I was perversely excited when I heard that KFC were releasing their Double Down burger today. Universally panned by nutrition and health experts for its ridiculously high kilojoule and sodium content, nevertheless I could not resist the sweet siren song of the Colonel. Thus, my like-minded colleague and I decided that [...]]]>

Photo by Ainsley

I was perversely excited when I heard that KFC were releasing their Double Down burger today. Universally panned by nutrition and health experts for its ridiculously high kilojoule and sodium content, nevertheless I could not resist the sweet siren song of the Colonel. Thus, my like-minded colleague and I decided that we just had to have one for lunch!

Known in the States as the Double Down, the term “burger” is a falsehood, as there are actually no buns. Instead, two chicken fillets are filled with two slices of cheese, two rashes of bacon and smothered in special BBQ sauce. Double down baby!

We approached the Bourke Street KFC with the giddy anticipation of a red carpet premiere. There was a long line, and we wondered whether everyone was there for The Double as well. We ordered, got our bounty and eagerly raced back to the office.

The testosterone-fuelled packaging included the slogan “It’s Mantime!” as well as the Mars symbol. Gripping the spot where it usefully said “Rip here to unleash him”, I did indeed rip to unveil the BDDB (Big Double Dirty
Bird)

Biting into the “burger”, it was calorific heaven! But then again, it had been artificially engineered to be. The fillets were much like you would get in their chicken fillet burgers. The plastic cheese was shiny and melty. And the sauce was of the variety that you would happily drink a bucket of. I did not experience any of the overt oiliness or saltiness that some others have written about, though I’m sure that I’m definitely getting my money’s worth in these two things. I polished it off rapidly, then chased it down with a Pepsi for good measure.

Was proud of the fact that I had KFC a) whilst at work and b) not hung over. Now excuse me whilst I go have a shower.

When it comes to cuisines in Coburg, what readily springs to your mind, dear reader?  Lebanese?  Check.  Turkish?  Tick.  Kebab joints?  Present.  Shanghainese?  Err, say what?  However, strange as it may be, a little place called [...]]]> 3/51 Waterfield Street, Coburg
Phone (03) 9354 0294
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When it comes to cuisines in Coburg, what readily springs to your mind, dear reader?  Lebanese?  Check.  Turkish?  Tick.  Kebab joints?  Present.  Shanghainese?  Err, say what?  However, strange as it may be, a little place called Wang Wang Dumpling is serving up magnificent Shanghainese fare in an otherwise Arabic culinary zone.  Located in Coburg central, next to the very fine Al Alamy Lebanese grocer/cafe, look out for the sunny, smiley logo of this cheap and cheerful eatery.

A plate of fried Shanghainese vegetarian noodles kicked off proceedings.  The handmade noodles were very tasty – springy and soft.  They were accompanied by cloud ear and button mushrooms, carrots and bok choy.  The dish had great wok hei and went down a treat.

Wang Wang’s house made chilli oil adds a fiery kick to any dish.  The chilli was seriously good, so much so that mum asked to buy some after our meal!

The house specialty of Shanghai dumplings come with a variety of fillings.  We ordered both the pork and vegetarian pot sticker dumplings.  Wang Wang’s version is smaller than  other Shanghainese paces, but they were damn tasty!  The pork dumplings were succulent, with a perfect casing that was not too gluggy.  On a previous visit, I’ve also tried the steamed pork dumplings and they were very good as well.

The vego dumplings had a tasty filling consisting (possibly) of mushroom, chive, tofu, carrot, and onion.

More noodles, and this time we sampled the soup version of their Tan Tan Noodles.  Topped with chopped peanuts and pork mince, the noodles swam in a spicy chilli oil broth.  So spicy, yet tasty!

Another noodle dish we tried was a very tasty pork and preserved vegetable soup noodle. It had long shards of bamboo shoot, and bobbed with little green soy beans.

A plate of fried taro cakes finished off our meal.  They were crispy and crunchy, not too oily and filled with a deliciously sweet yam paste.

I can’t wait to go back and try their other dishes, like their fried chicken and Shanghainese cold dishes, some of which are on display at the front of the restaurant.  The prices are also ridiculously cheap; all of the above cost less than $50!!  So hop on the number 19 tram up Sydney Road, or take the train to Coburg station.  Wang Wang is not just a displaced Chinese restaurant.  The food is seriously good enough to warrant a trip up north.

OK, so I read that Duck Duck Goose in QV was doing a Kyushu style ramen in the white side of the restaurant (drool).  Furthermore, it boosted of a stock that’s been cooked for 16 [...]]]> 31-37 Artemis Lane QV, Melbourne
Phone 03 9040 2000
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OK, so I read that Duck Duck Goose in QV was doing a Kyushu style ramen in the white side of the restaurant (drool).  Furthermore, it boosted of a stock that’s been cooked for 16 hours (double drool).  So naturally I had to go check it out immediately.

DDG has always been a bit of a hit and miss for me.  They do a really tasty and great value teriyaki salmon with rice (which Mellie loves), and pretty good fried won tons.  However, DDG lacks direction in the food for mine, adopting a mish-mash pan-Asian style that crosses from Hong Kong to Malaysia before detouring to Vietnam and Japan.  The result is that not all of it works; a jack-of-all-trades means you’re a master of none.

So it was with the ramen ($18).  It arrived with all the requisite components of Kyushu (or Hakata) ramen: a white broth, whitish charshu, thin yellow noodles, spring onions, and bean sprouts.  However, alarm bells sounded when looking at the thinness of the broth and the lack of visible fat.

One sip confirm my suspicions.  The broth had an OK not-too-porky taste, but was far too weak, bland and watery, with no real depth of flavour that a broth that’s been cooking for 16 hours ought to have.  Strange.  If they had meant for the customer to season the broth themselves, then where were the traditional accompaniments for Hakata ramen, such as crushed garlic, beni shoga (pickled ginger) and spicy pickled mustard greens (karashi takana)?

Which brings me to the noodles.  They were way overcooked and were gluggy and doughy.  They were edible but not much more than that.

All of this is a shame because the charshu is actually very very tasty.  In fact, I would rank it as one of the best charshu’s in Melbourne.  You get a generous amount, and they were sliced perfectly with just the right amount of fat.  They literally just melted in your mouth.  Such a shame that the rest of the dish was not up to scratch.

I really want to like DDG.  They have a very interesting concept, the restaurant looks great and they have very flexible hours.  However, I wish they would not try to be a jack-of-all trades as, for something like ramen, it is a fatal mistake as great noodles take specialised dedication to achieve a truly great flavour.