Yum Cha $$$ A dim sum restaurant with old fashioned décor. (Visited January 2014) 關於陸羽茶室 🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢 6/10
Author Archives: em
Din Tai Fung (Causeway Bay, Hong Kong)
Taiwanese $$ You just can’t beat a good xiao long bao. And this place knows how to do that well. (Visited January 2014) http://www.dintaifung.com.hk/ 🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚 10/10
One Dim Sum (Prince Edward, Hong Kong)
Yum Cha $ An ex-Michelin star dim sum restaurant, there’s always a long line to a good quality and cheap yum cha! (Visited January 2014) 🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢 9/10
McDonald’s (Hong Kong)
Fast Food $ Had the red bean pie! Delicious. Love going to the macca’s of different countries!(Visited January 2014) https://www.mcdonalds.com.hk/ 🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧 8/10
Café De Coral (Hong Kong)
Fast Food $ One of the most popular and common fast food places in Hong Kong. Decent food for a cheap price! Great for a fast feed. (Visited January 2014) https://www.cafedecoralfastfood.com/ 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 8/10
Kai Kee (Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong)
Hong Kong Fast Food $ Variety of typical Cantonese fast food. (Visited January 2014) 🥘🥘🥘🥘🥘🥘 6/10
Australia Dairy Company (Jordan, Hong Kong)
Cafe $ Extremely disappointed with this place, it had great reviews, a huge line, but food was mediocre at best, and service was one of rudest I’d ever come across! We were assured by our kind customer neighbours that this was normal, but wouldn’t bother coming back! (Visited July 2018) http://thehungrygeek.com/2015/11/17/australia-dairy-company/ 🍳🍳🍳 3/10
Lung King Heen (Sheung Wan, Hong Kong)
Cantonese $$$$ Wow. One of our favourite places to eat in Hong Kong. Wok-fried Australian beef tenderloin was not something I expected to be a highlight in Hong Kong, but some of the tastiest beef I’ve ever had. Crispy chicken with sesame in lemon sauce was also perfectly cooked. Great view, delicious food, and weContinue reading “Lung King Heen (Sheung Wan, Hong Kong)”
Yum Cha (Mong Kok, Hong Kong)
Yum Cha $$ An adorable yum cha restaurant that while the food isn’t mind-blowing, it’s quite decent but more importantly, so cute. Worth a visit. (Visited July 2018) dim sum hong kong 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷 8/10
Alice (Tokyo)
Themed Cafe $$ Alice in Wonderland themed cafe. Got a voucher to this place as part of a package deal to see the Robot restaurant. Not worth it. Gimmicky decorations, and poor quality food. https://www.dd-holdings.jp/shops/alice/ehonsinjyuku#/ 🃏 🃏 🃏 🃏 4/10
Disneyland (Tokyo)
Theme Park $$ Cute, but mediocre quality, as expected of pretty much all theme parks! https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdl/ 🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭 5/10
Calbee (Tokyo)
Fries $ A surprisingly popular franchise in Japan, that serves sweet and savoury potato fries. Cute, but nothing amazing. https://www.calbee.co.jp/calbeestore/shop/ 🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟 7/10
Dominique Ansel Bakery (Tokyo)
Bakery/Dessert $$ French pastry bakery that now has stores worldwide. Beautiful pastry creations. (Visited May 2017) 🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰 9/10
Shizuka Ryokan (Hepburn Springs)
Japanese $$$ A relaxing Japanese spa retreat with fantastic traditional food! 🍱🍱🍱🍱🍱🍱🍱🍱🍱🍱 10/10
Kourakuen (Tokyo)
Ramen $ One of the first ramen I had in Japan, not too expensive and pretty decent! https://stores.kourakuen.co.jp/20085 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 7/10
Taco Truck
Food Truck/Tacos $$ I’m a sucker for fish tacos, and these hit the spot! Slightly over salted but fish was fresh. Would get again if it was in my area! https://tacotruck.com.au/ 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮 8/10
Miznon (CBD)
Pop Up/Mediterranean $$ Went to the pop up at the Australian Open, and tried the popular baby cauliflower in pita bread. Delicious! Almost a meaty bite to it. Would want to try the actual restaurant. https://www.miznonaustralia.com/ 🥙🥙🥙🥙🥙🥙🥙🥙🥙 9/10
Tokyo Tina (Windsor)
Asian $$ On the super hip part of Chapel Street, this little modern Asian gem is popular but usually without a super long wait. https://tokyotina.com.au/ 🥣🥣🥣🥣🥣🥣🥣🥣 8/10
Bills (Tokyo)
Australian $$ Perfect for Aussies missing a typical brunch. (Visited May 2017) https://billsjapan.com/en/omotesando 🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳 8/10
Pablo (Osaka)
Dessert $ Famous for it’s cheese tarts, definitely warrants a visit. (Visited May 2017) https://www.pablo3.com/shop/detail/?seq=6 🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧 8/10
Universal Studios (Osaka)
Theme Park $$ Just as expensive as you’d expect, mediocre quality, but very cute! (Visited May 2017) https://www.usj.co.jp/web/en/us 🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭 6/10
Rikuro’s Cheese Cake (Osaka)
Cheesecake $ Famous jiggly cheesecake in Japan. Incredibly light and fluffy. (Visited May 2017) http://www.rikuro.co.jp/en/ 🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰 8/10
鶏Soba (Osaka)
Ramen $ A quintessential little shop that really embodies ramen eating in Japan. Only a handful of seats inside, and order via the vending machine outside. Not too expensive, but fantastic ramen in an intimate setting. One of my favourite meals in Japan. (Visited May 2017) https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270102/27079112/ 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 9/10
Cheese Craft Works (Osaka)
Cheese $$ Wasn’t expecting there to be a cheese franchise in Japan! After a lifetime’s worth of ramen and sushi, this was a nice break. Can’t go too wrong with cheese!(Visited May 2017) https://www.cheese-cw.jp/ 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀 8/10
Gyukatsu Kyoto-katsugyu (Kyoto)
Japanese $$ Some of the tastiest beef cutlets I’ve ever had. Randomly came across this place looking for food and saw this place had a line. Definitely worth it! Perfectly cooked without being greasy, served with sides and several different sauces. Simple but absolutely delicious. (Visited May 2017) 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩 10/10
Lawson (Kyoto)
Convenience store $ Both 7 eleven and Lawson in Japan are not your average convenience stores; cheap but good quality foods. Large range of sushi and sashimi, as well as hot foods. Great for a quick breakfast or lunch on the run. Lawson have great fried food. (Visited May 2017) https://www.lawson.jp/en/ 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗 9/10
551 Horai (Kyoto)
Chinese $ Popular Chinese takeaway shop in Kyoto station with excellent dim sum. Great food on the run. https://www.551horai.co.jp/ 🥡🥡🥡🥡🥡🥡🥡🥡🥡 9/10
Tapas Molecular Bar (Tokyo)
Tapas $$$$ A must for those that love a fine dining dinnertainment experience. A very exclusive restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel of Tokyo, food was just as creative as it was delicious. It included being given a ‘toolbox’ with a menu on a measuring tape, and a mini hammer and spade to later eatContinue reading “Tapas Molecular Bar (Tokyo)”
Hirobun (Kyoto)
Noodles $$ Famous for it’s Nagashi Somen, which is a style of eating where you catch noodles from running cold water; definitely entertainment value! The food itself is nothing exceptional, but a lot of fun catching your food. Very popular with tourists, naturally. Not central by any stretch, but worth the travel to try. TheContinue reading “Hirobun (Kyoto)”
Ichiran (Kyoto)
Ramen $ A definite must in Japan! For the experience and the food. You have individual stalls to eat, and order by ticking what you’d like on a piece of paper, and passing it across the stall. Some stalls have self serving water, so you may not even see any wait staff at all! ApparentlyContinue reading “Ichiran (Kyoto)”
Kamukura (Tokyo)
Ramen $ A popular ramen franchise in Japan. Isn’t my favourite, but still great. Almost all the ramen we ate in Japan was really good quality. (Visited May 2017) 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 7/10
Son of Tucci (Mount Waverley)
Brunch $$ An unexpected treat in the ‘burbs! Tried the sriracha maple glazed bacon, perfectly balanced in flavours, not too sweet or spicy! Prawn tacos were a great option for brunch too. Coffee wasn’t amazing, but food definitely made up for it! Sat outside, but interior had a nice chill modern vibe. https://m.facebook.com/Son-of-Tucci-1528095900804943/ 🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓 9/10
Kau Kaleshen (El Calafate)
Argentinian $$ A quaint little place with traditional Argentinian food. (Visited December 2017) 🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲 8/10
Remota (Puerto Natales)
Chilean $$$ Restaurant in one of the nicest but most expensive hotels I’ve ever been too. The package I went with included lunch and dinner as well as outdoor activities with food provided. Possibly some of the best quality food I’ve ever had. Had alfajors (cookie filled with dulce de leche) that I would flyContinue reading “Remota (Puerto Natales)”
Central (Lima)
Peruvian $$$$ An unusual but fascinating high class restaurant in Lima. Using unique ingredients of South America, it included several dishes that I had never had before, including piranha! I feel like my palate wasn’t refined enough to fully appreciate this place, but definitely a night to remember. Has an episode dedicated to it onContinue reading “Central (Lima)”
JW Marriott El Convento (Cusco)
Hotel $$$ When I was ill with altitude sickness, room service here was a dream come true! (Visited December 2017) https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/cuzmc-jw-marriott-el-convento-cusco/ 🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲 8/10
Barrica 94 (Santiago)
Chilean $$ Restaurant with a lovely relaxed atmosphere next to Mall Vivo Los Trapenses. Sat on the balcony with some live music played downstairs. https://www.barrica94.cl/ 🥘🥘🥘🥘🥘🥘🥘🥘 8/10
Johnny Rockets (Santiago)
Burgers $ This American franchise is even in the Santiago airport! The wait staff even did a cute dance to Get Down Tonight. (Visited December 2017) 🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔 6/10
Papacho’s (Cusco)
Burgers/Pub $ Next to the Cuzco Cathedral, a popular place for tourists on their way to Machu Picchu. Nothing mind-blowing, but food with a familiar feel. https://papachos.com/ 🍛🍛🍛🍛🍛🍛 6/10
Bun Bun Bakery (Springvale)
Bakery $ Best Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette) in Springvale. For $6, a great roasted pork banh mi with pork crackling. 🌯🌯🌯🌯🌯🌯🌯🌯🌯🌯 10/10
Sacred Valley (Cusco)
Local Community Not a restaurant per se, but stopped here and visited the local community as part of a trip to Machu Picchu. Served us Cuy (guinea pig), which is famous in Peru, but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it! (Visited December 2017)
Capperi (Santiago)
Italian $$ In a cute hipster neighbourhood in Santiago, this is a popular Italian joint. Good quality pizza and pasta! Worth a stop. (Visited December 2017) https://www.capperi.cl/ 🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝 8/10
Ramen Kitaro (Santiago)
Japanese $$ I may have some problems with Asian cravings…but this place was great! Also love that the website says ‘no ramen no life’. Again nothing can beat Asian food in Melbourne, but considering, a decent find! (Visited December 2017) https://www.kintaro.cl/ 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 7/10
Nobu (CBD)
Japanese $$$$ A fantastic Asian fusion located in Crown. Decided to go a la carte. Wagyu beef tacos were so tender and perfectly balanced, and toro sushi literally melts in the mouth! Crispy chicken with ranch and truffle salt was amazing too. Soft shell crab sushi maki also fantastic, warm and crunchy. All went wellContinue reading “Nobu (CBD)”
Furaibo (Buenos Aires)
Japanese $$ Wasn’t expecting to find ramen in Buenos Aires! Not the best quality broth, but still decent, and curbed the Asian cravings. (Visited November 2017) 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 6/10
Mirror Room (London)
British $$ Located in the Rosewood Hotel, this was a fun high tea. At the time, it was Van Gogh themed, with Starry Night, Sunflowers, and Almond Blossoms serving as inspiration for their cakes. Very classy place for a special occasion high tea.(Visited July 2019) https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/london/dining/mirror-room 🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰 8/10
Music and Beans (London)
Brunch $$ I’m biased to Melbourne, but nowhere can beat our brunch. This place is definitely decent, but flavour and coffee is just not quite the same! Still, a good meal. (Visited July 2019) Main Home 🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳 7/10
Borough Market (London)
Market $$ A must visit in London. Fun place to walk around and great range of food choices. Had to be a typical tourist and eat fish and chips in London. (Visited July 2019) https://boroughmarket.org.uk/ 🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟 8/10
The Fat Duck (Bray)
British $$$$ What an experience. No-one has perfected dinnertainment like Heston Blumenthal. An interactive experience that turned food into stories, there were more courses than I would’ve thought humanly possible to eat! Including use of all the senses, the level of creativity in creation and presentation of these meals surpassed any expectations. You were evenContinue reading “The Fat Duck (Bray)”
The Cheese Bar (London)
Cheese $$ What can I say, I’m a sucker for cheese. So I left it to the experts! Loved the five cheese macaroni, crunchy but so cheesy. (Visited July 2019) https://www.thecheesebar.com/camden/ 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀 10/10
Lucky Cat (London)
Asian $$$ I was at first sceptical of a white guy doing Asian food, but this really exceeded my expectations. Huge range of Asian food with a twist, everything was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. The décor was classy and modern and created a nice atmosphere. Not cheap by any stretch, but worth it! ToContinue reading “Lucky Cat (London)”
Renshaw Restaurant (London)
Exclusive restaurant $$ Located within Court 1 at Wimbledon, this restaurant is reserved for Wimbledon Debenture ticket holders as part of the package. You can overlook the tennis courts and enjoy your meal! Wouldn’t be the best restaurant I’ve been to, but food was decent, presentation was beautiful, and the exclusivity and experience was definitely worthContinue reading “Renshaw Restaurant (London)”
The Cauldron (London)
Themed Bar $$ What a magical bar! Unspoken but clearly inspired by something beginning with H and ending in arry Potter, this can’t breach copyright but was still a lot of fun! Doing ‘potions’ to create cocktails with special effects. Good fun! (Visited June 2019) https://thecauldron.io/london/potions 🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹 8/10
Burger King (Marseille)
Fast Food $ Weird choice for Marseille, I know. But we were hungry at the airport! Even overseas, pretty damn decent. 🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔 8/10
Square Maker (Marseille)
Sandwiches $ Went for a quick bite at the foodcourt of Les Terrasses du Port shopping centre. Decent Croque Monsieur. (Visited June 2019) http://www.squaremaker.fr/ 🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪 7/10
Chez Nam (Marseille)
Vietnamese $ An unexpected find in Marseille, definitely excited to see an Asian restaurant! But hard to match Melbourne quality Vietnamese food. https://www.cheznam.fr/ 🍜🍜🍜🍜 🍜 5/10
Auchan Gourmand Prado (Marseille)
Grocery store $ Similar to a David Jones food court, has a variety of foods in an upscale grocery store environment. (Visited June 2019) https://auchangourmand-prado.com/ 🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬 7/10
Le Toi Gou (Marseille)
Thai $$ Trying to curb asian food cravings after a few weeks in Europe. Not bad, but quite expensive, and not very flavoursome. Reminded me that we’re very spoilt in Melbourne for having such good quality asian food. (Visited June 2019) 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 6/10
Maison Geney (Marseille)
Bakery $ I don’t think I’ve ever been blown away by a bakery, but the focaccia bread here is something that I’d fly to Marseille again for. If you’re in France, this is 100% worth scheduling a stop. Best quality bread and flavours. (Visited June 2019) 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖10/10
Mijo T (Paris)
French $$ A quaint farm-to-table restaurant on a little side street. Food has a beautiful homely authentic feel. Highly recommend. (Visited June 2019) https://www.facebook.com/restaurant.MijoT/ 🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲 9/10
Five Guys (Paris)
Burgers/Fast Food $ Apparently a famous American fast food chain, that uses peanut oil for their deep frying. Very decent fast food when you’re craving a dirty meal. https://www.fiveguys.com/ 🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔 8/10
Epicure (Paris)
French $$$$ A once in a lifetime restaurant. We were not prepared for this level of fancy, but other people were in tuxedos! Fantastic food, the caviar with mashed potato will forever haunt me as one of the best foods I’ve ever had. The chicken breast poached in a bladder was unexpected! Other highlights wereContinue reading “Epicure (Paris)”
Galette Café (Paris)
Crepes $ Stopped here after visiting Musée d’Orsay. Can’t go too wrong with crepes. (Visited June 2019) https://galette-cafe-universite.fr/fr 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞 7/10
Ladurée (Paris)
Bakery $ Famous for it’s macarons, popular franchise around Europe. Worth trying if you’re in Paris. https://www.laduree.fr/en/ 🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰 7/10
Le Volant Basque (Paris)
French $$ Average French restaurant, had great ratings but we were disappointed, not great portion sizes, more expensive than we thought reasonable. Didn’t feel was worth it. (Visited June 2019) http://levolantbasque.fr/en 🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲 6/10
Stohrer (Paris)
Bakery $ One of the oldest bakeries in Paris. Good for a breakfast on the run, tasty and delicate but wouldn’t go out of my way to try it again. (Visited June 2019) 🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐 7/10
Chez Alain Miam Miam (Paris)
Sandwiches $ This adorable little shop serves hearty sandwiches for great prices. The owner Alain is not afraid to absolutely layer up your sandwich! Super generous and good quality meats. A must visit and great on a budget. (Visited June 2019) https://www.facebook.com/ChezAlainMiamMiam/ 🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪 10/10
Zero Mode (Boxhill)
Brunch $$ Modern brunch place next to Boxhill Central. Very popular, even on weekdays! Recommend a reservation. Poke bowl was very flavoursome and big portion size. Dessert had a nice entertainment factor, removing the plastic casing to watch the cream flow out. Bit on the expensive side, but good quality! 🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚🍚 9/10
Bouille Pigalle (Paris)
French $ A popular place for cheap classic French food, in a chic modern restaurant. Had the beef bourguignon. We also didn’t understand french measurements and ordered bottles of iced tea instead of a glass! Good to try, but felt slightly bland, could’ve used a bit more flavour. (Visited June 2019) 🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝7/10
Artisan De La Truffe Marais (Paris)
Truffle restaurant $$ Stumbled across this restaurant walking to Châtelet–Les Halles, a great find! We had truffle pasta, a truffle burger (complete with truffle mustard and truffle ketchup!) then dessert with truffle chocolate. Great quality food, absolutely delicious! We liked the truffle chocolate so much we bought a box on the way out. (Visited JuneContinue reading “Artisan De La Truffe Marais (Paris)”
on weekends, we brunch 