Annie Smithers' Bistrot

Ok, this is now unofficially James' blog. This time our 11-year-old buddy has headed up the Calder to Kyneton and gone all French at Annie Smithers. Lucky bugger.

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Annie Smithers’ Bistrot
72 Piper St, Kyneton. Ph: 5422 2039

"Pretentious no. Great food yes.

Annie Smithers’ Bistrot is a restaurant in Kyenton, only about one hour north of Melbourne. It claims to be French cuisine but I thought it was more Australian contemporary.

We were in Kyenton because of Mum’s birthday so we thought we would take her to a special restaurant.

When we arrived we were given the menus. We ordered garlic prawns, some scallops and an onion tart. It took about 20 minutes for the entrees to arrive and when they did I had the garlic prawns first. They were very well cooked and the garlic taste wasn’t too overpowering. In fact they could have used a bit more garlic sauce.

Next I tried the scallops. They were warm and tasted nice.

Then came the onion tart, which I didn’t try but Mum and Dad thought that it was the best entrée.

For the mains we ordered gnocchi, a lamb shoulder and roast pork with sage butter.

After another 20-minute wait the mains arrived. I tried the lamb first and I thought it was the best of the three. The lamb was falling off the bone and it tasted so good.

The pork was another delicious main. The meat was cooked to perfection and the sage butter was really nice.

After two great mains I was getting ready for another one, but sadly the gnocchi was a bit disappointing. It was a bit plain, lacked flavour and was a bit too soft.

One sign of a good restaurant is that you have some room for dessert after entrees and mains. At Annie Smithers, for dessert we shared some apple and cinnamon pancakes. They were very good. The maple syrup was good and the little pieces of apple through it added to the taste.

After that great meal we all agreed it was a birthday well spent!"

8/10

- James, 11

Bistro Guillaume

Our favourite junior blogger mate James has reviewed another gem, this time Bistro Guillaume at Crown. Lots has happened since James' last post, he's turned 11 and discovered a new love for snails. Seriously, this guy should be on Masterchef - we reckon he'd know more than some of the contestants...

Enjoy.

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Bistro Guillaume
8 Whiteman St, Southbank
Ph: 9693 3888

"To celebrate my 11th birthday and my mum and dad's 23rd wedding anniversary, we went to Bistro Guillaume, a French restaurant in Crown Casino.

For the entree we ordered traditional onion soup with gruyere croutons, half a dozen Hunter Valley snails with beurre persille and seared scallops with Jerusalem artichoke veloute, baby spinach and chicken jus.

After the short wait of 20 minutes the entrees arrived. First I tried the snails, which I had never had before. They were so nice and garlicky that I ate four. In fact they were so garlicky I couldn't actually taste the meat. I thought snails would be like calamari, but the meat was surprisingly soft.

I then tried the onion soup which I found very tasty and rich, but I decided I would rather continue eating the snails. I finally got around to trying the scallops, which were perfectly cooked. The Jerusalem artichoke was in a puree, which added a nice touch.

For the mains we ordered steak frites with a la bordelaise sauce or bearnaise sauce (Mum asked to have them both on the side so I could try them). We also ordered Berkshire pork cutlet on a bed of apple puree, salad of celeriac green apple and walnut.

The last main was Bistro Guillaume fish and chips - whole whiting with pommes Pont-Neuf and beurre maitre d'hotel.

After another short wait of 25 minutes our mains arrived. I tried the steak first and it was really nice. It was cooked medium just like we had asked.

The next main I tried was the pork cutlet. It was a bit under-cooked but it was very easy to chew and the apple puree was sensational.

Next I had the fish and chips which had a big fat knob of garlic butter in the middle, which in my opinion made it even better. The fish had been caught in Western Australia. It was really big and fleshy, well cooked and the garlic butter was really tasty.

After eating our entree and main course we were offered the dessert menu by our friendly waiter, but we were too full to have anything.

This was my first totally French meal (fish and chips isn't that French is it?) and I'd have to say the food was very enjoyable but extremely rich.

Bon appetit."

- James, 11

A Day of Food in Philadelphia

Hi all,

Perhaps we should rename this site to 'kate and zoe and the kid' because once again, our junior blogger mate James has come through with the goods. This time is a review of two Philadelphia restaurants he visited on a recent holiday to the UK and the US.

Enjoy,

kate and zoe

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I ate a lot of rubbish during my holiday to America, so it was hard to believe that it could suddenly get better in one state. But that's what happened and for me, the state the food got better in was Pennsylvania. The largest city, Philadelphia, gave us some great food on our first day of exploring the old part of town and the fairly dull new parts, especially after we had spent six days avoiding all the junk food in Orlando, Florida (the theme parks were great fun though).

The first restaurant I went to in Philadelphia was a Cuban chain of restaurants called Cuba Libre at 10 S 2nd St (we didn’t realise they had one in Orlando, wish we had). This restaurant is perfect for breakfast, brunch and lunch.

First we were given some delicious fresh-out-of-the-oven bread with deliciously sweet mango butter. The bread was warm and perfect to eat - it tasted wonderful. The mango butter was nice sweet and perfect with the bread.

For the main I had some buttermilk-marinated chicken strips with cornmeal pancakes. The chicken strips were cooked very well. The chicken strips had mango butter in the middle of them. Surprisingly the combination of chicken and mango butter was really good. The cornmeal pancakes were very good but the problem was by the time I had finished with the chicken I was full. American serves are just too big.

The second main my dad had was shredded barbecue rib steak burger with slaw and shredded potato fries with salsa. It was delicious but it was too sloppy to eat with hands so Dad had to eat it with a knife and fork.

The second restaurant for an early dinner after a long day on our feet exploring the city was a new Indian restaurant called The King of Tandoor (1824 Callowhill St, Philadelphia - near Fairmount Park. BYO only.) The King of Tandoor has some great food such as naan, samosas and curry.
First we were served some complimentary pappadam with dips. The pappadam was nice and crunchy and with some delicious dips it would make anybody happy.

For the main I had butter chicken and garlic naan with rice. The butter chicken sauce was delicious and the meat was portioned to mouth size pieces making it a very easy to eat. The naan was soft and garlicky, it was very nice. The rice was nice too.


The second main which Dad had was chicken vindaloo with garlic naan and rice. It wasn’t too hot but it was tasty with nice chicken. Dad agreed the naan was nice and fluffy, but he kept dipping it into my butter chicken sauce.

The service of this restaurant was very good. The waiter was more than happy to explain the different options on the menu to those who were not sure, mostly local people who have never anything spicy.

- James, 10

Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant

Hi guys,
As you may have noticed, kate and zoe have both been a bit lazy of late. Thankfully, our junior blogger mate James has been anything but. In fact, this food-loving 10-year-old has been dining at Rick Stein's establishment in the UK. Read on with envy...


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Mum and Dad like watching Rick Stein's cooking programs on television, so we went to his restaurant when we travelled to England.

The Seafood Restaurant is in Padstow, Cornwall, and a really good thing about it is the kids' menu.

There is no pizza, deep-fried chicken nuggets or burgers, but grilled cod with vegetables, sirloin steak with thin-cut chips, and goujons of plaice (a local fish which is very nice).

But I was keen to share some of the courses off the main menu with Mum and Dad, so we did.

Ever since the Seafood Restaurant opened about 30 years ago, Padstow has become known as Padstein, because Rick Stein has opened up heaps of other food stores and restaurants in the town.

We booked our table on the internet months before we got to England. And we arrived in Padstow on a Monday night in October.

Before going to the main table we were given drinks and some plaice at the bar. We had never had plaice before. It was brilliant and a great start for the Seafood Restaurant.

When we were invited to our main table, we were given warm homemade bread, white and wholegrain.

For the entrees we shared marinated tuna with passionfruit and lime. The passionfruit went surprisingly well with the tuna.

Another entree was lobster risotto with lemon oil. This was the best! The lobster was well cooked and went very well with the arboreo rice.

We also had a warm salad of seared monkfish and tiger prawns with a fennel butter vinaigrette. It was great too. The monkfish and the tiger prawns were very well cooked.

It's hard to believe, but the main courses were as good as the entrees.

We shared three mains, starting with the monkfish vindaloo. The sauce was very good and it had just the right amount of vinegar in it, but wasn't too hot.

We also had Padstow lobster _ it was very nice _ . and a chargrilled fillet of sea bass with a tomato, butter and vanilla vinaigrette. It was my favourite main and it was amazingly well cooked.

For dessert I had some fruit sorbets. The flavours were vanilla-lemon, blackcurrant, strawberry and mango. They were all good for different reasons.

Overall, the Seafood Restaurant had great food, great service and, for once, a really good kids' menu!

- James, 10

South Melbourne Market

322-326 Coventry Street, South Melbourne
Ph: (03) 9209 6295
Wed 8am–4pm
Fri 8am-6pm
Sat/Sun 8am-4pm

The South Melbourne market has become an iconic Melbourne landmark, having been around since 1867. Arguably it’s most recognisable trademark is South Melbourne Dim Sims, which has been operating at the market since 1949. Unfortunately the legendary identity who started the stall, Ken Cheng, passed away in 2006; however the stall continues to operate (although it’s well argued whether at the same level of quality) and still does command long, snaking queues each week.

As my market trips usually take place on a Saturday morning, I am often carrying around the wounds of excess from the night before, so the rite of passage when I first arrive is a visit to Pizza Espresso for a delicious, oversized slice of pizza, at a not-break-the-bank price of $3.00. However there are also a number of other quality takeaway food options. Of note is Simply Spanish, who in the warmer weather, roll out their large paella stands onto the street, tempting the passers by with mouth-watering aromas of seafood and spicy rice.

There is an abundance of butchers at the market, and even though all offer fantastic produce, habitually I visit Tony’s Meat Supplies, finding their meat slightly better value whilst offering the same level of quality. One of the greatest benefits of buying your meat through a butcher’s stall, rather than the traditional pre-packaged supermarket style, is that they will cut up the meat for you in any particular way you require, saving finger-risking knife escapades at home.

The Aptus stall is a seafood lover’s utopia, with piles of freshly caught whole fish and fillets, calamari, bugs, lobsters and freshly shucked oysters staring tantilising out at you from behind the glass cabinets. If you find yourself so tempted by the displays that you are unable to wait until you get home to try their goods, you can purchase one of the freshly shucked oysters with a tomato and tabasco shot to wet your appetite.

One of my favourite places at the market would have to be Theo’s Deli, a place where my carefully sculpted shopping list gets thrown to the wayside, as I stumble away with overflowing bags of smallgoods, homemade dips and freshly baked breads. Expect to pay slightly more than usual for their goods; however rest assured the quality easily accounts for the elevated prices.

Hunt around and you can find some great fruit and veg bargains, especially late on a Sunday when the traders stock up trestle tables along the street and sell off bags of fruit and veg for $1. However I beeline straight for Fruits on Coventry, which not only has excellent quality produce, but also stocks all the weird and wonderful varieties which feature in the “find this ingredient” challenges that Gourmet Traveller set with their recipes each month. From giant Jack Fruits and Pomegranates, Chokos to Chicory, each week there are new discoveries to be made.

South Melbourne Market is a food lover’s delight, with delicious takeaway options and fantastic fresh produce, but also has an ample selection of traditional fashion and giftware stalls for those who enjoy hunting down a bargain.

9/10

- Janice

Bedouin Kitchen

103 Grey St, St Kilda
Ph: 9534 0888.
Open: Tue to Thu, 6pm to 10pm; Fri to Sun, 6pm-11pm

Unfortunately I tend to neglect St Kilda in my ongoing food quests, which is silly as there are a smorgasbord of quality, diverse eateries available within a close proximity.

So on a recent Saturday night I decided to give some well-deserved attention back to St K. and head to The Bedouin Kitchen, a Middle Eastern eatery on Grey St.

First impressions at Bedouin are inviting, with deep red painted walls and dark brown beams creating a cosy and intimate feel. However only a lone Egyptian Hooker (smoking pipe) attempts to give an authentic feel to the place – unlike the waiters (I would be very surprised if they had even read a book on the Middle East) and the upbeat, swing style music (think Frank Sinatra “Under my Skin”).

The menu comprises of a selections of Mezze share plates ranging between $6.5 - $14.50 and vegetarian and meat claypots around $15 - $30. A reasonable wine list features most bottles around the $30 - $40 mark. But be warned, if you decide on a bottle of white wine for the night, expect the bottle to sit on your table gently warming rather than being left in the fridge or placed in an ice bucket.

We decided on the traditional bread and dips to start ($14.50) and ate it without much enthusiasm, but still with nothing to really alarm us. Our concerns however started to rumble inside when the next dish, vine leaves ($6.50), had an unsettling flavour of canned dolmades in a plain Jane tomato paste-style sauce! Things didn’t get better as the plate of char-grilled (blackened), flavourless octopus arrived, followed by two dry, venison sausages, lacking any sauce or jus, on a bed of wilted rocket ($9.00).

Ever the optimist, I still held out hope for the Kushery claypot, layers of macaroni, rice & green lentils with a spicy tomato coulis ($18.50). True to their promise, there were layers of macaroni, rice and green lentils; however that was exactly all it was, with a noticeable absence of even a hint of flavour or spice. The “spicy tomato coulis” promised was in fact a chilling re-appearance of the cheap, processed sauce that featured with the vine leaves.

Obviously the importance of flavour and spice isn’t as high up the priority list for other people as it is on mine, as the restaurant was almost full when we visited (granted it was a Saturday night). However, walking out, the $93 hole in our pocket and extremely dissatisfied feeling in our stomachs ensured we would never be returning.

5 / 10


- janice

Tutto Bene

Mid-level Southgate

Southbank 3006

Ph: (03) 9898 3334

THERE'S been plenty of talk about the risotto at Tutto Bene. And for good reason. The Southgate Italian restaurant boasts a Risotteria, presided over by master risotto chef Simon Humble.

New on the risotteria menu this week was Risotto Funghi Misti ($20), or mixed wild mushroom, parmigiano and aromatic herbs and Salsiccia di cervo con lenticchie al vino rosso ($24) or Venison sausage with Victorian red lentils and red wine.

Both were perfection in terms of texture and the balance of flavours - something many of us strive to achieve when making risotto at home, but never succeed.

A rocket and parmesan salad ($8) and generous serves of bread dipped in Tutto Bene's own brand of Australian extra virgin olive oil were superb accompaniments.

With regional mixed olives and almonds in oil as a tasty snack to start ($5.50), it made the perfect midweek lunch.

Other risottos on the to do list include Al Presidente which is described as a unique combination of 3 year old parmigiano and balsamic vinegar, produced from a 1912 mother must, created by Simon Humble chef for the Italian President visiting Australia ($23). Impressive.

Another is Porcini e tartufo bianco - Porcini mushroom and white
truffle infused with extra virgin olive oil ($26), and Ragu di pesce e spinaci - Sauteed spinach risotto with a ragu of blue eye in tomato and Sicilian capers ($25.50).

Risotto purists have nothing to fear as classic risottos lead the list including Risi e bisi - (from the Veneto region) - Fresh peas,pancetta, shallots and parmigiano ($22) and Caprese - Tomato, basil and bocconcini mozzarella ($22).

Tutto Bene is not just about risotto and serves stylish dishes including Quaglia al forno con sugo di fagioli bianchi e guanciale croccante - Osso bucco Milanese ($33), Roasted boneless Yarra Valley quail with cannellini beans, tomato and thyme and crispy pork cheek ($34.50), Cotoletta di vitello arrosto con salsina di balsamico e cipolla - Oven baked rib of veal with balsamic and shallots ($36) and even a 300g wagyu - Bistecca di Manzo con piselli e parmigiano - Seared rump of wagyu beef wth spring pea and parmigiano. ($55.50).

Award winning gelato is also on the menu, with a gelateria springing up outside the restaurant in the warmer months with seasonal flavours including chestnut and dark grape and tira mi su, blood orange.

With a couple of house chardonnays ($9), a camomile tea ($3) and sparkling water ($5.50), lunch left us no change from $80 before tip.

A classic, classy establishment delivering beautifully crafted Italian food. It's terrific balcony overlooking the Yarra and the city is another drawcard.

9.5/10