Sapa Rivers #803

My salad

This place is busy.  We get the last table and it is a tight fit; thank goodness we did not bring the kids.

I admire the weird light shades as it has been some weeks since we visited a restaurant with light shades that I could remark on.  These ones are like upside down fishermen baskets and they cast amazing shadow patterns on the roof.

We have often visited this restaurant when it was a much less sophisticated Vietnamese restaurant.  I used to love the rice paper rolls. 

Mark's Laksa

So, we try the Peking duck rice paper rolls and love them - they could be better than the ones at Tatakami further down Glenhuntly Rd and that is saying something.

The service is fast.  Mark orders the Laksa.  You can design your own noodle soup for $10.  What a great idea.  Mark declares that it is not as good as Ah Loys but it is pretty good.  It is quite creamy and could have been a bit warmer and contain more ingredients.

I have a vegie salad and it is fresh and crunchy and swimming in dressing. 

This is a good place to bring the kids and have a Laksa - just book first.

And guess what?  After owning my blackberry for 18 months, I have worked out how to get the flash to work - so these photo's are not as bad as they usually are.

Grill Danube Restaurant # 729

We are really east now, hooning towards Hawthorn Rd.  This restaurant is near a barber's shop called "Baldilox" and a crystal shop that will solve all your issues if you just buy one of those spooky looking crystals.  It is opposite the kindergarten that I helped save during a maternity leave - I was happy to get back to work.  Mark and I hurry past. 

The room is welcoming and the blues music is discordant given that we thought we might be transported to Austria.  The blurb on the menu sets us straight; we are going on a journey through the 10 countries that host the Danube.  We can't help ourselves - we spend the next five minutes debating what the countries are.  Mark , smarty pants, gets most of them right when we finally look back at the menu.  The menu lists the 10 countries as well as every single town it passes through - there are 4 capital cities.  This river is long.  It is kind of a cute conceit for a restaurant. 

There is one older guy doing the waiting and three other tables are full of people speaking accented English - not an unusual occurrence in South Caulfield. We are seated at a table covered in a white table cloth and our candle is lit with one of those stove lighters - matches are so much more romantic.  There is a green counter at the back of the room featuring wine shelves.  Homely and welcoming. 

The menu offers Greek dips and dolmades, Serbian platters, Hungarian Prebranak (slow cooked baked beans), schnitzels, cabbage, goulash, Balkan style cabbage salad.  Greek??  the Danube does not go through Greece.

We order dip and Greek goat cheese however the waiter does not think much of this choice and tells us we need to replace the dip with a warm capsicum dip.  We defer to him and when we sample it we are delighted.  For mains we order goulash and a Vienna schnitzel.  They are homely, simple meals, slow cooked and in the right portion size.  We award the goulash with the "best ever" award.

The music becomes very eclectic, no style is ever on twice as I try and get through Peter Gabriel.  Not sure where he fits into the Danube theme.

This is a restaurant Mark and I would never have walked into if not for this challenge.  We may never walk in here again but we are glad we tried it.

And what are the 10 countries?  Germany, Austria, Slovakia , Hungary , Croatia , Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria , Moldova , and Ukraine.  The 4 capital cities?  Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade.

Class dismissed

Arda #619

On Arda's menu, it states that there are three major types of cuisine in the world; French, Chinese and Turkish.  Really?  What an interesting premise.  What about Japanese?  Latin American?  Aboriginal?  I am not sure about this whole statement but I suppose they know better than me.  They are professionals.

As we walk into Arda, we are confronted by an odd little, boxy kitchen that juts out into the eating area.  It is a bit of an eyesore. 

There are 7 tables and all filled up as the evening progressed, even though I thought it was a bit expensive as far as Glenhuntly Rd restaurants go, specially one that is on the Caulfield side of Kooyong Rd.  There is dried chilli flakes on the table which is a first for me.  I am not sure how to take it, surely the chef would like to be the final arbiter of the flavour and not us? 

The menu features the usual Turkish fare and we order green beans, a feta cheese salad, a kebab and a mixed grill for one.  The green beans are Delicious, just like my mother in laws peas.  She fries an onion,  adds a bag of  frozen peas, cans of tomatoes, too much salt and just lets it stew away on low heat for hours.  She stirs in massive wads of butter and serves it hot to cries of delight.  Arda's green beans are much like this but served cold.  I like them.

Mary's peas kind of look like this

These guys serve a juicy lamb cutlet and the shaslik is good too (although Dannys is better).  We like this place but still cannot forget that Danny's is just a couple of blocks down.

I also learn that you have to be careful when you buy Pepperjack as it may not be Shiraz.  They also make a Can Sav which is not as good as the Shiraz.  Just a tip.