The Catch Up - Fall menu at Nieuw Amsterdam, Le Petite Prince & House of Crabs

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest at the following venues 

You may notice these days, that there’s quite a bit of a gap from when I have a dining experience on Instagram, versus when it’s up on the blog. 

It’s definitely hard to stay on top of everything, between flat out days at work which leave me not wanting to be in front of a computer, nights out and then making sure I’m in bed by 10:30 so I can go to the gym (prioritising fitness, whoo!) and well…blogging is a bit of work!

So here’s a little round up of a couple of places that I’ve been wanting to write about, just to help expedite the process a little!

NIEUW AMSTERDAM

106-112 Hardware Lane

Melbourne 3000 

 

A couple months back, I popped into Nieuw Amsterdam to check out their new (and now obviously running) autumn menu, matched with cocktails. 

I’m always amazed at how creative with cocktails the guys at Nieuw Amsterdam get. One of my favourites from the evening? Peas-go-sour. A play on a ‘pisco sour’ (see what they did there?) with pisco, applejack, lime, snow pea syrup and habanero shrub. What. It’s fresh, it’s springy, it’s almost healthy…right? 

Highlights included the deep fried pickles we munched on prior to our meal; which are basically the perfect bar snack. How come these aren’t everywhere? Golden, crunchy, piping hot and just yum. 

Southern fried quail with romesco sauce and pickled grapes are also pure fried perfection. I absolutely love that these meaty mouthfuls are only dedicated battered, and the kick in the seasoning. There’s a lovely heat, and each mouthful is still so juicy. Happy sighs. 

Curry spiced lamb ribs with cauliflower, eggplant, coriander and lime are also a favourite of mine, again amazingly meaty and no-hands-barred with all the flavour. Love the charred outsides and still pink insides.

It’s hearty, hearty food, it’s been a little bit of a warm autumn sure, but once we swing full on into the colder weather…? Oh goodness. Perfection.

LE PETIT PRINCE

1A Mercer Road

Armadale

 

Armadale and Toorak can sometimes be a bit pretentious, and hoity-toity sometimes. But I love being surprised and instead of finding overly healthy dishes, or a little bit too intricate plating, just great big hearty dishes, that still look great.

Le Petit Prince did just that for me. Beautiful coffees, in sky blue cups, and a pumpkin dish with roast pumpkin two ways which I just want to eat all my life. I don’t think you guys fully understand just how much I love pumpkin. Also helps this dish is loaded with haloumi as well, sprinkled with a bit of dukkah. It’s wholesome but not heavy comfort food that I love eating while sitting outside in the breezy weather. 

Brad’s mixed mushrooms, Spanish morcilla, poached eggs, smashed avocado and feta is also a surprisingly generous feed, and incorporates all my favourite things…what’s not to love?

HOUSE OF CRABS

34 Inkerman Street

St Kilda

 

When I hear there’s a new restaurant open beneath the slick and very cool Newmarket hotel…well…House of Crabs isn’t exactly what I expected when I walk in.

You’re instantly transported to the quirky corner of the south, with funky lamp shades, fringe and red…lots of red. It feels a little burlesque bar, but with a band playing Cotton Eye Joe instead. It’s kind of hilarious and the atmosphere is instantly jovial and bright. 

The cocktails are hard, but delicious; yes there’s a mini bottle of tequila that’s pouring out into my glass. 

But it’s really all about sitting down at the butcher paper lined tables, donning some blue plastic gloves…and getting intimate with some crustaceans. 

Mussels, prawns, and a selection of crabs are available to have as a boil, with your choice of sauce. The Singapore sauce is one of my favourites, totally reminds of chilli crabs back in Singapore, and I can’t remember which, either the Cajun or the Creole has some beautiful curry-ish flavours going on. 

It’s a bit of work, but it’s a whole lot of fun and always a great icebreaker. Good way to vet out a potential date too (if they ain’t peeling prawns or getting into crabs, they’re a party popper and a no goer I’d say).

The stuff on the side is also really good too, lobster fries with bacon, cheese and lobster gravy are terribly moreish and I love the crunchy buttermilk chicken bits with cajun sauce. 

Also highly recommend the soft shell crab tacos with jalapeño mayo and apples, beautifully crisp and a nice kick of heat. 

Yukie's Snack Bar

Disclosure: I dined as a guest of the restaurant

I have this tendency to fall in and out of love with cocktail drinking, or perhaps it’s bars in general. While I love going out to eat, I’m almost sometimes more content to prepare myself a gin and tonic at home, or indulge in a bottle of wine with something light and cheerful to nibble on. Too often cocktail and bar snacks are salty, deep fried and fatty. Which isn’t a bad thing in itself…maybe just not too often.

Yukie’s Snack Bar though, has got me wondering if perhaps I should get myself out of the house a bit more. 

Tucked out the back of Mr Miyagi in Windsor, his mistress Yukie is entertaining the guests when there’s not quite enough tables, or they just want to stop in for a quick little nibble and tipple. 

The cocktail selection is varied, from Hello Kitty sour’s (lychee, citrus, and egg white) in curvaceous glasses with playful garnishes, to one of my personal favourites, Yukie’s green juice (cucumber, lime, sake and vermouth)…it’s almost kind of healthy! 

On a whole though, the cocktails were well balanced and not too sweet (a pet peeve of mine). 

She’s not just all about the booze though, Yukie’s got some great snacks to go with your cocktails; all with a bit of an Asian flair of course.

The rice paper rolls, soba with master stock poached chicken and lap cheong hoi sin and Japanese grilled eggplant with miso glaze, cucumber and peppery leaves are plump and generously filled. Fresh and light on the palate too, perfect if you’re just looking for something little to keep you going until dinner. I particularly enjoyed the grilled eggplant rice paper roll; but I love miso, so can’t help be a little biased!

Himalayan salt slab cured kingfish, with quinoa, green chilli, coriander, fennel, apple and lemon is everything. I loved the firmness of the fish, and how refreshing the dish was, the quinoa was slightly crunchy, fun little texture pops and the chilli just the right amount of zing. 

The two wagyu dishes, wagyu brisket betel leaf with peanut satay, red chilli, coconut and lime and the wagyu tartare pipe with peanut butter, Korean miso, capers, sesame and spring roll pastry were both good, but not my favourite dishes of the night. I found the pipe a little on the dry side, but I loved the flavours. 

However, I adored the flavours in the apple wood smoked salmon tostadita, the contrast between the crunchy tostadita and the meaty salmon was lovely, along with the smack of flavour that came with it. 

Top tip, it’s not on Yukie’s bar menu, but Mr Miyagi will sneak you some nori tacos if you ask sweetly. I raved on about them last time and god damn. They’re literally still one of my favourite things to eat in Melbourne. Crunchy, gorgeous thick cuts of grilled lush salmon belly, creamy Kewpie and chilli oil (my favourite combo ever). Do it. Don’t think too much about it. 

Yukie's Snack Bar

99 Chapel Street

Windsor

 

Panama Dining Room

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant

Now that Brad and I have been dating for nearly 6 years (somehow), it’s been interesting seeing how his tolerance for spending money on food changes, and the type of food he prefers. 

Modern Australian has become a bit of a ‘touch and go’ situation with Brad in the last couple of years, as there’s been some places that have been hits, where the food portions are generous and the flavours big and hearty, and some places where I can certainly appreciate the work that goes into the food, but it’s a little too subtle in flavour, a little too sweet, or maybe a little too pretentious, then I get a grumbly old man in the car ride home. 

Fortunately with Panama Dining Room, who recently changed owners and got a new chef in, the latter wasn’t the case. I had previously visited with a girlfriend, and although we had enjoyed our meal, I do recall it being a bit heavy handed with flavours and richness, so was looking forward to seeing how the menu had progressed.

On a Friday evening in summer, after climbing the three flights of stairs up, the dining room is inviting, softly lit with fading light through it’s gorgeously generous arched windows. Get window seats if you can, it’s just lovely. 

The cocktail menu thoroughly impresses me, not too much swirly girly stuff, but instead simple, yet unexpected and delicious sounding combinations for the educated drinker. Although I was going to just grab a classic gin and tonic, when I come across the Panama G’N’T, with Melbourne Gin Company gin, Aperol, plum and lime syrup, orange bitters and soda, I just have to give it a go. It’s a weird way to describe it perhaps, but it was kind of like a ‘jammy’ gin and tonic for me. I love the richness of the plum syrup, with a hint of citrus without being too zesty. 

Brad’s boring and just gets a gin and tonic. 

Beautifully fluffy house made bread is impossible to resist, especially with the cultured butter on the side that’s given a generous sprinkle of salt. Can everyone please serve up their salt like this more often? It is decadent salty heaven. 

In good form as always, we order too much. Starting with a couple of nibbles to share, the fried school prawns with fermented chilli mayo and lime are the perfect finger food. I feel like school prawns were the hip thing on menus a few years back but aren’t so prevalent these days…bring them back I say! I loved how crunchy, yet big and meaty these nibbles were, the serving is generous, but Brad and I ploughed through them in no time at all. 

Heirloom carrots, with cured yolk and soft brown butter are sweet honey and so delightful. I just want a whole plate of this as a salad. 

The grilled saganaki with honey, oregano and pistachio is also a delicious play on salty and sweet. The salty savoury goodness of the saganaki is paired beautifully with honey and sweet raisins, and again counterbalanced by the pistachios, which add a nice bit of crunch as well. 

Honestly, by the time I finished the three entrees, I was feeling pretty full; so little tip, perhaps just order two entrees to share if you’re both planning to have mains…and dessert?

I ordered the pork belly with apple, boudin noir, cabbage and kale, which perhaps wasn’t so smart on my half, because the portion of pork belly was absolutely huge, a real solid slice! The skin was lovely and crunchy, but I found the meat just a little bit on the dry side for my liking. The veggies on the side had quite a sharp dressing on them, which was really good for cutting through the richness of the pork belly, balancing it all out. 

Brad’s pappardelle with mushrooms, taleggio, brioche was so pretty, complete with a couple of edible flowers on top. This was a simple looking pasta dish, but it was very rich and filling, I particularly enjoyed the toasted brioche crumbs tossed over the top. 

If you want something on the side, ditch the diet and get the potatoes roasted in duck fat, rosemary and garlic. Oh lordy, these are delightful, perfectly done so they aren’t mushy but are soft and fluffy. Also duck fat. 

Although I very nearly declined dessert, when I was promised that the chocolate dessert was actually quite light and refreshing, and not that big, I just couldn’t resist. 

The chocolate with roast hazelnut crumble and caramel was exactly as promised, with fine biscuit sheets propped up on a bit of chocolate ganache or mousse, and a bit of ice-cream on the side (which just fits through the cracks anyway). I absolutely love that this is quite a light dessert, as it is a good compliment after an otherwise very filling meal, but that it is also a creative take on a chocolate dessert. 

I can’t decide if it’s a good or bad thing that Panama is three floors up. On the one hand, you at least get to work up a bit of an appetite, on the other side, it gets a bit dangerous when all you want to do when you leave is roll down the stairs at the end of the meal! 

I was absolutely stuffed, and delighted, by the end of our meal. I love the change of direction in menu that Panama Dining Room has now taken, and it also looks like that the menu changes quite frequently, in less than a month some of the items I had have already changed (or at least according to the website). 

Good food, good atmosphere, would absolutely recommend and look forward to coming back; it’d be the perfect spot for a girly catch up!

Panama Dining Room

Level 3/231 Smith Street

Fitzroy