Gazi Restaurant – Melbourne, where it’s all Greek to me!

August 7, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Melbourne is a fascinating melting pot of multiculturalism. Your ability to access a wide range of cuisines is within reach inside the bustling CBD. One of those culinary delights is George Calombaris’ Gazi Restaurant.

When we arrived there was a line up out this door and down the street. — When we arrived there was a line up outside Gazi’s door and down the street.

George Calombaris is one of the judges on Australia’s version of Masterchef. George’s Gazi restaurant is located at 2 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, on the corner of busy Flinders Street.

The winner of our last giveaway suggested we head to Gazi restaurant to experience what it has to offer. After our recent trip to Greece we were tempted by the thought of some more excellent Greek food.

Gazi is extremely popular with the residents of Melbourne, so I do recommend booking well in advance. We called in at lunchtime to book and were offered the last two seats on their communal table. If you can’t book, then you can try waiting in line hoping for someone to finish early so they can fit you in. Another option is to look at their takeaway option, and dine in the comfort of your home or hotel accommodation.

Our booking was for 8:30pm and upon arriving at the restaurant, there was a line up out the door of customers trying their luck to get a spare table. As we made our way through the crowd to the front reception, we were greeted by the restaurants maître d’hôtel and quickly escorted to our table. Due to the popularity, the Gazi staff try to fit as many customers into their service area as possible. They have communal long tables where small groups can sit together if they wish, or you can be seated by the bar. They do exceptionally well at turning over their patrons to allow more customers in to taste their exquisite Greek cuisine.

Bar seating — Gazi Restaurant’s bar seating

The interior of the restaurant is very well set out, with single tables along the Flinders street side of the restaurant and group booths alongside the Exhibition street side. The main floor is a mixture of small tables that can be grouped to make room for larger parties, and of course the communal long tables next to the bar. The roof decorations were very interesting with small terracotta pots set at different heights to create a terracotta wave. The restaurant had that nightclub bar atmosphere with mood lighting and up tempo house music pumping loudly around the room. In my opinion the music was probably too loud on this night, as it was hard to converse with my dinner guest.

The staff is in one word, exceptional. They always knew when you were ready to order or ask for assistance. The service was quick and attentive, even with a packed full restaurant that was already on its second sitting for the night. The staff even offered to hang up our jackets on little coat hooks well positioned around the room.

Gazi offers a solid menu, with many modern Hellenic dishes available. If you choose from the a la carte menu then you are looking at paying around AUD$28-$30 for your main meals. The best option and value would be to select their “Doing it Greek Style” seven course tasting plates for AUD$49 pp or the 10 course tasting plate for AUD$69 pp.

For our meal we decided to try the seven course tasting plate with some wine. The wine list is extensive with some quality wines from around Australia and Greece. Glasses sell for around AUD$12 and bottles from AUD$50 for an everyday quality bottle to a AUD$260 indulgent red or white.

The first course to arrive at the table was fresh soft pita bread and two quality dips, a creamy tzatziki and a beautiful sweet flavoured Beetroot feta and walnut praline. I could have honestly been happy just snacking on these quality dips for the whole night. The staff offered more bread each time we finished what we had, which was nice given the dips were large serves.

The second tasting plate to arrive at our table was a classic Cheese Saganaki with a modern kumquat syrup twist. The kumquat syrup brought a sweetness to the cheesy texture so we found ourselves scrapping our beautiful máti decorated plates to try get every morsel. The blue máti eye symbols on the plates are found throughout Greece to ward off evil spirits so they are a nice touch.

Our third tasting plate to arrive was a Chicken Tyrokafteri with walnut dressing. This wood fire spitted meat is succulent and the walnut dressing gives it that extra crunchy texture. Such an excellent dish definitely worth considering when you visit. The accompanying dish was also well presented, but not what we were expecting. Gazi’s Tiganites Palates is basically chips with crumbled feta, dressed with garlic oil and oregano. A nice combination of flavours, but we didn’t associate chips with Greece so were surprised to see it. Saying that, we could not fault this dish, and struggled to finish the whole bowl.

Tiganites patates and Tyrokafteri with walnut dressing

At this stage we are getting a little full and start to leave some of the dishes unfinished, because we know we have three dishes remaining. Our ever attentive waiter brings out our fifth and sixth courses together. The fifth is a salted green bean salad topped with almonds and the sixth is Tuna Kebabs. The green bean salad had that hint of salt and were perfectly blanched thus having that perfect crunch. We divided the Tuna Kebab between us and devoured the beautifully seared tuna holding in the flavours of the sea.

Looking at each other we knew that dessert remained and wondered if we could possibly fit it in. When the waiter brought out our Loukoumades covered with Honey Nutella, we forgot that our stomachs were full and ate the dish with our eyes. These beautiful fried balls of goodness were delicious so topped off an excellent night in a stunning city.

Overall George Calombaris’s Gazi Restaurant is a fantastic place to eat. It has a hip casual dining experience feeling, with fine dining quality food. From their website you can get there by catching the 35, 70, 71 or 75 trams getting off at Exhibition and Flinders. If you are in Melbourne then try Gazi Restaurant, and tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 7
Food =9

Overall = 9

Australia, Restaurants

Roll’d Vietnamese, where you can eat for a cause! – Melbourne

August 2, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

We all need to eat, so why not eat for a cause? Head into Roll’d Vietnamese street food stores and that’s exactly what you can do. Buy a “Blue Box” for AUD$10.90, and AUD$2 from your purchase is donated to the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Vietnam.

Purchase a Blue Box to donate to Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

Back in 2013, we took a backpacking holiday for a month to Singapore and Vietnam. In Singapore, we stayed in a popular backpacking hostel on Joo Chiat Road called the Betel Box Hostel. Here we met now-owner Tony Tan, and his enthusiasm about life and Singapore was inspiring.

During one of our many conversations about our travels, he told us about a children’s foundation set up by an Australian teacher, Michael Brosowski and a Vietnamese university student Pham Sy Chung. This was our first introduction to the important work that the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation performs.

About Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

The foundation is aimed at rescuing at risk children from homelessness and being exploited. In particular, those that have been trafficked into various forms of slavery. At the time of our travels, Blue Dragon had major centres in Hanoi and Hoi An. We visited their restaurant in Hoi An, where some of the rescued children were running the establishment to learn new life skills. If you are travelling and happen to visit beautiful Hoi An then make your way to 46 Bach Dang St, and eat at the Blue Dragon Restaurant. Their menu is small, but the food they do cook is cooked well, with that home made quality.

Blue Dragon Restaurant, 46 Bach Dang St, Hoi An

The Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation has done some fantastic work and as a result has had an impact on the lives of 68,000 children. It has around 65 staff members, caring for approximately 1,500 children in Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hue, Hoi An and Dien Bien. (Source: Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation).

You have a chance to help this worthwhile foundation by purchasing one of their delicious supporter meals. The Blue Box contains two freshly made Bao buns (sweet steamed bread buns), filled with your choice of five combinations and a drink from a wide selection in store. The buns were soft with just enough flavoursome filling. We tried barbecue chicken, beef and lemon grass, roast pork and crackling, and crispy prawns. While all were good, our favourites were the chicken and pork. Tofu is the fifth option for those looking for a vegetarian meal variety.

Beef and Lemongrass and BBQ Chicken Bao Buns — Beef and Lemon-grass and BBQ Chicken Bao Buns

Where to find Roll’d Vietnamese Stores

Roll’d Vietnamese street food stores are located in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland and the ACT. They also have a store scheduled to open in Adelaide sometime this year. If you are hungry, then check for your nearest Roll’d location here. Support the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation by buying one of these special and tasty meals. When supporting Roll’d Vietnamese an exploited child in Vietnam will be safer and grateful.

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Are you Star Wars or are you Star Trek?

July 31, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Growing up my friends would ask, “Are you a Star Wars fan or are you a Star Trek fan?” This question was always hard for me to answer, because in essence I was both. The original Star Wars movies were thoroughly enjoyable and I have come to like most of the newer franchise offerings. I also enjoyed the Star Trek TV series, and only liked the Star Trek movies. It was a case of Star Trek offered more for my imagination as a TV series, and Star Wars offered more as feature films.

Not much has changed in my opinion. Star Trek needs time for you to become invested in its characters. To the point where you want to be a part of the Enterprise crew, to understand them. Whereas with Star Wars you want action, and predictable characters, you know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. When Paramount Pictures released the next instalment of the Star Trek franchise, I was excited but a bit apprehensive, about the portrayal of these well-known characters.

Star Trek Beyond continues the story of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine, Horrible Bosses 2) and his crew aboard the iconic USS Enterprise. After many adventures the Starship Enterprise finally has some downtime. The crew earns some rest and relaxation at the Federation Star Base of Yorktown. Sometime during their stay, Yorktown receives a distress call from a lone spaceship requesting immediate assistance to recover crew which crashed on a planet in an uncharted Nebula. Captain Kirk and his crew are once again called to duty to rescue the missing crew, because of the Enterprise’s capabilities.

Whilst charting their course through the Nebula, the USS Enterprise is attacked and boarded by a large alien force led by the formidable Krall (Idris Elba, Mandella: Long Walk to Freedom). Unable to stop the invasion, Captain Kirk sounds the call to abandon ship. The crew eject in the escape pods to make their way to the planet’s surface. Before they make it to land, Krall’s ships start capturing the pods to enslave the Enterprise crew.

Only three pod groups escape. Scotty, Enterprise’s Chief Engineer (Simon Pegg, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation) finds himself alone before encountering Jaylah (Sofia Boutella, Kingmen: The Secret Service) a previous alien victim of Krall’s aggression and ambition. Jaylah and Scotty agree to help each other, by recovering Scotty’s crew of the Enterprise in return of fixing Jaylah’s ship. The second group of 1st Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto, Heroes) and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bones (Karl Urban, The Bourne Supremacy) try to work together to find Captain Kirk and the others. Finally of course there is Captain Kirk himself and Chekov. (Played by the late actor Anton Yelchin who tragically died in a motor vehicle accident in June 2016).

Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin, is a good but not an outstanding film. It offers Star Trek fans another instalment into the lives of Captain T Kirk and his ever reliable crew. Watch out for the dedication to Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock in the TV series. It will honour his memory indefinitely. The cinematography is well done and the combination of animated action sequences with live motion is seamless.

Justin Lin’s direction, and telling of this story is okay. There is clearly a beginning, middle and end to the story. If you’ve seen many of the series episodes it is a well recycled storyline in regards to Star Trek, as it is their tried and true formula.

It might be me, but I do struggle with the rehash of the classic characters. My life has been so ingrained with the original series cast. So when you see reference to the older characters, I seem to struggle to work through it. If you are new to the Star Trek franchise then I am sure you will learn to enjoy these characters and I hope you will love them like so many other Star Trek fans have done before you.

Rating 1-10 ( 1 = very poor, 10 = excellent)

Cinematography/Animation = 7
Storyline = 6
Characters & Acting = 6

Overall = 6.5

Australia, Restaurants

Kingz Restaurant in Semaphore, Adelaide

July 28, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Adelaide is well-known for it’s many churches and pristine white beaches and the beach side suburb of Semaphore has been steadily growing into one of the city’s up and coming locations. Many new restaurants have opened over the last few years along Semaphore Road. It is a popular local strip that offers a wide range of cuisines. Kingz Restaurant at 39a Semaphore Rd, is one of those newly opened establishments serving delicious Indian food.

One of our favourite cuisines has always been Indian food. Often when the vegetarian in our house suggests we indulge in something other than home cooking, Kingz Restaurant is our choice. The difference this time was that we decided that we’d eat in rather than having takeaway.

Kingz restaurant has a small shop front, with big glass bi-fold doors that they can be opened up during the warmer summer months. The restaurant has limited capacity inside and they have some unprotected outdoor tables. It seems unlikely that people will use these tables during the winter as anyone sitting here would be shivering uncontrollably. To take advantage of this extra outdoor space Kingz Restaurant needs to find a way to protect their customers from the elements during winter.

The inside of the store is neatly set out, and they have tried to bring India to the restaurant with some Indian inspired prints on the walls. There’s a big screen television mounted in the corner which plays YouTube music videos of some of India’s popular musicians and Bollywood clips. The tables are well positioned giving everyone enough room to move around, but upgrading the basic wooden chairs would add to the comfort. The atmosphere was lacking, with only our table and one other occupied. There was a steady stream on takeaway customers throughout the meal as this seems to be the restaurant’s mainstay. You can see they are trying to bring a certain style to the place, but I think they miss the mark. Adding some traditional Indian artefacts or wall hanging might improve the atmosphere.

Well positioned tables, uncomfortable chairs

We have eaten their food on many occasions, but this time we opt to try a some dishes that we haven’t had before. We order the Lamb Korma, Chicken Biryani with raita, a serving of basmati rice and a glass of wine each. The menu is extensive and there is a good range of dishes for everyone’s tastes. We already know their Butter Chicken, Chicken Chennai, Daal Makhani, Malai Kofta and Haryali Gosht are excellent. The creamy Lamb Korma was no exception. The flavour and sizeable chunks of lamb soaking in the curry went down a treat. The Chicken Biryani was bright in colour and full of spice, nearly to the point of overpowering. Yet when the freshly made raita is added, those overpowering spices become well-balanced and tasty.

Creamy Lamb Korma, Chicken Biryani and Raita served with Basmati rice

The wine list was quite small with only one option if you happen to be drinking white or red wine by the glass. They do allow their customers to bring your own (BYO) wines so bringing one from home could be a good option.

Kingz Restaurant gives you value for money. Their serving sizes are generous, with us taking home some of each meal as we could not eat it all. Mains prices range between AUD$10.90 for the vegetarian based dishes going up to AUD$25.90 for their Mixed Seafood Curry. They also offer two banquet options for AUD$30 and AUD$40 respectively. A big tick in my book are the staff who are extremely friendly and quick to take your order when you are ready. Their service continued to be attentive throughout the meal without hovering too much.

Overall Kingz Restaurant has massive potential because the food they offer is very good. They are already popular with the locals for takeaway and delivery. With Semaphore’s most popular time being summer, with just a couple of minor fixes I can see everybody lining up to experience their hospitality.

If you are staying in the city, the best way to get to Semaphore is by train. Catch the Outer Harbor train from the Adelaide train station to Glanville. Semaphore is just a short five minute walk down Semaphore Rd. If you happen to try this nice restaurant, tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 6
Atmosphere = 6
Service = 8
Price = 9
Food = 8

Overall = 8

Australia, Events

There’s an Alpine Winter Village in Adelaide?

July 24, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

If you happen to be in the city of Adelaide this week, make your way to the Alpine Winter Village. The village is located at the Torrens Parade grounds across the road from Elder Park and the Festival Theatre. I know what your thinking, Alpine? As in snow? But it doesn’t snow in Adelaide! Yet knowing that, during the month of July Adelaide sets up a winter village, full of food, drink and activities for the children. They have an ice skating rink, which is very popular so bookings are essential. I suggest going in early to book a time or book going online. While waiting head off and explore this beautiful city or settle into one of the bars or eateries.

The ice skating rink is open from 10:00am until 11:00pm daily and sessions are 45 minutes in length. Prices range from AUD$30.00 for a family of four to AUD$7.50 for a child aged between 2 and 15 years.

Other things available to entertain the children are face painting, camel rides and pony rides. For the shoppers there are a few small stalls selling their goods at reasonable prices.

Small stalls showing their good for sale

Some of Adelaide’s well known celebrity chefs like Ragini Dey, from the Naya restaurant on Waymouth Street offer us a good selection of foods. The Alpine villages meals range from AUD$10 – AUD$20. The couple of bars available to drink at aren’t very large so finding a seat inside may be an issue when they’re busy. They offer a good range of craft beers and local wines for you to try and provide some live music to keep you going into the night. So if you can’t get a seat inside don’t be too worried, because they have well positioned fire pits to keep you warm on those colder days and nights.

Depending on how open you are to the experience the Alpine Winter Village can be either a fun day out, or it could be a quick walk around and out again within half an hour. If you’re thinking of going to the Alpine Winter Village, then have a plan. So skate, take a camel ride, have something to eat or drink and make a day of it. Entry to the Alpine Winter village is free except for Friday and Saturday nights after 7:00pm, where you will need to pay a AUD$5 admittance fee.

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Central Intelligence

July 19, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Is Central Intelligence the funniest film you will see in 2016? If you want a good laugh, free up a couple of hours in your busy life. I recommend you do yourself a favour, get down to your local cinema and see Central Intelligence.

When you see a film trailer for a comedy, it often showcases all of the funny scenes contained within the feature film. There is disappointment to find those hilarious scenes are the only laughs to be had. I saw the trailer to Central Intelligence, laughed out loud and hoped there was more to come. There was. The trailer was unable to show us all the great comedy scenes, because there are so many.

Central Intelligence is the story of a former high school legend Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart, Ride Along). Life hasn’t turned out as Calvin expected. High school was the highlight of his life. Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson, San Andreas) once was Robbie Weirdicht the most bullied kid in high school. Bob changed his name and left town after he was incredibly embarrassed during a senior assembly in the high school gym.

Twenty years later a school reunion has Bob reconnect with Calvin. Calvin discovers Bob is a rogue CIA agent being hunted down by agent Pamela Harris (Amy Ryan, Birdman). Bob and Calvin get themselves into various situations trying to clear Bob’s name and find the real traitor inside the CIA.

This is a light-hearted film, there aren’t any outstanding special cinematic scenery shots, or high action animated special effects. It does have performance chemistry, as Hart and Johnson work well together. The storyline is a fairly basic but it’s fun, and the character development is shallow to say the best. When taking this all into account it doesn’t matter, because it works. The film does have a good message for children about bullying, and how that can affect those involved. Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses) plays a crucial small role as Trevor, Bob’s bully, who conveys this message across well.

When you deconstruct the characters and the acting, Dwayne Johnson plays the deadly CIA agent well. It is awkward watching him try to play the gawky bullied kid. His confidence and presence on-screen, makes it difficult for him to pull it off. The same applies with Kevin Hart in reverse. Although a funny man, he can’t pull off the cool popular high school legend. This may be what the director was trying to portray with his actor choices, but with the story you can’t tell.

Throughout the movie it is noticeable that the supporting cast are trying not to laugh. You can see they are finding it hard to keep a straight face. Amy Ryan looks like she had the hardest time not laughing during scenes, because at times you will see her struggling not to smile or laugh, which can be distracting.

Overall Central Intelligence is a good, extremely funny movie, that doesn’t go overboard in regards to violence and adult content. Therefore, teenagers will also like this film, I know my teenage daughter did, and I’m sure your teenagers will like it too. Make sure you stick around at the end for the blooper reel during the final credits.

Rating 1-10 ( 1 = very poor, 10 = excellent)

Cinematography = 6
Storyline = 7
Characters & Acting = 6
Comedic Content = 10

Overall = 7

Australia, Events

Winter Fork in the Port

July 17, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

The Ourworldinreview team were out and about in Adelaide this weekend so we decided to check out the Winter Fork in the Port food extravaganza. The Winter Fork in the Port is a gathering of some of Adelaide’s finest gourmet food trucks, created by the good people associated with the Fork on the Road.

The Winter Fork in the Port was held at Port Adelaide’s historic Hart’s Mill, which over the years has held many markets, music and cultural events, like the popular St Jerome’s Laneway Festival. Hart’s Mill is picturesquely situated alongside the developed Port River area, next to the Port Adelaide TAFE college. There is a cool grass picnic area and a large popular children playground, with climbing equipment and from what I’m told an awesome flying fox. So, if you’re looking for a lunch place, it would be an ideal area for a family day – you may even spot some of the local dolphins playing in the Port River as you eat.

Mobile gourmet food trucks aren’t new to Adelaide, as we once had a South Australian icon called the Great South Australian Pie Cart, which catered to the many “late night party enthusiasts” near the Adelaide Railway station. Since its initial demise in around 2010, there has been a mobile food truck resurgence, influenced by the popularity of gourmet trucks in the United States. To the city’s and party-goers delight, Adelaide has recently seen the resurrection of the Pie Cart on our city streets.

Walking around the area, I was encouraged to see the amount of food trucks available and the support from the number of visitors attending the event on this stunning day. After a quick survey of the gourmet trucks available we split off and headed towards our respective trucks.

Our first selection was by our resident vegetarian, and she decided to chose the AUD$12 Nachos wedges from the Fat Fork gourmet truck. The Nachos wedges contained good pieces of sweet potato and potato wedges, covered with a tomato, onion and coriander salsa, topped with grated cheese and sour cream. The serving size was quite big, and they tasted pretty good. The only negative was there probably wasn’t enough cheese in relation to the amount of wedges supplied.

Our second choice was the a Vietnamese roll, from the popular Tiger Rolls Banh Mi sandwich truck. We selected the crispy pork Vietnamese roll with salad and soft drink combo for AUD$10. Firstly the roll was very fresh, and the crispy outside coating combined with the fluffy texture of the bread was nice. The crispy pork, still had light crackling on top and was delicious, and the chilli gave it a kick to bring it all home. We also tried the large spring rolls with an sweet chilli dipping sauce, which were a filling accompaniment to the meal.

Crispy Pork roll with a spring roll side.

The third choice was from the popular Burger Theory gourmet food truck, and the choice from this truck was the Fried Chicken Sandwich meal combo with fries and a soft drink for AUD$17. There is not much to the sandwich, it is basically a free range chicken patty, topped with pickles and its special Burger Theory sauce.

Although the sandwich doesn’t visually grab you, the patty is crumb coated and succulent, the bun is soft and easy to work with and the special sauce has a BBQ tang to it. I can see why this basic burger is popular, but it if you compare it to other gourmet burgers available it really doesn’t stack up. If you like a plain burger this could be the choice for you. Burger Theory has a lot of potential and I look forward to trying out some of their other dishes as they continue to develop their menu.

Our fourth choice was really no choice. When you go to an event like this, the public help drive your decisions for you. On arrival we couldn’t help but notice the long line up for The Taste of Spain. Everyone wanted some of their Chicken and Chorizo Paella for AUD$12. We lined up for our serving too.

With the cooks creating this lovely paella right in front of your eyes, you can smell the flavours in the air. It is mesmerising and mouth watering. The colours of the fresh produce being cooked is fantastic, you can’t help being sucked into the line to try it. The Taste of Spain’s chicken and chorizo paella not only looks good it matches it in taste. The chicken and chorizo mixes well with the perfectly cooked rice and the nice blend of spices gives it a great taste and vibrant colour. We top it with the mayonnaise but forgo the chilli oil, and it is quickly consumed.

Once we finish our meals we headed back towards The Little Cake Tin dessert truck we spotted earlier. We chose The Sweet and The Salty for AUD$5, which is an almond based fresh vanilla bean cheesecake topped with salted caramel. The second selection was the S’Mores Shot also for AUD$5, which is a layer of chocolate cake, crumbled shortbread biscuit and couverture chocolate mousse topped with toasted meringue.

The Sweet and The Salty with the S'Mores Shot — The Sweet and The Salty alongside the S’Mores Shot

The relatively small desserts were the size of a shot glass, but were both greeted with glee and enthusiasm. Barely a word was muttered while these were eaten and there were still mentions of their deliciousness as we wandered back to our car. If you happen to see this little caravan in your travels at fairs or other events, do yourself a favour and indulge in their glorious cakes.

With more than twenty-five gourmet food and drink trucks we were not able to try something from every one of them, but if you happen to be coming to Adelaide take a look at the Fork in the Roads website (www.forkontheroad.com.au) to find details of their upcoming food events. Each one of the food trucks can also can be found on Facebook which will tell you their latest locations. Remember if you try them, mention Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Australia, Restaurants

Moonsoon Restaurant, North Adelaide

July 13, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Shop 2 & 3, 143 O'Connell Street, North Adelaide — Shop 2 & 3, 143 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide

We did a little bit of travelling in April, flying to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Greece. Some of our good friends travelled the United Kingdom, whilst another friend went to Switzerland. Upon all of us getting back into the country we agreed to meet up for dinner and discuss how our trips went. For our meet up we decided to head to Moonsoon Restaurant in North Adelaide. Moonsoon is a fine dining restaurant that serves modern Asian cuisine with culinary influences from Vietnam and Thailand dominating their menu.

Moonsoon is located at Shop 2 & 3, 143 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide, near the Piccadilly Cinemas. Upon arriving to the restaurant, you are greeted by a big black steel framed glass door which initiates the styling of the interior. Once inside you see the continuation of the black and brown colouring throughout the restaurant. From the bar, the ambient light fittings, wallpaper and intricate name display, you can see that someone has put some thought into this restaurants appearance. This attention to detail and design sets up the atmosphere within the room, there’s just a natural warmth to the room. The table settings are all neatly laid out and the large leather seats are really comfortable. You know you can indulge in their food and refreshments without having to shift in your seat because you’re uncomfortable. The only design fault I could find in this restaurant is, they have a single unisex toilet. Therefore, you may have to wait a while to use their facilities when the restaurant is at full capacity.

In regards to their menu, it is extensive. You will not be short for choices here. I know at some places this can be an issue, because being able to maintain the freshness of the produce and the quality of the food being served can be difficult with so many different dishes being prepared. Sometimes making excellent dishes on a smaller menu can be better than making good dishes on a large menu. In my opinion, Moonsoon doesn’t have this problem, they make their large menu work very well. I can’t go anywhere without also tasting their wine selections, and they have a really good choice of local and international wines. Additionally another positive note for them is they allow their customers to bring your own (BYO) wine, which we did for our red wine choice, but it was probably not required. Due to this solid wine list we also bought a bottle of their Babich Black Label Sauvignon Blanc at AUD$40 a bottle.

If you have trouble deciding what you want to eat, I suggest trying one of their banquet options. This is what we decided to do, so we chose the 6 course banquet at AUD$28 per person. The banquet consisted of a mixed shared plate, a Vietnamese salad, Green curry which we selected one with chicken and one pure vegetarian. The fourth course was a seafood hot-pot, followed by sizzling steak with black pepper. The main dishes were accompanied by steamed jasmine rice, and the banquet finished with lychees and ice-cream.

The mixed platter was the first course to arrive, this platter consisted of beef satay with peanut sauce, pork meat balls, soft spring rolls, rice paper, a variety of salad vegetables and a dipping sauce. The waitress serving us explained that the rice paper was so we could utilise the various ingredients on the plate to create our own cold rolls. To begin with we were unsure about making the cold rolls, but once someone got the confidence and started making one, we joined in. It was an enjoyable and relatively easy to do, just don’t over soak your rice paper. As a group we were happy with the mixed platter selections, and they tasted pretty good too.

Once we had finished the platter our waiting staff made sure we were finished with the dishes, cleared our plates and restocked us with clean ones. The second dish came out and the freshness of the Vietnamese salad stood out instantly. It brought me back to Ha Long Bay, where I first tried a Vietnamese salad whilst on an overnight bay cruise with my family. The sweet flavour of the dressing and the small pieces of chicken, mixed in with fresh salad vegetables, was lovely.

The third dish was the creamy green chicken and green vegetable curries, this was served with a medium-sized bowl of jasmine rice. I must admit over the years I have had many Thai green curries, from the “mouth burning, watering eyes, I need water curries” to the “sweet coconut intricately flavoured creamy textured curries” that you can eat all night long. In comparison to the many I’ve had all over the world, this curry probably rates as a good solid curry. It’s not hot, it’s more of a smooth simple curry, but not the worst I’ve had by far.

The fourth dish was our seafood hot-pot, which didn’t have that over powering fish stock flavour. It was more of a subtle winter broth with some nice sized prawns and Chinese vegetables. I don’t think I would have had a problem eating more of this dish. It was pretty small in comparison with the rest.

The fifth dish listed came out at the same time as the green curries. The waitress placed down an empty hot plate and warned us to sit back as she poured the sizzling steak from a bowl onto the plate. Immediately it sizzled and the sauce started to pour onto the table-cloth, maybe a touch too much sauce. Apart from the mess it made, it tasted great, the beef was succulent, the black pepper sauce was thick, fragrant and flavoursome.

Dessert was offered at the end, and two of our party opted to have coffees instead, while the rest of us decided to try the lychees and ice-cream. Not much to say about this dish, fresh lychees on what I believe was store-bought vanilla ice-cream. If it was fresh made ice-cream then unfortunately it was nothing special to rave about.

What I can rave about was the service the waiting staff gave us, constantly topping up our water glasses, and asking politely if we wanted more wine in our glass before pouring. The clearing and replacement of our dishes between some courses, plus ensuring everyone was finished with the courses before clearing everything away. There is nothing worse than waiting staff taking plates away whilst others are still eating. It is like they are trying to rush you out the door. Moonsoon’s staff make sure they look after you, even with a full restaurant so you don’t feel rushed. We were there for a good three hours, and were the last of many customers to leave for the night.

Like most Asian styled restaurants the prices of the food is reasonable, with main dishes ranging between AUD$17 -AUD$24. The best value for money are the banquets, because 6 courses for AUD$28 and you come away not wanting more food, in my opinion is excellent value.

For readers that are visiting from overseas or from interstate, the best way to get to Moonsoon’s from the city centre, is by taxi, or catching a public bus on King William Road. Make sure it goes down the full length of O’Connell Street. So, if you decide to try Moonsoon Restaurant, then tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 9
Food = 9

Overall = 9

Australia, Restaurants

El Greco, Port Adelaide

July 11, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

If you are like me, after a long week at work and Friday comes around you just can’t be bothered cooking. So this week, when Friday rolled around and I suggested that we go out for dinner.

One of the best things about living in Adelaide is that our options to dine are plentiful, so we decided to go somewhere we hadn’t been before. The only other conditions that we set, was that it had to be casual, easy and someplace local. That way we didn’t have to worry about our travel distance. With this in mind we headed to Port Adelaide to try El Greco for some of their wood oven pizza, which I have heard about from some work colleagues.

Over the past ten years, historical Port Adelaide has been trying to recapture its commercial glories of the past. This promotion of its historic significance by the Port Adelaide Enfield Council, has encouraged many new businesses to take up residence in the many empty buildings. El Greco, is one of those relatively new businesses that is calling Port Adelaide its home.

El Greco is situated at the lighthouse wharf end of Commercial Rd, near two of Port Adelaide’s more popular pubs the Lighthouse Inn and the First Commercial Inn. When you first walk up to the restaurant, it looks more like a fast food outlet. They have pictures of their popular dishes attached to the windows. A Golden North ice cream fridge is located at the front of store, for those weekend visitors on their way to or from the dolphin cruise berths. From the exterior, you wouldn’t class El Greco as a fine dining restaurant. It is more of a casual dining experience with some indoor and al fresco table placements.

Being a cooler winter evening we decided to sit inside, away from the front doors and the sudden bursts of cold air as other patrons entered. The interior decor of the restaurant is comfortable, but mismatched. They have an unusual interior design as they have divided the interior of the restaurant into two areas. One half, has leather style seats that you would find in many fine dining restaurants and the other side, which we are sitting in, was suited to a more casual dining area with wooden seats. Another feature of El Greco is they also cater for takeaway and home delivery customers. So in my honest opinion, I believe they just don’t know what type of restaurant they want to be. A fine dining restaurant, a casual restaurant or a takeaway delivery store.

Being still fairly early, we decided we wouldn’t have a huge meal, instead opting for some garlic bread with tzatziki, and one of their gourmet 12″ wood oven pizzas, the Zorba. The Zorba is a tomato based pizza with, cheese, lamb yiros meat, onions, fresh tomatoes, oregano, garlic, grilled capsicum and feta, topped with tzatziki sauce.

The garlic bread arrives pretty quickly with three large slices of fresh crusted bread lavished in garlic butter and flakes of parsley leaf. In the middle of the plate is also a bowl of homemade tzatziki, that has a smooth creamy texture full of flavour.

Quite happy with the garlic bread, it isn’t too long before our wood oven pizza arrives and it is visual treat, it is lavishly topped with fresh tomato slices, large chunks of yiros meat and full dollops of tzatziki sauce. The aroma given off is mouth-watering. The pizza base is well made with that thin crust that crunches with every bite. The El Greco’s Zorba is a wonderful pizza, cooked perfectly in their classic wood oven.

El Greco’s menu is not large, they have a good variety of traditional and gourmet pizzas with prices between AUD$13 and AUD$22, they also have a small selection of pasta dishes and schnitzels also between AUD$15 and AUD$22. Their wine selection is pretty standard with a few red and white choices that are available for you by the glass or the bottle. So overall you get a nice meal at a good price, which is all you can ask for really, when you want a quick meal.

As I have mentioned above, we did go to the restaurant fairly early into their service, so the atmosphere was at its infancy for the night, so my rating might be a bit low. I did notice that on Sunday, they do have live Bouzouki music playing. So I would recommend going on a Sunday to have that traditional Greek experience. The service provided was also good, with the staff being very attentive to our needs. This may have been because we were really the only customers dining in at the time, so it was probably not a stretch to keep us well serviced.

So if you are a visitor to Adelaide and would like to make the trip to Port Adelaide and try El Greco, the best way to get there from the city centre is to catch the public train service to Outer Harbor. Get off about 20 minutes later at Port Adelaide and make your way down commercial road towards the red lighthouse, approximately a 7 minute walk.

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 6
Atmosphere = 6
Service = 8
Price = 9
Food = 8

Overall = 7

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Just another teenage movie!

July 3, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

When I received these tickets in the mail, I knew straight away who in my family would want to come along to see this film with me, my youngest teenage daughter MacKenzie. Like me, MacKenzie loves to go to the movies and see as many new release films as she can fit into her hectic schedule. So when I asked her if she wanted to go to see the film she jumped at the chance.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, is the second installment of this film franchise, with the usual characters returning, the four turtles, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, led by their rat sensei Splinter, Again these crime fighting superheroes are pitted against the evil Foot clan led by their infamous leader, the deadly Shredder (Brian Tee, The Wolverine).

In this story, the Foot clan break Shredder out of gaol during a prison transfer, in doing this they also release two other prisoners, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams, The Internship) and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly, better known as WWF wrestler Seamus O’Shaunessy) who end up joining as Shredder’s henchmen. Whilst this is occurring investigative reporter April O’Neil played by Megan Fox (Transformers), is trying to unravel what the evil scientific genius Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) is up to. During an altercation at Baxter Stockman’s laboratory O’Neil steals a serum and during her escape runs into Stephen Amell (Arrow) who plays prison guard Casey Jones, who also happened to be the driver of the prison transport vehicle that Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady escaped from. Casey Jones helps April and the teen-aged turtles to bring the Foot clan down once again.

Full of action with well composed animated sequences, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, is a visual treat. My daughter loved it, especially the well-timed comedic lines that super cool Michelangelo delivers. In my opinion, I believe that this film can be reviewed from two aspects, a teenagers point of view and an adults point of view. After speaking with my daughter, she loved how the movie’s action sequences flowed well. Therefore, children and teenagers won’t become bored with the rehashed story line. Yet, it’s not about that for children, it’s about the fact that teenagers can do anything if they put their minds to it….they can save the world from evil doers. They don’t have to be teenage mutant ninja turtles to do it, so that is a good message that these characters gives to our children.

From my point of view, there is a lot to like about the special effects, animated constructed scenes and development of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles concept, as these turtles have been around since 1984. The addition of Bebop and Rocksteady was also an additional walk down memory lane, but the story line is the same! The turtles, trying to beat the Foot clan without the rest of the world knowing about them, and still being cool teenagers in the process. The characters and the background stories are pretty shallow, there is some push back between the turtle brothers, showing that character relationships and brotherly competitiveness, but the rest of the characters stories are really just peripheral to their involvement in this film.

So, if you are contemplating going to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and are teenagers yourselves, go your hardest, you’ll really enjoy it. Same goes if you have a young family, the wide-eyed looks from your children, will make the movie worthwhile, because they will watch it with an open mind and fall in love with the turtles. Unfortunately, as an adult you will not be too fussed, if you see it or not. Don’t get me wrong, you will enjoy it, but you won’t be bragging to your friend’s and colleagues the next day.

Rating 1-10 ( 1 = very poor, 10 = excellent)

Cinematography & Animation = 8
Storyline = 4
Characters & Acting = 5
Setting & Costume Design = 8

Overall = 6

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

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Rating 1-10 ( 1 = very poor, 10 = excellent)

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Rating 1-10 ( 1 = very poor, 10 = excellent)

Our world is an amazing place, so go out there and enjoy it!