[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZQOEZO1n10] Restaurants are defensive of their hygene in the same way that newspapers are defensive of the accuracy of their reporting. Phone up and complain and the last thing either will do is admit liability. And nowadays when people are treated shabbily they turn to the internet. Or me. What surprises me is the number of emails and comments that come my way from diners who’ve returned home from some of Australia’s top restaurants only to fall ill. I have […]
Eat streets
Where to eat on Melbourne’s and Australia’s famous eat streets.
The Abyssinian: freedom fighter food in Kensington
There’s a lot to be said for ethnic restaurants. They usually offer big, cheap hearty meals often cooked from the heart. They also often offer the chance to reacquaint oneself with monosodium glutamate, fluorescent strip lighting, surly service and dodgy lino. Then there’s The Abyssinian (277 Racecourse Road Kensington, Victoria 3031, 03 9376 8754), run by two Eritreans, which has taken the genre to another level and avoided all the crap which is why it was packed out the night […]
Carry on Gordon Ramsay
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVySZsSNKmk] On the bombshell that the Herald Sun is dropping the Gordon Ramsay cookery column on Tuesdays, the craggy-faced man arrives in town and we are invited to see him pre Tracey Grimshaw. I reckon he’s wearing heel lifts in his trainers and looking a bit taller than when he was last in town, has a better hairdresser and highlights and has had a bollock-load of botox. He forehead is more wrinkled than my scrotum and frozen solid. I didn’t […]
Andrew McConnell’s Cutler and Co takes Gertrude St to another level
The dessert that made me a plate licker. I’m not the only one worrying about the recession. But I’m probably the only one in Cutler & Co thinking about it. The reincarnation of chef Andrew McConnell’s Three, One, Two at the top end of Gertrude St is packed. So packed, McConnell later tells me that it took them by surprise which explains a couple of timing issues that a few of you will have seen on Twitter. But the whole […]
My British 100
Awhile ago I spotted the Omnivores 100 meme on Becks & Posh which was started by Very Good Taste. It was a pretty good list but some of the entries would be better off on a meme of 101 things not to eat before you die. For a start insects. Yes, I know we eat them all the time ground up in to flour. But I really don’t want to them (although I’ll contradict myself by saying green ants with […]
Still searching for the best Pho. Or am I?
The seductive thing is the doorway and a sign. There is no other indication of what lies at the top of the stairs in the Thy Thy (142 Victoria St, Richmond +61 3 9429 1104) Vietnamese restaurant. Perhaps restaurant is too strong a word. This isn’t a place I’d come to eat at night and apparently nor should you. But do drop in for an aromatic and filling bowl of sub $10 Pho and to enjoy Thy Thy’s retro chequerboard […]
Finally over Ferran fatigue: your questions answered
I got Ferran Adria fatigue and can only now face answering those questions. It’s not as bad as my Gordon Ramsay fatigue. Anyway I’m over it now. My main task was to ask questions for other publications so not everything was answered in full. In case you missed it Adria was launching his book “A Day at elBulli” and gave a talk put on by the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Here we go: Phil: Can I please have a […]
30 minutes with Ferran Adria. What do you want to ask?
Ferran Adria arrives in Australia on Thursday next week for his sold-out audience on the 19th at Hamer Hall (put on by the good folk at Melbourne Food and Wine). He’s here with his translator to spruik his book “A day at El Bulli” and I’m lucky enough to have 30 minutes with him on behalf of some on the people I write for. I’ve hundreds of things I’d like to ask. But with so much written about Adria and […]
Enjoy the blood sport of criticism while they take a pound of your flesh
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVaZwJn-ZcM] It’s a mistake when visiting the UK not to enjoy the country’s media while munching on Melton Mowbray Pork Pie, potted shrimps on toast and home made blackberry and (scrumped) apple pies – especially its critics and attack dog journalists. At the top of the tree are Jeremy Paxman, AA Gill, the god Jeremy Clarkson and that rude cunt of a restaurant reviewer Giles Coren. Many Australians won’t be familiar with Paxman, the presenter of Newsnight who makes an […]