Australia Day 5: Melbourne, Dining at Ezard

I worked straight through the next couple of days, rushing to and from meetings all through the day and hanging out at night with my laptop in my short-stay service apartment. Many room service meals, most of which were eaten tired and none of which were terribly satisfactory. Where I could, I had lunch at whatever new places I could find and which had been recommended to me, largely all within the city center to save on travelling time. I was well rewarded though, by a chance meal at Ezard, now located at the Adephi Hotel.

Teage Ezard is not Japanese. He is actually a stocky, young Australian and he apprenticed at Two Faces in South Yarra, long considered one of Australia's best restaurants. He opened Ezard in 1999 in Flinders Lane, Melbourne and in 2003 was awarded The Age's Chef of the Year. He was also consultant to JIA in HK and developing the hotel's restaurants OPIA and Y's.


I didn't quite know what to expect, especially because I have avoided Opia, even though I've stayed at the JIA boutique hotel, as everyone said it was a not-up-to-scratch rip-off. Personally, I tend to think that describes JIA really well(please... Marimoto sheets and ship cabin wardrobes and funky pointy metal clocks are now IKEA not iconic). Also, sometimes gourmet meals really translate poorly to lunch but I was in luck as the meal was still superb.

A meal at Ezard is really limited by what you're willing to try. Some fusion restaurants are only fusion in name, in so far as they pass of what is really a chinese meal as somehow fusion "if you add mustard". There are also others where the menu sounds scary and the dishes taste downright nasty.

At Ezard, while the dish titles and ingredients are a bit imposing (Pork apple and chive dumplings with miso and blue cheese broth ($20.5) or baby snapper with yellow bean dressing, smashed green mango salad ($39.5)for example) and some dishes do run into the "wait, isn't that just chinese category" (Sichuan peppered duck with coconut rice, stir fried silkmelon green chilli, shallot and oyster sauce dressing ($42.5)) and they do serve that mandatory trinity of nori salt (here with dashi), sea salt and asian spice salt, you can't go very wrong with any of the choices.


We started the meal with a Japanese oyster shooter (pictured at the start). A A$4.50 shot of incredibly complex mixtures in a glass. Essentially it was a small oyster and a bit of diced red onion, in a medium yellow, slightly thick liquid of flamed mirin and sake. The taste was quite amazing, the piscine saltiness of the oyster balanced by the honey of the mirin which the flaming process really brought out. Interspliced into those main tastes, was that of sharp onion, cilantro, all tastes that were clear, resounding and yet uncomplicated and distinct. It wasn't a contaminated taste, as many posh restaurant "shooters" tend to become - a tendency to follow a niche trend with a really mainstream taste. Also, you wouldn't trust that many places to have kept your raw exposed oyster clean.

In a mouthful, I decided that I was going to like this restaurant and that this would be a good meal. Exactly what an amuse bouche should do.


The starters were also wonderful. We had Streaky Bay Scallops with sweet corn puree, black vinegar and crispy shallots ($23.5). The scallop, pan-fried with sweet corn mustard, was dressed with the finest green tips and served with chinese vinegar wine in a seashell. What a great idea! It was an inventive take on something between a Western pan-fried scallop and a Chinese fried with garlic snow peas scallop. I loved the scallop balanced with the creamy slightly spicy paste and the clear comforting Chinese vinegar.


We also had a Steamed Tiger Prawn Rice Noodle Roll, Chinese Wine, Ginger Soy and Spring Onion ($22.5). This was good but it reminded me of the first sin of not-too-good fusion food; which is that it tastes plain Asian. It did though, remind me that it was occasionally nice, when you're cooking a Western dinner party, to throw in a surprisingly Chinese dish.

The starter that we didn't get to try though, was the Goat's Cheese and Marscapone Tortelli with Grilled Figs, Sticky Mustard dressing and Flower Salad ($21.5). It sounds fantastic so if anyone should be lucky enough to have tried it, please let me know how it went!


Our mains where the Pan-Fried Local Bream with Seared Scallop, Cauliflower cream, Sterling caviar, Chive oil and Jerusalem Artichokes ($40.5). I normally don't like Bream because it's a thin, somewhat hard and flaky meat but I love the idea of pairing it with a fleshy roe (ikura would appeal to me more than caviar) and creamy artichokes.


The other main was a coconut grilled ocean trout, asian gazpachi, fennel, mint and avacado salad with creme fraiche ($39.5). Probably the best trout, if not the best fish, I've eaten in a year! Although suspiciously like a salmon..... hmmm.... the trout was perfectly half cooked with an orangey smooth center, it was warm and moist and contrasted well with the shaved cucumber, mint and herbs and the smooth avocado. The ice cream-like scoop of sour minty creme fraiche was also a great touch. I must admit, I was told to get this dish by a very discerning friend and when I read the whole description, I was a bit hesistant, not liking the sound of trout and coconut but boy, it was sublime! I don't like repeating pictures but I wanted to show you how the flesh of the trout was just perfectly done.



It was the shooter and main, I think, that made me decide (and I don't often do this, you can ask my brother, I own only a very selective and I think, very applicable, small number of cookbooks) to buy Teage's book. I really felt these were recipes that I would enjoy cooking and that people would enjoy eating. It's food that is creative and challenging, yet accessible and appetising.



We also had a dessert tasting plate ($42.50)of his signature Apple and Green Chilli Sorbet Stack with Blackberry Jam and Apple Chips ($17.50), Swiss Chocolate Tart with Poached Pineapple and Rosemary Ice Cream ($19.50)which was a clever concoction of bitter chocolate jelly on a filo pastry base with stripes of mascarpone, rosemary-tinted cream and Smashed Meringue Salad with summer fruits and Mango Ripple Ice Cream ($19.50) which was a stacked ring of diced pavlova with chilled fruit and thin layers of sponge. Apologies for the simplistic photographs, I was in a hurry to rush to my next post-lunch meeting.


For those who have the hunger but not the budget for Ezard, Teage also has a cafe called Gingerboy that opened just in October last year at 27 Crossley Street, Melbourne 3000.

Ezard
187 Flinders Lane
Melbourne 3000
Tel: 03 96396811
Opened for lunch Monday to Friday, dinner Monday to Saturday

Ambience: 2.5/5
Service: 2.5/5
Food: 5/5
Location: 5/5

Australia Day 4: Melbourne Victoria Market

After my quick stop in Sydney, I got back on the plane and flew to Melbourne, heaving a sigh of relief as I would get to stay much longer on this leg of the trip. Every time I go to Melbourne, I like it more and more.

While Sydney is more commercial and probably a bigger and more exciting city, Melbourne has more cultural awareness and couture consciousness. That is to say, I have found it extremely hard, to ever find a boutique chocolate shop in Sydney. I've scouted down a few and they are either horrendously cheesy or just crude in their technique. Melbourne though, has quite a few. The same goes for unique specialty shops, butcheries, bakeries and single-origin produce. I think perhaps it has something to do with the slightly more laid-back pace and homeliness of Melbourne that these very local yet particular tastes have developed. Or maybe the particular tastes come from the strong influence of Italian, Lebanese and Vietnamese populations (even though that is present in Sydney as well).

I love that Melbourne still has a tram and that different parts of Melbourne are extremely distinct; I've have spent many happy mornings in St Kilda, at Carlton in Brunetti, eating Bluebird pies at the MCG and trying on local designerwear in Prahran. More than that all of that, I love, of course, that Melbourne is the true home of Australian fashion, especially street fashion shopping and that the traffic and livability of the city is quite easily superior to Sydney.


I also love Melbourne because of this wonderful institution, the Queen Victoria Market, or Vic Mart, as it is sometimes referred to as. This is a large open-air market that runs on most days of the week, with sections that sell odd knick knacks, sections for fresh fruit, meats, jams, vegetables, souvenirs and the like. The fresh foods section is a veritable smorgasbord of fresh Aussie produce and I could walk up and down the long aisles of varied fruits and vegetable on display for the entire day. Even if I'm in town for short period of time, I try to swing by, if even for an hour over lunch. It's a great place to pick up some fresh foods, although you'll always get tempted by the fruit seller offering mangoes for a dollar, five dollars for the crate. If you go around 3pm or closing time, it's food galore, with peas, grapes, anything and everything for three dollars or whatever price can be squeezed out of you. If I were a student, I'd be here after class everyday.


My cousin actually does live near here and I'm entirely envious. The day I was there, I tried to propel myself quickly through the fresh fruit sections, lest I buy something I couldn't carry away and through the non-perishables section, which is a great one if you are looking for some souvenirs or woolly items, like Uggs by the dozens or some other item, maybe rabbit-fur lined indoor moccasins. Even so, I wound up picking up some big bunches of green grapes (two dollars each) for my service apartment, a bag of fresh pine nuts and two packages of tea from this place below.


Walking around the parameter of Victoria Market is also very fun because there are some great shops that have set up along its boundaries. Amongst some of the great finds are a discount bulk purchase bottle shop, where you can get the cheapest deals for cases of wine (basically the more you buy, the cheaper the per bottle price), a Sohum fragrance stores that makes their own blend of perfumes, soaps and body creams (I love the Mango, Ginger and Lily scent) and they come in these brilliantly chic little glass spray tubes or delicate Demeter-like scent bottles and this shop, called Tea Party, which specialises in traditional and blended loose-leaf teas. Australia has some great tea companies, the more commercial of which are names like T2, (now available in Tangs) this one is a lot more boutique and a bit tea-time-old-fashioned, with their hand-painted tea sets and black and white checkered floor. A great place to buy some gifts and I'd definitely recommend their Ginger and Lemongrass tea.



I don't have a photo of Sohum in Vic Market because they are rather publicity-shy but its the kind of shop that wafts pastel pinks and blues but somehow in a girly but sophisticated way. If you don't know what I mean, their display card has a big poofy old-fashioned Monroe-eque powder puff, with the red cursive lettering 'Sohum' on a baby blue background and their scent labels come in ten different shades starting from light yellow, to cream, lily orange, light and dark pink to pale green. I Always stop here. This is a quick snap of another location, their Chapel Street store.

Australia Day 3: Sydney, BBQ and Babes

This is my newborn niece, Emily. She has the prettiest grey eyes.

After work and the rushed drive back to the city, I washed up in the hotel quickly, then rushed out and caught a ride with my cousin back to his home north of Sydney for dinner. His wife, together with my aunt and uncle, had graciously invited me to a barbeque at their house, so that I could meet my newborn niece.


I'd never been to D and K's house before and was charmed by the wooded street and the lovely one-storey house with its spacious rooms and warm, cosy atmosphere. Emily's room in particular, was just a sweet bubble of freshly bathed baby smell, woven cot baskets and pastel terry linen.


These are my two shaven cousins, doing something quintessentially Australian, slaving over the bbq for our dinner, which was a big spread of marinated meats and seafood. Auntie E had picked up the succulent beef and lamb after work and made a stir fry vegetable to bring over. It was so nice, after being on the road, to be able to be in a home and have a regular family dinner. Before I left, I even got to watch Emily have her bath! All in all, a long but a really good day.

Australia Day 2: Sydney and Bacio

I didn't spend long in Sydney as I was just in town for a conference and an asset tour. There is one place in Sydney that I just Have to go back to though, even when I haven't the time. Thankfully, it's in a very central part of Sydney, so it's entirely possible to pop by between some hectic meetings.



This place is Bacio, a great little coffee stall in the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) run by an Italian family. They make the most mouth-watering flat whites and since I was in Australia, I just couldn't resist, despite running a slight sore throat, a coffee everyday, twice a day... and some good old banana bread and vanilla slices.



I would have loved to spend even another day in the city and I wanted to go to Sydney's neat fish market and to the fantastic Japanese counter restaurant Sushi-e but I could only manage to squeeze in a drink with a friend at bar at the Establishment Hotel, as I had to be awake very early the next morning. The Estblishment Hotel, pictured below, is sited right in the CDB and houses a aching-hip-and-overpaid type open space bar on the first floor, Sushi-e, probably my favourite Japanese place in Sydney on the second floor and a posh private dining space called Est. If you're ever in town, Sushi-e is not cheap but it's worth it and you need to try the Morton Bay Bug handroll. Good enough to start a revolution!

Australia Day One: Perth, Zafferano at The Old Swan Brewery

What comes to your mind when you think about Perth? If you're like most Singaporeans, you probably think it's a pretty nice place, at least, judging by the number of Singaporeans that have actually decamped to Perth. There's the old joke about Singapore buying submarines that would tow our little island to Perth, should our friendly neighbours ever launch a military attack.

Maybe you think it's a sleepy town, maybe you think of Margaret River and great vineyards. I think all that too but given the number of times I've actually gone down to Perth for work in the last two years, I've begun to develop a real appreciation for the place.

Firstly, I love that Perth has space. I love that unlike Sydney and Melbourne, you can step out in Perth and feel an outback in Australia, rather than just another city in the world. I don't know that I'd even call Perth a city, it has a city center no doubt but the pace, the lifestyle, the infrastructure...Perth is like a village, surrounded by a dessert of eucalyptus trees, mines, hills and shoals. That's what I love about it. I maybe don't love that everything closes at 5pm but I love that you have time for an outdoor life, I love the horizon of Perth and I love the smell of Perth. I love that you have to drive everywhere, something that almost forces personal space and more importantly, personal time.

The best thing about Perth and I'm not being faecetious, is the drive in from the dinky airport. It always makes me smile that such a blessed and rich natural resource environment should have this little flatted airport but what's even better is you don't really come out on a highway with bright lights and glitzy show posters but rather, you come out onto a windy road with miles of track land, with the occasional Nufarm or Coles warehouse. Heck they still have Gull petrol stations here and there isn't even a SEEK billboard in sight.

I love that you see and smell the peeling barks of the eucalyptus on the road and that the sky is so blue, so bright, bright blue and the grassy hills are green in patches, browning in patches. It makes my heart ache to remember California but I'm so glad of the memory.

Maybe Perth is a village but it's an increasingly hip one. The affluence in Perth and speed of development is obvious from the mushrooming surburban sprawl, as well as the increasingly fun to be had not just in Subiaco but right downtown. When I first started to go there, I was of the impression that the downtown area had four streets that traversed a square and one of those streets was Chinatown. While it's still a bit like that, I've discovered some cute areas for those who are willing to walk a little bit. My favourite spot in the city is the King Street Cafe, it's a gorgeous Californian-style bistro that serves a great breakfast in the morning. Honeyed thick french toast, yummy banana muffins, cuppucino and ricotta blinis are served in this high-ceilinged, old french beamed floor with great big bay windows overlooking the street. They bake their bread fresh everyday and sell it to the city's best restaurants. This is a brilliant place for a breakfast meeting or to sit and contemplate, watching the brown sueded moccasin passerbys in their sunnies and upturned polo shirt collars.

Further up the street, there's a gorgeous concept Country Road store, two floors of glass and steel fashion design chic, as well as a bunch of independant labels all along the same street. Surprisingly, the most wonderful designer sales that I've been to were in Perth. These are usually really random affairs, make-shift clothing rooms concentrated in the empty lots between buildings downtown- I've picked up some items from budding young Australian designers including a gorgeous soft long brown dress with a multi-tiered flapper skirt that had a cascading pattern of small gold sequins.

I digress. It's hard not to when talking about exciting fashion. On this trip, I flew in after an easy 4 hour flight from Singapore and was meant to meet L. for dinner. There aren't that many places open in Perth on a Sunday night and this was one of them. It's a pretty frou frou restaurant as things go and I have to say upfront that the food is blunt but hearty. It's not exactly the kind of technique and deftness that I'd expect at these prices but it's good, fresh, hearty catch from the river I guess.


The scenary around this place is beautiful, it sits right on the edge of the river and I actually feel quite kindly toward the restaurant because I've been here many times (didn't tell Lee that though!). Many years ago, I met up with an oil and gas analyst before a week-long tour of oil and gas companies in Australia and since there was nothing to do in Perth (again after 5pm, probably on a Sunday night) and we didn't know each other from Adam, we just walked and talked while walking from our hotel toward the river. Till today, I remember what we discussed and when I think of the dynamics of the Australian resources market, I think it started there, seeping into my sub-consciousness, through osmosis with the beautifully crisp cold air, the falling dusk and the slow bends of the Swan River. After a good hour and a half, we wound up at this restaurant and decided to sit for dinner.



Poor Lee also had to bear with my constant photo taking over the dinner. I hadn't yet discovered all the functions on my new digital camera so I was taking multiple shots of each dish. Very distracting. Anyway, we ordered quite a few starters, the scallops with portabello mushrooms, the oysters, the chips (always the chips eh) and the tomatoes and mozzerella. The mains at this place though, are so large that one doesn't really have to order starters and while they are good, the only thing that struck me as really unique, were the way they cut the chips, about half a potato each, I should think!


The two mains we had were the lobster platter and the fillet steak. The former was much better than the latter, especially as I felt good steak shouldn't be drowned in sauce but cooked full of its own juices. Both were very heavy, so heavy that there was no question of dessert afterward. At night, they light up the interior of the restaurant and while its a safe and romantic place to eat, I don't know that I'd call it food couture. It's the Banana Republic or maybe even the JCrew of cuisine. If you're up for a bit more travel, I actually prefer some eateries in the town center or west in Subiaco but given the shortage of good places to eat at night in Perth, this is already one of the town's best and definitely a pricey place to dine.

Zafferano at the Old Swan Brewery
173 Mounts Bay Road, CRAWLEY WA
Tel:9321 2588
Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner
Dinner on the weeknends