Mr S.

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Located in Acland Street since 1993 it certainly has the family feel about it and the cosy interior dominated with dark woods and leather chairs lend an air of warmth and comfort that many of the currently popular polished concrete and metal do not.

Due to the sustained popularity and relative size of Cicciolina, it is very difficult to secure a table if you arrive after seven on most Friday and Saturday nights. They have been pioneering the no bookings policy for many years now and you can see the benefits, a full restaurant most nights of the week, no tables waiting for bookings that never arrive and, when they are booked solid, there are around 50 other restaurants within walking distance.

In times of disappointment another option is to retreat to the Cicciolina back bar which serves excellent dirty martinis and the best meatballs south of Naples (make sure you order extra bread to soak up the meatbally goodness!)

After drinks are ordered you are presented with a basket of sliced white loaf. This brought back again those fond family memories of many Italian dinners at restaurants around Melbourne including the much loved Tiamo in Carlton. I am always interested in new gourmet bread options but for a restaurant like Cicciolina this more rustic option suits perfectly and sets the stage for solid Italian cooking.

First up we share the famous Cicciolina crab soufflé. I have been recommended this dish by so many people that it had cult status in my mind. Unlike many dishes with high expectations this certainly delivered, so much so that one between two was definitely not enough.

Word of advice two diners equals two crab soufflés. Period. The soufflé itself is quite dense compared to most soufflés you may have experienced, however, this seems to suit the dish well with tender crab meat intermingled with the delicate flavour of the soufflé mix combined with a knockout sauce, if it were possible I would order these takeaway.

Read the full review on my blog

Nov 24, 2011

5.5 Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  4     

I walk past the corner of Barkly and Acland Street very frequently, just like any good St Kilda resident on the way to the number 96. There are no shortage of treasures in this location – Leroy, La Roche, Big Mouth and Coles...

One place I have walked past frequently is Bluecorn, a Mexican restaurant sandwiched between Claypots and that bottle shop with five thousand different beers – yes you know that one. Until very recently I viewed this as a small but cheerful restaurant on Barkly Street, so it was with disappointment that I fronted up to a packed full restaurant looking for a feast I expected was not forthcoming.

There is just something delicious about the typical mix of beans, red meat, sour cream, chilli and flat bread that you want to keep eating. We ordered enchiladas with spicy beef, beans and rice and the ‘too big to hold” burrito with sliced steak, BBQ sauce, pepper and onion. Both were excellent. The enchilada had a softer more filling flavour due to the rice component. The burrito had well cooked (i.e. medium rare) beef intermingled with the pepper and onion and a nice dollop of guacamole.

Again service was quite slow with the food so recommend ordering promptly to ensure shorter waits.

Read the full review on my blog

Nov 24, 2011

7.5 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  5     

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the new Geoff Lindsay (ex Pearl) venture in Elwood. While those over the other side of the Yarra have been enjoying hawker style Vietnamese fare for many years, it has been a slow time coming for the inner bay.

There are many things I love about this type of dining: casual yet stylish surrounds - tick, mix and match dishes a whole table can share – tick, vibrant and exciting flavours – tick, not far to stumble home after too much wine – big tick.

The menu is grouped into sections including a roll and wrap bar comprising of share plate starters which also goes for the Vietnamese salad section. This is followed with a Pho and wet dishes section and a grill and large dishes. We shared the sizzling coconut pancake with crab and BBQ pork from the wrap bar, a Wagyu beef Pho and a wet dish of duck braised in mandarin juice and star anise with chilli ginger and holy basil.

We were sorely tempted to try the $38 mud crab claw, bamboo and bun noodle pho but will save that for next time.

Read the full review on my blog

Nov 24, 2011

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  5     

The original Spice I Am has been operating in Surry Hills for many years now and is one of the true Thai cuisine experiences that you are likely to find south of the Andaman sea. It has those rich soupy curries long forgotten by most western Thai restaurants and clean spicy flavours that dazzle the senses and the same time coercing you to reach for the crisp semillon to cool the palate. The sequel was always going to be challenging.

So what to make of it, I really wanted to like it. Most of the boxes were ticked, however, if you close your eyes and took another mouthful of the delicate and delicious fried snapper you could be sitting on a plastic stool on Wentworth avenue eating a dish for half the price and drinking wine you bought yourself.

Read the full review on my blog

Jun 22, 2011

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

St Kilda is not exactly short of cafés. Draw a one kilometre radius from the centre of Acland Street and cafés will vie in numbers with bars, shops and deranged yet friendly local nutjobs almost always wearing corduroy suits.

So how do you make a new cafe venture a success in such a saturated market? Easy, just be better. I feel qualified to propose that Dr Jekyll is currently the best breakfast going around in St Kilda.

Read the full review on my blog

Jun 22, 2011

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Located in Acland Street since 1993 it certainly has the family feel about it and the cosy interior dominated with dark woods and leather chairs lend an air of warmth and comfort that many of the currently popular polished concrete and metal do not.

Due to the sustained popularity and relative size of Cicciolina, it is very difficult to secure a table if you arrive after seven on most Friday and Saturday nights. They have been pioneering the no bookings policy for many years now and you can see the benefits, a full restaurant most nights of the week, no tables waiting for bookings that never arrive and, when they are booked solid, there are around 50 other restaurants within walking distance.

In times of disappointment another option is to retreat to the Cicciolina back bar which serves excellent dirty martinis and the best meatballs south of Naples (make sure you order extra bread to soak up the meatbally goodness!)

After drinks are ordered you are presented with a basket of sliced white loaf. This brought back again those fond family memories of many Italian dinners at restaurants around Melbourne including the much loved Tiamo in Carlton. I am always interested in new gourmet bread options but for a restaurant like Cicciolina this more rustic option suits perfectly and sets the stage for solid Italian cooking.

First up we share the famous Cicciolina crab soufflé. I have been recommended this dish by so many people that it had cult status in my mind. Unlike many dishes with high expectations this certainly delivered, so much so that one between two was definitely not enough.

Word of advice two diners equals two crab soufflés. Period. The soufflé itself is quite dense compared to most soufflés you may have experienced, however, this seems to suit the dish well with tender crab meat intermingled with the delicate flavour of the soufflé mix combined with a knockout sauce, if it were possible I would order these takeaway.

Read the full review on my blog

Nov 24, 2011

5.5 Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  4     

I walk past the corner of Barkly and Acland Street very frequently, just like any good St Kilda resident on the way to the number 96. There are no shortage of treasures in this location – Leroy, La Roche, Big Mouth and Coles...

One place I have walked past frequently is Bluecorn, a Mexican restaurant sandwiched between Claypots and that bottle shop with five thousand different beers – yes you know that one. Until very recently I viewed this as a small but cheerful restaurant on Barkly Street, so it was with disappointment that I fronted up to a packed full restaurant looking for a feast I expected was not forthcoming.

There is just something delicious about the typical mix of beans, red meat, sour cream, chilli and flat bread that you want to keep eating. We ordered enchiladas with spicy beef, beans and rice and the ‘too big to hold” burrito with sliced steak, BBQ sauce, pepper and onion. Both were excellent. The enchilada had a softer more filling flavour due to the rice component. The burrito had well cooked (i.e. medium rare) beef intermingled with the pepper and onion and a nice dollop of guacamole.

Again service was quite slow with the food so recommend ordering promptly to ensure shorter waits.

Read the full review on my blog

Nov 24, 2011

7.5 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  5     

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the new Geoff Lindsay (ex Pearl) venture in Elwood. While those over the other side of the Yarra have been enjoying hawker style Vietnamese fare for many years, it has been a slow time coming for the inner bay.

There are many things I love about this type of dining: casual yet stylish surrounds - tick, mix and match dishes a whole table can share – tick, vibrant and exciting flavours – tick, not far to stumble home after too much wine – big tick.

The menu is grouped into sections including a roll and wrap bar comprising of share plate starters which also goes for the Vietnamese salad section. This is followed with a Pho and wet dishes section and a grill and large dishes. We shared the sizzling coconut pancake with crab and BBQ pork from the wrap bar, a Wagyu beef Pho and a wet dish of duck braised in mandarin juice and star anise with chilli ginger and holy basil.

We were sorely tempted to try the $38 mud crab claw, bamboo and bun noodle pho but will save that for next time.

Read the full review on my blog

Nov 24, 2011

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  5     

The original Spice I Am has been operating in Surry Hills for many years now and is one of the true Thai cuisine experiences that you are likely to find south of the Andaman sea. It has those rich soupy curries long forgotten by most western Thai restaurants and clean spicy flavours that dazzle the senses and the same time coercing you to reach for the crisp semillon to cool the palate. The sequel was always going to be challenging.

So what to make of it, I really wanted to like it. Most of the boxes were ticked, however, if you close your eyes and took another mouthful of the delicate and delicious fried snapper you could be sitting on a plastic stool on Wentworth avenue eating a dish for half the price and drinking wine you bought yourself.

Read the full review on my blog

Jun 22, 2011

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

St Kilda is not exactly short of cafés. Draw a one kilometre radius from the centre of Acland Street and cafés will vie in numbers with bars, shops and deranged yet friendly local nutjobs almost always wearing corduroy suits.

So how do you make a new cafe venture a success in such a saturated market? Easy, just be better. I feel qualified to propose that Dr Jekyll is currently the best breakfast going around in St Kilda.

Read the full review on my blog

Jun 22, 2011

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

There is nothing I can say about Gilbert Lau from Flower Drum that hasn't already been said much better with much more research than I can. So when he opened Lau's Family Kitchen below the Prince Hotel at the bottom (or is that the top) of Acland Street I knew that my wayward damsel Sydney was in trouble. A contemporary Chinese restaurant serving regional family dishes with Flower Drum pedigree is a perfect match for me, where are Greg Evans and Dexter when you need them?...

Read the full review on my blog

Jun 22, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  9      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  7     

Some acquaintances have labelled the Newmarket slightly pretentious but I disagree – it is certainly quite a classy venue for the enduringly laid back St Kilda, however there is always an occasion that can be found for a bit of glamour. Either that or perhaps I am just pretentious...

The bar is well stocked and alongside some great cocktails and pitchers, there is quite a new feature of wine by the tap. I do not know why more restaurants with a bar focus do not follow this lead – it works so well with large tables and the wine was great quality yet still very reasonably priced. There was also a strong draught beer selection including my current fave of the Cricketers Arms Lager.

The Newmarket is a relatively new venue, opening in December last year which may account for the scattergun approach to the menu, so with some consolidation and focus The Newmarket will grow into yet another St Kilda gem.

Read the full review on my blog

Jun 22, 2011

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Melbourne has a very strong Italian heritage with around 170,000 Italians immigrating to Australia after the Second World War. They have bought with them innumerable blessings, espresso, parmigiano reggiano, fully sik subwoofers but most of all pizza

It is always interesting to think that many of the great staples of the food world were borne from peasant dishes. Pizza and pasta, curries, stir fry even the aussie(ish) meat pie all have their roots in basic peasant food yet they are often some of the most enjoyable meals.

I Carusi II (sister restaurant to I Carusi in Brunswick and unrelated to I Phone) upholds this simplicity offering unfussy Napoli style pizza on Barkly Street just near the corner of Blessington.

Read the full review on my blog

Jun 22, 2011

4 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  1     

Style over substance. Having recently moved to the area we tried Thai Riffic as from the outside it looked like a funky, well presented new thai restaurant. They have done a great job with the interior design and it looks like a restaurant that would charge double the prices they are asking.

Unfortunately, they must have spent all their money on decoration and very little on chefs and produce. As we were trying a new thai restaurant I used my yardstick for comparison, tom yum and green chicken curry, two staples which any decent thai restaurant should be able to get right.

The tom yum managed to offend 4 out of the 5 senses. It looked cloudy and grey, smelt like stale fish, had a grainy texture and tasted like warm salt water. This was sent back immediately. The green chicken curry fared better, however, why you would serve a curry on a plate is beyond me. As a result there was very little sauce and the amount that was there was watery, flavourless and difficult to collect with a spoon. That being said, it was a big improvement on the tom yum but still not very high standard.

The service was quite attentive and friendly and we were happy to see that the soup was removed from the bill without us having to ask. Nice to have the BYO option too.

If you rate a restaurant based on design, this is the place for you, however, if you care at all about flavour and quality look elsewhere.

Nov 03, 2008