on my plate - pintxos @ Naked for Satan

It might be an obvious statement, but tapas sure isn't the same in Melbourne as it is in Spain. Don't get me wrong, Portello Rosso, and from what I hear, the Mo Vidas offer quality food, but if you're looking for food that compares to Barcelona or Madrid, expect to pay a pretty penny for that privilege.

With Naked for Satan's weekday 80 cents per pintxo, at least I know now that I don't have to break the bank every time I get a hankering for some tapas. Maybe it was just the shock of food being that cheap, or the sheer amount of food that I kept piling onto my plate, but I forgot to take note of what exactly I was eating. I vaguely remember some tasty garlicky prawn pintxo and the croquettas. Did I like the jamon one more, or the second one? Then again, does it really matter when each bite costs 80 cents?

Yu-u and yakitori

Despite talk about it having some of the best Japanese lunch sets in Melbourne, there's a lot of mystery that surrounds Yu-u. A quick google will find some Urbanspoon reviews and a couple blog posts about it, but don't expect to find an official website or any pictures of the food. Yu-u has earned the reputation of being one of Melbourne's best kept secrets, and judging by its nondescript entrance off in a side alley in the CBD and strict no photo-taking policy, it seems intent on keeping it that way.

on my plate - chocolate cream tart @ le petite gateau

"Urgh. Chocolate."

It's not what you'd normally expect to hear from someone who thinks about food 24/7, but I've found that recently, I'm not as pro-chocolate as I used to be. I don't hate it, but I usually find myself choosing fruit-based desserts over cocoa ones. I don't know why - maybe because my taste buds are maturing. Or maybe it was the excessive chocolate binging that would happen on a weekly basis for about a year. I guess we'll never know.

But add coffee to the equation, and all my aversions to chocolate will soon be forgotten. This coffee chocolate cream tart found that happy medium between cloyingly-sweet and overly bitter. The vanilla bean-infused cream balanced out the bitterness of the dark chocolate and coffee filling. And true to the shop's name, the cake was quite petite. It's probably a good thing. I'd hate for me to lose my taste for mocha-flavoured things too.

Le Petite Gateau
458 Little Collins St
Melbourne

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 - hiyashi chuka @ ramen-ya

"Really? Ramen-ya again after a second trip to Earl Canteen?" What can I say? I'm a creature of habit. Especially when it comes quality cheap food.

While steaming hot bowls of ramen remind me of dark, cold, dimly lit alleyways in Tokyo, hiyashi chuuka (lit. chilled Chinese food) takes me back to humid summer nights in the middle of the country with constant buzz of cicadas filling the air.

Noodles topped with slices of omelette, ham, cucumber and tomato, topped with crispy nori seaweed, and served with just a touch of soy-based broth. While it lacked the Japanese mayonnaise and mustard I'm familiar with, it was still a welcome change on a fairly warm day. It almost makes me miss the muggy August nights in Japan, stepping outside for just a moment and almost immediately being drenched in sweat. Well, almost.

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 - tonkotsu ramen @ ramen-ya

Is it wrong that one of the reasons why I'm thinking about moving back to Japan is because of the food? Melbourne certainly has its fair share of quality restaurants, and a fair proportion of them offer some near-comparable Japanese food, like Ramen-ya's tonkotsu ramen. Bamboo shoots, spring onions, tender chashu pork and slightly chewy noodles served in a a rich, creamy pork broth. Sure, it was good, and at $6.50, definitely hard to beat, it felt like something wasn't quite right. Maybe it was that the egg yolk could've been a little softer and more runny. Or maybe it just needs to be ordered with a ticket-dispensing vending machine and eaten in a narrow, dimly lit alleyway in Tokyo.

Ramen-ya

Shop 25G Melbourne's GPO

350 Bourke St

Melbourne

sushi - Shira Nui

It was a warm summer night, and I was hungry. I had no craving for KFC, pizza, or one of the other cheap Chinese places around the corner. Just as my dad and I were about to give up our search for somewhere good, we saw the "Now Open" sign on the new restaurant. It was small, and nestled between a real estate agent and other small shops, you wouldn't expect to find a restaurant there. But it was brand new, and glancing in the window and spying the simple, minimalist decor, it seemed more than your standard, run-of-the-mill take away restaurant. Interests piqued, we stepped inside, and have not looked back ever since.

Hard to believe that that night was eight years ago. But once you've tried their sushi at Shira Nui, it's not hard to believe that I still remember that night so vividly, or why the tiny restaurant has still managed to stay around and be successful.

on my plate - mirage @ laurent patisserie

Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting older, but my sweet tooth just isn't what it used to be. Decadent chocolate cakes and rich crème brulées have now been demoted to 'sometimes' foods, as opposed to something I could have eaten every other day of the week.

But seeing this Mirage cake from Laurent Patisserie - Lime, raspberry mousse with a coconut dacquoise (No, I didn't know what a dacquoise was either) - I knew my sweet tooth wouldn't be happy with me if I didn't order it . The tart, tangy coupled with the sweet, refreshingly light raspberry mousse and crunchy base was the perfect after lunch treat. I could definitely see myself eating this on a regular basis.

Laurent Patisserie
703 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn

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

on my plate - dory and yuzu fish roe sushi

Dory sushi seasoned with lemon and salt, topped with yuzu-infused tobiko (flying fish roe). The refreshing tartness of the lemon and salt, along with the almost crunchy texture of the yuzu tobiko didn't fail in whetting my appetite and getting me excited for all the other sushi that followed.

Shira Nui
247 Springvale Rd
Glen Waverley (map)

on my plate - school prawns @ zest89

Fried school prawns served with shoestring fries and garlic mayonnaise. Crunchy with an rich prawn flavour - kind of like prawn crackers. I don't know how that huge hit of seafood flavour fits into one tiny little package, but I'm a fan indeed. Plus, a meal seems to always be satisfying when the vegetable component of the dish is starchy, thinly cut, and deep fried.

Zest 89
89 Kingsway, Glen Waverley

on my plate - pork belly baguette @ earl canteen

Pork belly baguette with cabbage & fennel coleslaw from Earl Canteen. Soft tender pork with salty crackling went perfectly with the sweet apple coleslaw.