The Rasoi, richmond

The Rasoi
281 Bridge Road Richmond (corner bridge road and church street)
94280008.

Ok, i have to admit, indian is one of my falling graces. up until 3 months ago, i refused to eat it. the flavours, the spices, the chilli, the smells, none of it appealed to me. to me, it was an aberration on an otherwise perfect plane of asian food.

then my eyes were opened.

it was malaysia that did it, that drew me in. those damned roti chanai for breakfast, at 30 cents a hit. it was like food crack. i was addicted. for two weeks straight, rain, hail, shine, hungover like a dog (and yes, there were many of those days), i still had to get my fix. it took a train ride, a 15 minute walk, and some careful walking (avoiding trucks, bikes, and wild dogs) just to get to my favorite crack den, but oh man, was it worth it! the mango lassi (still a little bit tart), the dahl, the roti. oh my god - the roti. i was in heaven.

so when i came back, i started to look around, to get my fix. i was like a man possessed. and now i've found it.


garlic naan ($2). notice the chunks of garlic liberally all over the bread. ultimate turn off, yes. ultimate flavour, definitely.


palak paneer ($8). cottage cheese simmered in spinach puree. my food testing friend loves this dish, but i have to admit, it was pretty damn good.


lamb bhuna (8) my favorite of the night. lamb cooked with onion, chopped mint and coriander. this was amazing. i love mint and coriander, so this did everything i wanted. there were a few small bone bits, but otherwise great.

Goat karahi ($9). goat cooked with tomato, onion and capsicum. so gamey.

saffron rice ($3). saffron rice. go figure.


this food was perfect, and so cheap - for two people, it was under $20 (with corkage). we ate more too, but by then my hands were shaking with delight, and i didn't want to dirty the new toy (camera).

all the meats were tender, and the service was good - the waiter is the owner, and even brought us water without us having to ask for it (although to his credit, we'd already opened the screwtop wine and started drinking before he came to serve us. no, he wasn't slow - we'd only sat down for 10 seconds before reaching for the bottle).

the tables are all designed for 4 people, and are just big enough (actually maybe a little bit small, but manageable). dark wooden tables, dark wooden seats, oh, and of course, the big widescreen tv playing indian music and bollywood films.

not much else i can say. i'll be back.



and once more:

Banff

Banff
145 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
(03 9525 3899)
banffstkilda.com.au

I have to confess that I've been meaning to write this blog for quite some time, but struggling with my conscience about letting too many people know about this little gem of a cafe/bar!

I have a small band of faithful 'Monday Club' friends who re-arrange their lives virtually every Monday to meet me in one of our favourite cafes in St Kilda. To me, there's not too much that's good about Fitzroy Street other than Banff, I live on the other side of St Kilda and much prefer it that way, still I trek over there for what I would say is the best pizza around.

On Monday and Tuesday nights, all standard pizzas are only $5.50 all day, and every other day of the week (excepting weekends I think) they are $5.50 until 5pm - including lunchtimes.


Actually the menu has changed a little since this photo (from Banff's website) but you get the picture - their main fare is pizzas and there's a couple of other morsels in there to distract you too.

I swear by the squid pizza (squid, chilli, capers, lemon, garlic, fetta, rocket) but I would say the 'gourmet pizzas' are also worth the extra bucks. Extra bucks by the way, still bringing your food in under $10! If you're going all out and have a bit of a sweet tooth, there's also sweet calzone's (folded pizza) which are incredible - banana and chocolate calzone served with marscapone - being my favourite.

Banff also has a breakfast menu, free wireless, a happy hour (3-6pm), cheap drinks ($2.50 pots, $4.50 wine), and good coffee on the whole.

It's cosy, generally good informal service, tasty, and very cheap. What more could you want?!

Dessert House

"Dessert House" is definitely at the top range of the Very Cheap Eats in Melbourne. In fact, it is one of the most recommended place amongst Asian students (who I have to admit are quite good at finding good value yummy food).

The original Dessert House is located in Mid City Arcade on 200 Bourke St (Shop 18 to be precise). -- Picture taken from Pancake Dessert House - Bourke St - Australian Dining Out Reviews - ador - Melbourne Restaurant City - Chinatown Melbourne
It has since branches out to "Dessert House Eatery" on 313 Swanston St, which have the same menu set, classier setting.

The generously portioned main dishes cost under $10 per head. The recommended mains are either Lemon Grass Pork Chop on Rice or Spicy Chicken on Rice - look around when you do visit, I promise you'll notice these two dishes being consumed. The non-alcoholic drinks (tea, coffee, horlick, barley, grass jelly, lychee, etc) are priced at 2.5 to 4 dollars, with $1 discount when ordered with main, which leaves you about seven bucks to spend on dessert or entree. Seeing that the place is called Dessert House, I would recommend trying out their crepe for dessert. You might want to wait until you have consumed your main though, just to make sure you have room for the additional course. (P.S.: I will have to check about the alcoholic drink availability at my next visit).

Unfortunately, I don't currently have any picture of their food to be uploaded, so check out the pictures at IronEaters: Dessert House (Swanston St) for now.

Highly recommended for hungry people. Aside from the generous portion, the food is served in a very timely manner too. Even when I queue up behind 2-3 party (which is quite often the case), I generally still get to start eating within 5 minutes of sitting down. The food is also on the yummy side (well - considering the MSG overload, I guess it better be). With all of these qualities, it's not difficult to understand why this place is always packed and buzzing with chatters.

Note though that I would not suggest this place for when you are catching up with a friend who you haven't seen for a while or if you are the type who likes to slowly savour your meal. Their quick food service does come with a catch. They are even quicker with cleaning up the plates and issuing the bill. The waiter/waitress (if they can be call that) are borderline rude too at times.

Anyways, in my opinion, it is one of the Very Cheap Eats. It is definitely one of the place that I have been going back and forth to for the past eight years that I live in Melbourne and will continue to visit.