on my plate - slow cooked lamb baguette @ earl canteen

I have a tried and true method for judging the quality of a new restaurant: if the vegetarian options on the  menu sound as appetizing as the meat ones, then it must be good. Being a proud meat-eater, I'll always inevitably choose the meat option, and will probably never try the meatless offerings, but it really says something when a place makes me consider (albeit momentarily) the idea of becoming a vegetarian. Earl Canteen's last visit for a pork belly baguette already had me salivating about my next visit. Should I get the roasted mushroom & goat's curd ciabatta with pesto, or the local organic asparagus baguette with taleggio cream and slow cooked egg?

But c'mon, it is me. I ended up going for the 12 hour lamb and honeyed carrots, topped with gremolata and served in a crusty baguette, and do not regret it at all.  Although next visit I might try one of the vegetarian sandwiches. Or the lunch box. Or maybe duck confit sandwich...

Earl Canteen
500 Bourke St
Melbourne

on my plate - rack of lamb with quiona tabouli @ oakridge winery

If there was one thing I missed most while in Japan, it was a good lamb souvlaki. It wasn't easy finding a good steak or quality cheese either, but if you were willing to fork over a good chunk of cash, it could be done. Lamb on the other hand, only seemed to exist at the rare (in my area at least) Mongolian barbecue restaurants, which was good, but not quite the same.

So when I saw the combination of sheep's milk yoghurt, tabouli, and lamb, I knew I had to get this. It was essentially a deconstructed, fancier take on a lamb souvlaki, which is probably why the flavours worked so well.

Oakridge Restaurant
846 Maroondah Highway
Coldstream