on my plate - rotisserie wagyu steak @ Rockpool

I should've expected it after seeing the painted portrait of a cow that hung beside the main entrance and also on the menu. A few red flags should have been raised after seeing their menu listed 11 different types of steak, ranging from wagyu, grain-fed, and grass-fed. And even with my brother's continued insistence that Rockpool's steak is one of the top five steaks he's ever had (he certainly takes his beef seriously), I was still slightly unconvinced about it being that good. This is also despite the fact that Rockpool is one of the restaurants of universally acclaimed Australian chef (and Iron Chef) Neil Perry.

What can I say? I'm a little slow on the uptake. All doubts I had about their steak were quashed after this rotisserie wagyu steak served with chimchurri sauce. The medium-rare beef was unbelievably tender and full of flavour. I could've eaten it as it was, but the chimchurri sauce added just a bit of flavour without overpowering the taste of the beef. I may not be a chairman Kaga, I'm pretty certain about whose cuisine reigns supreme.

Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne
Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex
8 Whiteman St, Southbank

on my plate - sakata coated prawns @ izakaya den

To say Japanese is a difficult language to learn is a bit of an understatement. After this amount of studying, I still don't really understand the subtle nuances. Take some words to describe crunchy foods: paripari for thin crispy things like chips,  sakusaku for crumbly foods like cookies, and karikari for foods that are harder. Yeah, I still have no idea how they all work exactly.

And I've been trying to wrap my head around the concept of puripuri. I've heard it being used to describe ikura or caviar - the way that the bubbles pop in your mouth and release the liquidy centres when you bite into them. I can understand if its used in that context, but how do people use that word to describe prawns?

My moment of clarity came last night while sampling these at Izakaya Den last night. Prawns in a rice cracker coating deep fried and served with a citrus mayonnaise. The prawns were plump and firm to bite,  but once you bite through the crunchy coating and the flesh, the juiciness and sweet seafood flavour explodes in your mouth. It was a puripuri moment indeed.

Izakaya Den
114 Russell St
Melbourne

on my plate - linguine with baby octopus, chilli and garlic

Has baby octopus always been this cheap? Had I known I could find it for $6 a kilo, as opposed to $25/kg calamari I would probably be more inclined to cook seafood more often. I was searching for tuna to try out Gary Mehigan's linguine with fresh tuna, chilli & garlic recipe, but I at that price, I'd be stupid not to buy octopus, right?.  Linguine tossed in a garlic and chilli-infused olive oil sauce, topped with rocket and pangrattato. I've tried making olive oil-based pasta sauces without much success, but this one has converted me - full of flavour without tasting too oily. That, coupled with the subtle kick of chilli, the crunchy texture of the thyme pangrattato breadcrumbs, and the tender octopus is seriously amazing.

Questionable Asian buffet experiences aside, it has once again confirmed my theory that you should never really pass up on cheap seafood.