St Katherine's

Having brunch at 3pm is a new record for me. I suppose when it comes to making last minute bookings at hyped up places such as St Katherine’s, such exceptions are to be accommodated.

So 48hours after a hasty booking made sometime in the afternoon of last Friday, J and I turned up at George Calombaris and Shane Delia’s new addition to the ever-expanding culinary empire that is the Press Club Group for a quick catch up on a lazy post-down pour Sunday afternoon.

After reading many mixed reviews about this new haunt in leafy suburbs of Kew, I decided to embrace the dishes with an open mind and determined not to be swayed by any pre-conceived biases.

Upon arrival, we were promptly seated at a table towards the back of the restaurant, the interior was glowing with warmth that seemed to be coming from the beige walls which was a welcoming sight especially given the miserable weather that Melbourne is incapable of shaking off this winter. Having lunch a bit past 3pm, meant that I had a good deal of time to menu-stalk before even leaving the house and my mind was set upon a few things before I even sat down. We soon decided on a few savoury dishes to start off with and later determine whether we would have enough room for dessert (psshtt, of course there is always room for dessert)

The first dish arrived a mere 5 minutes after our orders were taken when I haven’t even started to suss out the latest developments of J’s numerous romantic prospects.

Turkish Lamb Dumplings, garlic yoghurt, sumac and dried mint

The Turkish Lamb dumplings ($18.00) came neatly arranged upon a bed of garlic infused yogurt, covered in generous amounts of sumac and dried mint. The flavours instantly unfolded within my mouth the richness of the dough covered lamb morsels went so well with the sharp acidic taste of the yogurt. Despite all these dominant flavours, a mild hint of olive oil was always present and it seemed to be the ingredient that bound all elements together. The texture of the dough very much reminded me of the texture of a steamed dumpling 

The daily bread was next to arrive and we soon discovered the best way to enjoy it was to mop up the dumpling plate with it ;) mmm carbs..

At this stage we were almost through with our dumplings and bread and I had managed to have J spill some juicy goss regarding the many dates he is juggling between (gees, life is hard for some people isn’t it?) and we were keen for something different to arrive and surprise our palate. We watched as plates of food were carried past our table to be served at neighbouring ones before this was finally placed on ours.

 Chips with tarama

Ever since I experienced the epicness that is chips and garlic aioli from Richmond Hill Café and Larder, I haven’t been able to find anything that accompanies fried potato chips better than that light, fluffy, garlicy emulsion. Until now. The tarama that came with the crisp golden chips was something to rival the RHCL aioli, with its ability to be light and flavoursome all in one go.

Snack Burgers from the grill (Chicken on the left, Fish on the right)

These mini bite-size morsels of goodness were worth every cent as the combination of the grilled chicken and mayo certainly did more than compensate for its tiny portion.

 Pide with lebanese lamb sausage, candied onions, vine tomatoes and thyme

The pide was also full of flavor but the lack of capacity in my stomach by this stage meant that I was unable to fully appreciate its goodness.

Now as mentioned earlier, no matter how full I am I will always have extra belly space for the sweet endings to any meal. 

Whippy Icecream, salted caramel, brownies, pomegranate and chocolate pomegranate sauce

I was very much looking forward to my dessert, as the title sounded very enticing. Upon arrival at our table, the presentation immediately reminded me of the late night snacks my house mate and I used to make, with scoops of icecream, one chocolate brownies and Malteasers. The only difference between St Katherine’s version and the one made at home was the hefty price tag ($9 for a standard gelati cup's worth) which made Movenpick and Ben & Jerry’s prices fade in comparison. 

The anti-climax was mostly due to the lack of acidity that the pomegranates should have provided and also the fact that salty caramel was anything but salted. Hence the layers of chocolate, icecream and caramel just made the whole dessert overly sweet and heavy.

Given the close proximity of our house to the restaturant I will definitely head to St Katherine’s once again in the near future. As mentioned in their website, the portion sizes are definitely suited for sharing between a group of people (4-6 would be ideal) The casual setting the warm ambience and the ability for carbs to produce happiness makes St Katherine a great place to catch up with friends and family.

So where exactly did June go? Most of it was spent indoors at my work desk slaving away trying to meet every possible EOFY deadline.

Oh yes I have been eating, the weekend outing type of eating and the binge-on-whatever-you-can-fish-from-that-top-draw-on-the-RHS-of-your-work-desk type of eating. 

Here are few of the highlights of the former kind

1. Takumi

B was going overseas for a few weeks so we decided to have a farewell dinner, aka a kind reminder than "I'm heading off to 4 weeks of awesomeness while you slave away in miserable Melbourne" and being excited with my newly acquired entertainment book, I suggested that we check out Takumi and pig out on all you can eat Beef karubi and Ox tongue. 

Although the meat was decent, the dipping sauces were flavour-some, it was not the best all you can eat BBQ experience that I have had, and I must say the entertainment book discount did ease the pain of paying a bit too much for what it's worth. 

2. High Tea at Grand Hyatt

High school friend H's birthday was coming up, and she had organised a lovely afternoon for the girls to have high tea at Grand Hyatt. It was somewhat surprising to realise given the girly girl that I am, I had never been to high tea. 

I planned my outfit for the afternoon well ahead of the day and ensured that I had enough floral skirts and pearl necklaces to please even the queen. 

   Miss S's bow ring...that has since gone MIA after a particularly memorable post-exam clubbing session at alumbra. RIP bow ring :(

Well now that I have been there and done that, I must say it is possible to have too much of a good thing 

Sweetness overload

Pretty macarons that lacked genuine flavour...

The sandwiches we gobbled up before our dessert buffet, the same sandwiches we craved for after 2 rounds of pure sugar over-load

I wished that they had a few savoury options also at hightea, in that perspective, I think the equivalent amount of money would have been better spent on yumcha. oh and get this,

Does not work at high tea :P Please reserve such behaviour for yumcha only. 

3. (actual yumcha) Tai Pan

Miss S and I visited Tai Pan last saturday, after a rather eventful night that saw us returning to my house around 4am earlier that morning.

Har gow is probably the only canto word I know....nomnomnom 

prettiness and yumminess all in one bite-size pastry.

Forget kebabs, yum cha is the best cure for a persistent hangover :D

Oh so true :D

ahaha.