Tookaiya Japanese Restaurant

Tookaiya Japanese Restaurant

314 Keilor Road, North Essendon

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Japanese Proverb:

Tai-mo hitori-ha umakazu - Even sea bream is not delicious when eaten in loneliness

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My wife and I are massive fans of Tookaiya Japanese. We try and eat there at least once a month to get the fresh seafood they are so famous for serving. We have our favourite dishes which we will order every time, though we haven't been disappointed with anything else on the menu so far.

On Monday night we decided we had waited long enough between visits and rocked up at around 6pm. Being a Monday night it was pretty quiet which was good for a change, no need to book a table.

Prawn inside out sushi rolls

We normally start with some inside out sushi rolls, my wife likes the prawn and I like the raw tuna or salmon, in this case, I went with the raw tuna. The light flavour of the fresh fish is so refreshing, especially in the warm weather, and you don't feel so bad when you are eating it either. The sushi rolls are covered in caviar giving you those beautiful little bursts of flavour when you bite into them. The size of these little parcels of joy are just perfect to slip an entire piece in your mouth without looking like you are gorging yourself.

Grilled butter and garlic squid

In addition to the inside out sushi, we will normally order a bowl of Ika Yaki which is grilled squid in a garlic butter sauce, I can't go to Tookaiya without ordering this dish. I have in the past been to Tookaiya not really very hungry but still had to order the Ika Yaki, it truly is a must have dish. It isn't anything that fancy, but has such an amazing flavour it is hard to go past. We will normally order the Gyoza (pot stickers) and the Yakitori (teriyaki chicken skewers). I am not going to lie, all this can be hard to get through but it is difficult to avoid ordering it all. The Gyoza are pretty good, though I must admit I have had better just from the local food court and the chicken skewers are pretty good too though I would take a satay skewer over a teriyaki skewer every day of the week. 

Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

Previous visits have seen us ordering some main dishes also. The fried rice here is pretty damn good, but I avoid it as I am already a frequent eater of fried rice and this place has so much good, fresh food on the menu I am able to avoid it. To accompany the fried rice I can suggest ordering the Teriyaki Chicken dish. It is a lot like the flavour of the skewers but has some veggies cooked through it and goes very well with the fried rice. Being a Japanese newbie, eating straight raw fish isn't something I would have normally gone out of my way to do, but this was the perfect place to get into it. The sashimi combination is a good way to start as it gives you a variety of different fresh fish to choose from. It isn't for everyone, even sushi rolls can be a stretch for some people which is understandable, but it is definitely worth a try. We are yet to taste any desserts, just can't seem to allow room for it. One day...

Gyoza

Tookaiya have been around for almost 16 years now, and have been a local icon in Keilor Road. I am only new to the sushi scene, but I would say that this is a great place to start if you want to try sushi for the first time. Saying all that, I have family and friends that are seasoned sushi eaters and they would agree that this is one of the best sushi places in Melbourne in it's price range. It is a very clean restaurant and the staff are very friendly and accommodating, though you should just be careful at busy times as you might not get a table without a booking over the weekend period.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO THE MENU

Black Rice - Why?

Ever wondered what the deal is with this black rice we are starting to see in a lot more sushi bars around the place? Black rice isn't a new thing, but is definitely starting to pick up pace in the sushi world, especially in and around Melbourne. Why should I pay more for black rice sushi? I hear you ask. That is a good question, allow me to explain.

The more common varieties of Black rice (or purple rice as some may refer to it, either is correct) are Indonesian black rice and Thai jasmine black rice. Until recently, black rice has been a secret that was protected from the rest of the world by Asian countries which made it a hard ingredient to come by. Emperors cherished black rice as they believed it held anti-aging qualities, and emperors were normally the only people that were able to get their hands on it. More recently though, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding black rice and it's natural healing agents and high levels of antioxidants, Vitamin E and fiber and the way that it acts as a natural anti-inflammatory. We now know that the emperors weren't far off the mark with their beliefs of anti-aging agents, as we are now aware thanks to scientific research that there is a strong correlation between antioxidants and anti-aging. Black rice is said to have even higher levels of antioxidants than the current leader of the "super food" category, the Blueberry. Research suggests that the consumption of black rice could lead to an increase in general well being through decrease in blood pressure and better blood circulation. It has also been linked to the reduction in the risk of developing conditions such as cancer and heart disease.

In general, it is suggested that black rice and all of it's healthy qualities can prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer's. In my experience, a sushi roll at the average cost of 2.50 per roll is a pretty good deal for lunch, so why not spend an extra 50c to $1 a roll to give yourself that peace of mind that what you are putting in your mouth isn't just high in carbs but also helping you to fight off any nasties that may come your way. Personally, since hearing about the health benefits of black rice I have had it for lunch almost every day for the last few months and don't plan to change that any time soon. It is a great way for those that are unable to always get the nutrients and antioxidants that they should be throughout the day, and besides who doesn't like a sushi roll for lunch.

Single best thing about owning a Thermomix

Last night I posted a cheeky Facebook status stating that I would need to now write something with some substance since MKR wasn't on for a few nights, as I had been recently doing an episode recap on my blog. My cousin suggested that I write about the single greatest thing about being a Thermi owner. So I am going to give it a go.

We all know from my Nutella Christmas Tree review that I am a pretty big fan of the kneading function, who doesn't want that? Saves a whole lot of exercise that's for sure, and we all know how annoying exercise can be. Am I right? Looking down at my guts.

So I have taken everything that the machine does into account and tried quite thoughtfully to think of the single greatest thing about it. So here it goes.

I approach the Thermomix being a bit technology obsessive, I would be lying if the touch screen and the recipe chip weren't enough to sell it, I am a bit of a sucker like that. I would like to see it link to wireless and kick off cooking remotely via an app, but we will have to wait for the TM6 for that I suppose. Off topic already, not good. What I would say the greatest thing is the minimal effort that is required across the entire cooking process. You hear people telling you things like that's not cooking, takes all the fun out of it. Those people obviously don't own a Thermomix, and when I hear people say those things I tend to be happy they don't own one. They don't get invited to dinner either... 

You are not taking away anything from the cooking, all you are doing is condensing the cooking process to the one location. Avoiding the spread of mess throughout your kitchen.

For instance, if I am making a zuchini slice, hand grating the zucchini and the onion for 20 minutes isn't going to make it taste better than the Thermomix chopping it in 3 seconds. Not to mention the fact that you measure your ingredients straight into the thermi like some sort of wizard! Plus, you save the tips of your fingers from trauma along with the crying onion eyes (I can hear a song with the words crying onion eyes playing in my head). Granted it wont julienne for instance, but if you are wanting to julienne something for a dish, then you just julienne it, chances are it's going to be some sort of wanky plating garnish anyway. Not sure about you folks, but when my wife and I are making dinner on a week night, the last thing I give a flying follicle about is garnish or how nice and fine my carrots are cut.

So, reducing effort isn't something that stops with the cooking process, it extends to the amount of bench space required and the amount of cleaning before, during and after you cook. For most recipes, you will find that the Thermomix performs around 80 to 90 percent of the process, through preparation, cooking and cleaning. This, I feel is the best part of the device. Less mess, preparation, and cleaning means more time, and more TIME is really what this is all about at the end of the day. 

Forget what I said about effort earlier, it's all about the time. The phrase time poor is probably the most promenent phrase that comes up in the sales spiel when you go to see one of these devices in action, and it isn't just something they say to suck you in. Vorwerk have been making Thermomix for a quarter of a century now and they know who their target audience is, and they have developed a product around that very audience. 
It can be hard to eat properly when you are time poor, there is a reason that all the doctors that my wife works with own one of these, they are probably in the most time poor profession around but they understand the importance of healthy home cooked meals.

So in conclusion, I would say the time saving that you get from using the Thermomix is the single greatest thing about owning one. I think if you ask my wife she will tell you the same thing, in fact she is the one that keeps telling me these things, I am just along for the ride. The tasty tasty Thermi ride to mushroom risotto heaven.

Take a look at GC's Galaktoboureko thermomix recipe below...

Hellenic Republic Brunswick East (Repost)

Don't judge me for this, but I distinctly remember when George Calombaris was on Ready, Steady, Cook flirting with Peter Everitt about how large his snapper was... on more than one occasion may I add. We all know how Peter swings, but it definitely made me question George's sexuality a few times. I took an instant liking to George, the man that now fills our screens every night of the week for most of the year... or so it feels with the forever growing Masterchef craze. And yes I do watch and thoroughly enjoy Masterchef for at least the first month, especially Friday Nights "Master Class" and the "Mystery Box". What are the crazy chefs (producers) going to throw at them this week? Anyway, I tend to like George on the screen and find myself liking him more since discovering Hellenic Republic.

If you know of the character that is George Calombaris and his on screen antics and find yourself enjoying them, then you will instantly enjoy Hellenic Republic Brunswick from the time you walk in the door... two doors. It's a long single room, with the option of a 'glass house' type area for those of you that aren't attuned to loud restaurants. It's tightly packed with rustic tables and chairs. Spare chairs hang from the wall to the right, while on the left is a long bar/service area which is bustling with chefs, bar tenders and wait staff. Staff seem to be of the more trendy variety, probably native to the East Brunswick area if my powers of observation serve me correctly.

My wife and I have probably been there a total of 3 times in as many months, which is a pretty good run for us, considering we are both partial to a slice of pizza from our local Italian restaurant. 

We usually start with something like Haloumi which is grilled cheese (very nice) topped with figs, and I don't mind the Greek staple Tzatziki dip, with some warm Pita bread. We will then normally get a serve of their awesome spit roasted chicken and a serve of the Lamb... making my mouth water typing this; damn it's good. We have recently; and when I say recently I mean 2 nights ago, experienced what is probably a new favourite in the Moussaka. For those of you that don't know, this is a baked dish with mince, and eggplant and covered in cheese, there's probably more to it than that, I'm no chef... but trust me, it's awesome!!!

Then to finish off you end up with dessert... this is where the problem is. What do you get?

There's the 'Hellenic Mess' which consists of broken meringue, orange blossom jelly, vanilla krema and strawberry ouzo sauce.

Then (my favourite) is the Bougatsa which is pretty much just warm custard wrapped in filo pastry... really healthy obviously!

You also have the option of the Baklava, Chocolate Souffle and the custard and cinnamon doughnut balls.

The menu is of average length, and obviously includes a lot more than what I have mentioned above, but these are just some of my favourites. Have a look at the website link at the bottom of this post for the full menu.

I have now learnt to skip lunch before visiting Hellenic Republic, and I am yet to be disappointed by the food or the service. Seriously suggest people check it out, because it is definitely worth it. You will need to book a few weeks in advance depending on the number of people you have in your party and the day you plan on going, so make sure you take that into account, and if you get in at the 6pm seating they'll kick you out (politely) at 7:50 for the next flock of hungry trend setters.

I'm hungry... time to book our next visit I think.

www.hellenicrepublic.com.au

Friendships and macaroni are best when they are warm

Nutella Christmas Tree - Thermomix Husband Review

If anyone has any requests on Thermomix recipe reviews (a husbands perspective) let me know in the comments, would love to know what everyone is interested in reading.

After my last Thermomix post, I received a number of questions regarding the Nutella Christmas Tree, so I thought I would write a review on it specifically. Let's be clear; in this particular situation, I had nothing to do with the actual Thermomixing part, but more to do with the rolling of dough, layering of nutella and dough and some input in the shaping of the end result (although I was told I could not be trusted with this part). Link to the recipe will be at the bottom of this review for your reference.

When my wife told me that such a dessert existed, I immediately ran to the pantry and spread Nutella about an inch thick onto two slices of bread. I ate them, and while doing so was toasting two other slices of bread for further Nutella spreading to take place, I was then ready to discuss this. We sat and spoke over a cup of green tea to offset the sugar overload, it didn't work. We discussed using the 5kg jar of Nutella that I had received as a gift just recently. I fought against the idea, but was unsuccessful, apparently 5kg of Nutella is too much for one person to consume, I refused to accept but it was of no use. The Nutella was to be used.

Nutella Christmas Tree - Thermomix Recipe

It is recipes like this that the Thermomix enters a league of it's own. The ability to knead dough automatically without having to lay a hand on it is such an awesome feature, I mean seriously. It only needs to knead for a few minutes! You are kidding yourself if you think you don't need a kneading function like this. YOU SIMPLY NEED THE KNEAD!
You let the dough double in volume by leaving it in a warm spot (don't be rude! This time of year in Melbourne, outside is perfect) and then you proceed to divide it into four equally sized balls. You need to make sure these things are shaped like balls, not like a tennis ball, but like a football. Trust me, four little footballs. Roll them out into a football oval shape (you getting the theme here?). When the dough balls are shaped like a football they are easier to roll into an oval shape, if they are spherical it makes it a little more difficult. This is my way of doing it, and the best way to end up with heaps of off cuts. If you want less offcuts, you should probably watch the YouTube video I have linked at the bottom of this review. Roll them out so that they are pretty thin, but if you start to see the bench you have gone too far. If you start to see the floor you rolled it off the bench. If you see grass then you are outside getting the dough which has probably risen by now. After all the rolling and spreading of nutella and cutting of the resulting Christmas tree, you stick it in the oven for a bit and get the best damn dessert this side of the Mississippi. Break off those twisty branches and stick em' in your gob! A bit of whipped cream could be a good accompaniment, though they were most enjoyed without anything extra at all. If you do want something to add on the side, try the vanilla bean ice cream, another earth shattering recipe that holds total disregard for your cholesterol.

As mentioned in my previous Thermomix blog (an essential read for the husbands that don't really use the things too much), we made quite a few of these Christmas Tree's as they were well received by the family. They are easy to do and a joy to share.
For my Thermomix related reviews I am creating a special rating system, complicated beyond belief, just goes to show my level of commitment to the cause.

Recipe Rating: 7.25 / 10

http://www.easycookclub.com/2013/12/christmas-tree-with-nutella-filling-with-thermomix/

Zambrero South Yarra - Rated: 7/10

Zambrero

374 Chapel Street, South Yarra

"Well, sometimes you need the fields to lie fallow in order to gain nutrients" - Cheech Marin

Having met my parents in Prahran after picking up tickets for our trip to Fiji from the travel agent, we thought we would have a walk and see if there was anywhere to have a casual bite to eat. We discussed the traditional LoC (Lamb on Chapel) but that had been done before; granted about 15 years ago, but we were sure there would be more interesting and inviting options to choose from in this cosmopolitan Mecca that is Chapel Street. We found that not necessarily to be the case. As expected the footpath was bustling with people going in and out of shops and bars and restaurants all of which were way too trendy for us to enter without feeling like we obviously didn't belong.

We decided another kebab place might fill the gap between something different and the traditional Chapel Street eatery in the LoC, but the place we walked into wasn't really what we would call up to standard. I am not going to name the place, but all the ingredients in the glass cabinet which would eventually end up on the kebab were old and stale. The julienne carrots were shrivelling before our eyes and the lettuce was collapsing in on itself. We told the man behind the counter that we had changed our minds and left in a hurry, four cockroaches the sizes of rats and a shoulder of lamb scurried out after us in shame.

Walking a couple of hundred meters down the street we thought we found what we were looking for. Zambrero is a modern Mexican restaurant. Very clean (especially compared to the last place we attempted to walk into) and designed with a rustic interior as you expect from these new chain restaurants that claim to serve a "healthier" interpretation of each other. I still can't work out if they understand the difference between healthy and fresh, they are definitely fresh, but I can't imagine healthy. We ordered a nice selection from the menu, mindful not to appear prejudice to a specific animal. Dad ordered a beef burrito, Mum ordered a burrito with slow cooked pork as did I and my wife ordered a lamb bowl.

The restaurant is setup like a subway sandwich bar and moves quite swiftly too. Start by telling them what sort of wrap you want and then move along from there. You have a choice between white or black rice, then the meats as mentioned above, the standard Mexican bean paste and then an assortment of salads and sauces to top it off. This all gets tightly wrapped into a reasonably priced burrito for your inhaling pleasure.

From a dining perspective I thought it was great. A fantastic meal with beautiful fresh ingredients, and a nice part of Melbourne to sit out front and watch the traffic trickle by. I am sure at night the rev heads come out and play havoc in the streets like we used to 10 years ago. Playing their loud techno music and revving their petrol guzzler engines for the restaurant patrons to be annoyed by, but on a Saturday afternoon everyone just seems to get out there and enjoy the shopping and atmosphere. A great way to enjoy a burrito. 
If we were going to compare this establishment to a more popular location and obvious adversary in Salsa's, I would say Zambrero wins hands down.

The most impressive thing about this business; other than its fantastic food, is their affiliation with the Plate 4 Plate initiative. This initiative means for the purchase of every burrito or bowl, a meal is donated to those in a developing world via their partner Stop Hunger Now. A fantastic way to give back to the community I would say, and something we should all be inspired by.

Rated: 7/10

Below images sourced from www.zambrero.com