This is quite a funky place which has all the old world charm of of a Spanish cafe/restaurant, with its paved floor and abundance of timber it feels like you are eating in a family place. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable of their fair and the ingredients both what they are and where they come from.

The meal:

We opted to give the Tapas a try and order the air cured Wagyu beef with truffle mayonnaise and a poached egg, octopus on kiffla potatoes, lamb cutlets, crab meat stuffed peppers crispy skin salmon with 4 mushrooms. The meal was fantastic, [SinglePic not found]the wagyu beef accompanied with the truffle mayo and poached egg was a great match, the mayo had a great peppery finish from the olive oil and the egg as we know went perfectly with the egg. [SinglePic not found]The octopus is one of modivas signature dishes and it did not miss, the octopus was tender and the mix of the sweet paprika and olive oil on the kifla potatoes finished this dish well. The crab meat stuffed peppers well all I can say is that I was not able to get a picture as my other tasters had found them a delight, they where light and the crab meat sweet which was balanced well with the pepper and cover.

The lamb cutlets appeared to be marinated and had a crispy outer, the meat was tender and the accompanying spinach and garlic past again balanced well.[SinglePic not found] The crispy skin salmon was also a good balance, with a light sauce the mushrooms gave a silky finish to the meal.

Rating: 9/10

Service Speed:

The entire lunch took about 50 minutes but when we added a coffee and desert you needed to add 15 minutes for our gluttony. The food itself came out quickly and the staff are fantastic.

Rating: 8/10

Food Quality:

This is fine dining in a family relaxed atmosphere, all the dishes are of a superior quality and consistent. You will be hard to order quickly as the choices could all be your favourites. But take the advise we did from the staff, order a few meals to start and if you feel like more just add them. This works well.

Rating: 8/10

Ambiance:

As mentioned this is a friendly inviting restaurant and you will feel like your at friends for your meal.

Rating: 8/10

Value for Money:

The entire meal including drinks deserts and coffees came to $45.00 a head between four, I believe you would be hard pressed to find better value for this menu.

Rating: 8/10

Average Rating 8.2/10

Email: info@movida.com.au
Reservations: 03-9663-3038

View Larger Map

This is a new restaurant for this end of town, in fact they only opened today and we where lucky to get in during lunch to give them a try. Sally’s is a hip place with very clean lines and decor the staff are very friendly and Sally herself a darling. We only managed to try 3 of the lunch menu items, and finished with a coffee and fraiche.

The meal:

Today we tried the Pea and ham soup with freshly cooked Cabata bread ($10.00), the Beef stew with dumplings and vegetables ($15.00) and the Mushroom risotto with pecirino cheese. We chose to accompany our meal with the organic cola and creaming soda from NZ.

The decor of the restaurant is quite modern and we managed to sit at the high table, which I must admit was more comfortable than it looked.

Rating: 7/10

2. Service Speed:

Service was speedy. The entire meal process took a little over 30 minutes for lunch. There was some confusion over the correct cuttellery but that would be forgiven as it was their first day.

Rating: 7/10

3. Food Quality:

The food was of good standard and the quality appeared to be maintained with ease, the meals are a good serving for lunch which left us satisfied.

Rating: 8/10

4. Ambience:

A very modern and yet friendly eating area, very clean and welcoming.

Rating: 6.5/10

Value for Money:

This is for those seeking both good quality and medium priced eats, then you cannot go past this establishment. I would predict that it will soon be a place that is booked out for a long time ahead. Overall we thought it was good value for money.

Rating: 7.5/10

Average Rating: 7.2/10

View Larger Map

This exciting new eatery is 6 months young and already extremely popular, we had no major concerns getting a table at 12 for lunch but any later than 1 pm and you may be pushing your luck.

[[Show as slideshow]]

The atmosphere is quite relaxing almost bohemian and the staff are very attentive and know their jobs and the cuisine well if you are adverse to stairs then this may not be for you as we alighted up 2 flights from the street to get to the restaurant. Once there the climb was rewarded with an airy open dining experience, as usual the Munchbrothers team chose to open up the slate with a well proportioned Lemonade Lime and Bitters ($4.00), there is of course the obligatory glass of water as expected. The menu is set out in meal sizes ranging from small to large, we opted to give the small range a try as the price ranged from $3.90 (per freshly shucked oyster) to $22 for the largest. The choice from Munchbrothers was 1 of the specials “Taylors chicken and prawn dumplings” ($11.00), off the menu crispy rare duck neck ($16.00) and scallops with belly pork and shitake mushroom ($18.0), kangaroo san chow bau, we accompanied this with a side of plain rice ($nc), a side of dried-prawn rice ($4.00) and sour mustard greens ($5.00).

After we had ordered we where presented with a chicken broth sampler, which I may add was fresh and inviting, the sampler is changed daily with whatever is fresh [nice touch]. Within 12 or so minutes our meals began to arrive, the service was quick and unobtrusive. Our waiting staff even suggested that many people order this way and sample each others light meals.

The scallops had me in straight away and I was not disappointed, fresh with a crispy double cooked slice of belly pork served on the half shell with the scallop still attached. The texture of the scallop was silky as expected and the combination with the belly pork surprisingly nice, this dish has been well thought out with a smooth combination of flavours and textures. It has a clean finish wether you have as presented or opt to squeeze a little fresh lime as I tried both combinations. This I would suggest as a starter for 5 people ($18.00)

The duck neck was another sensation for the palette it combined the expected crisp skin with medium rare duck meat that was soft and juicy, it came with a sauce that was well suited in its sourness to the dish, there was also velvety mushrooms this dish too was well thought out and really a good starter. This I would suggest as a starter for 5 people ($16.00)

The kangaroo san chow bau was interesting as I have really only had this with pork, beef, or chicken before. The meal did not let down the others so far, the minced kangaroo on endive leaves was a novel fusion of east meets west and the flavour had a hint of spice but was tender as expected of our own kangaroo. This I would suggest as a starter for 5 people ($15.00)

The Taylors chicken and prawn dumplings presented really well in their own bamboo steamer on a bed of iceberg lettuce, they came with a sweet sour dipping sauce that has lemongrass infused and floating within. This was not what I expected the dumplings where a bit on the doughy side and lacked the flavour to be eaten without the dipping sauce. This I would suggest as a starter for 5 people ($11.00)

As for the sides we mixed them up in combinations with the main foods and they seemed to be a hit with all the meals we chose.

Once we had completed our lunch we opted to try some of deserts here we chose 3, firstly and I must say the best way to test any kitchens worth passionfruit brulee ($14.00) followed with the chocolate pannacotta ($14.00) and banana spring rolls ($15.00). We chose the standard coffees to accompany our sweets.

Once the sweet choices arrived they all had presentation appeal.

The passionfruit was presented well with an accompanying side of diced pear and watermelon dressed with what I believe was shredded mint the sugar had been slightly over scorched in the middle and was consequently quite bitter, but the passionfruit centre was divine the fruit gave a nice fresh flavour with a different texture, this went well together.

The chocolate pannacotta came with lychees (fresh) and was silky smooth, the lychees however did not seem to match this desert as the passionfruit and fruit of the prior.

The banana spring rolls are not as good as mums but they did have a generous amount of filling and the cover was light and crisp, this was accompanied with ice-cream and a reduced balsamic sweet sauce. I think we all agreed this combination was a good one.

All in all I would recommend Seamstress for a business lunch or even a pre theatre or event fine dining experience, the venue has a downstairs bar which is much more relaxed and has a great time warp of selling “west coast coolers” but that aside they also do a mean alcoholic spider, and we recommended they try to make a new drink and of course it take our name “the Munchbrothers rum ball” It is lemonade wit a shot and a half of brown rum with a scoop of good quality chocolate ice cream. If they don’t have it on the menu ask for one and mention us. Upstairs there’s another bar which is a little more subdued than the downstairs one this is used as a waiting area when you are early for your booking or just want to drop in for a drink. This is one place we would give a high rating for and recommend if you want to try yourself be prepared to book a couple of weeks in advance for Thursday and Friday night but up to six weeks for Saturday.

1. Service Quality:
   Service was friendly with the staff appearing very knowledgeable about their food and produce.

Rating: 8.5/10

1. Service Speed:
   Service was generally speedy. The entire meal process took a little over 1 hour.

Rating: 7/10

1. Food Quality:
   The food was of high standard and the quality appeared to be maintained with ease.

Rating: 7/10

1. Ambience:
   A very open air and semi industrial eating area, very clean and welcoming.

Rating: 9/10

1. Value for Money:
   This is not for those seeking cheap eats, when you come to Seamstress you will receive quality food and service with a suitable price to match. Overall I thought it was good value for money.

Rating: 7/10

Average Rating: 7.7/10
View Larger Map

Service Quality
Service was friendly with our waiter speaking broken English, all very polite very time we have been there. The menu is large and on our first visit took some time to go through, there is a specials menu, a lunch special and the main which is a combination of authentic Korean and Chinese. After several visits I had settled on the # 94 from the main menu, a pork and vegetables dish (can be mild or hot) we chose 1 mild and 1 hot to sample. The mains come with a selection of Korean standard pickled and other delicacies.
Rating: 7/10

Service Speed
Service was generally speedy. The meals and accompanying condiments took 7 minutes.
Rating: 7/10
Food Quality
Mild pork and vegies had a good level of heat, serving is quite large. The hot pork is for those that like the heat in there meal (quite hot 4 chillies+) flavours are still good even with the heat. The accompanying condiments are what I really enjoy, theres the very hot pickled cabbage, silky cold Aloe Vera gel, pickled bean shoots, sugar potatoes and if your really lucky the picked horse radish.
Rating: 8/10
Ambience
Very contempory Korean influences, if you go upstairs theres a big screen television with some Korean program on, the restaurant is open and airy very welcoming. If you have a large group they have BBQ’s built into the tables to self cook.
Rating: 7/10
Value for Money
If you are looking for authentic Korean and Chinese you will do good going here, there is the one thing that you notice at lunch or dinner the restaurant is full of a good mix of Korean and Chinese patrons. This to me is a sign of a really good authentic restaurant.
Rating: 9 /10

Overall Ranking: 7.6/10

View Larger Map

The restaurant:

Located in Lonsdale Street Melbourne Victoria Australia (almost on the corner or Lonsdale and Exhibition Streets)

Type of cuisine:

Light lunch or quick light meal

Suits either Student, office worker or even a theatre goer

The review:

The curry bowl caters to those with a love of fresh home style srilankan curry but do not have the time to wait, nor do they just want to settle for a sloppy plastic container of red tinged goop. This is a simple establishment that provide seating for about 14 patrons at a New York bench style counter, choices are simple there’s a Lamb, Beef and Chicken curry dish. They are accompanied with an assortment of vegetables including a standard Dahl (green lentil side) the accompanying vegetable dishes are changed daily (depending on what’s in season).

Curry Bowl also caters for the usual fried snacks such as vadais, fish peppers, and samousa. These are not really my typical fare but I must admit the quality of the fillings is good and the covers crispy.

Today I had the regular meal which is a good light lunch serve of curried meat on a bed of saffron rice, my choice of 2 vegetables sides and fresh made mango chutney, yoghurt or a chilly paste (for those who really like it hot).

I opted for the beef curry with the zucchini, potatoes and sweet potatoe veggie mix accompanied with cabbage and coconut. My sauces I went for 2 serves of the yoghurt and 1 serve of the mango chutney.

The beef was tender with a good level of heat (2 out of 5 chillies) the rice was cooked well, it was loose both still soft. Now comes the interesting part, the zucchini and potatoe side was good it has a great veggie flavour with a hint of spice, the cabbage however I think may require a couple of attempts as the texture of the cabbage and coconut was a bit strange, also the flavour was out of place with the rest of the meal. Perhaps the cabbage would be better suited to a chicken curry. The condiments where as usual great I like the cooling sweetness of the yoghurt and the mango chutney also cool and sweet goes well with all the curries.

Rating:

I would say that if you are looking to be seated by traditionally dressed waiting staff this is not for you, but if you are looking for a no-nonsense good value quick meal or light snack then you would be doing yourself a favour here. The food is clean and fresh, it still could easily be called traditional and by the range of clients mainly of Asian (India, srilankan etc) that you notice in the shop it must be pretty good.

Value:

My lunch was $7.50 and with a drink an additional $2. This is good value and to choose to sit in or take away you cannot go wrong. I give this 3 Munch Brothers out of 5

View Larger Map