Double Drummer

My colleague wanted to schedule a working lunch and so we went to Double Drummer, snapping up an outdoor table that had plenty of sunshine despite the chill in the air. I usually order something hot, but I decided to be a bit adventurous this time and try the chicken parmigiana roll from the sandwich bar. The staff kindly toasted it for me and brought it out to the table quite quickly, considering how busy they were. The bread was beautiful and crusty, but not teeth-breakingly so, and every bit of the roll was packed with filling (yes!). The chicken parmi hadn’t been warmed from the toasting, but was crispy and golden nonetheless, although not quite as tender in parts as I’d hoped. It went perfectly with the shaved parmesan cheese, thick tomato sugo and – my favourite – the grilled eggplant layered on top. The fresh spinach leaves added some nice crunch and I only just managed to finish the whole roll. Double Drummer’s food is great value in the Parliamentary Triangle – try it for tasty cafeteria-style meals.

Double Drummer, Ground Floor Courtyard, 4 National Circuit, Barton ACT http://thedoubledrummer.com.au/

Kinfolk

Kinfolk has been on my list for a while, and on a whirlwind visit to Melbourne I ducked in with my colleague for breakfast. We got a perfect seat in the window where we could watch the world go by. I started with a fresh orange juice – it was served with ice in a large jar, and was a bit diluted for my taste, but was still good value for the size. I wasn’t super hungry, so ordered the granola. It came out on a beautiful serving board with each element in its own jar – the granola looked lovely and toasted, with milk, yoghurt and bloom plum compote presented neatly. The granola itself had a fabulous mix of crisp, golden macadamias, cashews, almonds, walnuts, oats and pepitas. The compote was what really sold me on this – a good granola needs something to stop it being dry, and avoiding dairy as I do, the compote was it. Whilst there wasn’t a huge amount, it went quite far, and had a beautiful tangy tartness that contrasted the overall sweetness perfectly. The whole meal was quite filling and I would happily order it again.

Kinfolk, 673 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC                                                kinfolk.org.au

The Merchant

Meeting my friend on the Kingston Foreshore for lunch, but having skipped breakfast, I was very excited to discover that The Merchant offers breakfast until 3pm. I started out with a soy hot chocolate, which was large but tasted like soy with a hint of chocolate – I wouldn’t order it again. After much deliberation (the pizetteas sounded so tempting!) I used my friend’s excellent food philosophy of ordering what you feel like (scrambled eggs), rather than what you think you should have (pizza). So the ‘bacon & egg pocket’ it was – I ordered it with a side of avocado. The pocket itself was a huge ciabatta (my favourite), packed to the brim with bacon, scrambled eggs and a small amount of tomato relish. The quantities were perfectly balanced – any more relish and it would have been too sweet, a little less and it could have been dry. The eggs were beautifully fluffy and exactly how I like them (on the soft side), and the bacon was nicely (not overly) done. I was disappointed in the tiny amount of avocado – $5 for that measly portion? Never again – but overall the meal was incredibly filling and tasty. So, like last time, the verdict is tasty, but still room for improvement.

The Merchant, 3/2 Trevillian Quay, Kingston ACT         http://www.themerchant.com.au

Tiger Gyoza Hall

Good gyoza are an amazing thing. One night I went for a wander and found a particularly good gyoza place, although to be honest the only reason I ducked in was a) they had a huge tiger on the side of the building and b) my brain was tired of translating Japanese and the restaurant’s name was in English. It may have been the best decision of the whole trip. We ate four plates of gyoza on the waiter’s recommendation, plus the tomato and avocado salad. The salad had us in raptures – topped with fresh cress and corriander, the avocado and tomato chunks were doused in an oily corriander dressing – we licked those plates clean. Seriously, seriously good salad. The first two plates of gyoza were equally amazing – each plate had six dumplings – one normal-sized the other giant. The giant gyoza (called bukkuri gyoza) were the pick of the menu – packed with pork, crunchy sprouts and cabbage, they were to die for served with the corriander, onion and chilli condiment sauces. We weren’t as keen on the green soup gyoza which came third, but the yuzu gyoza on the final plate were refreshing and incredibly tasty. We dined here twice on this trip and I will most definitely be back.

Tiger Gyoza Hall, Hiroo 5-14-2, Tamachi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Japan (in the backstreets opposite Keio University East Gate)

Tide Pool Cafe

I revisited many of my old haunts on this trip to Tokyo, and one of the most lovely was the Tide Pool Cafe in Kichijoji. It’s a bit out of the way on the path leading to the park, but I have fond memories of sitting there with a glass full of icecream doing my translation homework. This visit was a great reminder of why I loved this place so much – it was another warm day and we stopped in for icecream and to get out of the sun for a bit. The ladies explained the three icecream flavours and we picked two to try – vanilla and cafe au lait. They were both beautifully presented in glass teacups, with fresh strawberries on the vanilla and a huge dollop of whipped cream on top of both serves. The vanilla was surely made from buttermilk – the flavour was so rich, creamy and genuinely vanilla, not essence or imitation. Similarly, the cafe au lait had a gentler coffee flavour, as would be expected, but was incredibly refreshing and not sickly sweet. The ladies kindly lent us fans to cool down and were very welcoming of hot and bothered tourists, just as they were of an intrepid student all those years ago.

Tide Pool Cafe, F&W Building, Musashino, Kichijoji, Tokyo Japan, no website

Miraku Japanese

On a work trip to Sydney I caught up with a friend for a quick lunch at the Hunter Connection food court,  famed for fast, cheap eats. We arrived right before the lunch rush, so secured a table and went to order from Miraku (I couldn’t go past Japanese!). I’m a sucker for a good udon, so picked the ‘ebi udon’, which came with two battered prawns. Our orders were ready fairly quickly (good to arrive ahead of the crowd) and the bowl I brought back to the table was full of yummy-looking udon. The broth was around the middle range of my experience – a nice flavour, but quite salty and slightly too fishy for a standard udon broth. The noodles themselves were nicely soft and springy and whilst you would never get carrot in your udon in Japan, extra vegetables should never be sneered at. There was plenty of spring onion, and at the counter you could help yourself to sesame. I really loved the huge prawns, which softened nicely when dipped in the broth. Considering the meal was just over $10, it was well-sized, filling and tasty – excellent value in the city centre.

Miraku Japanese, F9 Hunter Connection Food Plaza, 7-13 Hunter Street, Sydney NSW, no website.

Mocan & Green Grout

This was my second visit to Mocan & Green Grout, and my first time eating there for lunch. My friend and I popped in on the way to a meeting, and so had just under an hour to chow down. We started with drinks – I ordered a soy hot chocolate and was excited that I could actually taste the chocolate and not just the soy! We both ordered the duck sandwich for lunch, but sadly our order was misplaced. With 20 minutes until our meeting, the waitress realised what had happened and we were brought our very freshly prepared meal (without charge and with apologies). The sandwich is fairly small, but we both felt that the brioche bun was a clever way to make it filling, my friend wishing it was a bao instead. I liked the brioche’s softness and sweetness, which contrasted well with the tang of the pickled cucumber and corriander. There was plenty of duck inside, which was tender and very tasty, well-matched with the hoisin mayonnaise. I particularly liked the contrasting textures of each of the ingredients, and despite the delay I felt it was definitely worth the wait.

Mocan & Green Grout, 1/19 Marcus Clarke Street, New Acton, ACT mocanandgreengrout.com/