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.

 

Little Creatures, in Melbourne

We were wandering around Fitzroy, enjoying the midday sun, and were ready for a little .... a little something! And then, just as if it was meant to be, we spot of the Little Creatures Dining Hall. We perch ourselves by the bar, I am dying to try the Pipsquek Cider on tap and Kim has a Bright Ale.



Little Creatures Pale Ale has always been one of our all-time favorite beers! And the other 2 don't disappoint. The cider is full of fresh fruit flavors. I can't actually remember if I had the pear, or the apple, but I do remember it was delicious! Kim has the Bright Ale, which is smooth and full flavored.

We also re-fuel with a plate of fried onions rings. The onion slices are fat, coated with of course a beer batter;) and then sprinkled with paprika salt.



The Dining Hall is big and industrial, but still manages to feel intimate and warm. Would definitely come back here for a lunch or meal, and of course to try more of the beers, next time we are in the 'hood.



Little Creatures Dining Hall
222 Brunswick St
Fitzroy
Melbourne, Victoria

T: +81 (0)3 9417 5500

Open: 7 days, 11am till late

Jongno Bindaetteok, Seoul, South Korea

After checking into our Candy Robot room, we had headed over to Gwanghwamun district, starting the evening off at Tosokchon Samgyetang with some ginseng black chicken soup. We then wandered a dozen blocks, looking out for Jongno Bindaetteok; suposedly one of the best Bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) in town. We walk past a bustling little shop, the big glass window revealing a large flat grill, filled with pancakes, and crates of the cloudy rice wine, makgeolli, on the sidewalk thinking wow this place is awesome but unable to spot a sign wander on looking for our prey.

We have a bit of trouble seeing, or understanding, the street signs, decide to take a walk around the block, and if we can't seem to find Jongno then we would head back to this little place.



Wandering around the back alleys, we find so many interesting little places, it's a Thursday night, and the streets are bustling. We don't seem to find the Bindaetteok place we are looking for, so make our way back to the one that caught our eye in the beginning. There are groups waiting for seats, and what looks like people waiting for take-aways. We poke our head in, and there is a tiny 2 stools at the end of one table where we are ushered over to by one of the ladies on the floor, who asks if we want beer, why yes of course, and then returns moments later with a large bottle of Cass. The Cass is a pale lager, and super-light. This beer is produced by OB brewery, who brews all of their beers with rice, rather then the Western standard of malted barley.



Only another few moments have passed, and the lady then stops again with little plates filled with kimchi. There's an apple kimchi, the pieces of fruit still crisp, and with a nice, spicy coating. Theres a radish & cucumber kimchi, which is sitting in a very light, vinegar pickle, and lastly, an addictive onion, dried chilli & soy sauce.



The lady asks us "haemul ... gogi?" (seafood .. meat) We order 2 x bindaetteok gogi, or crispy golden pancakes made with fresh ground mung beans & meat. We both look around and are amazed at the variety of people that are eating in this little place ... there are young groups of people, individuals all perched around a communal bench, young kids with their parents and men in suits... oh, and 2 giant, blonde foreigners with a DLSR camera sitting on tiny little stools;) We enjoy observing the magic that all takes place on one giant flat top.



Behind the grill stands an older man, constantly feeding the fresh mung beans through a stone-grinder. The guy on the grill is spinning around and ladelling the fresh beans over into the pancake mix as fast as they are being ground...



Once they work through the backlog of orders, 2 gogi are dropped in front of us. They are a beautiful, golden colour, and have just been roughly chopped to allow for easy eating. (The Korean chopsticks are all beautiful - made of stainless steel, that taper to a pointed end with a flat, rectangular handle that is adorned in beautiful decoration.) As cutlery is placed on the table, the lady grabs a single napkin, and lays a spoon and pair of these chopsticks on that. We observe a lot of people using the chopsticks to move food to their spoon, and then from the spoon to their mouth, so follow suit. The first piece of bindaetteok that reaches our mouth, oh wow. Crispy, with little pieces of the fresh mung bean still recognisable, but the ground pieces giving the whole cake a silky texture. There are chunks of marinated meat, spring onions & kimchi. We play around with the different kimchi combinations, with this crispy pancake my favourite are the onions in soy with dried chilli.



Every table surrounding us, are drinking from these green bottles... We decide to move on from beer, and join them in the drinking of makgeolli. A green pet bottle is plonked on the table, with 2 plastic bowls to drink from. This stuff is cloudy, rice wine (similar to a Japanese amazake) that is quite strong. It's best when cold, so we drink it quite fast, although don't manage to finish the whole bottle...



After we pay, we cross the road on our way home... and notice the huge sign! We found the right place in the end, and were so glad we did.



Then we notice the giant bags of vegetables, ready to be turned into pancake filling and of course kimchi. Seoul ♥



Gwanghwamun
Dangju-dong, Jongno-gu
T: +82 2 737 1857
12noon - 2am

Jun Hom, checking out Pooky's Mum's old restaurant, Koh Samui

Pooky was one of the delightful Thai girls we were lucky enough to work with at Parrot Cay. Her food, amazing! So, when we met up with Steve & Kannika, also some old friends we had worked with on the island and we were in Koh Samui, we decided to hunt down Pooky's Mum's old restaurant. We knew it was called Jun Hom, and knew it was somewhere along Hat Bang Po. We doubled up on scooters, and rode the ring road up to the top of the island ... It was hot and dusty, and we were going at some speed. We of course drove past it and ended up at Mae Nam beach before heading back and retracing our steps. It took us a while to find, but it is nestled just beside the Coconut Villas, which is a great landmark should we be looking for it again.. We park the scooters and head on in.



It's so green, the entrance surrounded by fresh plants. There is an undercover eating area, but we are very happy to take a seat out on the beach tables, taking our shoes off with the sand between our toes. We order a couple of big beers, which come Thai style with a bucket of ice.



They have a huge menu, and then funnily enough only a couple of pages translated into English, which lists all the usual suspects. We are very lucky to have Kannika with us, who of course spots a whole range of interesting Thai dishes on the Thai menu. We leave the ordering up to her, just expressing our interest to try and true Southern style dishes. The first dish is just that, a dry fried curry with green peppercorns and lots of tumeric with a few slices of cucumber on the side. This is incredible, almost like a Southern style larb, but a bit dryer.



The soup is also stained with the yellow of tumeric, simply filled with chunks of chicken, slices of onion and some fresh coriander.



The next dish, oh my, I can still remember the taste, the texture of the fried lemongrass, and the amazing aroma. A whole fish was firstly marinated in amongst many other things, lemongrass, garlic & fish sauce and then deep-fryed. Then on top of that, a mountain of smashed up lemongrass and garlic had also been fried, the fine strands so aromatic and crispy. We all love this dish so much, and we have nearly devoured the whole thing before anyone notices the little sauce on the side, not that it needed it!



Majority of the Thai population are Buddist, but many of those from the South are Muslim, immigrating to the area from the Indian subcontinent over the last 2 thousand years or so. Therefor the Southern regions of Thailand bear close similarities to Indian food, turmeric permiating a lot of the Southern Cuisine. It's the fresh tumeric root that is used though, with a beautiful gold colour and mild flavor. We see it again used in the Southern style fish curry. Chunks of well browned fish, with a green leaf that is a little bitter swimming in a light coconut and turmeric broth.



Fried crab with egg, pepper and garlic was our last dish of the day. Whole blue crabs smashed up and piled high, the meat sucked from the shell.



A beautiful, beachside location, with some really interesting and delicious Southern Thai dishes to match. A must if you are up the top end of the island.



Jun Hom
Hat Bang Po
Next to the Coconut Villas
Koh Samui, Thailand


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Bella y la Bestia Cafe & Tapas Bar, Grenada Spain

It was a particularly festive time when we were in Grenada. We were wandering around on a Saturday morning, and must have passed at least 4 different groups of girls on what definitely appeared to be a Hen's outing, starting quite early in the morning. We turn a corner, and there are people spilling out onto the streets, streamers, loud voices, and a whole lot of commotion inside. We brave the crowds through the door and manage to perch ourselves at the bar that runs the length of the room.



Behind there bar there are a few bar tenders at one end, and a tiny little kitchen set up at the other (where we managed to perch) with one lady just banging out tapas like a machine. With each drink ordered a yell comes from the bar to the lady in the kitchen, stating how many people, and what tapas plate they are up to. We constantly hear calls, with numbers flying everywhere, and it makes us dizzy. The lady on the pans though is not in the least bit fussed, putting up plates and shouting for runners. Each plate is completely different, all with some form of sandwich or roll usually, with different salads, condiments & breads.



We order 2 beers, and our first complimenting tapas plate is a small bagel brushed with oil and grilled, and filled with a generous amount of sliced jamón with chopped parsley on top. There is then a mountain of pasta salad with a Mary Rose dressing and crispy fried chips with mayo & ketchup.

This little tapa was a meal in itself.. And we later find out that the Bella y la Bestia Cafe & Tapas bar has a few other outlets under their wing, including an incredible looking fish restaurant & bar. Oh well, next time we are in Grenada ...



C/Carcel Baja 14, Grenada, Spain


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Whitebait and Beer for Breakfast, Fogon de Galicia, Grenada Spain

The tapas start early in Grenada. Well, early enough when you wake up at 10:30am ;) It's our first morning, and we initially venture out with a coffee and pastry in mind to start the day. We didn't have much luck finding anything of the sort .... We did notice a bunch of people drinking beer and eating a range of fried seafood delights at Fogon de Galacia while we were wandering around though. We end up tracing back down the little alley way, very pleased to start our day with 2 little Caña, or small sized beer and a plate of crispy fried whitebait with fresh lemon.

Le Mejillonera, San Sebastian

We were staying in the Gothic area of San Sebastian, and headed out on our first afternoon in order to pin point a few places we had on our must-eat list. Le Mejillonera was one of them, and was said to be only minutes away from our hotel ... We wandered around the streets and couldn't find it.

The next night we walked past a place that was packed, spilling out onto the street, and looked up to see the sign bright and illuminated. I guess it's not that easy to spot during the day when it's not open.



We head on in, it's hard to find a place to stand it's that full ... The fare here is mussels, mussels and mussels. They do beer of course, as well as patatas bravas and bread to mop up all of the sauce with the mussels. We get some mussels in a spicy tomato sauce, some ice cold beer and patatas bravas.



It's all good! The mussels have a fresh taste of the sea, the spicy sauce giving the mussels a deep complex flavor. The patatas bravas are crisp, hand-cut chunks of potato with a generous helping of garlic aioli & spicy tomato sauce.

A fine example of simplicity, and confidence in their ability to make something so simple outstanding.

Le Mejillonera
Calle del Puerto 15
Donostia, PV
Spain
T: 943 42 84 65

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

Bir & Fud, Rome

Bir & Fud is one place that was reccommeded to us by a lovely couple we met while dining at La Petraia ... We did track it down, but it was on a night where other eating commitments were already made, so we were only able to stop in briefly. With an ever-changing menu of artisanal beers on tap and over 100 different bottled brews, this is the premier beer destination of Rome.



We order some a few of their different draft beers.



We also ask for some light snacks, and before we know it we are greeted with some not-so-light but ever-so-tasty treats. A bowl of thin cut potato crisps with a tangy tomato sauce,



and a gigantuous plate of fried goodness! which included about 8 different types of croquette like goodies, some fried chicken and arancini balls. There's a spicy guandjua one with a chocolate sauce that is unique, but a very tasty combination.



Oh, Bir & Fud, hopefully we get to spend more time together next time !!

Bir & Fud
Via Benedetta 23
Roma, 00100, Italy
T: +39 (0) 6 5894016

Are you going to drink that??

Seems it is the festive season round here ... Following close on the heels of pork and lanterns is the festival of beer (oh joy!). This happens smack bang in the middle of Sapporo and goes on for three weeks. All down Odori park huge beer gardens are set up by all the major players on Japans inebriation circuit as well as a bunch of the guys who usually prefer quality over quantity.

We made plans to meet up with a few friends in the center of the beerdom and headed off for a much needed civilization day in the city before hand. After some city wandering we found ourselves at the beginning of Odori so decided what better time than the present to have a few drinks. Wandering down the park we head past the gardens of the beers we can enjoy any day and grabbed a seat in the German section, we started off with a Franziskaner's weiss and a Spaten fest bier



Of course we couldn't have a beer garden without beer drinking snacking, so with table and beer secured we picked up a German sausage plate as well as a curry sausage an kicked back in the afternoon sun. Sweet.



Just as we finished the first round, we were joined by the Gyu+ crew We picked up a HB Munchen Dunkel and a Hallerndorfer Rauchbier which is a smoked beer, and got down to chewing the fat with the guys.



After we polished off these beers, and maybe a couple of pretzels we took a mosey on down to the Otaru beer spot, passing a group of sumo on the way (our first sumo sighting in Japan). Although we would have been glad to drink any of Otaru's range we were more interested in the other creatively named micro brewed beers from Rouge brewery on offer. With one Dead guy ale, a Brutal bitter, Shakespeare stout and an Otaru Pilsner with strawberry syrup in our hands it was time for a little more talk and don't forget the snacks, this time grilled squid and beef with mustard.





As the light was fading we now made our way to the Kirin tent where the night time action really kicks off, fueled by towers - 6 liters of towering beer, scouring the garden it seems that there is no seats left so we grab a spot on the grass....for about two seconds before a group leaving gives us their table. A tower is procured and the drinking begins.



It's a long way to the bottom and just when we had thought we had finished we realised we had just drunk until the beer level was out of sight, but there was still a liter in the plastic tower housing, once this was done the foolishness really set in.





Fuzzy logic brought Hisashi to the realization that if we had missed the unseen liter there were many liters awaiting a fellow in the know. This genius thought in his head he headed off into the throng of festivalers helpfully clearing the empty towers two or three at a time and stopping by our now hysterical table to empty the stash.



Ten more liters later we decided to head into town for a few more drinks and salsa of course. A quick stop in Tanuki koji at a bar that all I can remember is the roof was a foot shorter than I was, and we were suddenly in Suskino in a salsa bar, Hisashi promply passed out and the rest of us enjoyed salsa lessons from the owner for a few hours before wandering out onto the street for late late night ramen Kyushu style.





This means thin noodles and that's about all anyone remembers from that night. Good times.