By their own admission, the Bombom at Inkari is sweet, strong and sexy - and I’m certainly not going to argue. This double shot of espresso comes with a sunken layer of deliciously sweet condensed milk, giving one the dilemna of whether to dip your spoon in and extract a clump of milky sweetness, or to stir the whole lot around, making the short black into a kind of short sweet milky brown. Either way, there is absolutely no need for extra sweetness as this lil’ beauty will not only kick you in the pants with the caffeine, but will send you on your merry wee way with the sugar hit. A perfect kick-you-up at any time of the day.

You can read a couple of further reviews about this Latin American restaurant here, here and here.

In case you thought I was somewhat smitten with Japanese restaurants of late, here is an entry that will throw that assumption right out the window (but stay tuned, because there is one more Japanese review coming up shortly ;-)).

The Stork Hotel has been gracing the corner of Elizabeth and Therry Streets since 1852. Back in the day when people rode horses rather than cars, it used to be the last pub on the dusty track to Ballarat, a burgeoning goldmining town.

It now sits rather colourfully on the corner across the road from the Queen Victoria Market. It is part backpackers, part cafe, and wholly old time traditional pub that still sports its fair share of local clientele. And yay - not a taberet machine in sight!

What I do find rather unusual about the Stork is the menu. It straddles traditional pub fare (think parma, burgers and steak), but also ventures into some South American items. It may not be wholly traditional, but it is still interesting to find in a good ol’ Aussie pub.

EG went the chacarero, a traditional Chilean sandwich made with grilled steak, steamed green beans, tomato and mayonnaise. It came in a burger bun with a side serve of crunchy chips cooked in fresh oil (in fact, some of the best chips we’ve eaten in quite some time). The steak was incredibly juicy, spurting out with each massive mouthful.

I went the lomito, another traditional Chilean sandwich of pork and mashed avocado. The loin pork chop had been nicely caramalised on the grill with a generous sprinkle of seasoning. It was perhaps too much pork for my liking, but those who are so inclined would find it absolutely mouthwatering.

I really like the Stork - the corner position across from the market is a great spot to sit in the sun with a brew (or two) and watch the passing parade. It has cheap beer and cheap food (though it won’t win any hats), and is kind of like slipping on a pair of ol’ comfortable duds - you won’t feel uncomfortable in here.

Vegetarians - I advise you avert your eyes just for a moment as I delve into the world of yakiniku, the Japanese art of grilling various cuts of meat for ones’ carniverous pleasure.

I was not familiar with this style of dining, so my more experienced companions chose the smokeless grill at Shoya. You see, one small problem with the traditional style of yakiniku is that you come out of the encounter smelling somewhat like a grease-pit, as it is all about cooking the meat to your liking. The smokeless grill on the other hand solves this quandry - a gas flame cooks the ingredients whilst a vacuum sucks the smelly smoke downwards. Also, it is a fairly healthy style of cooking, as the grill allows the fat to drip clean through.

Shoya itself is perhaps one of the better Japanese restaurants in this town, but unfortunately I think it is let down by a distinct lack of customer service. This is not an uncommon experience it seems (check out Cin’s review and the comments over on Ed’s site). That being said, I love the very dark and very Japanese multi-level/multi-partioned dining space, and the food can really be something quite special. The service - well, there may be a few mistakes, a few misordered items, and a lack of wanting to rectify the issue. Although on this particular night they sent out a less than acceptable dessert (ten minutes after everyone elses dessert arrived), with the promise that a perfect one was on it’s way, and it arrived about twenty minutes after that. It was bloody good, but in the end we had to wait over forty minutes for it.

Anyway, back to the meatfest.

The yakiniku menu is quite extensive. If you’ve got a big stomach you can go the “Gouka Tokusen” special set menu for $55.00, which apparently will have you crying for mercy at the end. Alternatively you can pick a la carte, ordering several types of sliced raw meat, fish or vegetables. You can then dip the cooked ingredients into a number of sauces which vary from the sweet, the salty, to the hot.

The first of the meats to arrive was the 500 day grain fed Wagyu rosu - six slices of highly marbled beef. This didn’t take too long to cook, and after a suitable saliva-inducting sear had been acheived on the outside, we whipped it off before over-cooking. It was a total melt in the mouth experience.

Tsura hoho niku, or beef cheek on the other hand was a rather interesting cut of meat. Obviously the cheek of a cow gets a lot of work chewing cud all day, so it is a very flavoursome and muscular cut. Obviously this would make slow cooking a preferable method of preparation, allowing the gelatinous nature of the fibres to tenderise. So it was interesting to have this on the yakiniku menu, especially as the idea is to cook it quickly. That being said, it was an extremely tasty morsel, if somewhat chewier (obviously) than the wagyu.

Negi tan, or ox tongue, was prepared using spring onion and salt. The tongue was almost wafer thin, and didn’t need much cooking at all. Despite the fact that I was eating something rather gross by some peoples standards, I found this to be one of my favourites. The flavour was delicate and it cooked really well on the grill. Mmm…I’d have this one again in a heartbeat.

This is a good photo that shows how the BBQ grill actually works. The vents on the side are responsible for sucking the smoke away, and the fat from the meat falls straight through the grill. The heat is obviously hotter in the middle of the grill, and you can place slower/longer cooking items on the sides.

We also had the kurobuta rosu, which is black hair pork loin. Unfortunately the photo didn’t turn out so great, but the pork tasted bloody good!

The Wagyu soseiji, which was basically just a beef sausage, arrived partially cooked. A quick slice with the knife saw chunks layed on the grill for a final heat up and sear. It came with a side dish of wholegrain mustard, but I felt went so much better with a sidedish of smoky sweet chilli.

It was not all about the meat mind you, and we did have some vegetables dishes. This was just some simple sliced zucchini, onion, carrot and eggplant.

Some salady sides included a seaweed, lettuce and radish salad, or negi wakame salad. The addition of pine kernals added a lovely nuttiness to the saltiness of the seaweed. Delectable.

The mentai potato salad had as totally enraptured. Whilst there was meant to be some spicy cod roe in it (as far as the menu was concerned anyway), we didn’t see it. But we certainly didn’t miss it as this plate of creamy potato rocked. It was garnished with long shreds of daikon and bright green ed
amame.

We finished out meatfest with some onigiri, which frankly is some of the best I’ve had in this town. The rice was still blissfully warm and flecked with big flakes of grilled salmon, or ume (sour plum), okaka (bonito flakes and soy) or mentaiko (spicy cod roe). Made fresh and made to order is the only way to go.

With a couple of glasses of wine and desserts, we came out of the experience at about $60 per person. I think that is great value for a dining experience that is a little out of the ordinary.

Sake Bar Kura is quirky little hidey-hole restaurant located at the end of a derelict laneway (Malthouse) which runs off another lane (Flinders). The industrial/rustic Japanese entrance, complete with sauna-like cladding and kooky sake barrel, seems kind of surprising in the environment. Which I guess is one of the reasons this eatery is quite popular with the white collar lunch brigade.

The lunch set menu ($15) consists of pickled vegetables, entree of the day, grilled or fried fish, miso soup, main dish (13 to choose from) and fruit. I think that $15 is a reasonable price to pay for such a selection, but perhaps it is just a tad over what I would normally spend for lunch on a regular work day (I usually aim in the $6 to $10 bracket).

The venue itself is rather funky. The timber cladding on the outside follows inside to some very rustic (and extremely heavy) tables and bench seats. A certain amount of design has been influenced by Japanese aesthetic, partnering clean lines with natural elements such as a faux slate walls and bamboo featurettes. A little technosavvy device on the table will alert staff when you need them, which I initially thought was rather neat, yet felt reluctant to exercise. Call me old fashioned, but I like the game of catching the waiters eye when they wizz past.

But let’s get down to it - the food. Today the lunch set included pickled zucchini and daikon, a meat ball with braised fennel, and deep fried fish/prawn ball. Of the three, the deep fried fish/prawn ball was probably my favourite, but then that old adage of “deep frying leading to goodness” is never far wrong. Personally, I think the pickled veg could have had more pickle about them - the flavour just vaguely dabbled in sweet and sour.

I chose the Katsudon for my main - a panko crumbed pork fillet served with a demiglass (sic) sauce on cabbage and rice. The pork itself was wonderfully tender and juicy, but what really added interest was the demi-glace. Past experience of katsudon sauce has been a dark brown worcestershire-like brew. But this one was full of the taste of tomato and was very very picquant (vinegary?). It really was quite interesting. I don’t know how traditional it is (and to be perfectly honest, this sauce was far from being demi-glace as I know it), though I have read that the Okayama version of the dish uses this style of sauce.

EG went the attractively plated Sashimi don - slices of fresh salmon, tuna and kingfish with wasabi, ginger and soy on rice. As you can see it was attractively plated (…though I still think you can’t beat the ridiculously cheap sashi don at Don Don), and the fish was wonderfully fresh. The warmth of the rice beneath went to warming the raw fish on top.

To finish, we were given a quarter of an orange. Yup. One quarter. Obviously $15 doesn’t allow for much more than that ;-). Oh, and another puzzling thing. We ordered green tea and were given two western style cups with a green tea bag in it. What the?!? This just didn’t make sense. Once again, call me old fashioned, but what the heck happened to teapots?

So whilst the food was somewhat interesting, I think it misses the mark in some areas. It would do well to foster the location with some more interesting, inventive and value for money food. And teapots. Yeah. That would do it.

The Chelsea Milling Company of Michigan has been milling flour in the same family since the early 1800’s. In the 1930’s, Mabel White Holmes, grandmother of Howdy S. Holmes as quoted above, was inspired to seek a solution after watching a single father make rather indigestable biscuits for his kids. A few years of trial and error, and the first Jiffy baking mix was born. This my friends was the advent of the pre-packaged baking mix in the US, allowing the culinarily deficient to whip up cakes or biscuits, just by adding milk or water.

Jiffy baking mixes are still packaged in the same heritage forty-ounce blue box with the words “Quality and value since 1930″. EG obviously couldn’t resist the pull of nostalgia (he has a penchant for such things), and picked up this pack for a very reasonable and somewhat nostalgically priced $1.95 from the David Jones Food Hall.

This stuff is dead easy to make - all you need to do is add water, stir (but not too much), pour spoonfuls into a hot buttered pan, and voila. Fluffly maple-flavoured American style pancakes. Mmm. And if you’re so inclined, the same mix will make waffles too!

But I did go one lil’ step further by serving them in a short stack, topped with caramelised peaches and a tart natural yoghurt. The benefits of the yoghurt and fruit was possibly (or should that be absolutely) outweighed by the generous glug of maple syrup afterwards. But heck, what is a gourmand-girl to do