July 1, 2011: Royal Mail Hotel

We've been trying for months to coordinate a trip to Dunkeld with Mike and Jo to try out the Royal Mail's degustation, but had been constantly foiled by the hotel's massive Saturday backlog and our difficulties in finding a Friday night we could all spare. Finally after rescheduling three or four times we were in the car (eating Cindy's apple pies!) and on our way to Dunkeld. We arrived in the dark, missing the classic view of the art deco building with Mt Sturgeon in the background (the photo above was taken the next morning, before a top notch continental brekkie). Still, we weren't there for the views - it was all about the food.

The Royal Mail has a vegetarian degustation as a standard option, which always gives me a good vibe about a place. And it's a big one: 10 courses, including 3 desserts for $130 or a slightly terrifying $245 if you're reckless enough to match wines (I was, while Cindy was less impulsive). I won't pretend to be a wine expert, so I'm not going to comment on each drink - on the whole, they were stunning, with only the innovative use of sake for one course disappointing any of us.

The bread came with a smoked butter, which divided opinion - I loved it, but not everyone at our table was convinced that butter needed the tweaking. The bread, as always at fancy places, was outstanding.

Things got started properly with a white bean and parmesan sandwich. This was one of the best dishes of the night - rich, crispy little parmesan toast slices with a gorgeous bean  filling. It's surprising how few of the fancy degustations we've gone too have made much use of beans as protein - they should, because this was amazing.

Next up was a course I was kind of dreading: tomato on toast with handmade sheep's ricotta.

My issues with tomato are no secret, but this won me over - it was warm, tender and tasted amazing. The 'toast' was a grainy mix that added a bit of crunch to the softness of everything else. Kudos to The Royal Mail: I'm still surprised that they managed to make something so tomato heavy that I really enjoyed.

The tomato was followed by a vegetable broth, filled with pickled vegetables and kohlrabi.

This was a fairly simple dish - crispy pickled vegetables in a mild, slightly sweet, broth. There was a weird starchy kind of jelly layered across the bottom - we couldn't figure out what it was, but it added something a bit intriguing to an otherwise straightforward veggie broth.

Next up was this cute little dish: egg yolk, rye, legumes and yeast.

The egg yolk was a perfect little globe of awesome on top of a crunchy mix of rye and legumes. The yeast underneath may well have been nooch, made into an interesting kind of paste with a creamy, salty flavour.

We were deep into the savouries by now, and I was excited to be getting some protein with tofu, potato, mustard and nashi.

I was slightly disappointed to find out that the tofu had been frozen and then grated over the potato and nashi pile - sure it's a clever and innovative trick, but I was really looking forward to something with tofu as the centrepiece. Still, the combination of the crispy sweet pear and the creamy potatoes with a creamy sauce and some seedy and slightly hot mustard. The tofu didn't really add a lot unfortunately.

Another starchy dish was next on the menu: jerusalem artichoke, triple cream and chive.

This was a weird mix of textures - the exterior was a bit woody and tough, while the inside was a velvety soft creamy puree. I'm not quite sure how it was done, but it was a very impressive trick. To be honest, the skin was a bit annoying to eat, but the mush inside was fantastic. The shallots were tender and tasty, although I think it was a bit onion-y for Cindy.

Our second-last savoury dish was simply called cool climate vegetables.

This was a fairly simple mix of beautifully cooked, locally grown vegetables - some cute carrots, a brussel sprout , a beetroot and a few other bits and pieces served up on some sort of strange faux-soil, that had a burnt-toast and coffee flavour to it (it reminded me a little of the brioche-based 'soil' we ate at Interlude some years ago). I liked the straightforwardness of this dish, which really let the quality of the vegetables shine through.

Our final savoury dish for the night was eggplant in white miso with dried grains and cured kelp.

This was a delicious chunk of eggplant, tender without being textureless, coated in some sort of miso marinade and soaked in a broth that was probably miso-derived as well. The grains were quite similar to the stuff that came with the egg yolk earlier. Neither of us have any real memory of the kelp - I can blame the booze at this point, but I'm not sure how Cindy can explain it.

Onto dessert! The transition came with the romantically named 'fallen fruit' (apple, almond, caramel, chamomile).

This was an apple cooked in its skin to be soft and smushy, smeared with a stick caramel sauce and served with a powder of almond. This dish was paired with a light chamomile tea (a break from the booze!) which cut through the sweetness of the apple.

What followed was the most impressive dish of the night: beetroot and mandarin, cocoa and walnut.

The flavours and textures of this dish were just stunning - the beetroot turned out to be a powdery beetroot-based icecream, which was a mind-blowing concoction. There was the light chocolaty crunch of the cocoa and walnut, the sweet mandarin crème brûlée and the citrussy freshness of real mandarin. Possibly the best dessert I've ever tasted.

Course #10 was a slightly more conventional dessert: pistachio, hazelnut, honeycomb, chocolate.

There was a dense pistachio meal cake, delicately sprinkled with fantastic dark chocolate, some chunks of honeycomb and a little egg of smooth and creamy choc-hazelnut ice-cream. Every good degustation should end with a chocolatey dessert.

Speaking of chocolates, we finished up with these cute little truffles with a surprisingly strong Earl Gray flavour to them.

Outstanding.

The Royal Mail puts on a very impressive spread - there were a few savoury courses that didn't wow all of us, but by the time we'd worked our way through the desserts I was ready to call this the best meal of the year. The space is not as charming as I'd expected - on the upside it's spacious enough that you're not forced to listen to other people's conversations all night, but on the downside the atmosphere was a little flat. The service was impeccable though maybe a little on the formal side for us - it's nice to feel that you're at a fancy place, but the service style of the high-end restaurants sometimes makes me feel a bit awkward. Still, we had an amazing night and staggered across to our very comfy rooms, loaded up with some very fine food and wine.

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The reviews of The Royal Mail are plentiful and gushing, although nobody else has gone with the vegetarian menu it seems: Food Miles, It Pleases Us, Eat, Drink, Stagger, Mel: Hot or Not, Eating Melbourne, Tummy Rumbles, Half-Eaten (in haiku form!), Tomato, Addictive and Consuming, Melbourne Dining Experiences, Pepper, Salt, Sugar, Spice, La Diva Cucina, The Gourmet Challenge, Double-cooked, Melbourne Food Files, What's for Dinner?, Eat, Drink, Chic, Into the Flames, dot yum, omnomnomnom, Chit Chat Chomp and Melbourne Gastronome.

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The Royal Mail Hotel
98 Parker Street (Glenelg Hwy), Dunkeld
5577 2241
veg degustation $130
http://www.royalmail.com.au/

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Accessibility: The Royal Mail seems super accessible, right down to the large flat showers in the rooms.

July 1, 2011: Road trip apple pies

We've done a pretty good job of breaking up this gloomy southern winter with weekend getaways. While jetting up to Sydney for some warmth was a real treat, I almost prefer hitting the road with our friends Mike and Jo. We have this rule that we have to stop at every open small-town op shop we pass, we eat and drink and walk and play cards, if we're lucky there's a fireplace. We can never agree on driving music.

Last weekend we set off to the west-northwest. I had a few hours in the lead-up to convert a couple of aging apples into free-form pies to eat on the way. I made a shortcrust pastry based on a Kurma Dasa recipe and free-styled the filling. They look oozy and collapsed when I check on the oven but the pastry held it together as they cooled; I didn't think I'd be blogging them. Michael shoved the pastries into a lunchbox while I panicked about toothbrushes and shoes.

Tired and coming down with a cold, I slept through the last couple hours of daylight. I awoke to quiet roads, a pretty sunset, and the last pie. It was pretty damn good! Worth a dim photo and slightly sappy blog post.

Road trip apple pies
(pastry based on this recipe by Kurma Dasa)

1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons castor sugar
pinch of salt
125g butter
1 tablespoon cold water
2 teaspoons white vinegar
3 large apples
juice of half a lemon
pinch of ground star anise
larger pinch of ground ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar

In a food processor combine the flour, castor sugar and salt. Add the butter in cubes and pulse the mixture until it resembles bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the water and vinegar and process the mixture until it comes together as a moist dough. Turn the dough onto a clean surface, bring it together into a ball with your hands, wrap it in plastic, and store it in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with paper. Peel the apples and roughly chop them. Stir through the lemon juice, star anise, ginger and brown sugar.

Divide the dough into quarters. Place a dough-ball between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll it into a rough circle 2-3mm thick. Spoon a quarter of the diced apples onto the pastry, leaving a 1-2cm wide perimeter clear. Fold up the edges and pinch them together so that they form a rough wall round the pie edge, and transfer the pie to the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining pastry and apples. Spoon over any sugary juice that might remain in the bottom of the bowl that held the apples.

Bake the pies until the pastry is firm and golden, 20-30 minutes. Allow them to cool a bit before packing them away to share on the road.

June 25, 2011: Bodega

Update 18/06/2023: Bodega now trades as Wyno x Bodega at a different address.

After lunch in Surry Hills we wandered through Darlinghurst, stopping to buy chocolates, skirting the edge of Kings Cross to enjoy them by Woolloomoolo Bay, before spending an hour or so at the art gallery and watching the sun set from Mrs Macqarie's Chair. We relied on PT to get us most of the way back to Surry Hills for dinner. Michael had done his research in advance and picked Bodega after reading a vegan rave or two on Mess+Noise.

Mindful of Bodega's no-bookings policy, we arrived at 6:03pm and certainly didn't regret it. There were already more than a dozen desperate to dine, forming a queue along the footpath. We ended up getting a seat ahead of a few of them! Turns out Bodega are quite strict about the entire group being present before allocating you a table, so it's not the place for meeting up with your flakier friends.

Bodega does tapas - the savoury menu's 32% vegetarian, 20% vegan by my estimation (and other items look veganisable). We got to order most of it! And we all start with bread, of course.

First dish to arrive was the eggplant "en escabeche" ($8). The soft, squidgy eggplant flesh was like a vinegary pickle dotted with chilli. I liked this well enough but probably wouldn't order it again; Michael liked it a whole lot more.

The roast beetroot, goats gorgonzola, walnut and watercress ($16) was more my style. I've been on a bit of a blue cheese kick lately, and the candied walnuts offset this one nicely.

Next we tried the quail egg muffin, dukkah and oregano ($6). A buttery bun smeared with oily herbs, then with soft-boiled eggs and dukkah - rich and very, very tasty. Not designed to be shared, or eaten elegantly.

The mushrooms and garlic ($12) looked a little ordinary (and my photograph is much worse still!) but damn it, these were fantastic. The garlic was sweet and ready to be squeezed from its skin, there were at least three different mushroom varieties and oh, the marinating liquid pooling at the bottom was phenomenal. We ordered more bread ($2 extra) to soak it all up. While I had initially balked at the prospect of paying for extra bread, I'd have ultimately paid a much higher price for just a single slice to clean that dish.

We half expected that our meal had peaked, until we tasted the corn tamale with black beans and avocado ($20). W. O. W.  I love that dense steamy tenderess - and slightly sweet flavour - of a fresh tamale! The trail of fresh salsa on top really set it off. The avocado was a little bland, but the black beans and paprika-dusted corn chips more than made up for it. This is a gorgeous vegetarian meal in itself.

We had half-formed plans to eat dessert elsewhere but we were so pleased with our dinner that we elected to stick around for sweets. (Sadly this doesn't look so vegan-friendly, but you could always check with the staff.)

Michael finished up with vanilla bean ice cream, Pedro Ximenez sherry  and espresso ($14)  - a very nice combo for those who can tolerate coffee so late.

I went for the banana split ($14), almost a meal in itself! At the back is a cream flan topped with a ginger biscuit and roasted peanuts - actually I couldn't taste the ginger at all and the biscuit started more as a toffee shard and melted into a pleasant caramel syrup as I ate. In the centre is a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream atop banana puree, then up front is a feather-light banana marshmallow with a lightly scorched surface. The marshmallow is the only delicate element here - it's otherwise a big fat plate of creamy-caramel-banana that'll appeal to many but not all.

We walked out of Bodega really impressed - the food was near flawless in execution and there were a couple outstanding dishes that will haunt our expectations of Melbourne dining for quite some time. Our food bill sneaked just under $100 and we reckon it was well worth that. Service was friendly and attentive enough, given that this is a bustling bar, really. With the right (prompt, lively, sharing, possessing of $50) companions I can't see how you'd go wrong!

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The blogosphere has been almost unanimously positive about Bodega! Check out Jasmyne Tea, consuming design, not my only shoes..., The Lita Review, kpnv, Foodyphile, Feeling Peckish?, glutton & nuts, The Cuisinerd, Gastronomous Anonymous, Phuoc'n Delicious, The Ortolan's Last Meal, The Empty Fridge, breadshoes (twice), planet kapow, What I Ate Today, cookbookmaniac, Eat Show & Tell, Foodies Memoir, Grab Your Fork (twice), Kitchen Wench, Chocolatesuze, I Am Obsessed With Food, Music Munchies Review, Breath of the Wok and eat tori.

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Bodega
216 Commonweath St, Surry Hills Sydney NSW
(02) 9212 7766
veg tapas $6-$20
http://www.bodegatapas.com/

Accessibility: The entry is wide with a ramp. Inside is a little cramped, though some tables offer a little more space than others. All service is at the table. We didn't visit the toilets.

June 25, 2011: El Loco

Our venue for lunch was recommended to us on twitter by Jedro, who raved about the tacos at El Loco in Surry Hills (see his blog review here). There's only one vegetarian taco on the menu, but there are also nachos and an intriguing sounding tofu, fennel and radish salad. Our big breakfast meant that $5 tacos were the perfect choice for lunch, allowing us a decent amount of portion control, so we steered clear of the other options.

These are messy little buggers, the fillings almost impossible to contain inside the tortilla. Still, the combination of chilli-marinated tofu, cabbage and pico de gallo meant that I was scooping up all of my spills to ensure I didn't miss a drop - this was a seriously good taco. There was something intriguingly smoky about the tofu marinade - obviously there was chilli involved, but the flavour was much deeper and more interesting than a simple chilli sauce. I couldn't place it, but it was certainly tasty.

The place itself is colourful and cute, decorated with kitschy Mexicana and bright tables and chairs. It all makes for a fun atmosphere, which you can escape from in the pub section if it's all too much for you. Discovering that the cantina area used to be the Excelsior's band room made me a bit sad - it's a pity that delicious Mexican food and live music can't coexist here.

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El Loco has quickly become a darling of the Sydney blogosphere, with rave reviews from The Adventures of Miss Piggy, Dumpling Girl and Cheesecake Boy, StarLoz, minibites, Chocolate Suze, Feed it, Penguin Says Feed Me, Gastronomous Anonymous, Eat, show and tell, Adventurous me, Gluten free, Apple in a Bun, Sydney Bar Zine, Berries and Scotch, Stella Loves Stevie, My Empirical Life, Hookturns and The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry

How I Plop was a bit less impressed, at least partly because of their loyalty to the pre-makeover Excelsior.

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El Loco
64 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills, Sydney NSW
9211 4945
Tacos $5, salad $12
http://www.elloco.com.au/

Accessibility: El Loco has a flat entry and plenty of space and light inside. There are some high tables, but a decent number of lower ones as well. Ordering and payment take place at a low counter. The toilets are easy to access and not too tiny.

June 25, 2011: Badde Manors Cafe

In late June Michael and I found ourselves in Sydney for the weekend! We caught up with a few friends but spent Saturday as a twosome - strolling the city, greedily soaking up the sun and eating where we pleased. We started out in Glebe for breakfast. The market stalls didn't appeal as much as we'd hoped so we crossed the street to Badde Manors Cafe.

Badde Manors clearly has some history - this vegetarian cafe was established in 1982. It's easy to imagine several generations of students and artists adopting it as their second home. The crowd this Saturday morning was quite eclectic, ranging from teens to young families, recovering ravers and a few geriatric punks.

The menu is solid, if not innovative, vegetarian fare. Breakfast offers eggs several ways, mushrooms or beans on toast, fruit and muesli and yoghurt, pancakes and French toast, open grills and bagels. Vegan options (23% of the brekkies) are marked and they apparently offer gluten-free toast.

Michael went for the scrambled tofu and tamari ($9.50) with a side of mushrooms ($3.50). Though he'd ordered soy coffees and a vegan-ticked plate it arrived with a butter sachet - a sign that vegans should definitely specify their needs and not assume that staff will notice. Michael was disappointed that this was more a stir-fry than a scramble, and a little too sweet for his taste. Still, it was a very generous serve for the price with Michael not even managing to finish it all.

I was after something that'd sustain me reliably for a few hours, not my usual sugar rush, so I picked the open grill with mushrooms, avocado, shallots and fresh tomato ($9.50) with a side of chat potatoes ($2.50). The mushrooms were delicious but the plate was otherwise a bit bland - I found myself repeatedly reaching for the salt and pepper for a boost. Just a lemon wedge could've saved it, I reckon. The fresh bread was excellent, but so crusty that it was near-impossible to cut with the butter knife I was equipped with. I left the last quarter in defeat.

Props, though, for a pitch-perfect raspberry and apple juice ($5) - sweet and sour and free of that scummy fresh-juice froth that creeps me out. I found out about Badde Manors' famous chai too late, but still don't regret choosing the juice instead. The desserts they display have a good reputation, and Michael said the pancakes that someone behind me ordered looked amazing. Maybe this cafe's forte is the sweet stuff.

While we weren't totally wowed by our breakfasts, they were solid value for money. I enjoyed the old school vibe of Badde Manors and gather that it's a venue that fills many a Sydney-sider with nostalgia.

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This cafe has received complimentary reviews from The Splitpin Diary, Adventurous Me, Gluten Free, panda & cakes, The Oatmeal Diaries, Sachman75's Flickr stream, Melbourne Cafe Reviews, The Hungry Girl, Food, booze and shoes, Jenius, eat like a cow, What's on my plate, Veggie Friendly, Konrad Florczak and Jaarius, then more mixed reviews from Lateral Eating, Diary of a Ladybird, easy as (vegan) pie, Do You Want To Stay For Breakfast?, Betty's Bites, and vegansydney.com. Meanwhile The Collective Cook misses their Bagel Manhattan.

Badde Manors is clearly considered a local institution, captured on film at In Sydney with an old Leica, and in paint by Eloise O'Hare.

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Badde Manors Cafe
1/37 Glebe Point Road, Glebe Sydney NSW
9660 3797
veg breakfasts $3.50-$13.50
http://www.baddemanorscafe.com/

Accessibility: This cafe has a flat entry and average-width door, though it is quite cluttered inside. Outdoor tables offer a bit more space. Service is at the table, payment at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.