Shimbashi Soba

February 7, 2023 

Long-time blogging friend Johanna GGG mentioned that Shimbashi has been one of her eating highlights this summer, and we soon made time to visit the outlet on Rathdowne St. We're not onto anything particularly new - in writing this post I've found decade-old posts about a no-longer-running CBD Shimbashi, and there are currently venues in Northcote and Collingwood as well as Carlton North. (There appear to be Sydney and Brisbane restaurants that also follow the same chef lineage.) They are all proudly gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free, with clear vegetarian and vegan options.

   

Michael was thrilled with the three-chilli-rated Vegan Red Dragon ($28). His soba noodles were suspended in a creamy broth of soy milk, sesame and mushroom, then piled with soy meat, fried tofu skin, mushrooms, bok choy, coriander, shredded chilli and chilli oil.

   

I was curious to try one of the chilled soba dishes, and went for the vegan tempura seiro ($29). This was a chance to focus on the noodles with a simple soy dressing and a little wasabi. Though I thought the tempura looked a little wan, I was very much mistaken: they were hearty pieces with great texture, distinct flavours and a thin batter that stayed crisp right up to the last bite.

There are a couple other vegan mains, several tapas, and a lunch time bento that we've yet to try. The setting is light and cheerful, although the furniture is densely packed and might feel more claustrophobic when busy. Shimbashi Soba isn't quite a cheap eat, but we think the quality easily lives up to the price, and we appreciate their attention to various dietary requirements. I can foresee plenty of reasons why we'd visit their Collingwood, Northcote and Carlton North restaurants again on our own, as a couple, or with a few friends.

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We visited Shimbashi on the recommendation of Green Gourmet Giraffe. Other branches have won praise from The Coeliac Plate, and a past CBD iteration was featured on Sweet & Sour Fork, A Chronicle of Gastronomy, Melbourne gastronome, and Footscray Food Blog (freebie).

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Shimbashi

344 Rathdowne St, Carlton North

8060 6595

lunch special bento; tapas, bento & rice bowls; chilled & warm soba; dessert & extras

https://www.shimbashisobamelbourne.com/

Accessibility: Shimbashi has a flat entry. Furniture is a mixture of high benches and regular height tables, all with hard wooden backs and densely packed. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Coconut burfi

February 5, 2023

   

We had some friends over for a vegan, mostly gluten-free dinner - Michael made spiced chickpeas and stir-fried sweet corn, and served them with rice, roti and pickles. I clicked around for a suitably themed, easy-to-make dessert and hit on this 14-year-old recipe for coconut burfi from Mallika Basu. The original version uses ghee and sweetened condensed milk, but these are easily replaced with vegan alternatives.

The mixture was simple to stir together, it set rapidly in the fridge, and I was pleasantly surprised at how neatly it sliced. I went light on the cardamom, because it smelled strong and I wasn't sure if our guests would enjoy it, but I'll use a lot more next time. I loved the fudgy-chewy texture of these burfi and they were intensely sweet, so I'd recommend cutting them small and allowing their biggest fans to go back for seconds.

Coconut burfi

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Mallika Basu) 

175g desiccated coconut

2 tablespoons ghee or margarine

1 can condensed milk (I used Pandaroo sweetened coconut condensed milk)

1 teaspoon ground cardamom, or to taste

pinch of salt

nuts, to garnish (optional)

Soak the desiccated coconut in just enough hot water to cover it (I forgot to do this!). Line the bottom of a small baking tray with paper.

Melt the ghee/margarine in a saucepan, and add the coconut. Stir the coconut regularly until it's lightly toasted. Stir in the condensed milk, ground cardamom and salt until well mixed. Keep stirring, making sure the mixture doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the pot, until it's dry. (Mine was threatening to burn before it really looked dry, so I stopped there.) Pour the mixture into the baking tray and smooth over the top (I had good results with the back of a tablespoon, lightly sprayed with oil). Refrigerate the slice until firm.

Turn the tray upside down to release it, and slice it into small pieces. Garnish with nuts and an extra sprinkle of ground cardamom.

Za'atar cheese sticks

January 28, 2023

   

Between Christmas and new year we had a day trip to Dandenong with my family, including lunch at AB Bakery. I bought a cheap but large bag of za'atar on my way out and we've been seasoning things with it often. Our za'atar oversupply also brought this bookmarked Ottolenghi recipe for za'atar cheese sticks to the top of my list when I wanted to make a party snack.

The concept is pretty simple, basically a shortcrust pastry with cheese and za'atar in the dough, sliced into strips and sprinkled with a little extra cheese and za'atar. It's crumbly, buttery and salty. I doubled the recipe and it was the right thing to do.

Speaking of doubling, Ottolenghi recommends using two kinds of salt for varied texture. I thought the cheese and za'atar offered plenty of textural variety already, but did sneak some of the oregano flavoured salt we have onto the top.

Za'atar cheese sticks

(slightly adapted from a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe in The Guardian)

125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

3 tablespoons za'atar

80g sharp cheddar cheese, grated

salt and pepper

90g cold butter, diced

1 egg, beaten

extra fancy salt (optional)

In a food processor, mix together the flour, half the za'atar, 70g of the cheese, and some salt and pepper. Drop in the butter and continue to blitz until the mixture forms a dough. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of baking paper and roll it into a rectangle of about 18cm x 14cm x 1cm thick. Transfer the paper and dough together onto a baking tray, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 200°C. Slice the dough into sticks of about 7cm x 1.5cm (I found a pizza cutter handy for this!). Spread the sticks out across the baking paper on the tray; you may need to line a second tray with baking paper to give the cheese sticks enough room. Brush the top of each stick with egg, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and sprinkle with a little fancy salt (if using). Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the sticks are golden and cooked through. As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle them with the remaining za'atar.

Allow the cheese sticks to cool a little before serving.

Crispy caper & slow-roasted tomato pappardelle

 January 23, 2023

   

We've been going back to the Anna Jones book recently, especially when we're short on ideas for a work-night lunch. While she dodges around the whole 'one pot' framing of the book pretty regularly, it's still a good source of relatively simple and reliably delicious meals. This week's choice wasn't especially speedy - you need to roast your tomatoes for 90 minutes - but was otherwise incredibly simple. And the results are pretty compelling: a rich, sweet, hearty pasta with little bursts of caper-y flavour. We'll go back to this again when Melbourne turns wintery, it's a very comforting meal.

Crispy caper & slow-roasted tomato pappardelle

(based on a recipe in Anna Jones' One Pot, Plan, Planet)

2kg mixed cherry tomatoes

1 head of garlic, peeled

1 red chilli, sliced in half lengthways

1 small bunch of oregano

250ml olive oil

6 tablespoons baby capers

500g dried pappardelle

250g ricotta

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Arrange the tomatoes in a couple of baking trays, with the garlic, chilli and chopped oregano. Pour over the oil and generously season with salt and pepper. Stir everything together well and bake for 90 minutes, gently stirring things around a couple of times along the way. 

Take the tomatoes out and let them cool a bit. Scoop the tomatoes out of the oil and blitz half of them in a food processor. The original recipe has you discarding the chilli and garlic here, but we just put them aside and used them as bonus flavours on sandwiches and things later in the week - seems a shame to waste slow roasted garlic. 

Pour about 6 tablespoons of the tomato cooking oil into a frying pan over medium heat. While the oil is heating up, pat dry your capers as best you can with paper towel. Pop them in the hot oil and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally to try to get them crispy (mine are never super crispy, if I'm honest). Remove them from the oil and set aside. 

Cook your pasta as per its directions, drain and return it to the big pot before stirring through the tomatoes, tomato sauce and a drizzle of the leftover oil. You can add water here if the sauce feels a bit dry. 

Serve, topped with capers and ricotta. 

Take Two Bagels

January 21, 2023

   

Collating an annual round-up of favourites can be a helpful reminder of the spots we haven't documented. For example, Take Two Bagels has become a regular stop-in. It's one of six-ish bagel shops that have popped up in Brunswick in the past five years, about half of which are still in business. I love a bagel but I'm no aficionado, so I won't claim that Take Two bagels are the best of the bunch - they're simply the most convenient and appealing ones to us.

Take Two Bagels are designed to be taken away rather than eaten in-house. We most commonly pick them up in sunny weather and take them to Methven Park, a 10 minute walk away, and occasionally take them home when we're working from home and the fridge is bare.

   

Ordering is a simple process of choosing a bagel type (plain, sesame, poppy, blueberry, cinnamon and raisin, everything, or gluten free) and choosing a filling. We're both 'everything' orderers, and I love a classic cream cheese filling (#1, $8) - there are a few different flavours, and vegan options on two of them. I'm also fond of the #2 filling, a veganisable combination of basil pesto, tomato, lemon & dill cream cheese and chilli oil ($12). This was sold out on our most recent visit, so Michael and I both went for the more substantive offerings. 

For him, the #7: smokey tofu, charred eggplant, tomato, vegan cream cheese, onion jam, harissa and citrus leafy greens ($15). He really appreciated getting a well filled out, varied vegan option. (There's also currently a spiced potato filling that fits this bill.) For me, it was the #8: haloumi, tomato, skip-the-onion-thanks, tomato relish, citrus leafy greens and mayo ($16). The tangy relish really stood out most against the haloumi slabs. Filling options rotate every now and then, and we've had ones featuring avocado or fried egg at other times.

Regardless of my bagel choice, I like teaming it with Take Two's 'clarity' juice ($8), which mixes orange, mango and passionfruit. There's also coffee and soft drinks. It's just great to have this place around the corner when we're seeking an everyday treat, and it usually urges us on to enjoy a visit to a local park too. 

   

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Take Two Bagels

105 Lygon St, Brunswick East

9994 8511

menu

https://www.take-two.com.au/

Accessibility: There is a lip on the door and a spacious interior. Furniture is designed for waiting but not really eating - backless bench seats both inside and outside. We ordered and paid at a low counter, and our food was passed to us where we waited. We haven't visited the toilets.