Crazieapple Reviews: The Pressroom

I'm pretty sure that The Pressroom has already been "blogged to death"- i quote Ms Jazz. It really means, it's been overly raved about over food blogs. Refer to past review written by Ms Jazz about how she liked her visit here.

When i was back in KL for my break, my 3 beautiful baby girls celebrated their birthday dinner (3 consequtive birthdays of 3 best friends) at The Pressroom. With a large group of 15, it was absolutely A-MUST to make reservations beforehands. So many patrons got rejected because it was full house by dinner time.

Because SOMEONE in our group practices the Malaysian timing of being "punctual", so we had to order appetizer while waiting..

The seared salmon salad was up to standard, salad was fresh and crisp

..

Wasn't sure whether it was my empty tummy's bias opinion or i was just too engrossed into my gossip session that i wasn't paying much attention to what i was putting into my mouth.. hehe and before i know, the plate was already empty!!

Creamy Mushroom soup

I personally prefer thick, flavourful and freshly blended wild mushroom soup. This one wasn't up to my expectations.

Grilled Sea Bass with roast potatoes

Duck Breast a l' Orange

Texture of the meat was tender and pinkish and still a bit bloody. Just how i would love my meat to be!! Its sweet sauce with tangy taste was quite a different duck-eating experience..

Lamb Shank with Butter Beans

Didn't really like this dish as it was overdone and meat was too tough for its own good. Taste wasn't nicely sipped into the meat. Overall, it was really bad choice.

Duck Confit with Sauteed Cepe and Rosti Potatoes

I never liked duck as my main but i thought why not give it a try??! Boy i was wrong.. I should just stick to steak or fish next time. The duck was tough and overcooked. The only thing good about this dish was its mashes. Then again, no one can go wrong with their mashes rite??

Barramundi with Bisque Sauce and Asparagus

Crispy Skin Salmon on Creamy Leek and Carrot Julienne

Couldn't speak much of the other dishes as i didn't have the chance to give them a try. But from the feedbacks i got, it wasn't a good meal overall.

Alcohol is a must in every occasions

My 3 little angels

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

The girls

Crazieapple reviews: Rockpool (Melbourne)

Rockpool was always been my favourite place for good steaks. The dry aged grain/grass fed steak sold at reasonable price is not something you need to yearn for.

I'm a student studying in Melbourne, with limited monthly budget, fine dining is not something i can attend to as often as Ms Jazz (who is filthy rich back in KL).  So exquisite restaurants like Neil Perry's Rockpool is a rare occassion for me, sometimes to reward myself for my hard *cough* times. hehe

Rockpool Bar & Grill in Melbourne is found in Crowns Casino and has other branches in Sydney. We all know to avoid restaurants in places like casinos for the more obvious reason:

Tourist spots = Overrated + Overpriced food

But Rockpool WILL convert your beliefs!!

Rockpool is extremely spacious and free from many pretentious decorations.
The setting manages to be dimmed and sexy. Dimmed and sexy also means that my photos are not the greatest, so apologies in advance as i have near zero knowledge on how to change my LX3 settings.

Rockpool never failed to hit full house especially on weekend, so be sure to make reservations in advance!!

For starters, we shared:

King Prawns with Goats Cheese Tortellini, Burnt Butter, Raisins and Pine Nuts $32.00

King prawn was so so, but tortellini totally killed the whole dish!! it was full of flour taste, sticky and soggy. This dish was so badly done that we find it hard to justify the two so-called king prawns for a price of $32.

Four Raw Tastes of the Sea $26.00

A selection of 4 different oysters from different places. My favourite was the pacific oysters! You gotta be an oyster lover to actually tell the differences between each of them. Yes, i'm an oyster fanatic who can easily gobble down one dozen of oysters on my own.

My choice of the day (very budget ok.. wanna eat good steak but on tight budget):

Cape grim dry aged 36 month old grass fed- rib eye on the bone aged for 56 days ($58)

This is the second time i've ordered the same thing, as remorseful as i am, i would say, first time was so much more better than this trip. The meat was overdone for a "medium rare" and major parts of the meat surface are burnt!

Everyone knows that eating burnt stuff are cancerous, thus i wasted almost 1/4 of my entire steak to save myself from cancer!!

The texture of the steak was almost as horrible as eating steak from a local hawkers "western food" stall. Rubbery and tough.. It was really disappointing seeing that my first two visits were almost heavenly!! Chef must be having his bad day huh?? 

Side dishes (that were supposed to compliment our mains, but didn't):

Sauteed Mushrooms ($15)

For some unknown reason, it was sour!! And we really couldn't finish it even though mushrooms are my favourite.. =(

Pink Eye Potato sauteed with butter and rosemary ($10)

Too oily for my liking and i don't wanna be overdosed with carbs!! A dish to avoid for weight watchers..

Desserts:

Apple Tart with Brown Butter Ice Cream ($19)

Possibly the worse apple tart ever, that tasted like Chinese herbs. Even frozen apple tarts from Safeway beats this!

Passionfruit Pavlova ($18)

Epic Fail. Pavlova tasted like sugar-overdosed whipped cream, nowhere near to how a pavlova SHOULD BE.

Pictures don't do justice to my new Alannah Hill Hairband.. It just look like a bunch of waste papers stuck on my head here.. (-.-'')

My experience in Rockpool this time around is a great letdown as compared to my previous visits.

But i truly believe that Rockpool is still one of the best steak place with great potentials!! The next time i go, i'm gonna make sure someone pays for my Blackmore wagyu steak here! hehe

Ratings:

Food: 6/10

Service: 8/10

Attentive waiters are allocated to each of their own tables to ensure full attentions are given to each customers. Now that's an A-plus service!

Ambience:: 7/10

(can't help but eavesdropped the next table's gay conversations, entertaining yet disturbing)

Overall: 6.5/10

(this rating is not consistent as previous visits were way better!!)

StokeHouse (Melbourne)

One of the thing that i'm gonna miss Melbourne when i'm going back to KL for good is how you can spontaneously call for a beach outing, just for lunch.

It wasn't the best day for beach dayout seeing that it was almost 13 degrees during the day but it's a rare scene for Melbourne to have such a nice sunny but cold day nowadays. What's even rarer is the fact that me and Mr B were up early earlier that day for lunch. We don't wanna waste our precious sunny day, do we?

So i decided to bring him to his favourite St Kilda beach for lunchie. We settled for Stokehouse as Beach comber has became too frequently visit for lunch by the beach.

We had a special guest on that day, so we could only sit outdoor despite the cold wind almost ripping my skin off.. But it was all worth it..Facing the sea while sipping on beer (in my case, i had coffee).. I mean, wherelse can you have this kinda lunch back in Msia (other than Port Dickson which, let's not even go there yea?? hehe )

Our special guest for the post- Cookie dearie (she's not really a Yankee fans, if you ask me.. hehe)

People-watching is one of my favourite pastime. Isn't it amazing how you can try to put a story to each and everyone of their lifes flashing past in front of you?

The beautiful view from where we were seated..

His favourite beer that he ordered throughout his entire trip in Melbourne.. haha

Affogato for me.. This beats Cafe Barbera's hands down.. I'm sorry, i was meant to be loyal to you!! hehe

No surprises as to who ordered this Fish n Chips- definitely a man's choice

Batter was fried to its crisps, retaining the freshness of the fish. Yumz!!

 My steamed mussels. In hope that it would be similar to the one i had in Donovans.. Fat chance!! This was overpowered by the chopped onions, and borth is not even half as tasty.. Failed dish!!

Ms Crazieapple

Mr B in Da Haus!

I was looking forward more to the dessert- Chocolate Semi Freddo w. orange mascarpone. The strong rich dark chocolate taste is so overwhelming.. I lovehow the hint of orange taste is found in the midst of the chocolate!!  (though it's not best to be having ice-cream in a weather like this).. hehe  I was freezing my butt off.. Luckily the thoughtful people in the restaurant actually set up a little fireplace outdoor to warm our hands while mingling around..

StokeHouse

30 Jacka Blvd

St Kilda Victoria 3182

(03) 9525 5555

You may also like these:

Las Chicas

http://augustdiners.blogspot.com/2010/03/crazieapple-review-las-chicas.html

Caffe Cortile

http://augustdiners.blogspot.com/2010/04/crazieapple-explores-caffe-cortile-for.html

Crazieapple Reviews: Donovans (melbourne)

Donovans, was one of my most memorable dining experience in Melbourne so far. I visited this awesome restaurant once last year during September for my younger sister's birthday along with my parents and i thoroughly enjoyed their food, service and ambience there.

It's really a pain in the arse having to book for a large group here for functions (even a table for 2 took Ching 1 week in advance to book it), so i was very excited and looking forward for my return when i was told that baby will be bringing me there for my birthday dinner (part 2)!!


We were ushered to their waiting couch while the customers were signing off their bills and leaving our reservation table to us. A very cosy little cottage design with a touch of vintage feel, aint it? The fireplace was just what i needed to keep me warm from the crazy bizarre Melbourne weather.

After a brief wait, we were led to our table, seated near the window view, overlooking St Kilda beach.

We ditched wine for the night and i opted for a Lychee Martini for a starter drink while the man ordered his favourite Peroni beer.

I knew exactly what i wanted for appetizer at the back of my head (memories from 1st visit)- Steamed mussel in the Spanish way with ancho chilli purée.

I absolutely loved every bits of it!!! The mussels didn't shrink in their sizes from the cooking (it normally does shrink a lot when we cook it right??) and the broth was so flavourful that the man licked his spoon clean!!

(Appetizer was shared between two as they are really generous with the portion)

Mains:

Victorian lamb two ways - roasted rump and slow cooked breast - with creamy mash and rosemary sauce

The man ordered this dish and loved it to its bits and pieces. He gave it a 10/10 from its taste to its flavour to how fairly it's done. The mash was done to its finest, retaining the taste of natural potatoes (not packet powder mashes) and with the compliment from the sauce, it was finger-licking good!!

Black Angus T-bone of beef from the Western District

I was quite disappointed with my dish to be honest. It was great in the sense that it could have been a flavoursome piece of steak, only if  it wasn't for the badly burnt surface and meat was far overdone than a "medium rare"

I know very well that i could have ask for an exchange or return the steak for another piece but i was really hungry and it took some time for the food to arrive, so it wasn't a choice for me then.

The sides that came with my steak: lettuce salad and herb fried potatoes

Wanna know why T-bone steak is called a t-bone? hehe

(very silly question, i know)

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It's because when u stripped it bare, you'll find the alphabet T!!

hahahahahahaha

Ok, that was some cheap laugh.. -.-

Excuse my retardness at this wee hour...

Birthday Girl -Me!!

The man was so satisfied with his meal that even paying the bills makes him happy!! haha

Donovans is really creating with their decorations.ck out their male's toilet

So ruggard eh?

On the very contrary, the female toilet looks like a fairy land garden!! So pweetty!!

Ratings:

Service: 9.5/10

(the attendants are too dedicated to their job!! So so professional and well-trained)

Ambience: 8/10

(it can get a bit too noisy due to high level of chatting conversations)

Food: 8/10

(it could have been perfect if its not for the burnt t-bone!!)

Overall: 8.5/10

(it's definitely a place worth the regular visit!!)

Crazieapple Reviews: Verge restaurant (Melbourne)

This post is a bit backdated as i know i've been irresponsibly m.i.a. for the past couple of weeks. *apologies*

My 22nd birthday was 2 weeks ago and i've decided to give this restaurant that i've been wanting to pay a visit to for some time a try.

Verge, is not something new to Melbournians already. A menu made out of  "Japanese-inspired flavours and a quirky wine list". It's not surprise that it's one of the popular fine dining spot in the CBD of Melbourne.

(Photo taken from yourrestaurants.com.au)

P/s: Where this shot was taken, was exactly where i sat that night.. I particularly love how the view outside the restaurant is so greenish, doesn't feel like it's in the middle of the city at all.. A quick hide-away from the hassle and buzzle of the busy town? Here's a perfect place to be then!!

Unfortunately, when night folds in, all you see is, well, darkness.

A glass of wine to start off the night lightly.

All dolled up for the big after-dinner party. =)

For starters, i ordered Zensai Moriawase- four small tastes. I apologize for the inconsistency in my photography skills (yes, a lousy one i know). I was too hungry to be bothered about it.

Wasn't too impressed with this dish- there're some hit and misses at each of them and there's nothing really to shout about.

don't remember what dish was this (couldn't find it from the menu on their website either) but if my memory serves me well (as u can tell, i have bad memories so they are definitely NOT serving me well enough) a bland and forgettable dish. Thus being forgotten. hehe

For my main, i ordered the Mayaru Station Wagyu marble score 7 complimented with kohirabi, garlic and nori.

Before i walked into Vergre, i've had a certain standard expected at the back of my head- i knew what i was gonna order for my main-wagyu beef (recommended by a friend) .. I expected  nothing less than a good piece of wagyu steak with the perfect blend of fats and flesh. But at its first bite, it was already  a MAJOR LETDOWN !!

With this kind of reputation to uphold, surely you can do better than throwing me a piece of pathetically sized of you so-called wagyu beef with chunks of fats (not even blended into the meat but CHUNKS!)  make the portion looks acceptable by adding on another piece of meat which is NOT WAGYU NOR BEEF! (see the bottom layer of the suspect it's pork-tasted tough and overcooked and nasty)

Hands down the worst wagyu i've ever tasted!!

Sister ordered Poached Dory, scallop, pickled beetroot and braised kelp. This dish was leaning towards the bland side without much heavy flavours. Perhaps my sister is more of the strong fragrant tasting kinda person.

All in all, i would say that our experience in Verge was a disappointment. I'm not too sure if i would give it a second chance in the near future. Maybe a light lunch overlooking the beautiful garden would be the next best thing to do if i were to visit them again!!

Ratings:

Service: 8.5/10

(very very attentive waiter, even kept my coat downstairs and remember which one was mine at the end of the night!)

Ambience: 8/10

(quiet and chilling)

Food: 5/10

(it was a great disappointment)

Overall: 6/10

(not too sure about coming back for more)

Verge Restaurant
1 Flinder Lane,
Melbourne 3000.

03- 9639 9500