Crêpe Showdown: Through Thick and Thin! (Part Two)

Aix Café Crêperie Salon
24 Centre Place
Melbourne
Telephone: 03 9662 2667

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 6:30am-5pm, Sat 8am-5pm

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Robert Frost

Of course the path to Aix is hardly the road less traveled [sic]; Centre Place has been pounded down plenty. If you've been in Melbourne for anything longer than 5 minutes (and especially if your guide is a university student) the second phrase you will invariably hear is "You should totally check out Degraves. I know a place that does great crêpes..."

(The first phrase is "I'll take you to Lygon St." But that's a different story on a different blog.)


Anyway, true to form when fellow foodie and ex-colleague MT and I were scheduling a catch-up session after a gruel-ing winter's work in Hong Kong, he suggested we head to Aix. It's so nice when other people make the choices you want so you can appear all sweet and accomodating.

And speaking of sweeeet, check out this selection of crêpes. If Aix can one-up Le Petit Francais
on anything, it'll be on pure variety and originality. Orange Blossom Honey? Rosewater Yogurt? Blood Orange and Burnt Sugar?!


Which is why I'm almost ashamed to show you my order.

Nutella and Cookies (with added ice cream) - $7.00

I'm SORRY. Except...I'm not really. Because it was great! Huge dollops of melting nutella, 'thick' layers of crêpe in between, and hidden, suicidal teddies popping their little heads up all over. Superb comfort food! In my defense, I'd actually ordered a slightly more interesting Nutella and Coconut, but presumably I was misheard, and I didn't want to kick up a fuss. Especially since I haven't had teddy cookies in I don't know 15 years?! How have I lived?

Now I usually cop it when I'm lunching with lads because I like a light lunch but can never resist a dessert. So my solution is often to skip the meal altogether and have a dessert as my main. This never goes down well and not without some measure of strident explanation to an incredulous expression.

So it's always nice to meet a man who understands. MT's lunch:

Sticky Date with Caramel Sauce & Double Cream (with added ice-cream!) - $8.50

Not being a 'sticky date' myself, I didn't try this (I lie - I'm actually just not a fan). But MT really enjoyed this - he wiped his plate clean in less than half the time it took me to finish.

The view from our table. We were 'all the way in the back'.

Now, my description of Le Petit Francais as spacious, bright and airy was no mere sputtering of adjectives. Aix is cramped, dark and slightly stuffy. But you can't deny - it's cool.


My only pickle is that ice cream is clearly not their forté. Watching them spoon some out of one those big, blue, commercial tubs, I nearly choked in dismay. To be fair, however, ice cream doesn't feature anywhere on the menu - and it's only because we asked that we got any. I suspect they just stock it for drinks.

The Verdict? It's a bit like comparing Marie Antoinette to Moulin Rouge . Thin crêpes are really lovely in their light texture and delicate taste. Thicker crêpes are less refined, but at the same time you get a more intense mouthful, voluptuous and indulgent. This comparison is probably reinforced by the locations of the respective crêperies - Swanky South Yarra versus the Bohemian rhapsody of Degraves (which also explains the marked price difference).

Personally, I appreciate beauty (and flavour!) in all shapes and sizes, so it boils down to whatever I'm craving at the time. S'il vous plait, anywhere you go - let me go too! That's all I ask of you.

Crêpe Showdown: Through Thick and Thin! (Part One)

Le Petit Francais Crêperie and Café
307 Toorak Road
South Yarra
Telephone: 03 9826 3830

Opening Hours: Mon, Wed-Sun 10am-3pm, 6pm-10pm

I am a hugee Francophile.*

*(Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in there because apparently he too is an unashamed Francophile and also I really liked 500 Days of Summer).

And as a French lover in Melbourne (oh how I wish!), I maintain a respectful appreciation of all crêpes, great and small.

Or rather, thick and thin, as the title of this post suggests.

Therefore when I zipped down to South Yarra a few days ago to visit my sister at her very unfashionable job in this very fashionable district, she insisted on taking me to her favourite crêperie in the area, naturel-ly.


Quite unlike the tiny, cramped crêperies of the Melbourne CBD, Le Petit Francais is spacious, bright, airy and get this - provides ample seating.


And I had an agonizing time poring over their very tantalizing menu!


As I've admitted previously, my bird-like eating habits mean that it's not often that I can get both a main and a dessert without having to share at least one. No such problem here - damn.

Thus I present to you, Crêpe Contender No. 1: Skinny Crêpes!

Who wouldn't love a gift wrapped like this one? All the savoury crêpes arrive this way:


This is my sister's order, as the sauce stain reveals (I do apologise and hope that you consider bright orange aesthetically pleasing). The Orientale - Merguez (North African spicy lamb sausage - what a mouthful), mushrooms, tomato, egg, and gruyere cheese ($14.50).

And within:

She thoroughly enjoyed this one - the spiciness of the sausage was a robust break from the usual saus-pects. An interesting note about the crêpes with eggs - the yolks are kept intact but hidden in the centre, much like sunny-side-ups, so my OCD-esque sister primly and expertly ate round and around it until it was all that was left on her plate so she could enjoy it in its untainted perfection.

Not me - I dug straight into mine.

(It occurs to me that I should say clawed, rather than dug, given the tissue-thin crispness of the crêpe. In fact, now that I think about it, the texture and 'thick'ness of these thin crêpes are quite reminiscent of roti tissues!)

Anyway - this is mine, a plain jane sausage version called Paysanne, with sausage, mustard, mushrooms, egg, and gruyere cheese ($12.50). I honestly thought that I wouldn't finish this, because the way I eat my crêpes is to open up the 'parcel' and break off the crisp edges, which I then dip into the yolky-cheesy-melty goodness, eschewing stodgier bits of crêpe with cooled cheese melded to it. But when I picked up those rejected bits while waiting for my dessert crêpe to arrive, they actually tasted pretty good despite the textural transformation - I attribute this to the excellent quality of the Gruyere.

And my favourite part of every meal - dessert! A far-from-boring Nutella with added ice cream (how could you not?!) - $8.50.

Warm, light, sweet with a generous dollop of nutty chocolate and quality vanilla ice cream (note the ever-elusive vanilla bean flecks!). So addictive that although the initial plan was to share one, we ended up having one each! Judging is evil.


Would I come back? Oui, oui - good grub, good service! I will say however that it's quite a bit more expensive than the afore(and to-be)mentioned tiny city crêperies. Does the different atmosphere justify the wider profit margin? And will vanilla beans in vanilla ice cream ever become a permanant fixture? The exciting conclusion and more in my next post - where we delve into a very familiar CBD favourite with a very different demeanour!

Shellie's 'fiery' review here. I did not receive caramel lollies - the injustice!

New-Age Valentine's: Ladies Who Do Dinner

...And we cook!


Absolutely cannot resist putting pictures up from the very fancy and fantastic girls-night-in with gorgeous friends A (whose debut appearance on this blog occurred here) and YS, of pretty pink party infamy.

Rule of the night: No boys - and putting what our mamas gave us on display!

Like:

A's smoked salmon and mango salad (with balsamic vinegar dressing)

Freshly-shucked oysters with lemon

The main: My crispy-skin salmon (insanely easy, and I can't claim credit for the technique, but guaranteed to impress!):

YS' side of roast mushrooms, aubergine, onion, capsicum, tomatoes, potatoes and carrot (yeah the lady worked hard!):

To finish: Estrogen-fueled chocolatey desserts (of course!):

My now-stalwart chocolate fondant, with Sara Lee French Vanilla ice-cream

YS' to-die-for chocolate strawberries

Lethal combination. Enough said.

And then we wiled the night away with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens (read: curious card games and tantalizing talk). Like all good girls in white dresses and blue (satin) sashes should of course.

Ahh ladies, best (early) Valentine's Day dinner ever! Hi-fives and knowing smiles all around - hurrah for being girly girls!

Ganache: Chocolate Home - Where the Heart Really Is

Ganache Chocolate Lounge
250 Toorak Rd
South Yarra
Telephone: 03 9804 7485

Apologies for the three week hiatus as I returned to the motherland - back in Melbourne now in full force! (As is the heat, I can see!)


As promised in this post, the time for BFF J and I to elevate our love for chocolate to an academic level came yesterday in the form of one of Master Chocolatier Arno Backes' chocolate courses - specifically, 'How to Create a Chocolate House'!


Oh and I can't wait any longer, feast your eyes on this little baby!


What a wonderful class it was, the level of gushiness I feel like I must inject into this post is akin to a fantastic first date - and he's funny, so funny, did I mention?


The class began with a description of the three ways of melting and tempering chocolate - French, German, or Italian. FYI, Arno scorns the use of a metal bowl over simmering water. Apparently, one is meant to treat chocolate like one's own skin - therefore the temperatue of the chocolate, or rather 'couverture', should never exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Fancy that.

This, by the way, is the Italian method - a hefty 200 pound machine Arno describes as his 'Italian girlfriend' who took 'ages convincing to go upstairs'. All classes, and the kitchen, which we shamessly perve on during the course of the class, are held above the main shop.


And here you go - some of the processes involved in making the Chocolate House - I feel the need to preempt these with a bit of a disclaimer - I was honestly very much the dunce of the class, while J was a total star.

For example:

This was meant to be circular.

And these were meant to be identical.

Show-off. (J's fences.)

J methodically putting her house together.

Level One. If only we could all use water glasses to prop our homes up.

J flipping her house - as you may observe, her base is a perfect circle.


And my house - up and at 'em! It's quite easy to see that it's got loads of imperfections! Oh but the joy I felt when it was finally up - unparalleled (as were my walls evidently)!

Setting up fences - don't want the neighbours trespassing, after all. Observe the abundance of 'off-cuts' of chocolate on the table - we got to keep them all! Though I must admit that J and I consumed a substantial portion during the class itself - so much so that she inadvertently ate her door.

J gettin' her snow on! (The smoke is just cotton balls!)

Almost done now! Actually, I thought I was done at this point. Can you play 'What's Wrong With This Picture?'

I forgot the door! Ta-da! The finished house in all its flawed glory.

All boxed and ready to go!

In a word? Exhilarating! Best gift ever, if I do say so myself - and I will absolutely return. Though I will probably schedule my next class in winter - the bottom of my house melted and caved in as we were driving home because it was just that hot. It is now totally lopsided - so upsetting, I assure you, that I had to take to my bed for a full fifteen minutes.


Can't wait to do it all over again.

HuTong Dumpling Bar

HuTong Dumpling Bar
14 - 16 Market Ln
Melbourne CBD
Telephone: 03 9650 8128

Hutong is yummy. Hutong is pretty. And Hutong has proved to be very, very, very popular.

So in a valiant (and unusual!) attempt to be pithy, here are the things you should and should not do at Hutong.

DO

1. Make a reservation. The nice thing about HuTong is that they can take group bookings of up to 13 if you ask nicely, and you can even request the level on which you'd like to be placed (there are three altogether). Go for the gold, and ask for the top floor. As you can see, it is very lovely, and unlike many other Chinatown restaurants, does not look like it was built, painted and 'decorated' in the gaudy '80s.


2. Order the xiao long baos. Of course, of course, of COURSE order the xiao long baos; if there is only ONE reason to come here - this is it.


Light and delicate skin that doesn't break when you lift the xiao long bao. Check.


Flavourful and plentiful soup within with moist lump of meat. Check.

Perfect. Check.

3. Order some of the other specials (more on this later).

This is a lovely (and very large!) Cheng Du Style Combination in Chilli ($23.80).
It came highly recommended on the menu, and was basically a hot pot of duck (if I'm not mistaken), bean shoots, broccoli and ham. The downside of this dish was that it was a bit hard to tell all the ingredients apart as they were all soaked in the chilli broth. To be fair, however, the broth is so pungent and tasty that it's not a dish you wouldn't ever order again - just maybe only when you need a chilli hit, and lots of it!

This was the other star of the evening, a very interesting Scallop with Eggplant in Claypot in Szechuan Chilli Sauce ($20.90). Think fat and fresh scallops with smooth (but not mushy) eggplant slices. Spicy, generous, tasty - it eats exactly as it looks.

Other dishes that we had (but couldn't get good pictures of, because of the low, low lighting up on third) were the Dong Po Square Soft Pork ($7.80) - you'd have to order a few of these if you wanted to share it, it's a small cube of sweet braised fatty pork, nothing unusual if you've had it at other Chinese restaurants, the Hand Tear Cabbage ($15.80) - think pieces of roughly torn cabbage in chilli, not unpleasant but nothing outstanding either, and the Won Tons in Chilli ($8.00) - certainly not as large as my benchmark in Rose Garden (eating there is obviously a very different and less luxurious type of experience), but plump enough, and very nicely made!

Which brings me to what you shouldn't do in Hutong.

DO NOT (cannot stress this enough)

Spoil your meal by ordering too many 'specials'. Or rather, be very careful not to order too many dishes that are described as cooked in chilli or boiled in chilli or containing chilli etc (which really are most of the specials) as they will all turn up cooked in identical chilli broths. Point in case - the scallop and eggplant, the won tons, the Cheng Du combination, and even the cabbage above. It really doesn't do justice to any of the dishes individually because after awhile all the flavours run together, and you lose the variety of 'tastes' you should be drawing out from your meal as an entirety - and go away feeling like you've just drunk a really huge bowl of chilli oil. This is unfair to you, and also unfair to the dishes because they really all quite good on their own - so my advice to you is to break up the chilli-fied dishes for different visits, or if you have a substantially large group, order lots of non-chilli options as well for variety! I've had the deep fried whitebait on a previous occasion, and it's fantastic!

So in short - go, go, go to HuTong and feel free to bring your friends and family as so few other places cater properly for large groups. And when you're there, order the specials - but not all of them!