5/61 Cameron StreetLaunceston TAS 7250P: 03 6331 3568When we walked into the front bar of the Northern Club I thought "hm, do we REALLY want to eat here?".Oh me of little faith....Let me state, right now, that there was nothing WRONG with the front bar. It just didn't appeal to me, that's all. Wooden walls, funky furry wallpaper feature wall, wrought iron and timber bar stools with the establishment's initials on the backrest, velvet curtain across the door, aloof bartender... it just seemed, to me, to be trying a little too hard to be trendy.(edit: Annette informs me that it's modelled on the original decor, from when it was an exclusive men's club)Through the bar to the dining room, however, was another story. And it was a good one. The room had a lovely ambiance, the tables weren't crowded, and the music was a muted jazz-feel collection. And the menu!Monday and Tuesday nights have two menu's to choose from, not including the specials. On Mondays and Tuesday NC offers a $12 meal menu, and the range on it is impressive. You also have the standard menu and if you can't find anything to eat on that, then you're a little too picky. The wine list is also good. I sipped on a particularly nice Mauta Valley sauvignon blanc (can't remember the year), while others on the table shared a 2005 Grant Burges cabernet sauvignon and agreed that it was quite good. But on to the food!
The two R's both ordered the angus porterhouse with watercress and chunky cut fries from the main menu. I very nearly ordered this one for myself. The verdict: VERY nice.
B ordered grilled pink ling fillets with prawns, asparagus, cherry tomatoes and capers, also from the main menu. She enjoyed this immensely.
As two of us were already eating the steak, I decided to branch out and try the fish and chips from the $12 menu. On hearing that the fish that day would be gemfish I figured what the hell, I'd give it a go. I am SO glad I did, this was just amazing.I'm not sure the pictures do the serving sizes justice, but each dish we ate was a great size - enough food that we were satisfied, but not so much that we left any on our plates (which is SUCH a waste).
That being said, I was the only person glutton enough to order a dessert. There was a crème brulée on the menu that cried out to be tasted. Oh boy. The shell on top was superb, the "crack" as my spoon broke through was perfect. The poached raspberries on the side were (I'm pretty darn sure) from the freezer, but were still SO yummy.Total bill for the night was a fraction under $175. For four people, including a round of drinks in the bar beforehand, I think this is quite reasonable. The food was fabulous, and I'd eat here again with no hesitation. Wait staff were also helpful and pleasant. All round it was just a lovely dining experience. I'm not in the habit of rating places, but if I were then on a scale of 1 to 10 this would rank as freakin' awesome.
1 Southgate AvenueSouthbank VIC 3006P: 1800 641 107
So where do a bunch of women who are sick of dealing with the scum of humanity go when they want a nice night out with good food? We heard the Melba Restaurant at The Langham should be just the thing. We booked ourselves in for a $69.90 buffet on Sunday, got ourselves all dolled up, piled in the car, and off we went.I won't go into the minute details of the evening: it's sufficient to say that there was a lot of laughter, a lot of chatting, and a LOT of food. I will elaborate a little more on the food, though.The buffet is set out basically into six or seven islands:1) breads and cheeses2) anti-pasto-style foods3) roasted joints of meat and vegies4) this is the bit I can't remember if there's more food there or not... I missed it5) indian-style food, including a little man who'll make your naan on request6) seafood. Oysters, mussels, crab... lots and lots of it all7) the most important: dessertWe kicked off with a couple of cocktails. I had the one pictured. I can't remember the name, "Vanilla" something... vanilla-infused vodka, passionfruit, caramel, and possibly one or two other things. Don't let the ingredients put you off, if you ever go to the Melba you have GOT to try this baby.Hits of the night included the bread and cheeses, anti-pasto, naan, seafood, and most of the desserts.Misses were the creme caramel (well, I assume that's what it was meant to be) and the service, which was a little hit-and-miss. When we ordered water the sparkling water arrived, but still water had to be requested again. When we ordered cocktails two arrived, but we again had to request the third (mine) once more. We had ordered a birthday cake and they did bring it out when we asked... however we then had to ask for a knife... and then some plates.Overall I really enjoyed the night, but that could have been largely because of the company I was in. I did enjoy the food (particularly the cocktail, fresh-made cheese-and-garlic naan, a tropical-pandan-sponge with yummy jelly on top, and the chocolate mousse with a drop of chilli-chocolate ganache) but I'm not sure I'd go back... but hey, you should definitely give it a go!
I forgot to mention...Tomorrow I'm going in the Melbourne City Romp, with my brother's girlfriend, Mel and Dan, and Michael (and maybe one more person, currently anonymous).I can't wait, it's going to be a great day. All funds go to the Burnet Institute, and you can sponsor out team at our profile page.I know times are tight for many, but any $$ you can spare to sponsor our team would be truly appreciated! I'm hoping to throw up some pics of the day soon.
I can hear what you're thinking. You're thinking "what the HELL is that, and what kind of creature shat it?!" But this little beauty, picture above, is sooooooo incredibly good I've had to put it and its mates away, otherwise I'd be sorely tempted to eat them all up.This funny looking little dude is a ginger snap. Butter, sugar, treacle, a little bit of flour, and some ground ginger. The recipe is here. You'll notice that it says to use golden syrup. I left that at work (hey, I was having crumpets there one day!), so substituted treacle, which I prefer anyway. These will end up topping a banana split tomorrow evening. Mmmmm...
And while we're on the subject of ground ginger, this year I decided to give the kids in my neighbourhood a break for Halloween, and find a compromise somewhere between lollies (which I refuse to give them), and apples (which I have given them in the past!), so I went looking for a simple gingerbread recipe. Have you ever noticed that for every somewhat involved recipe that tastes brilliant, you can often find a much simpler recipe that still tastes pretty good?I have an old family recipe for gingerbread in an old exercise book on the shelf, but didn't feel like going to that much effort. Instead I went looking and found this easy-peasy alternative (I substituted treacle for the syrup again). I figured I'd give the recipe a trial-run and bake a batch of bikkies today while the mood took me, so that at the end of the month I know what's happening. And if the little bits of dough that I sampled, both before and after cooking, are anything to go by, these will hopefully be a little better received than those apples XD I might even decorate them!
Well, after a couple of days of firewall issues, I finally have the latest patch of World of Warcraft downloaded and installed.I just fired it up. I got as far as the credits. I got chills just watching them.Awesome.
