spaghetti meat-a-balls

I’ve always been afraid to cook spaghetti bolognaise from scratch. I'm not entirely sure if this trepidation comes from either the lack of confidence that it can be tastier than pre-bought bolognaise sauce (I know! What a foolish notion) or just from a lack of confidence, period.

amatrice style thin spaghetti

I love libraries, I borrow books all the time, even cookbooks. It's my way of try-before-you-buy. Try the recipes in the books first before I buy the book. It is a bit hard when you only have three weeks before you need to return the book, but my library allows me to renew the loan once, so I can actually have the books for six weeks.

The latest book I borrowed was this amazing cookbook by Antonio Carluccio called 100 Pasta Recipes. Eventhough Antonio is one of the greatest Italian cooks of all time, the recipes in this book are not pretentious, some are even very easy to do. I have tried three easy recipes so far, and I have added all three of them to my weekdays meal repertoire.

grill'd simply grill'd

My first encounter with Grill'd was in Melbourne, since then I kept hoping that they would soon open a branch in Perth. But I never really thought that one would actually open in Perth (just like the same hope I had with Krispy Kreme). Well, one finally did open in Mt Lawley and another one soon followed in Subiaco. So you see, I had no choice but to come up with a reason to go.

A perfect reason came up this week. I recently moved out to a new house and my ever-helpful friends Dylan and Dave (D & D) were there to help. So, what better way to repay the favour than to take them to Grill'd. Doubled as an excuse for catching up with them too.

This particular Grill'd was located in Mount Lawley's busy restaurant hub. If you know Mt Lawley at lunch time, it's really quite busy, with not a lot of parking space. So, come early if you want a parking spot / seats in the restaurant.

il duca spaghetti alla bolognaise

Spaghetti alla bolognaise - €13

When I'm in a new Italian restaurant and when I'm in doubt, choose spaghetti bolognaise (yes, what a boring choice, but it has served me well so far). Unfortunately, Il Duca did not have spaghetti bolognaise in their menu, but I asked the waiter anyway and he said that there's no problem to arrange it for me. I think you can only request this kind of thing in a small restaurant. Big restaurants won't have the patience in making something specially for you.

Il Duca is a very small restaurant, like most restaurant in Montmartre, but this one is especially small. You can hear everyone's conversation. We sat next to two British ladies, I was totally eavesdropping! The waiter (singular, one waiter in the restaurant) was very friendly, understood English perfectly well. My mere-male husband managed to singe the menu with the candle on our table, but the waiter was totally understanding and got us a new one. Ooops!

grill'd crispy bacon & cheese burger

After much hype, my training buddies and I went to Grill'd expecting that this burger was going to be like manna from heaven. I can tell you that it was pretty darn close.

Crispy bacon & cheese with traditional bun burger - $9.90

I ordered the crispy bacon & cheese with the traditional bun. The burger was filling, but didn't settle heavily in my stomach. Usually after I have a Quarter Pounder (McDonald's) or a Bacon Deluxe (Hungry Jack's), I always get the "Urrghh... I shouldn't have" feeling. Grill'd was none of this.

The burger had plenty of fresh vegetables, the patty was infused with plenty of green herbs and was not densely pressed, but the bun was the standout to me. The bun was crisp on the outside with a dusting of sesame seed, yet soft and fluffy on the inside. This texture made the burger that much better. From the first bite until the last, my taste buds won't stop singing hallelujah. Thanks Kylie!


Grill'd
Level 2, QV Square CBD
221 Little Lonsdale St
Melbourne VIC
Open Monday-Thursday & Sunday 11.30am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11.30am-11pm

samovar croissant with ham and cheese

During our Western Australia let’s-go-walkabout tour, my boyfriend and I were also having a fish & chips hunt. We set off to Margaret River in the morning of Sunday, 15th March, at 6am. The first town we wanted to have a stopover for was Busselton.

I made a conscious decision to stop there because it was the right time to have brunch and there was a fish & chips shop by the beach. I find that a fish & chips shop near the beach usually serves good food, it was a good omen. The name of the shop was Cod Rocks on Queen. I parked the car and we walked towards the beach. It was only 11am and the shop hadn’t opened yet. It was quite a disappointment not to have it added to our ever-expanding repertoire.

We walked back towards the town because we saw this restaurant, but it was more like a bistro. It was bustling with diners, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. I found the place to be modern, spacious and quite savvy. I think what won me over were the little touches, the cutlery was made of heavy stainless steel, rather than the cheap feeling you get from thin metal bits made in China that can barely be called a fork and knife. The orders were taken promptly. Water was served straight after, without us asking for it. Our food also came not long afterwards. And with a name like Samovar, you just can’t go wrong.