Tender Trap

It's been quite interesting over the years to see how the shopping malls have been changing here. I kind of feel like it's only been recently that they've been pushing to be a lifestyle asset, not just a place to go buy stuff.

I remember one of my visits to Malaysia, how weird it was that my Aunt's would say "Let's go to the mall for dinner". That's never really been the case in Australia, we have our suburbs and rows of shops with restaurants dotted amongst them.

You can however, see the malls quite aggressively trying to change this.

Chadstone was one of the first that I think made a really big move in this direction, by opening that huge supermarket and lifestyle and food section, which naturally came with a stylish collection of eateries.

One of these places is the ever so stylish Tender Trap. Aptly named. I find myself feeling very relaxed and easily sucked into the place.

Gentle natural light, colourful yet not chaotic. I love the stacked up brightly packaged condiments on display and the matador posters hung up on the wall. It's quite warm and intimate, there is a sense of Spain in here.

Ah, I'm looking forward to having plenty of these on my trip to Barcelona in April! Just had one glass of sangria for myself, but was surprisingly strong...or I was just not filled up with enough food when I started drinking it! Not too sweet, even a little dry (which I quite like). Regardless, I found myself feeling quite tipsy half a glass in!

My brother, grandma and I naturally ordered a bunch of tapas to share between us, which works out pretty well as my brother eats like a horse, my grandma eats like a bird and I...I eat like your average person. I guess. Or maybe a bit more. #fatty? So we all get to try as much as we need.

We started with some salt and pepper calamari, with a bit of rocket. And mayo. Mmmm. These were nice, good texture, although I wouldn't have minded it a bit firmer, flavoursome and I loved the presentation. The squiggle of mayonaise on the chopping board is so cute!

Next up was the meatballs with a dash of yoghurt. I found these to be a bit cold when served, would've loved to have them piping hot. Otherwise not too bad, the tomato sauce over them was a bit overpowering but overall, still quite yummy.

I had come to Tender Trap sometime ago with Caryn and at the time, they had a negro paella made with squid ink. Sadly that has been taken off the menu, but I couldn't resist getting a paella anyway. We got a vegetarian one, which came to us a gorgeous golden colour (from the saffron I'm assuming), and adorned with a whole bunch of sweet potato crisps (I think).

Loved this. This came freshly made from the kitchen and was steaming away on our table for ages as we tucked into it, the rice wasn't too soft nor too al dente and it was super tasty. Very addictive, couldn't help but continuously go back for more! My only real complaint was that there were no burnt crispy bits to scrape off the bottom!

My brother decided he was still hungry (I told you he eats like a horse) and we ordered an additional prawns tapas for him. Aesthetically, I didn't like it so much and I think Tim ended up devouring the whole thing, so I didn't even get to try!

And naturally, there always has to be dessert later. The summer berry brulee sounded, waaay too good to pass up! It came with a few candied walnuts on the side, although I don't think they added anything to the dish, maybe a little colour, as they are quite cute. They were exceptionally hard to get through and I would much prefer the Chinese style caramelized walnuts instead. Mmmm.

The brulee itself wasn't too bad though, nicely crystallised top, which easily broke away at a tap. The custard itself was lovely and cool, although maybe a tiny bit more watery(weird word to describe dessert...), than I would like. I generally think I would like it a bit thicker than what it was. There were some berries strewn in the brulee which I think was quite cute and a little bit different, added a nice additional sweetness to the whole thing.

The girls who work here have apparently worked here for a while, my grandma commenting that she was served by the same girls sometime last year when my aunt brought her here as well. And with good reason I think, they are friendly, chatty and incredibly helpful, nothing insincere here!

Overall, an enjoyable meal and I would much rather dine here than at any of the other outlets (currently) at Chadstone, although I really do wish they would bring back the negro paella!

Tender Trap

Shop F107, Chadstone Shopping Centre
Melbourne, 3148