Sunday, September 30, 2012

Moroccan Lamb with Chickpea Bake

Every since my visit to Moroccan Soup Bar a few weeks ago, I have been craving the gorgeous chickpea and yogurt bake which I have since discovered is called 'fetteh'. To my delight, a fellow blogger has come up with a similar recipe which I made and tweaked a little the other night. It was a really easy and satisfying recipe to make, and a perfect accompaniment to the beautiful young lamb that I slow cooked in Moroccan spices for a do it yourself Moroccan dinner at home.


For the chickpea bake (fetteh) I followed this recipe. However, I substituted the olive oil for butter as when talking to the waitress at the Soup Bar when commenting how much I loved the dish she had replied, "Its the butter that makes it!". I also added a tablespoon of honey as per the comments at the bottom of the recipe which added a nice sweetness. The crunch of the slivered almonds and toasted pita adds a gorgeous crunch to the soft, yogurty chickpeas!



I served this with some slow cooked Moroccan lamb that I cooked in my tagine. This worked well with the chickpeas, but would also be beautiful with pilaf or couscous. I used the leftover lamb on homemade pita pizzas the next day which were beautiful. The beauty of leftovers ;)
 
Moroccan Lamb (serves 4 with leftovers)
 
 

1 kg of diced lean baby lamb
1 sweet potato chopped into 1-2 cm pieces
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup of beef stock
1 tablespoon honey
Large handful parsley chopped
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 140 degrees C.

In an oven safe frypan or tagine, over the stove heat a little oil and add lamb. Cook until lightly browned all over, then remove and set aside. Add to same pan onion and garlic. Saute until soft, then add all spices. Saute until coated. Add beef stock and honey, then re-add lamb and transfer to oven, covered, for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, add sweet potato and parsley, and place back in oven for 45 minutes.

I had to replace mine on the stove for 15 minutes to reduce the liquid.

Serve with chickpea bake as above, or pilaf, or couscous.

Enjoy!

Maybe even use your leftovers for a beautiful pizza like I did ;)



 

Egg and lots of other yummies in a Bread Nest

This breakfast occurred to make the most of some rolls we had leftover from Grand Final Day festivities. We don't often eat white bread in this house, but it needed to used up, so I thought why not fill the rolls with lots of healthy yummies... After a bit of creativity, we enjoyed crunchy bread nests filled with lots of breakfast yummies. You could add ANYTHING to this recipe, whatever you had in the cupboard!

Eggs in a Bread Nest (serves 2)
 

2 bread roll
1/2 onion, sliced
1 large mushroom, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
Small handful of spinach, shredded
1/4 cup grated cheese
2 eggs
Butter
Olive oil
Mixed herbs
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Remove the top of the rolls and scoop out as much inside bread as you can whilst still leaving thick 'nest' walls. Brush the inside of the rolls with a little melted butter.

In a small saucepan, heat a tiny bit of olive oil or butter and saute onion and mushroom until soft. Divide mushrooms, onion, tomatoes, spinach and cheese evenly between the two bread nests. It should fill the rolls up to about 3/4 of the hole. Gently crack an egg into each bread nest. Sprinkle with some mixed herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Place in an oven for 15-20 minutes or until egg is cooked to your desired consistency. If you want your yolk soft, keep an eye on it! Mine ended up half soft, half cooked but that was okay as it meant the whites were perfectly cooked. Wait until you see all the yummy insides ooze out once you cut into the roll.

A yummy treat for brunch!



 

Mexican Chicken, Bean and Quinoa Bake

I just had to make this yummy bake after my friend bought it into work and filled our staffroom with the delicious Mexican aroma at lunchtime! I was surprised by how easy this was to make, and it tasted delicious and the recipe made HEAPS so great for the budget conscious and families. The use of quinoa makes it a gluten-free alternative, and also generally healthier alternative than pasta or rice due to its higher protein, fibre, mineral and amino-acid levels. It is also such an easy way to hide stacks of vegetables in a dish.
 
Mexican Chicken, Bean and Quinoa Bake
 Serves 6-8 or 4 with leftovers
Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa (I used black and white combined, cook per packet directions)
2 chicken breasts - pre-cooked in oven then shredded
1 cans of beans (your choice, I used 5 bean mix)
1 large sweet potatoes, grated
1 large zucchini, grated
1 large carrot, grated
1 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/4 tbsp chilli powder (optional)
Liberal pinches salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 tub of salsa
Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Prepare casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together the quinoa, chicken, beans, sweet potato, zucchini, carrot 1⁄2 of the cheese, and the cumin, chilli, salt, and pepper.
In a small bowl, mix together the eggs and the salsa. Pour the
salsa mixture over the mix, combine and then pour everything into the prepared casserole dish.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Enjoy! :)

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Red Spice Road, CBD

Red Spice Road caters to the 'it' style of eating in Melbourne at the moment- fancy Asian fusion served sharing style. Apparently Red Spice Road has been kicking some goals in this area long before some of its newer competitors opened up, but I couldn't help comparing RSR to Chin Chin and some of the other tapas style sharing menu's I have tried.

The restaurant is aethestically pleasing- long communal tables with a very tasteful Asian theme, beautiful lighting and a massive gorgeous red lantern (biggest in the world apparently!) hanging from the roof. I couldn't complain about the service. We had a lovely bubbly waitress who was helpful and cheery and efficient.

But somewhere in our $65 banquet, something missed the mark. There was something lacking in the food at RSR. Quality Asian food should punch you in the mouth with flavour- sweet, sour, salty, spicy. Unfortunately, many of the dishes at RSR were just too bland and Western for my particular taste. There were some dishes that were absolutely beautiful, real ripper dishes, but I missed something zesty and spicy with loads of flavour, and felt instead swamped by heavy Westernised dishes.

The entrees were both hit and miss.

The betel leaves with chicken, coconut, crab, chilli and kaffir lime was not spicy enough. A bite size leave needs to pack a punch in my opinion, and these didn't, although still tasted nice.


The scallop with sweet pork sausage, cucumber and green onion also needed some heat, although beautifully presented.


The twice cooked lamb ribs with tamarind and coconut relish was the absolute winner of the entrees. Beautiful, tender spiced lamb fell off the bone and made you want to suck the juices off the bone. The relish was a perfect accompaniment and had me scooping more and more onto my lamb. A gorgeous, balanced dish that allowed the lamb to be the star.




The chicken, lemongrass, chilli, tomato, shallot and lime juice salad was one of the disappointing dishes. The banquet really needed a salad to cut through all the heavy foods, especially in the mains. Something spicy and zesty with loads of Asian herbs. This was not that salad. It was bland, lacked texture and had a real balance issue with way too much chicken mince and not enough greens or chilli.

The corn fritters were also quite disappointing. I was expecting something similar to Chin Chin's crispy corn fritters that pack a spicy punch but these were doughy and lacking spice, also didn't seem to have much corn in them at all!


The pork belly with apple slaw, chilli caramel and black vinegar was the star of the banquet, and one of RSR's signature dishes. Crispy on the outside, melt in your mouth on the inside, and topped with a gorgeous apple slaw and sauce, we made sure this was evenly distributed between the four of us! This was RSR's saving grace for me, a real winner!


The barramundi curry with potato and roasted carrot was also not my kind of food. It was too heavy, not spicy in the slightest and the rockling was overdone and somewhat chewy.


The beef cheek with mushrooms, crunchy bean shoot salad and spicy broth was an enjoyable main. The beef cheeks were fall apart tender, and super tasty. I am a sucker for bean shoots so loved that addition, and the broth was delicious however not at all spicy. I am not even a huge fan of chilli, but I do love that punch that good Asian food carries, where the chilli kick is noticable but not overpowering, and this food just didn't give that to me.


Dessert was another saving grace. I am a huge fan of Asian desserts and the Pandan cream with puffed wild rice, peanut praline and coconut was one of those classic inventive and memorable desserts that use beautiful Asian flavours. Absolutely loved every mouthful of this creamy, crunchy treat, even though I was pretty chock full by this point in the banquet!


So, would I say that Red Spice Road is one of the 'must try' Melbourne Asian fusion restaurants? Probably not. I would definitely direct anyone that asked to Chin Chin and Longrain before I would suggest Red Spice Road. A pleasant dining experience, yes, and nice food, yes... but not mind-blowing. I would honestly rather smaller servings of quality food than the generous servings of so-so heavy dishes we had for the price. Except that pork... next time, give me a serve of ribs, two serves of pork and dessert, and I would be a happy little camper!

Red Spice Road on Urbanspoon

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Guhng Korean BBQ, CBD

I love trying new cuisines and I had such a fabulous time at Guhng's this previous Friday. We were invited to the hip Korean BBQ restaurant to celebrate a good mates birthday, and it was a huge novelty for me having his Korean girlfriend order us all of this amazing food in Korean.



I am usually a huge control freak when it comes to menu's, but this particular instance it was really nice to sit back and have someone who knows the food really well order for you. It was a good surprise to see the food come to your table, where most of the food is cooked on a central charcoal BBQ that you eat the food directly off.

The restaurant itself is modern and very aesthetically appealing- funky booths, winding staircases, cast iron trimmings and gorgeous lighting.


Having never eaten Korean before I was amazed by the amount of bottomless sides you are served. Little bowls of caramalised type onion, pickled cabbage and 'kimchi', spicy pickled cabbage along with three different types of dipping sauces were scattered across the table. Our friend had us in hysterics as he went through bowl after bowl of kimchi on its own, loving the spicy cabbage salad.


We started with a rare beef salad. The meat was soft and tender, the salad crisp and the dressing sweet and zesty.


We also had some Korean dumplings. These were very different from Chinese or Japanese dumplings, with a really crispy pastry around it with a subtle mince stuffing.


Then came the BBQ-ing. I wasn't really sure what to expect when the plates of huge marinated pieces of pork belly and beef spare-ribs arrived at the table. But sure enough, the little charcoal BBQ was fired up and between our Korean friend at the table and the waitresses many courses of yummy, tender, beautifully marinated meat was cooked which we enjoyed with black rice and crispy lettuce leaves, along with all the accompanied sauces and toppings. I enjoyed mine the traditional way, by wrapping the meat in the lettuce leaves and adding the desired sauce and toppings. It was delicious, simple and healthy. A true caveman style feast! I loved the smoky smell wafting through the air.



Somehow I managed to have enough room after all that carnivorous action for dessert. The blackberry panna cotta was a beautiful, simple dessert. The panna cotta was of perfect consistency with just a subtle blackberry hint, topped with gorgeous berries in syrup and a chocolate curl.


Korean BBQ is a great, interactive way to share a social dinner with friends. I was so surprised by the bill as well, as between 5 of us we had two entrees, 2 large pieces of pork belly, 6 beef spare ribs, rice, 2 bottles of soju (like sake), two glasses of wine and about 4 beers plus my dessert and it only came to $42 a head. Such good value for high quality food served in a novelty setting.


Guhng (The Palace) on Urbanspoon

Healthy Breakfast Stack

You have probably realized by now that I am a breakfast snob. Bacon and eggs? Pfft. Only if I am hungover and need something to soak up too many drinks. Most Saturday mornings, I cook myself and Craig a healthy, wholesome breakfast and love experimenting with new gourmet ways of fancy-ing up eggs. This was one of those successful experiments.

Healthy Breakfast Stack (serves 2)
 

Two large handfuls of fresh rocket
4 eggs, scrambled with a little milk
1 avocado, mashed with a little lemon juice and sea salt
100 grams of smoked salmon
2 tablespoons of basil pesto

Cook scrambled eggs (this assumes you know how to make scrambled eggs, if not, google it!)
On a plate, layer first a large handful of fresh washed rocket, arranging it into somewhat of a circle. Layer on top of this, half onto each plate, the mashed avocado.
On top of this, carefully arrange the scrambled eggs, taking care that it sits atop the mound.
Gently place half the smoked salmon onto each plate atop of the stack.
Drizzle the basil pesto around the stack decoratively (and it tastes super yummy with the stack once you mix it all together).

A really easy, healthy 'fancy' looking breakfast dish that seriously takes no time at all to throw together!


 

Healthy Stuffed Chicken Breast

I have to admit, I am usually a dud at making chicken. It is usually too dry, and for that reason I usually steer clear of cooking whole fillets of chicken. But this particular night, I actually kicked butt at chicken cooking. My 'what do I have in the fridge, lets make it up' style recipe was an absolute winner and the chicken was cooked perfectly.

A simple, easy and healthy chicken recipe that requires very few ingredients! I served mine with some baked sweet potato chips and steamed greens.

Healthy Stuffed Chicken Breast (serves 2)


2 large chicken fillets, skin removed
10 semi-dried tomatoes
100grams of goats feta
2 tablespoons of basil pesto
Dash of oil

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Slice the chicken fillets almost all the way through, making a 'pocket'. Spread the pesto inside the pocket, then stuff in crumbled feta and sundried tomaroes. Use toothpicks to close the pocket.

In a fry pan, heat a little oil and seal the chikken until browned on each side (2-3 mins on each side). Move onto a tray and place in the oven for 25 minutes.

Serve with desired sides. The goats feta and pesto should melt together to form a beautiful sauce that tastes amazing as it oozes out of the chicken fillet.

Enjoy!

Moroccan Soup Bar, Fitzroy

There are some restaurants in Melbourne who's popularity just speaks for themselves. Moroccan Soup Bar is one of those places. It was difficult to go there expecting anything less than amazing, wholesome, good value food considering the masses that flock there every evening to the point where at 8.30 on a weeknight it can be a one hour wait for a table. Yes, another one of Melbourne's finest 'no booking' policy restaurants!

Luckily, on this particular Tuesday evening, my good old friend from high school and I managed to score a table as soon as we walked in at 6.45. It was definitely a bit of a fluke though, as many others after us got told a mega wait! We sat there for a while chatting and sipping on some Moroccan mint tea before we started to wonder where the menu was. When we enquired with the friendly waitress, she informed us it was actually a verbal menu! Instead of having her list every item, we just decided to go straight off with the $20 a head banquet and try a bit of everything.

The dip platter with warm pieces of heated pita bread had HEAPS of variety and everything tasted fresh, flavorsome and home-made. We didn't get given an actual rundown of the dips, but my palate suggested that it was some kind of spicy capsicum, a hummus, a garlic yogurt, a broccoli dip and a cauliflower dip along with some pickled carrots, potatoes and olives. Heaps of variety compared to your standard trio of dips and plenty of bread. I particularly enjoyed the broccoli and cauliflower ones as they had a lovely texture and were very different.


The mains included a big plate of sides with a lentil type curry, two different types of rice and a big pile of yummy yogurt. It was very generous servings and we definitely did not get through it! Once again, it was nice to have so much variety and to try so many different things.


One of the mains was a big bowl of what seemed to be Moroccan roasted vegetables on couscous. I'm not sure how needed the couscous was considering how many sides we already had? But it was a yummy dish regardless and it was nice and comforting to just have a pile of roast vegies where the vegetables themselves were really the stars of the dish! Simple, wholesome style food.


The highlight of the whole meal was the big bowl of some kind of chickpea bake. This absolutely rocked- I would go back just to order this one dish. I am not sure exactly what it was, but it incorporated beautifully textured chickpeas, crunchy pieces of pita and almonds in a yogurty-creamy sauce with lots of herbs and spices! I never knew something so simple could taste so good and I could not stop eating this. Definitely the kind of dish that could impress even your biggest carnivore.


We left some of our mains and then managed to somehow squeeze in half of a turkish delight donut and half a piece of baklava into our swollen stomachs, chased down with some more of the beautiful Moroccan mint tea. The desserts were probably the only part of the meal I wasn't hugely impressed with, as they seemed a little stale like they had been sitting there for a while. Definitely not as fresh as the rest of the meal anyway. We were so full that we barely noticed anyway!


There is so much to love about Moroccan Soup Bar. It is one of those places where the vibe and atmosphere speaks for itself, and add to that wholesome, healthy, amazing value food and friendly staff and you know you are onto an absolute winner. Only problem? Getting a table at the actual restaurant so you can experience all of the above. Hopefully you will be as lucky as I was- or alternatively, take some Tupperware containers and they will fill it up for you as takeaway. I plan on trekking out there this school holidays and asking them to fill me up a container of yummy chickpeas! A great place for either a vegetarian or a carnivore having a healthy vegie night to go. You definitely come out feeling nourished!


Moroccan Soup Bar on Urbanspoon

Monday, September 3, 2012

Big Mussels! x 2 ways...

I told my Dad for Fathers Day I would cook anything his heart desired and I was stoked when he asked for a big steaming bowl of mussels with some crusty bread. If there is any seafood I think is under-rated, mussels has to be it. They are cheap, plentiful, easy to cook and fun to eat. Ripping them out of their shells, slurping them, dipping bread into the slightly sea-salty tasting sauces left behind.

In fact, one of my favourite memories involves me and my cousin, at ages 23 and 28 spending hours excitedly stealing mussels from a particular Peninsula pier, filling up bags and bags and animatedly discussing what we would cook with them. Later that evening, with cuts all over our hands from pulling mussels all day, we cooked them up in a chilli tomato sauce and had a huge feast with all of our families. It was a great day.

This particular Fathers Day though, we acquired our mussels the legal way from my local fish shop... 2 kgs for about $14. I decided to do mussels two ways- one, my Dad's favourite in an Italian, tomato chilli sauce and another in a Thai red curry. So simple and easy (despite a bit of prep beforehand) and much enjoyed with a loaf of crusty bread and a nice bottle of red wine. A simple and interactive family meal.




Spicy Italian Mussels

1 kg mussels, bearded and scrubbed (I don't worry too much about scubbing them- I find it adds a taste of the ocean to the sauce)
2 cans of tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Large dash of white wine
Large handful of basil, chopped
Large handful of parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

In a large saucepan, heat a little olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Saute until soft. Add wine, tomatoes, basil and parsley and chilli powder. Simmer for five minutes. Add mussels and cover with lid. Leave for 5 minutes so mussels can steam, stirring occasionally so the yummy sauce can coat the mussels. Serve with crusty bread. Hint- if a mussel is open before cooking, throw it out. If it doesn't open when cooked, throw it out.


Red Curry Mussels

2 tablespoons of red curry paste
1 kg mussels, bearded and scrubbed
1 tin of coconut milk
Spring onion, chopped
Handful of coriander, chopped
1 carrot, sliced into toothpicks
1/2 red capsicum, sliced into toothpicks

In a large frypan or tagine, heat a little oil and add red curry paste. Saute until fragrant. Add coconut milk, spring onion, coriander, carrot and capsicum and stir to combine. Add mussels and cover if you can, cooking for about 5 minutes stirring occasonally. Serve with crusty bread or roti.



Enjoy! We did... ;)


Fathers Day @ Montmorency RSL

With Craig's parents currently away in Europe, we decided to break his Pa out of his retirement home and take him to our local RSL for a Father's Day lunch. At $38 a head for two courses of RSL food, it was a bit steep but it was a nice day out and nice environment to have lunch in. Some of the food looked quite impressive, other dishes were not amazing. I guess there's not much more you can ask of an RSL than value for money and a quiet atmosphere.

I was quite impressed with my nephews meal, where his nuggets were shaped like dinosaurs. How cool is that!? I had a lot of fun teaching him how to play with his food and make his little dinosaur nuggets say "Grrrrr!".


The spicy calamari dish was quite nice, although the calamari tasted a little like the frozen kind and it could have done with maybe another two minutes cooking time to crisp up the outsides a bit.


The satay chicken entree looked very nice also, although I was not lucky enough to get a taste!


I couldn't believe the size of the gnocchi entree, which was definitely the best value size wise... but didn't leave much room for main!


My main meal sounded so good in theory- pistachio crusted barramundi with chips and salad. But in reality, it was pretty horrible and reminded me why I don't eat at many pubs/RSL's. The fish was so overcooked that it was rubbery, the pistachio crumb tasted processed and gross and I wasn't quite sure why they felt the need to fry herbs and sprinkle them on top? I have never been so grateful for a pile of chips as I was when I pushed this fish to the side. I may sound like a massive toff, but if you are going to offer pistachio crumbed fish on a menu, at least cook the fish properly!


I have major food envy to those who got the Beef Wellington. These looked awesome, kind of like a wellington 'stack'. Pretty impressive for a pub meal.


Despite being a little disappointed in a few of the meals at the RSL this particular day (quite a busy day, if that makes a difference to the quality of the food) it is a great little local RSL and I would particularly like to go back in summer and drink beers on the rooftop and give the meals another go!



Montmorency Rsl on Urbanspoon

Ricotta 'gnudi' with pumpkin burnt butter sauce

One of the benefits in working in a semi-rural area is sometimes you drive past gorgeous farms that offer local produce. One such farm is Provelones in Donnybrook, where I recently bought some beautiful homemade ricotta cheese. I decided to use it to make some ricotta gnudi, basically gnocchi but not with potato, but ricotta instead.

This recipe was a bit fiddly, but I am proud to report it was very impressive and successful. The hardest part was definitely making the gnudi itself, but it was a fun experiment.


For the gnudi:

500 grams of ricotta cheese
1 and a half cups of plain flour (I used gluten free)
1 egg

Combine all ingredients along with some salt and pepper in a bowl. Thoroughly combine until a sticky dough forms. Bring a saucepan full of water to the boil. With wet hands, gently roll tablespoon sized balls of dough and drop them into the saucepan. I went for 'rustic', not really caring if the balls were on a uniform shape. I cooked about five at a time, then placed them on baking paper on a plate to cool.

For the sauce:

2 cups of pumpkin, chopped and roasted for 20 minutes
1 red onion, sliced
Large handful of baby spinach
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1/4 cup of butter
sage leaves

In a fry-pan, heat and melt the butter.Add onion. Bring the temperature to high so the butter begins to go a slight brown colour and onion is browned. Add the pine-nuts, spinach, pumpkin and sage. Allow spinach and herbs to wilt. Add gnudi, and toss to combine and heat the gnudi through,

Serve with parmesan cheese.





The Exchange Hotel, Port Melbourne

We headed out to the Exhange Hotel in Port Melbourne for a girlfriends birthday last weekend. I wasn't sure what to expect as I had read mixed reviews, but the menu sounded really appealing and my girlfriend regularly eats there.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a lovely, sophisticated dining room with friendly staff and an interesting menu with a lot more to offer than your regular pub. I loved the miscallaneous cool antique looking chairs around the table.

To start, Craig and I shared these amazing crumbed prawn croquettes. They were filled with this almost Mexican style prawn mixture with guacamole. Along with these, the hotel featured a lot of really interesting and unique style tapas dishes that I would love to work my way through.


I ordered something I NEVER ordered for dinner- I am not sure why I finally broke my risotto ban. After years of being disappointed by watery, gluggy risotto I decided to try again with the king prawn and mascarpone risotto with fresh herbs and Moreton Bay Bugs. Yum! What a great time to break my ban. The texture was perfect, slightly creamy from the cheese, flavoured with beautiful dill and topped with gorgeous plump Moreton Bay bugs and littered with a generous amount of prawns.



Craig had the twice cooked pork belly with parsnip puree, lentils and a roasted apple sauce. It looked divine and I had total food envy, but Craig commented that for twice cooked, the crackling wasn't crunchy at all. I did have a taste though, and the flavour combinations were wonderful.


Some of the girls had the roasted chicken with chasseur sauce, mash and sauteed spinach. This looked like a gorgeous homely, French inspired meal and they seemed to enjoy it.


Another friend had the meal that I was umming and aahing over ordering... gnocchi with braised duck and winter vegetables. This looked like a gorgeous, homely dish and I think I would have been pretty content with it. Maybe I will have to go back to give it a try...



The (tiny) birthday girl managed to chow down on this massive, gorgeous looking burger served with a stack of house cut wedges.


We managed to squeeze in dessert also (I think this decision was influenced by several glasses of wne over dinner) and my girlfriend and I couldn't go past the Baileys Bombe Alaska... and how glad are we that we didn't?! What a treat. Beautiful Bailey's ice-cream smothered in sweet, sticky meringue. I just loved this dessert!


The sticky-date looked very good too, and generous serving!


Despite reading some bad reviews, I do think the Exchange Hotel is worth trying for yourself. Despite it being a busy Saturday night, we had a lovely evening with good service, lovely food and a cool atmosphere. I imagine it would also be an enjoyable atmosphere on a gorgeous summer day. Good 'pub' food in Port Melbourne.

Exchange Hotel on Urbanspoon