Maha - lunch

Where: Bond Lane, Melbourne
When: Lunch - June 29
Occasion: Business Lunch
Wine: None :(
Website: mahabg.com.au

Maha is the second (of now 6) restaurants in the George Calombaris  stable, although he's not the chef, that responsibility falls to Shane Delia.  The theme is Middle Eastern and I was very happy when the 2 guests I was with all agreed to the share plates.

I've been to Maha previously and was impressed then, so I was very keen to get stuck into the food a second time.

We began with mixed olives, beetroot dip (with outstanding bread), a white bean salad with roasted nuts, arancini balls and some fried mushrooms with spinach.  The olives were wonderful and the beetroot dip was sweet yet countered by lovely acidity and was delicious.

Hahaha, I only just realised I have a pic with half the food served.  My colleague has a better one, when I get it I'll edit this post.

Despite mentioning our time was limited the main course was a little slow in coming, but that might have been partially our fault as everyone was too well mannered to finish off the last of the entrees.

The mains were well worth the wait though.  It's a little bit of a lottery and we hit the jackpot!  I've heard about the lamb at Maha and I was very happy when it arrived.  It's unbelievably tender and incredibly rich, the fat of the lamb rendered through the fibres perfectly.  You can't help but go back for more and more!  Get in while it's hot (before the fat starts to solidify).

Maha always serve a fish or seafood dish as a main and the fish we had was just outstanding.  It was Hapuka and cooked in butter, but there was a subtle complexity to the dish.  More earthy flavours, maybe a hint of tahini.

The fatoush salad was light and fresh with dukkah adding interest.  Some mint and lemon were superb with the cucumber, this salad cut through the fat of the lamb perfectly.

This was all accompanied by a pilaf which was buttery and spectacular.  It was rich but not heavy and could be enjoyed on its own.

We then got to indulge in some immaculately presented and very well crafted desserts.

The last time I was at maha I enjoyed the turkish delight filled donuts and this time they were delicious again although a little doughy in the centre.

The miniature cones were filled with a delicious goats milk ice cream but the nuts and honey accompaniment rounded out the dish perfectly.

The shotglasses were filled with a bitter chocolate mousse and layer of toasted nuts, with a creamy surface.  For me, this dish was a little savoury, not my kind of dessert.

Maha is not your everyday lunch spot but it's a wonderful treat, tucked into turkish ambience.  I would happily go back again and again.

Simon's Peiking Duck Restaurant

Where: Box Hill South, Vic, Australia
When: Tuesday 28th June, 2011, Dinner
Occasion: Dinner with Sam and Kat
Wine: Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc
http://www.simonpeikingduck.com/

On a lazy Tuesday night, Andrew and I were called up on the way home from looking a little Millie and asked if we wanted to join our friend's at the movies that night. They asked whether we had time to get a quick feed, so we jumped at the opportunity to try this local restaurant.

Andrew and I adore peiking duck so we could not go to a peiking duck restaurant without indulging in a whole duck. This restaurant prepares the duck for you in the traditional way, were the peiking duck rolls have the crispy skin in them then the duck meat is then transformed into another dish. Although the duck was beautiful, I as slightly overwhelmed by the amount of skin without any meat on it and searched out pieces of skin with some sign of meat. It was great that we saw the duck prepared before us, they then gave us a demonstration about how to make the duck pancakes then were left to wrap the 15 individually. Great!

Shortly after finishing these duck pancakes, a dish of duck meat and bean shoots appeared on the tabel. The meat was deliciously tender and I could tell that it was thoroughly enjoyed by all as we didn't speak whilst shovelling in this dish.

The next dish we shared was Timorese oven roasted boneless chicken marinated with tamarine, chilli, garlic, black pepper finished with fresh lemon, sesame seeds, spring onion and sweet soya sauce. I had to copy this description directly from the website just to help you understand the reason why we chose this dish. The flavours were intense without being too spicy. We quickly ate through the whole serve and left me wanting more!

The final dish we ordered was a deep fried flounder with spicy salt and chilli. Although this caused some challenges in understanding the best way to serve the fish, the flavours were amazing!


Overall, this local restaurant is fabulous and will be frequently visited by Andrew and I again for many years to come! We only hope we can have enough room for their dessert next time....

Rasa Malaysia Cafe

Where: Malvern East, Victoria, Australia
When: Thursday 7th July, 2011, Dinner
Occasion: Take Away
http://rasa.com.au/

Andrew and I had been dying to try this restaurant whilst we lived in the area, however, after many failed attempts to find the restaurant open, we presumed that it no longer operated as a restaurant.

One night on the way home from some friends in St Kilda, we drove passed there and Andrew noticed the place was open again so I thru a u-turn and we landed ourselves on their doorstep ordering take away.

The menu sounded promising and it had a good food guide sign in the window so we had high hopes of this restaurant. Furthermore, after our recent culinary delights tour of Malaysia that we did earlier this year, we knew what great Malaysian tastes like!

We ordered some traditional Malaysian entrees to begin with - Chicken Satays, Pandan Chicken and Curry Puffs. All of the dishes were around $8 or $9 for take away, so when we got home and realised that there were only 2 curry puffs, 3 satays etc., we were a little disheartened by the place. The best thing I can say about the entrees was the sauce that accompanied the pandan chicken. Usually this dish comes with some sort of sweet chilli sauce. Rasa Maylasia Cafe however included a sauce with a mayonaise type base and lots of herbs/spices in it. Lovely!

For main course we could not go past the Ipoh Hor Fun - Andrew's favourite dish. Although I feel like this dish in general tastes like burnt noodles with a sloppy sauce, Andrew loves it. And he thoroughly enjoyed Rasa's version too, describing it as having "subtle barbeque flavours in a rich gravy - delicious!" Ikan bilis and roti were also ordered. Both were tasty but nothing to write home about. Although it was great to finally have the opportunity to trial Rasa Malaysia Cafe, the Ipoh Hor Fun is the only dish worth returning for.