Celebrating the 100th post and move to kitandkafoodle.com

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog!

As a celebration of the success of kit&kafoodle, we have moved to our very own site at www.kitandkafoodle.com

We have changed our format to bring forth a more beautiful image to suit our take on food and eating! Please join us as we continue eating our way into the future!

We are still contactable at kitandkafoodle(at)gmail(dot)com for all your foodie needs

Moroccan Soup Bar

Moroccan Soup Bar is notoriously difficult to get in to, with queues snaking out the door every nights they are open for only four hours (Tues - Sun 6pm - 10pm). My suggestion is to gather the troops and book for a table of six in advance, but make sure you are there on time, they get hella mad. Don't be expecting fancy pants service here, the popularity shows in the business and hopefully accidental inattentiveness of the wait staff. They will serve you with brisk curtness here, they don't have time for uncertainty or questions about the menu. But that's ok. We deal with it. 

The Banquet Menu for $28.0 per person is where it's at. I have heard there is a Verbal Menu and a freakin' cool take away menu where you bring your own boxes and they fill em up, but the Banquet has everything you need and then some. Dips like hummus and tzatszki and Moroccan style antipasti (sauteed eggplant, olives, spiced carrot and vegetable) make up the first course, served with pita flatbread and scooped up hungrily.

The next course is arguably the best course; multitudes of gorgeous small bowls filled to the brim with different dips, entrees and salads. 

Noone really goes through what is placed in front of you, but to be honest, it all looks delicious and tastes amazing. Look out for the beetroot and fried flatbread, and the baked potato with herbs.

What follows are the main dishes, packed full of flavour and consisting of a lot of carbs and lentils, chickpeas and nuts.

On paper it may not appeal, but trust me when I say you need to experience this vegetarian heaven.

The famous chickpea bake is a delicious mix of butter garlic chili yoghurt over chickpeas and almond slivers. It's amazing. You will probably have a lot of leftovers at this point, but remember they DO NOT give out take away boxes - it's all BYO and you shovel at the table.

Dessert consists of various fried doughs glazed with honey syrup; there's a crumbly pistachio baklava thrown in there for good measure, and a vegan tasting gluten free choc ball covered in coconut.

It ends with this tasty mint tea to refresh and cleanse your palate after the flavour onslaught.


TL;DR A damn good vego restaurant.
[Addit: some good news, the mastermind Helen Assafiri behind the Moroccan Soup Bar is set to open a new venue "Moroccan Soup Bar Deli-Cacy" in East Brunswick in late September. Huzzah!]

Bomba Downstairs

I definitely did not expect the warm and inviting atmosphere when I walked into Bomba - I thought it would be another loud, messy pub/bar type atmosphere where it would take aeons to be served a drink. I was very pleasantly wrong, the menu was tantalising and the bar staff helpful and friendly. 

And complimentary bread!

The Salmorejo with egg and smoked bacon ($5.5) is similar to the cold tomato Gazpacho, and this version had a nice sweet note combined with smoked salty bacon bits throughout. The overall taste was nice and tart, whilst being refreshing and cooling.

The Kingfish tartare with seaweed cracker & pickled cucumber ($16.5) was quite plain. I believe there was slightly too much curing in the citrus, and so the fish was not as fresh and sweet as I'd hoped. But the seaweed crackers were delicious! I don't believe this one was worth the price. 

Leek & manchego croqueta ($3.5) was nice and cheesy and tasty, whilst the Oxtail croqueta ($3.5) was dry and plain. 

I wasn't particularly fond of these Hervey Bay scallops with Serrano migas and lemon ($6.0 each) - I found them too salty, the scallop too dry and the crumble around it didn't add anything to the taste.

Quail with pistachio and buckwheat ($6.5) is a difficult bird to enjoy; there are a lot of bones and between them, very minimal meat. It's a big thing when a restaurant attempts quail. Bomba flavoured the bird really well, and I liked the pistachio and buckwheat on the outside, but not enough to go through the fiddly again.

These morsels on spanish corn meal toast were probably my favourites of the night. The Tortilla with paprika aioli on toast ($4.5) was amazing, the creamy spicy aioli (that usually covers patatas bravas) with the perfect mix of tasty cheese, egg and potato. Delicious. 

Next was the Tomato, Burrata & aged sherry vinegar toast + hand filleted Nassari anchovy ($4.5 + 2.5). The anchovy was delightfully salty, but small compared to the smooth layer of creamy boncconci cheese and salsa.

Finally, the Fried Mussel and walnut tarrator on toast ($5.0) which was great because 1.) fried and 2.) tarrator is like a nutty mayo.

The Charcoal grilled 5+ score Wagyu Rump Cap with mojo verde & horseradish ($26.0) took a while to get out but when it did, it was pretty smashing and well worth the wait. The horseradish was subtle and the rump cap was cooked really well, so it melted easily in your mouth. 

Onto the dessert. Fresh figs, goat curd foam and vanilla bean ice cream ($12.0) was an interesting dessert, mainly due to the strange tang of the goat curd foam. The vanilla ice cream was high quality and creamy, but because the figs were fresh and earthy the dish wasn't very cohesive, I would've liked the figs caramelised and sweeter aka the unhealthy option.

I had no idea what a Turron Parfait ($10.0) was, so I thought this dessert was going to be boring and plain but WOW. It blew me away. It was a heavy creamy cold parfait (almost like a dense block of cream ice-cream), but sweet and covered with crunchy balls of sweetness. I dug it, a lot. A fantastic finish to the meal.

TL;DR A nice spanish fiesta with a relaxed romantic atmosphere

Cutler & Co.

A beautiful night at Cutler & Co will set you back $130 per person plus a $100 service charge. It's expensive, but it feels so right. To celebrate a special occasion here will definitely be remembered by all members of the party. Cutler is a set out in a few different ways, a bar-style seating arrangement around an open plan kitchen preparation area, and a more intimate traditional dining room out the back. The decor is minimalist, but very clean.

Free bread! The best part was the delicious puree relish that came with it, pinenuts tomato and capsicum. And yes, the weird mushroom cup shaped bread was the tastiest.

The entree was a very simple looking dish, an anchovy pastry served with salsa verde. The pastry stick on its own was very salty but was dampened with the salsa verde (which was very delicious on its own).

The first course of the night was Tuna tartare, fromage blanc & bottarga. The tuna was beautiful and fresh, and the smoked cheese was light but full of flavour due to the addition of bottarga, a smoked salty pressed fish roe. The fried kale brought a nice salty crunch, along with the fried crisps which added to the texture element of the dish.

Heirloom tomato, silken tofu & black garlic. This was a surprising vegetarian portion of the menu, a light refreshing salad featurnig perfectly smooth tofu and an asian inspired salty kick from the black garlic (fish sauce). The herbs and flowers went really surprisingly well, and remained unobtrusive throughout the dish. If vegetarian food were like this 100% of the time, I could be a vego fo' sho'. 

White cut chicken, corn custard, scallop & watercress. The scallops in this dish were perfectly seared with a salty crust, they went really well with the corn custard which wasn't as sweet as expected, which was nice. The chicken was served cold which was interesting, so there was a good contrast between hot and cold. A nice introduction to things to come. 

Flounder, brown butter & pickled onion. I love fish dishes and this was no exception, the flounder was cooked and smoked to perfection. The sauce was incredibly buttery with a touch of lemon, and could've made any dish significantly better by existing. The pickled onion had a very big pickle kick but it was best dish so far.

Dry aged lamb saddle, confit belly & fermented carrot. Lovely, creamy, fatty meat hunks which melted in the mouth. The carrot was quite sour but was balanced by the spicy garlic cream. I enjoyed the surprise parcel of pastry square which was with pulled pork. 

The palate cleanser was a focus on peach. Fresh quartered peaches, with peach sorbet and almond cream foam presented in a tiny glass jar. I loved the lightness of the foam. The cleanser was not overly sickly sweet but just right, and they really nailed the essence of peach in the sorbet, it tasted almost identical to the real thing. 

Melon, cucumber & buttermilk ice cream. I can't say dessert was my favourite, which has been a theme throughout my fine dining experiences. 

The ice cream was understandably sour given it's buttermilk, and though the melon was sweet, the whole dish confused me. Together the elements tasted fine, and the dish did improve with each bite, however I definitely would not order this as a stand-alone dessert. It's almost like they were moving toward savoury again, and so didn't really give me the satisfaction of closing the meal appropriately with sweets. 

Luckily it was Earl Grey Marshmallows to the rescue - soft and pillowy, light and dissolved in your mouth. Pretty good.

TL;DR A very nice experience with very refined delicate food.

Bluebird Espresso

Bluebird Espresso has an unassuming storefront in Collingwood but judging by the wait time and significant lines, it is definitely a popular spot for brunch in the North. The decor is cute, the waitstaff hipster trendy and the dishes mouthwatering.

Toasted cornbread w/ avocado, salsa fresca, poached egg & jalapeno drizzle + chorizo ($17.5 + $2.5). Though visually stunning, this wasn't a dish to reach the upper echelons of perfection. The avocado was unfortunately slightly raw, and so was not as tasty as it could have been. The cornbread was nice, though quite dry and the salsa didn't assist in that department. 

Smoked Trout Fishcake w/ preserved lemon aioli, a poached egg & a salad of fennel, caper berries & olives ($17.5) was a special special. I am bummed that this won't be showing it's beautiful face again, because this dish was spectacular. The fishcake was nicely crumbed and fried on the outside, the insides were protected and delicious. The trout wasn't dried out and the flavour was very impressive. Everything on the plate came together very well, I was enamoured.

This Bloody Mary ($10.0) was fine, made with a thicker tomato juice base which was good, but again, too sweet for my liking. The spice factor was adequate though. 

The Pièce De Résistance in the form of Brioche French Toast w/ salted caramel, banana, marscapone & ginger crunch ($16.0). I love me some good-ass dessert to finish off a meal, and this was both of those things. The Brioche wasn't too heavily into the French Toast side of things, so remained buttery and sweet whilst not becoming too egg-like. The combination of bananas, salted caramel and marscapone can never really go wrong, and the ginger crunch added the final touches of texture to a delicious-ass dessert. 

TL;DR Wow. Get there or be square.

Vapiano

Vapiano has developed an incredibly interesting ordering concept for their good quality Italian food. Diners are given a card resembling a credit card, which is used to track your order throughout each station (pasta, pizza, drinks, dessert). Their claim to fame is freshly made pasta and pizza bases, so you can either wait for your dish to be prepared fresh in front of you, or are given a buzzer to return when it's ready. The card is then presented at the end of your meal, and you pay for the food you have consumed. It is a perfect way to split bills in a large group, or a nice way to enjoy a meal at your own leisure without feeling pressured by table service.

There is a lot of space in this upstairs food court style restaurant, and the weekday night we attended didn't really require a booking to be honest.

Antipasti

The Caprese: Fresh ciabatta, creamy buffalo mozzarella, ripe sliced tomatoes + basil ($12.9) was quite delicious and an excellent starter, the mozzarella was smooth and tasty combined with the basil and tomatoes, especially with the tangy vinaigrette sauce drizzled across each slice.

Gamberi e Spinaci

Prawns, onions, cherry tomatoes, cream with basil pesto + Parmesan tossed with fresh spinach ($20.9). A nice dish, especially with the freshly grated parmesan, though there weren't a lot of prawns present in the large serving. 

Bolognese

The Italian style beef and pork, onions, carrots, cherry tomatoes in homemade tomato sauce ($17.9) was quite a nice bolognese; definitely was not overly wet and saucy, but the meat was fresh and the ratio between ingredients to spaghetti was adequate to ensure you didn't run out of either.

This dessert, the White Chocolate Cheesecake ($5.9) is enough to ensure I return to Vapiano. A huge jar filled with very rich, very sweet layers consisting of the cookie crumble base, the thick white chocolate cheescake centre and the honeycomb crumble topping drizzled with salted caramel. It was incredibly decadent and you may need two people to finish it.

The Panna Cotta ($5.9) was definitely not as exciting as the White Chocolate Cheesecake, though it was smooth and consistent in texture, there wasn't a lot of wow factor that came into this one.


TL;DR Very cool concept with the swipe cards and open dining hall style eating area.

BBQ Throwdown - Newmarket Hotel vs Hellenic Republic

The semi-annual BBQ Throwdown, hosted by Newmarket Hotel and featuring a worth contender (Kong last year, Hellenic Republic this year) is an event I am super psyched to attend each time. A $85 buy in buys you a six course meal from the BBQ Gods, unlimited EtOH in the form of wines, beers and cider, and a chance to declare BBQ History. Pretty good deal, especially if you can stuff face with a lot of meat, and chugg down a lot of alcohol.

It begins with BAY.

Newmarket Hotel's House smoked Moreton Bay Bug w/ granny smith apple, guanciale & broad beans.The gently smoked bug is subtle with all the right flavours and textures. the creamy sauce gave a nice spicy kick whilst the sweet salad lining the lettuce leaf San choi Bai style made the dish a lot more complex than I'd imagined. I'd definitely prefer stronger, more prominent flavours, but it was nice overall.

Hellenic Republic's Hot Smoked Ocean trout, burnt onion puree, fried shallots, caper leaves & fennel seed lavosh. I really enjoyed the trout, but it was slightly over cooked. the burnt onion puree was addictive and I cleaned it right out. The lavosh was a bit hard and crunchy when eaten with the trout, and didn't add much to the flavours. I'm not sure if I was meant to eat the pickled caper leaves, but I loved them. 

Round Two: BONES.

Newmarket Hotel's Peach Wood smoked St Louis Pork Rib, shaved sprout slaw, verjus & wild herbs. This was probably the hardest, closest round of the day. The two dishes presented were incredible. The pork rib was tender and melted in your mouth, and the BBQ sauce all over the ribs were to die for. The slaw was slightly bitter which I didn't enjoy greatly, but let's be honest; we're not here for the slaw.

Hellenic Republic's 18 Hour Beef Short Rib, pickled beetroot & smoked bone marrow was definitely my favourite. When I bit into the beef the flavour was incredible, it was tender and juicy and orgasmic, the pinnacle of BBQ. The tenderness was incredible and the extra fatty deepness was brought forth by the narrow. I wanted to sink into the dream forever. 

Final dishes of BEAST. The least impressive round. It was actually somewhat disappointing to end such a great meal like this.

Newmarket Hotel's Spit Roasted Spice Rubbed Lamb w/ charred eggplant + mint, pasilla chilli + sesame was not very impressive. The dip had a strange after taste that I couldn't quite put my finger on - it reminded me of freshly cleaned toilets. The lamb wasn't very flavourful and the salad was nice but very basic, like a backyard BBQ lettuce salad. The dish unfortunately was not better than the sum of its parts, and thus, marked a fail. 

Hellenic Republic's Pig Souva, pita bread, fermented cabbage, housemade mustard, apple + fennel slaw was done a lot better than Newmarket's final dish. Succulent pork meat had way more flavour, which you could eat alone. The sliver of crackling tempted me and left me wanting more, and even the salad was slightly better; semi sweet but ultimately too healthy.

TL;DR My vote is for Hellenic all the way, but they were robbed during our session. They did win dinner though. ZING!