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

Burgin'

Urban Dictionary Burgin' :

Experiencing the intense need for a huge, gnarly burger,
passionately consuming a burger, or recovering from burger overindulgence.

"Man, I'm burgin"
or
"Oh yeah, I'm burgin!"
or
"Goddamn it, help me, I'm burgin!"

That was the case as we soon as we had hit Melbourne. But not a general call burgin', there was a specific burger at the center of this crave. We had followed with amusement the posturing and cat calling on twitter over who had the right to call their burger the best in Sydney, when it reached flash point a blind tasting had been organized with Rockpool Bar and Grill coming out on top. Now we were within close proximity of the Rockpool bar and Grill located in the Melbourne Casino complex.

We arrived at the front door just as they opened and grabbed a seat at the bar rather than the restaurant side as we just wanted the burger. Having the burger cut in half was no problem, we added a side of fat cut chips as the burger came with none, a side of onion rings and one of the small plates of calamari with romesco. A couple of Aperols for the wait and we were all set.
The calamari arrived fast, with a generous portion of sweet, nutty romesco. The calamari more a spoon to convey the sauce to our mouths than the star of the plate. With the calamari quickly out of the way we waited eagerly for the burger (burgin).



Arriving cut in half and on two plates showed some consideration from the kitchen. The center showing a nicely cooked medium rare with plenty of juiciness. We took our first bites and began the analysis....nah, we ate it, we ate it good. And a mighty fine burger it was! The fat from the minced wagyu veered towards too-much but Zuni's famous courgette pickles helped to draw it back in. The cheese and bacon seemed almost superfluous, nice but not needed.



The fries were true to their word and cut fat, but they paled beside what were possibly the best onion rings I've ever had. Crispy crunchy with a mild onion center. Not so taken with the home-made ketchup not that it was bad, maybe I just like the amplified artificial umami flavor of the commercial varieties.



Was it the best burger I've ever had? Maybe. I'll have to add to the list, up there with the Mcfoie from Tapac 24, Barcalona, the Mckobe from Feugo Negro, San Sebastion, and lets not forget the hand minced wagyu burger with truffles and foie at Brown Sugar in Singapore... top ten at least.

One flaw in the night was the aggressive service with more drinks being offered while our first were still half full and the obvious distain that we were only sharing one burger. Left a slight taint to an amazing burger. (We arrived at 6pm for a little pre-dinner burger, with a booking at MOMO for 9pm).

I would like to come back and dine in the restaurant proper. When I peaked though on the way to our seat the room looked amazing, grand and plush like a old timey clubby steakhouse. A glance over the menu and a walk past the meat dry aging re enforced the desire to return.

Rockpool Bar and Grill

Open; Lunch Sunday to Friday
Dinner 7 Days

Reservations
+61 3 8648 1900

Crown Complex
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank VIC 3006
Australia

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Wild Bills, Niseko Hirafu

Wild Bills is the best bar in Niseko.  It's where you'll find the most generously poured drinks in the whole village, there's always some familiar local faces and of course there's the ever gracious Brett and Takayo.  Oh, and we can't forget the mean tex-mex they dish up earlier in the evening, before the music is cranked and the drinks start flowing.

Upon looking through the menu we both notice 'Wild Bills Pils'.  We need 2 of them.  They arrive in an Otaru bottle but have a Wild Bills label.  Tres cool.  This is bottled especially for them by the local Otaru brewery.  It's a very nice pilsner, and it just gets our taste buds anticipating the food to come.

The first to arrive, onion rings.  Yes, these truly are the best onion rings in the world.  Hokkaido onions are just so sweet and juicy, these ones hand cut into giant rings.  They are then beer battered and fried to a delectable crisp.  There's some ketchup and sweet chilli to the side, my dip of choice, definitely sweet chilli.



Chips & con Queso dip arrive.  A bowl a golden corn chips with a little pool of cheesy dip for dipping.  Mm.



Buffalo wings.  Now, I don't know whether it's the wings or the blue cheese sauce I like more ...  Although if you gave me a big bowl of blue cheese sauce and those crisp celery sticks to dip into it, I think I'd be just as happy.



The taco salad arrives like a little up-side down hat filled with jewels.  The crispy 'hat' holding jewels of baby lettuce, onion, chicken, spring onion and roasted peppers all adorned with a generous sour cream dressing.



Indeed the mega-nacho's are mega!  We have chosen the pork variety this evening.  They are sizzling away on a cast iron plate.  The chunks of pork have been cooked with onions, peppers and plenty of spice and are resting on top of the corn chips.  There's loads of grilled cheese that's then topped with plenty of shredded ice-berg lettuce, salsa and sour cream.  



Brett tells us the prawn quesadillas are his must-do hangover brunch.  We're not yet hungover, but they still hit the spot!  The gooey filling has big chunks of shrimp and a nice little spice.  They're grilled to perfection, the tortilla even holding it's own against the weight of all that cheese when picked up.  There's some seasoned rice, salsa, sour cream and a few jalapeno's of to the side which are savoured with each mouthful.  



We even manage to fit in dessert tonight.  The Sopapilla.  It's like a fried apple burrito, a sweet crunchy pastry casing holding some delicious apple-pie-like filling. There's even some grilled banana, and it's all generously drizzled with honey and 2 balls of vanilla ice-cream.  (and Takayo has plated it just so, it does look a little rude ;))



Wild Bills is definitely the best place to finish ones night in Niseko, but it's also a damn fine place to begin one as well.

Wild Bills
189-8 Aza Yamada,
Abuta-gun,
Kutchan-cho,
Hokkaido, Japan
T: +81 (0)136-22-5652
Winter season open daily from 5:30pm until 1am
Food last order, 9:30pm