Melbourne Oyster Bar

23 December, Saturday, 8pm (D's dad's birthday)
King Street, Melbourne
http://melbourneoysterbar.com.au/

Oysters (of course), Seafood platters, Prawns, Steak, Salmon, 3 bottles of wine (and lots more food. there were 7 of us.) Ended up costing just under $100/head. Very pricey.

So, Tuan (D's brother) thought it would be great if we went to a fancy-schmancy restaurant for their dad's birthday. I wasn't really keen to go but D wanted me to, so off we went.

The place is in the city and claims to be one of Melbourne's top seafood restaurants. The restaurant looked okay but had the unfortunate location of being right next to a backpackers hostel. Sort of tapers down the prestige of the place.

The food was okay but not great. Especially for the price. D and I were in agreement that we could've eaten just as well (even better) for half the price.

Wouldn't go back, unless it was free. Haha.

Thai Thonglor 55

18 December, Monday, around 8pm

Ormond Road, Elwood
Satay Chicken, BBQ Pork, Green Curry, rice, drinks
About $48 for 2

We didn't even know about this place until Rob told us about it. And it's just down the road!

Anyway, when we came back from our holiday, Rob said this place served good food. So, we decided to venture and find the restaurant. Which wasn't hard.

D kept insisting it was new cause we hadn't noticed it before (we pass by this street about 2 - 3 times a week). So he went to the manager and asked how long they've been open. 6 months! Ha ha. Shows how observant we are.

The food was good. Not excellent but good. Staff were observant and polite. We went on a Monday night and they were busy. Lots of people dropping in for takeaway too.

Not the best Thai I've had, but for convenience and location, we'll probably go back.

Yes, there's a lag...

Haven't posted anything since we went off to the Philippines. Haven't been going out that much anyway. I'll get to it...

Babalu

11 Nov, Saturday, 3 pm
Food Court, Southland Shopping Center

V & D each: 2-curry plate with roti, mango lassi
about $20

The curries were so-so and I can't even remember which ones we chose.

I'm blogging about Babalu because they have the best mango lassis (is this even the plural of that?) I've tasted. Admittedly, my experience with lassis is limited as I've never been to India and have only had them in the Philippines and here. But at $2.90 per glass, the Babalu mango lassi deserves a return visit. Yum.

Eating In

We haven't gone out to eat since my birthday (other than to a food court in the mall. hmm, maybe i should blog about that) which is by my design.

Got sick of eating out so I told D we should eat in until we leave for our honeymoon. Plus, I had a look at our fridge and it was still stock full of food.

It's been good staying in but now I'm getting sick of it. Not because of the food but because of what we do when we eat in. We just sit on the couch while having dinner and watch TV. For 2 to 3 hours a night. Not good.

We really should learn to balance our eat-ins and dine-outs.
I'm not too worried about it now though as we only have 2 nights left in Melbourne! Yey!

Blue Tongue

Ormond Road, Elwood
9 November, 7.30pm
(my birthday)

Entree: Roquette salad, Chips with chili mayo
V: Seafood Linguine
D: Fried Barramandi
Bottle of Merlot (can't remember the name, which is a shame as it was good. came from SA)

Cost: $97 (using Entertainment card, $75)

This is another bar/restaurant which is literally down the block from us. Everytime we pass by, it's always full. D had already tried it once before but it was too posh for his liking.

Since it was my birthday, D treated me to dinner here. It was a bit disappointing, really. The entrees were great (chips were YUMMY and the salad was quite good). Our mains, however, left a lot to be desired. Now whether it was because we already stuffed ourselves with the entrees (another reason we really shouldn't order them) or we waited ages for our mains, who knows. My pasta was quite ordinary and D's fish was OK at best. In addition, the service wasn't all that great either.

After months of anticipation, this restaurant fell quite short of expections.

Would we go back there again? Maybe for a beer or 2, with chips of course. For dinner or lunch, probably not. There are too many good restaurants waiting to be discovered...

Zanini

Ormond Road, Elwood
8 November, Wednesday, 8pm
Takeaway

V&D: Herb, Cheese & Garlic Focaccia, Zanini Pizza, El Greco Pizza
About $34

We've already gotten pizza from this place before. It's really good... The crusts are just right and the toppings (well, the ones we got anyway) complement the dough. The focaccia tastes yum and was value for money.

This place is just on the corner of our street but I was too tired to walk there, so D ordered us some takeaway. Yup, we'd definitely go back there for more. And more...