Tomodachi

1. I have been curious about this restauraunt since it opened a couple of years back, but it wasn’t until last Tuesday that I finally found time to try it out. Situated in a food court of a shopping centre isn’t exactly doing it any favours (who goes to a food court for a night out?), but the restaurant itself is nicely decorated, and once inside the food court melts away and doesn’t intrude. Prices are reasonable, pushing expensive, but the servings are big! An entree of Tempura Prawns were fantastic and almost mains size; and the Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box that followed is big enough to share. Featuring a mixture of Tempura (crisp), Sushi (delicate), Sashimi (very, very fresh), Teriyaki Chicken on rice (yum!) and a selection of salad and fruit, one is almost overloaded with choice — in fact it would be wise to skip the entree and go straight for the Bento, unless you are really hungry!

Tomodachi, level two, food court, shop 220, 2 Bay St Broadway, Sydney. Tel: (02) 9281 6000

King Bo Chinese Restauraunt

1. I have to admit, we only went here because we thought the name was funny and we saw a sign saying Yum Cha every day. So, we took a punt and went inside. We were seated upstairs because the ground floor was full, so we missed a lot of the atmosphere (upstairs was almost empty). The food was reasonable, everything tasting as they should, but special mention goes to the pork buns and marinated chicken feet, both were especially good. Wasn’t particularly pricey, in fact it was reasonably cheap at just under $20 a head for an awful lot of food, but be warned, some of the wait staff will put on the hard sell so be prepared to say no a few times.

King Bo, 218 Russell St, Melbourne, Vic 3000. Tel: (03) 9639 3388.

Kum Den Chinese Restaurant

1. This was the first restaurant we went to in Melbourne, we chanced upon it while looking for a place that wasn’t too packed but wasn’t too empty. It seems chinese restaurants are the same Australia wide, the prerequisite father/mother figure manning the door asking how many to seat, the terrible out-of-date decor that is such a jumble it’s essentially timeless, and the masses of young underlings taking orders, serving food and clearing tables. The food is much the same as well, I mean that in a good way, like a group of jazz musicians playing the standards. I had to try the Salt and Pepper Squid (sweeter than what I’ve had in Sydney, and is more chilli than pepper), and we had a few other dishes I can’t recall, but the food was excellent and the service prompt. We had a bit of difficulty attracting the waiter for our bill, it was almost as if they didn’t want us to pay. Despite that, it was a great place for a cheap dinner.

Kum Den Chinese Restaurant, 3-5 Waratah Pl, Melbourne, Vic 3000. Tel: (03) 9663 6508

Becco

1. Nestled in a narrow lane in the Melbourne CBD, this rather unobtrusive Italian eatery was one of our favorites on our Melbourne weekend, with its great service, fantastic food and lively atmosphere. You’d want to book ahead (we booked before we left), even though the restaurant spans four shop fronts we saw no less than five groups turned away because the place was packed. When we arrived at 7.30pm the place was already full, so maybe Melbournians eat earlier, and the staff was worked off their feet. I got the feeling they probably could have used another person on the floor, but the service we got was impeccable.

2. For the entree I ordered the Italian Pork Sausage with a Cannellini and Borlotti Bean Salad (hee-llo!), and the Spiced Wine Braised Rabbit Pie with Tarragon and Carrot Mash for a main. Both were very good, though I was hoping the Rabbit Pie was a bit bigger and came in a pie dish, rather than the normal meat-pie pastry. For dessert we shared a cheese plate, which had a great bree that was so very soft and creamy… yum. I tried to find out what it was called, but our waiter had this beautiful sing-song voice and I found it hard to ignore the melody (and her accent) and concentrate on the words.

3. We had a fantastic time at Becco, but the biggest surprise was yet to come: the bill. It was so cheap! Three courses and a half bottle of wine came to $160, in Sydney I would’ve expected another $80 on top of that. So not only is the food great and the service great, it’s also great value! It almost makes me want to move to Melbourne.

Becco, 11-25 Crossley St, Melbourne, Vic 3000. Tel: (03) 9663 3000, Fax: (03) 9663 3949.

Spanish Tapas

1. Yum! Located on Glebe Point Road (right up from where I live) I’ve been staring at the restaurant for almost a year from the bus on the way home from work, but we finally went there for dinner last night. The service was a bit lacking, as in lack of wait staff, but the ones who were there were capable and friendly. The Tapas were fantastic, ranging from $9 to $15 per place; we ordered five plates for the four of us, which came out fast, and tasted delicious. There were also paella on the menu (which we didn’t try) but neighboring tables did and it looked magnificent. Nice atmosphere, complete with bad latin pop soundtrack, rounded off a good night. We’ll be going back for the paella, most definitely.

Spanish Tapas, 28 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, NSW 2037. Tel: (02) 9571-9005, Fax: (02) 9518-6371