The Durham: 2-4-1 Mondays

Location: Green Square, Kingston ACT 2604
Phone: (02) 6295 1769
Link: www.outincanberra.com.au/thedurham
Cuisine: Steak

Monday nights at the Durham in Kingston is 2-4-1 steak night. That's right, two steaks for the price of one!

300g Sirloin steak with mushroom sauce, chips and vegies, all for $10.50!!

Having had past bad experiences with cheap steak, I was rather impressed this time around.  The steak was overcooked (I made the mistake of ordering medium-well, but this steak was more like 2 x well done), but mine seemed to be the exception - all other steaks were brilliantly cooked.

The sauce was amazing. There was a real depth of flavour and actual slices of mushroom swimming in the sauce. The chips were also amazingly well done - crispy on the outside, light and fluffy inside, and the beautiful 'crunch' sound as I bit into it. The vegies were also nicely done - the only thing missing was a drizzle of melted butter over them.

On top of half price steak, the Durham also give out raffle tickets when drinks or meals are purchased, and you go into the draw to win meat trays. We won a massive platter...

Yes, that's a leg of roast in the top left corner of the photo.

Service: varies - it's a pub, so don't expect 5-star service. But the waitresses there are generally quite attentive.

Price: on a Monday, this place exhumes value-for-money.

Overall Impression: 9/10

Chocolate Mill

Location: 5451 Midland Hwy, Mt Franklin
Link: www.chocmill.com.au
Cuisine: Chocolate

If you ever head up towards Daylesford, you have to stop by the Chocolate Mill in Mt Franklin. About 10 to 15 minutes drive north of Daylesford's town centre, and totally worth a visit!

The Mill has one of the largest selections of handmade chocolates and the fillings are also homemade from local produce.

The range of chocolates

Just a small selection of the chocolates

Then there is the Hot Chocolate Cafe...

The Hot Chocolate Cafe

The famous hot chocolate

One of the best hot chocolates I have ever had, and only $5 for such a large cup!! Made of melted chocolate at the bottom, milk, and light creamy froth on top...this was the perfect way to end the day!!

Overall Impression: 10/10

J-Pub Shogun

Location: 233 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Cuisine: Japanese

Dropped by one night after dinner for a quick drink of Shoju and some edamame beans...


The first serving was still warm, straight from the pot - lightly salted and very very addictive! We ordered a second basket and this time it was cold, like it should be I assume.

I wasn't so impressed with the shoju, but I'm so going back for those beans!

Overall Impression: 9/10

Ten Ren Tea Time

Location: 146 Swanston Street [between Little Collins and Bourke Streets]
Link: www.tenrentea.com.au
Cuisine: Taiwanese
Company: Mel

After our unsatisfying meal at Equinox, Mel took me to a little Taiwanese place called Ten Ren for their 'crispy fried chicken'. At first I thought, crispy fried chicken? I might as well go to KFC, but then Mel explained to me that it was the famous Taiwanese fried chicken [盐酥鸡] and not typical KFC food so we ordered it [on the menu it's called 'spicy pepper chicken' even though it's not spicy at all].

The chicken was well flavoured, the batter itself appeared to have a very slight sweetness hidden in amongst the salt, pepper and other spices. The chicken itself was moist and full of flavour too. The chicken pieces were about the same size as KFC popcorn chicken, and we used toothpicks to eat it. For $4.80, we got more for our money than we had at Equinox!!

My second trip to Ten Ren was almost just as good. Having spotted oyster noodles and oyster omelette on the menu from the previous time, Mel and I went back to Ten Ren for lunch on day. I ordered the oyster noodles, which turned out reasonably decently, although cannot compete with the real stuff in Taiwan. It came with a free drink [ice/hot green/red/oolong tea]. Mel ordered a fried pork chop with rice, which also came with salad and fruit [a couple of pieces of watermelon] and for $1 extra, she got a pearl milk tea. The meals themselves were $8.80 each, which was ridiculously cheap for the amount of food Mel got! Lunchtime deals are very useful money savers!

I've still got a third trip planned to try the oyster omelette, and no doubt will be going back for the chicken again!!

Coffee Coffee Coffee...

I've recently discovered a number of little coffee places around the eastern end of Collins Street in the city thanks to a clerkship I'm doing in a building in the area. Here are a few:

~Breadwell~
135 Flinders Lane
The staff are friendly and the place can accommodate larger groups along the side booths. Service is moderately fast and prices are fairly standard.

~Recorded Music Salon~
Level 1, 11 Collins Street
You can easily pass the entrance and not even realise, as there is no street front. Instead, you enter through a small door off Collins Street and head upstairs. The place is nice and space, with both long and short tables. Service is quite fast and very approachable. No idea about the price.*

~Cumulus~
45 Flinders Lane
Whilst the window is visible from the street, the door itself is tucked around the corner in a little lane coming off Flinders Lane. Service was friendly but slow, although the place was pretty busy when we went in. Again, no idea about the price.*

~Mini~
145 Flinders Lane
Located a little further away than Breadwell, the entrance is even harder to find as one has to walk down an old cobblestone looking lane way to get to the front door. Inside the room is partially divided in two, with standard tables and chairs down one half, and a larger table with high stools surrounding it in the middle. The service was average, the waitresses were rather slow in bringing out glasses and water, and the drinks took quite a long time to come out. On the positive side, the waitresses did pour our water and one impressed me by asking if I had a nut allergy when bringing out my hot chocolate [although I thought it would have been a bit more logical to ask when taking the order!]. And again, no idea about the price.*

*One of the benefits of a clerkship is that you get taken out for coffees all the time, and the bill is usually covered by the lawyers or the firm's recruitment budget.

San Churro

Location: Burnswick St, Knox, Eastlands
Cuisine: Chocolate
Company: Usually Mark


~Food~
-Best hot chocolate ever! Get a hot and cold, which is hot chocolate with a scoop of icecream. The sensation is so delicious and the hot chocolate is so lush.
- Also a great place for spanish inspired snacks. Spanish donuts called churros dusted with icing sugar and dipped in chocolate are quite unique but VERY filling. I need to try their tasting plate.
- Their boutique chocolate truffles are pretty yummo too.

~Atmosphere and Service~
-Usually very friendly. Can be a bit slow in making the hot chocolate but since it's been the same whenever we go there, I'm assuming making good hot chocolate should take a bit of time to get it to taste so good.

~Price~
-Reasonable but not cheap. I *think* is $5.50 for a hot and cold. However, they have great loyalty schemes (stamp cards) and if you fill up a stamp card, you get a discount card sent to you on top of that so yay

~Fructose Friendliness~
-High. Chocolate is never a problem and they also have flourless chocolate cake for the fructys.

~Overall Impression: 9/10~
- This is one of my favorite hot chocolate places. The hot chocolate is so unique- I love hot and colds coz I've not seen it elsewhere. Also, their hot chocolate is not as sweet as Max Brenner or as heavy as KoKoBlack. I think its pretty perfect!
- The snacks available are interesting and different with a nice Spanish twist but I've had better.
- Go there for a yummy yummy drink and a nice place to sit and hang for a while.