Handsome Steve's House of Refreshments

Another reminder of just how far we are behind with the blog .... This amazing place that we were lucky enough to be shown on our trip to Melbourne which was just over a year ago now, has sadly closed.  Hansome Steve and his house of refreshments sadly served his last drink this May, and he has departed the building, or the convent as it was.

We caught up with Kim's brother Brent and his partner Alicia while we were back in Melbourne. They have since welcomed a new addition to the family, a little girl named Marita - which we are all very excited about! A big congratulations to them, and we can't wait to get back there and meet her. When we were there back in June last year, afternoon refreshments were still okay, so after a late brunch Brent suggested we head to Handsome Steve's for a beer. We arrived at this beautiful, old stone convent a little way out of the city.

 

This is definitely the kind of place you need to get taken too, because even if you found the right convent I think knowing which door to go in is also key. We enter from the ground floor, take some stairs and find ourselves wandering to the end of a long, narrow corridor. Then, Brent takes the door for us. A small sign that announces "Handsome Steve's House of Refreshments" and of course a red rocket is all that marks this little place.

 

 The menu was small, offering beer, coffee, sandwiches, juice and a few spirits. At the bottom of the menu board he also noted "No skinny, No soy, No tea, No lite beer" nice! We have a few beers, and also a coffee. The beer was cold and the coffee was made well.

 But this place was really all about the cosy atmosphere. The walls are covered in every piece of Geelong football memorabilia you could imagine, which really add to Steve's kooky personality. He was very happy to smile and pose for a photo, with a couple of trophy cups which just appeared from somewhere....

 

 We are very pleased we made it to this place before it sadly closed, and will keep an eye out for what Handsome Steve gets up to on his next venture.

 

Soup, Cookie and baked beans.

We had worked with our friend Stevie in the Caribbean, now he was back and rehoused in Melbourne so a catch up was in order. When you with a local taking the no-questions-asked-tour is the only way - and so it was that we found ourselves walking through Chinatown in the evening rain. The destination turned out to be Hu Tong dumpling house, where according to the whole world of Melbourne the soup dumplings are "the business". Hu Tong is wickedly popular but the wait for a table was a far better option than facing the rain again. Soon enough we were led to the funky bricked tea house decorated third floor and seated.



The xiao long bao obviously were first up (and maybe third and fifth), the little soup bombs requiring a little special eating technique but worth every patient nibble, the gingery soup fragrant and rich within the tender dumpling skins.



Wontons in chilli sauce deliver with a plate of slippery morsels in a puddle of chilli oil flecked with szechwan pepper.



The steamed pork was something we couldn't go past on the menu, so soft it fell apart as it was lifted from the plate, and smothered with anonymous red sauce. Awesome.



We were a little disappointed by the fried squid. Chewy and thickly battered. We drowned our sorrows in more soup buns.



After a few too many buns we made our way out into the night and further into the Melbourne night. A little while later Stevie convinced us that the fairly lacklustre bouncer clad entrance to Cookie is somewhere we want to go. Upstairs though we were given the "I told you so" with a cavernous bar offering an interesting range of drinks such as Dirty Granny Mature Apple cider. And the bar snacks....well.... who would of thought we'd have so quickly forgotten the soup buns of earlier that night to try as much of the great Thai snacks on offer.


Little tapioca pearl skin dumpling witha peppery sweet filling.


Sour fermented pork ribs with peanuts, ginger and chilli.


Northern Thai sausage, a little dry but flavour wise bang on.


Roasted nuts with chilli and Kaffir lime. Cookie was a nice surprise, a nice bar with great snackage.

The night progressed in this fashion until we ended up in a bar unknown drinking savagely blue cocktails and other creations out of baked bean cans and pretty much all the rest of the photos and the night ended up like this.



Good times.

Hu Tong Dumpling House
14-16 Market Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
T: +81 (0)3 9650 8128

Cookie
First Floor, 252 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
T: +81 (0)3 9663 7660

A tipple with the Madame

After a long day of walking Melbourne's streets we both felt we needed a little break. Being conveniently close to Madame Brussels we find the fairly anonymous little lift and three floors up spill out into the surreal surroundings of the the Madams abode. A brick paved path leads you along between AstroTurf lawns highlighted by pink walls and picket fences.. its Alice in Wonderland meets Wimbledon. We follow the brick path to a table on the outside terrace, looking out over east Melbourne and in the last of the afternoon sun we titter our way through the suggestive menu.



Cocktails come standard sizes as well as jugs for two or four players - we decide on a jug o Gin Garden, with elderflower, apple cucumber and gin.. lots and lots o gin! It's refreshing relaxing and really really good.



As with as tea in the afternoon there should be snacks, and snacks there were. With the arrival of the tea plate it really drove home the feeling one should be holding a croquet mallet, I mean it had a doily and all. Little toasted triangles filled with poached chicken mayo and watercress and baby sausage rolls with accompaniments of Tabasco, tomato sauce, cornichons and a wedge of lemon it was perfect, the world outside of the terrace completely melted away.



The jug o gin went down a little to easily, topped up with a stellar Negroni and possibly the best Bloody Mary ever consumed qued the arrival of the Double smoked ham and Tilsit cheese sandwiches which sent us over the edge and once again a tad tardy for our next appointment.



It seemed quite appropriate to be running down the garden path muttering we're late we're late.

Madame Brussels

Level 3,
59-63 Bourke St,
Melbourne,
Victoria
(03) 9662 2775

OPENING HOURS: 12 noon to 1am every day of the wonderful week!

Coffee Brown, Hongdae, Seoul, South Korea

Hongdae before noon? Forget it! We got there early, like before 10am early, thinking we would have the whole day wandering around this funky little area close to the Uni. Well, there was a lot of wandering, and peering into windows of little shops & cafes that were not yet open... But then we turn a corner and spot life, a little balcony above us, with wide open windows and a few people looking down onto the bare streets.



Coffee Brown is a little take-away coffee shop downstairs, which has a narrow stairwell leading to the up-stairs open seating area. We perch ourselves at a big wooden table in the window and recline back into the tiny chairs (or perhaps we're quite big in Korea;) and order a few chilled caffeinated beverages. Kim has a shaken black coffee, which comes with a nice layer of frothy crema.



And moi, an iced latte. We sit and watch, but don't see much.. a few delivery trucks and some uni kids. We head off on foot fueled with caffeine, and intend on heading back later in the afternoon.

El Xampanyet, Barcelona Spain

El Xampanyet, the sparkling wine bar. It's on a pebbled lane way in the Barceloneta area. We are lucky to squeeze ourselves in the front door past all of the people, and are happy to join the crowds standing and mingling with everyone so close. The bar has been run by the same family since the 1930's, and we manage to catch the attention of one of these long serving staff members.



In beautiful Catalan, we are offered a whole range of, you guessed it, sparkling wine. We start with a glass of Catalan Cava.



There is a younger girl behind the counter nimbly dealing with tiny little anchovies. The little fish have been pickled whole, and she is splitting them open, pulling out the middle bones, and drizzling with olive oil. We must have these!



One more glass of a different cava before we hit the road ... there is so much to see.



El Xampanyet
Montcada, 22
08003 Barcelona, Spain
933 197 003


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Mid-day Moo Menu at the Omm, Barcelona Spain

Moo Restaurant in the Omm hotel, something a little bit fancy. This 1 Michelin star Gastronomic Restaurant offers a range of tasting menus, but the Mid-day Moo at 45€ is unbeatable! We are super eager, and arrive a little early. We are taken through to the Moovida lounge and offered a drink ... well, it's 11:40am, don't mind if we do. I have a Cava cocktail, & Kim a Hendricks tonic concoction. A little plate of crisps is placed on the table, and disappears in no time.



The mid-day menu menu starts with a progression of appetisers. The first amuse bouche include a mushroom cream, truffled cookie, cheese gougeres and nut bread.



Rabbit with orange & red shiso is the next thing to excite our palate. A little brick of tender, white rabbit meat, with an intense orange reduction, lightly blanched Spring vegetables and baby shiso leaf. There is also a fluff with all the same flavours.



Truffle rock ... arrives to the table and looks amazing. There's a flick of bronze paint, and a black 'rock' sitting on some shining little pebbles.



After we look at it in awe for a while, it is gently cracked open with a fork. It's a very light candy coating, painted with truffle, with a salty, decadent and unctuous cream contained inside. As pleasing on the palate as it was intriguing on the eye.



Foie = ♥. Foie with strawberries is all about textures... There is a smooth foie mousse on the bottom, but with a chunk of fresh foie on top. Strawberries come in the form of jelly, fresh & flakes of the dried fruit. Cracked pepper and a few borage flowers complete the dish.



The next bowl reminds me of a record .... no tunes to be spun, just our taste buds out of control again! Razor clam meat, pork, fresh green baby broad beans, fresh herbs & a bread crisp.



The plate of salt cod is possibly the finest example of this fish we tried in Spain (and we ate a fair bit of it!). The fish was so moist and silky, but still with the salty taste-of-the-sea. The smoked rice, oh wow. So .. much .. flavour! A simple sprinkling again of the little flowers, and a few chive batons finish this delightful fish dish off.



Ah, things served on a piece of slate are just so cool ... A piece of seared white fish with Spring greens. The Spring greens are so vibrant, and again all about the textures. There is a green pea flan, pieces of raw green apple, snow pea shoots and fresh peas and beans.



The food just keeps on coming, which we certainly aren't complaining about, especially when it's suckling pig. A slab of pig, with an earth-shattering crackle and some fresh green leaves.



The dessert is a beautiful ice bowl filled with deep, red fruits. There are some pieces of cake, and a goat's milk ice-cream and a red-berry perfume is poured at the table.



The mid-day Moo menu included mineral water, a glass of wine, and coffee which is accompanied by a little plate of petit fors.



.... and just when we think this amazing, 1 Michelin star lunch extravaganza is over, our server appears back at the table with a box of handmade chocolates. We pick 2 of each, of course;)

This lunch was amazing, if we had more time, or even 1 free night, for the rest of our stay, we would have loved to get back there for dinner.

Hotel Omm
Rosselló 265
08008 Barcelona, Spain
T: +34 93 445 40 00

Monday to Saturday 1:30-4pm and 8:30-11pm
Closed In August


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Café d'épices, Marrakech

During our time in Morocco, we did not miss or even notice the lack of alcohol. At a few of the bigger establishments, you were able to get a Casablanca beer or a very limited selection of wine. One beverage that we were both very pleased to have reasonably available was coffee. Beautifully roasted beans, some brewed in a pot and others through more modern espresso machines ... We found one little place in the square where we were stopping by for our Café d'épices fix. The beans are roasted and blended with a range of spice, including cinnamon & cardamon.



Rich, toasty flavors from the beans, with delicate undertones from the spice. A great boost to get you through the rest of the day.

Moroccan Viagra

We are on our way back home after a delightful meal at stall no. 14 where we notice a few little carts on the outskirts of the square that are just flooded with men hovering at the counter, drinking this deep red elixir and eating some sort of paste. We are intrigued, so head on over ... Looks like the father is cheif elixir man, but he has his son there helping him out who speaks a little English. We enquire and at first he giggles. He then tells us that this tea is made up of a very special mix filled with herbs, spice and things like ginseng & gurana. Then there is the paste, which is also full of spices and other things.



We each order a tea, and choose to share 2 of the plates of spice paste. The tea is strong of ginger aroma and taste, and another 50 or so things that you can taste, but can't identify. The paste, wow, is like eating a spoonful of raw spice that is also sickly sweet with some sort of dark sugar.

The young guy, still giggling, then tells us that all the men stop by these stalls on their way home, as this is a form of natural viagra.



Well, wandering home we do all get some sort of buzz .... the true effects felt later ;)

Morocc and roll

Surprisingly enough, the 45 minute ferry ride which takes you from Tarifa, the tip of Spain, to Tangier, the top of Morocco, was actually the easiest part of our trip. Immigration is done aboard the boat (which we found out as we disembarked, so had to run back onto the ferry and get our stamps) and money exchange is also done on board. We get off and are overwhelmed by the sea of taxi drivers ... there are little petite taxis, which certainly would not carry the 4 of us including H & Io as well as our luggage so negotiating a Grand Taxi is in order. We settle on 20€ to the train station. We could have of course spent 20 minutes negotiating our way down, but it's 5€ each which is still pretty damn cheap! The ride is scary ... we all have white knuckles by the end of the trip but we do make it in once piece. It's quite early, and we have an hour before the first train. The station is just beautiful, there's even WiFi ...



We check our mail, and have a quick snack before boarding the train. The little counter is bustling with people, we start the day with a couple of pastilla - crispy pastry filled with a spiced chicken and slightly sweet nut mix. I have a can of Hawaii, which is a fruit & coconut fizzy drink that is not to sweet.



We arrive at the platform a few minutes early and are ready for our journey to Fes.



The train journey was pleasant, we did of course splurge on a first class air-conditioned cabin. There was a little food cart that just went up and down the isles, which had drinks, snacks, yoghurt, delicious pomegranite juice & bread rolls filled with spicy roast chicken & garlic sauce which kept us amused for the train ride. The scenery went from picturesque to grotesque - quaint little villages with children kicking soccer balls, filled with beautiful colors & intricately designed buildings but on the outskirts just piles of garbage. Garbage that was decomposing in the sun, ferral goat's & dogs picking through the trash. Until you hit the next quaint little village ...

We arrive in Fes mid-afternoon, and are greeted by a member of staff who has come from our Riad to meet us at the train station. We say goodbye to Io & H for the day, with plans to meet them tomorrow afternoon after our solo adventures in the medina. We pile into a little petit taxi with our guide, and head to the Riad. We are welcomed into Riad Fes Yamanda as it is our own palace for the coming days ....



Upstairs to freshen up, we know we won't be going far tonight.

Fresh fruit juices at La Boqueria

After a traditional breakfast of coffee & croissant at Pinotxo bar, it was hard to not walk through the markets and find room for a delicious fresh fruit juice.



They ranged from €1-€2 and included orange & mango and blueberry & coconut, with everything else in between.

Easily accessible, with astonishing variety, this is something I miss about fruit in Japan ...

Barcelona Aquarium & Cerveceria el Vaso de oro

We headed down to Barcelona's Port Vell and had our day planned. First stop, the aquarium. We wandered in and gazed at some tropical fish, cuttlefish, live shrimp and a few small sharks ... but that was it. It was actually quite disappointing, and only took up a small fraction of the morning.



The problem there in lying that our lunch booking was for 1pm (which is when they opened), and it was now only 11:30am. So we set out to find a little Cerveceria to fill in the time. We wandered around the port and this paticular one caught our eye .... Not much from the outside, just some big gold letters, but glancing through the glass doors we could see the place was filled with a mixture of young and old Spanish men, who were enjoying their midday beers, a lot of them looked like construction workers or the like.



This littler cerveceria has 2 beers on tap, both of which they brew themselves. We start with the lighter pilsner type and a plate of boquerones, the delicious pickled white anchovies. The beer is crisp and the anchovies are doused in good olive oil and lots of fresh chopped parsley which balances perfectly with the vinegar.



Still with nearly an hour to go until lunch, this has only wet our appetite. Next up, a plate of Jamon croquettes and we select a few little sticks that are taken away and grilled / fried before being placed on a slice of breed. One was pork & green pepper brochette and the other sausage wrapped in bacon. Mmm, so much porky goodness.



Now we are ready for lunch ...

Cerveceria el Vaso de oro
Carrer de Balboa 6, Barceloneta
Barcelona, Spain
T: (93) 319-3098