowery to Williamsburg, where you’re practically part of the kitchen. The Lox & Potato Latkes ($20) was a great side to a good catch up, with two perfectly poached, runny eggs, spears of asaparagus, a slab of cured salmon and latkes with horseradish. The mystery was solved on first bite – latkes are potato pancakes, and these were spiked with zucchini – they were filling and tasty and delicious with the kick of the horseradish. I’m generally not a huge fan of fennel, but pickled the way it was, it brought a great flavour contrast to the latkes. The cured salmon was more subtle than smoked, which was appreciated that early in the day. The asparagus was cooked nicely and had just the right amount of bite, without being stringy. This was a fun introduction to New York food for me – enough familiar elements to be comfortable and enough new things to be exciting.

Bowery to Williamsburg, 123 Hardware Street, Melbourne VIC, no website

Via Dolce

Oh, hello #icecreamthurs, aka I’m-in-denial-summer-is-over.  Canberra’s dessert scene has its own little hub in Civic – after shopping with a friend, we decided to have something sweet and ended up standing on the corner that encompasses the tough choice between Koko Black (chocolate), Oliver Brown (chocolate) and Via Dolce (icecream). Of course, we went for the icecream. The display cabinet at Via Dolce is always beautiful, and with such exotic flavours as Prickly Pear and Blood Orange, it was hard to choose. In the end I went for the Raspberry sorbet, wanting something refreshing. The portion was a good size (although it did look small in the cup) and the sorbet ticked all the boxes – good texture, just the right amount of sweetness and a lovely, authentic fruit flavour. There’s just something about a good sorbet – you get such a strong impression of the fruit you’re eating, and this cup full definitely had me in mind of a batch of juicy, fresh raspberries. I found the serving just enough to satisfy my icecream craving, but next time I’m definitely going to try one of their cakes!

Via Dolce, 108 Bunda Street, Civic ACT, viadolce.com.au

Burger Theory

Adelaideans are so lucky – you guys are going through a serious burger craze, and you get fun places like Burger Theory! Firstly a food truck, now a bricks-and-mortar store (sound familiar?), Burger Theory is everything that a burger place should be; no frills, fresh-cooked and full of energy. We both ordered the Pearl’s Cheeseburger ($11) and shared a side of fries ($4). Yes, at first glance the burgers look small, but good things come in small packages! Firstly, let me say that these are rock-star patties – utterly delicious and perfectly cooked, this is everything that a self-respecting burger patty should aspire to be. Burger Theory has also won my heart by targeting my ultimate weakness. Pickles. You guys, there are a LOT of pickles on this burger. Not just a couple of shredded bits, or two lonely slices, but a whole base covered in thick sliced pickle goodness. This is obviously amped up to “winner” by the ketchup and mustard sauce combo. The fries were excellent too, crisp outside and soft inside, I didn’t think they needed sauce and we devoured them pretty quickly. So heart-eyes emoji all around, basically. #cometocanberra?

Burger Theory, 8-10 Union Street, Adelaide SA, http://www.burgertheory.com/

Ink Bake Grill

Ink Bake Grill does a roaring lunch trade – on arrival, we joined a long queue so had plenty of time to decide on what we wanted to eat from their blackboard menu. I’d decided on the beef stroganoff pie, only to find that they’d sold out. Instead, I ordered the lamb and chardonnay ‘doggie’ (hot dog), served with honey mustard, tomatoes and sweet potato crisps ($11.50). Our food came out fairly quickly, considering how busy they were, and I was delighted by the pile of chips and jam-packed hot dog roll. It’s the kind of dish you can’t wait to get stuck into. I started with the chips, which were liberally seasoned with chicken salt, with just the right balance between crispy outside and soft, fluffy inside. Yum. The hot dog was equally delicious – the sweet potato crisps added a great contrasting crunch to the sausage, which had a great lamb flavour. The honey mustard was well complemented by gooey cheese, and everything was freshened up by the slices of fresh tomato. This is a really tasty, hearty meal on a cold day – I’ll be back for sure.

Ink Bake Grill, Shop 3, 7 Geils Court, Deakin ACT, http://www.inkbakegrill.com.au/

Yat Bun Tong

A friend and I ducked in for a quick dinner at Yat Bun Tong on a Thursday night – we were the only ones there, and ordered four fun dishes from the menu (apologies, I didn’t record the prices). I was feeling a bit under the weather, so my favourite dish was definitely the chicken and corn soup, which was HUGE and probably the most comforting thing to eat when sick – delicious. Next up was the prawn toast, which came with four triangles and a bowl of sweet plum sauce for dipping. Whilst not the absolute best prawn toast ever, it was really tasty and had plenty of sesame seeds and great crunch. Dish three was the xiao long bao (10 to a serve), which had lovely, salty soup inside. I found the skins a bit thick for my taste, and the dumpling filling was a tad small, but given the rarity of this dish in town, quite reasonable. By this point we were getting full, but the shallot pancake came out and was again more than I expected. The texture was a bit heavy on the batter side, but we devoured it – really moreish. A really enjoyable spread of consistently good dishes.

Yat Bun Tong, 10-12 Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT, no website