Review by My Destination Melbourne roving food and restaurant critic Iain Jenkins and the restaurant was unaware the review was taking place.
Chinta Ria Soul - St Kilda
With just one exception I have been incredibly lucky with the Café’s and Restaurants I have tried since doing the page but this is by far the best.
Hidden in plain sight is this culinary jewel in busy St Kilda and I had high expectations for this small but very busy Malaysian restaurant in St Kilda’s Acland street and from the first mouthful these were not only met but surpassed. The service is exemplary we were made to feel welcome and the staff were helpful, polite and attentive without being pushy. Some places struggle when full but not here. The menu comprises of all the favourites such as Satays, Rendang, Laksa and of course Nasi Goreng. These are accompanied by less well known dishes such as Gado Gado a dish that sounds as if it was the product of a late night raid on the fridge after returning from the pub. A mix of cucumber, cabbage, and bean shoots and tofu are steamed and topped with a spicy peanut sauce, egg slices and pappadams which tasted as amazing as it sounds. The meal started with Satay Chicken and Ling Ling, Snap fried bite size pieces of rockling fillets marinated in curry paste. Both dishes were of the highest standard. We could not decide what to have for the main course and finally narrowed it down to three dishes. A daily special of Soft Shell Crab in a light batter with fried onions, snow peas and chilli. To say this was amazing would be an understatement. This was accompanied by Ayam Chicken. Wok tossed chicken in a blend of spices, fresh ginger roots, dried red chilli, finished with crisp carrot slices and snow peas. The sauce was rich thick and sweet with a nice chilli back bite at the end. The final dish was that superb Gado Gado. My advice to you is try this restaurant out but be sure to book. In summary, Chinta Ria Soul delivers on every level for me the food is 1st class and reasonably priced I have eaten at some of the best Asian restaurants in Melbourne but this is the my new number 1.
Chinta Ria
This week’s offering is for an amazing restaurant that delivers high quality food without the price tag.Phamish St Kilda
Phamish is a mixture of chilled easy grazing and laid back sophistication. The menu is a compilation of Tapas style sharing dishes, perfect pizzas and superb main courses. We started with marinated warm olives and a Garlic and rosemary pizza. The olives are a combination of Kalamata and Sicilian olives preserved lemon with herbs and a kick of chilli. These are responsible for the conversion of my wife to eating olives they are that good. The pizza was thin crust as all good pizzas should be and flavoured so that neither the rosemary or garlic was over powering. To follow we again all went our separate ways I reverted to kind and had a burger that was a mammoth offering of a 250g patty with egg, bacon, salad and haloumi cheese in a brioche style bun. All served with some perfectly seasoned chips. The sheer size should have prevented me from completeing it but it was so moorish I just kept going back. My wife went for a combination of two smaller Tapas style dishes of pan fried Calamari with chilli, garlic and olive oil on cannellini beans, accompanied by a dish of green beans with Persian fetta almonds and balsamic again these dishes were excellent. Finally my youngest daughter had what was the brightest star in this constellation of bright stars. A dish of 4 hour roasted pork belly served with butternut pumpkin, caramelized apple, green beans and a pepper jus. I have said that I will not be swayed by drizzles of jus and I stick to that but when the dish is as outstanding as this one then who am I to argue. The pork was soft and melt in the mouth with none of the cloying fattiness that can come with less expertly prepared pork belly. The apples added a contrast to cut through the richness of the meat. I would strongly urge you to try this gem. St Kilda offers a range of dining options many of which I have tried but Phamish is for me a truly excellent dining experience.
Phamish
Shalimar Brighton
The Shalimar Indian restaurant in Bay Street Brighton. It is one of the oldest restaurants in Bay Street having been there for over 30 years. I like to think I know a good Indian when I find one and this one is excellent. The menu is extensive and the spicing can be tailored for every pallet they actually ask you when taking your order. This particular visit was a post football meal with the family on a Saturday evening being early they were able to squeeze us in but I recommend you book on weekends especially. We began with a selection of starters that we shared amongst the four of us. Of course there were onion bharji’s a must have! These ones are small bite sized and packed with flavour and very moorish. The pakoras area mixture of potato, cauliflower were deep fried to a golden brown and unlike some I have had elsewhere they had been given time to drain so they were not greasy and remained crisp. We also had the tandoori lamb cutlets (my youngest daughter’s favourite thing to eat ... ever) these are spicy and juicy with just a very slight sour note at the end. The main course was again ordered for the table to share. As I am a confirmed carnivore the tandoori platter is a must with its selection of both tandoori and tikka chicken, Shami kebab, tikka lamb and tandoori cauliflower, another surprise and if all veggies tasted as good as this I would eat a lot more of them. Butter chicken was another of the dishes I am the first to admit to this not being a favourite of mine as they tend to be a little sweet for my tastes but this version was very enjoyable. To counter the meat overload we also had an Aloo Gobi which again like the rest of the meal was without fault. The service was attentive and friendly and the atmosphere allowed for conversation. Since starting this page I have started to look at restaurants in a different way being more critical than I once was but here I can find no fault.
Shalimar Brighton
Footnote:
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