20200306 Taste of Nepal and Buongiorno DRINK: Mustang TURN: Elizabeth

 It was my turn to choose tonight and I had already thought of going somewhere where we hadn't been before - I decided upon A Taste of Nepal in Norwood. We've passed it many times, but have never frequented the place. This week was the perfect opportunity to branch out and try something new.

Stephen sent out a text to meet in Norwood, and I texted Jen to see if she was available. Richard was at Womadelaide, so it ended up being Stephen and I and Con and Chad.

We scored the end booth at the Norwood pub and had a couple of beers. $5 a pint which is pretty good. There's something free and easy about sipping on a beer when you know you can sleep in the next day and have the long weekend stretch before you.

I parked at the Swim centre which was a bit naughty, but turned out alright. No parking fine.

It was a bit hard to figure out which was the actual entrance to the restaurant. Eventually, we found this sign pointing us down the side of the building.

The first thing to notice about the restaurant is that it is quirky. We were led to a comfortable table for 4 and the waiter immediately brought us table water - something unusual - never seen a live plant in the water before!

The menu was easy to read with lots of options to try something out of our comfort zone.

Rice - service for 2 (split between Stephen, Con and me). It wasn't alot, but I didn't eat too much so it turned out to be enough.

Stephen and I had Samosas. I could only eat one - tasty enough.

Stephen had the lamb curry. He was very impressed with the flavours and thought it had the right balance. Again, a regular criticism for Stephen - there were no vegetables in it.

I had the Barramundi curry. Again, lovely flavours, plenty of fish, creamy sauce - just no veggies to compliment it.

Con had the butter chicken curry. He seemed suitably impressed. So impressed he broke his 6-7 score... again!

Con had a Garlic Roti and Stephen and I shared one too. They came out in one serving. Nice enough.

The piste de resistance! Chad's meal, although he had to wait a couple of minutes for it, was amazing. Loads of meat and the cucumber salad had other salady things in there. Chad was very happy with his meal.

We finished up. Con gave me $30 for his meal, Chad paid $42 by credit card for his share, and I paid the rest.

All in all a good experience and we would definitely consider coming back next year perhaps.?

After eating such a large meal, we wanted to finish it off with a coffee, so we drove back down to Buongiorno and found a table easily enough. Stephen ordered a chocolate mousse cake which I only had a small bit.

It's a big weekend for Stephen and I. We're off to Toastmasters for a workshop on Sunday and we're booked in to Womadelaide on Monday to see Mavis Staples, Laura Marling and Odette, Matt Corby amongst others. It should be a lovely few days.

We wished the guys well and parted ways.

Scores for the evening:

Chad - 8.5
Stephen - 8
Con - 8
Elizabeth - 7.5

20200228 Bun Cha DRINK: Young Henrys TURN: Con

 We were in-situ at the same spot in our local at 5pm. Now that I'm working at Westpac Building, I left at 4.45 to stroll across. Gee was I hanging out for that Young Henry's beer tonight and my packet of crisps!

Con came in first. Cheerful as ever sporting a new haircut. Stephen came in about 5.30 and we talked about all things philosophical (which includes the topic of the new Picard series).

If you're ever in need of advice, here's two sages to impart their wisdom. :-)

We strolled up Rundle Street absorbing the Fringe feel. We went up the old Palace Nova stairs which is now a marketing agency - KWP. They were having a function and were happy to invite us to stay for a drink! La Taberna was busy and all the white plastic tables and chairs on the street were full.

It was Con's turn to choose tonight so we strolled around to the Bun Cha. As usual, the place was nearly empty and we choose our usual 6 seater table. The waiter recognised Con and gave him a warm welcome.

Now here's a bit of a difference. At Jamie's the other week, Stephen paid $13 for a VERY small glass of wine. Here they topped it to the brim for a mere $7. Bargain!

You're probably saying, yes, but where's the proof? Right here. See how happy Stephen is? :-)

There were no surprises with the meals tonight. Stephen had his Singapore Noodles. I forgot to take photos at the time, hence the photo I did take is of an empty plate. Ooops! Usual average meal comments from Stephen - 7.5 score. He said that the meal lacked vegetables and had too much Bok Choy.

Con had Won Ton Chicken Soup with a small side of beansprouts and leaves. I must say it looked like it rivalled Dumplings R Us for presentation. Con's comments were that it tasted good and it was what I expected. Con was so impressed... wait for it.... he gave his meal a score of 8. Yes folks, that's a high roller....

 I had the vegetable laksa - a huge bowl filled to the brim with juice. Unfortunately, that what most of it was - juice. There were very few noodles in there which I slurped up straight away. A few uncooked mushrooms and capsicum with bits of fried tofu. The flavour was very mild - no kick of chilli. I much prefer the Dumplings R Us laksa. I could only give my score a 5 tonight.

One good thing to say about Bun Cha is that it has a certain comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. You always feel chilled when eating there. Extra points for the service. Even Richard would have liked it because the footy was playing in the background.

No coffee tonight. We parked in Wyatt Street so we made the hike back to the car. Con caught the bus on North Terrace.

20200221 Sparkke and Shibui DRINK: Hello Dark Stout... TURN: Jen

Choice of 2 tables

2 x skinny chips (courtesy of Jen and Me)
Kingfish smoked - I sent it back
Roti - very hot, triangle serving
Mushroom and Chestnut Dumplings - amazingly delicious flavour, pasta a bit hard
Pork dumplings - Stephen
Turnips - uncooked/raw

Scores:
Elizabeth - 2
Stephen - 2
Jen -
Geraldine -
Con - 3
Chad -
Richard - 8

2 x pale ales for me (no discount or happy prices!) As the waiter said, it's happy hour every hour. Mmm.

Stephen and I shared the peach cheesecake. A mixture of sloppy cream with crumbled honeycomb and ice-cream. I had a hot chocolate which I asked to be re-heated and got a second cup

20200214 Jamie's Kitchen and Pancake Kitchen DRINK: Lots... TURN: Richard

 It was Con, Stephen and me sitting in the booth in the Elephant putting the world right with our insights about politics and religion. Yes, the beers did help :-)

Chad isn't with us tonight - he is at a Fringe event. Richard was also at a show, but had booked at Jamie's Kitchen for 7.45.

We strolled down the mall, stopping halfway for a refreshment at the Richmond. Upstairs is a bit swish from the downtown office workers.

We arrived at Jamie's nearly 8pm. Richard was there sitting at a table near the entrance way. Richard had booked a circular table for 6 just in case Jen and Chad could make it.

Coming back to Jamie's, I remember all the reasons why I liked the venue the first time I came. It has a certain buzz about it. Great layout, feels like one big dining room yet intimate with the decor.

We had a look at the menu. This is the first point of recommendation for the restaurant. The writing was simply too small to read, especially the size 4 font at the bottom of the menu which explained what each of the symbols were.





Stephen asked for a house wine, but Jamie's doesn't do 'cheap' wine - the cheapest glass on the menu was $13. When the waitress brought the wine - albeit in a very large glass, the actual serving size was ridiculously small. The wine barely filled the bottom of the glass. The taste of the wine was awful too. Stephen said he had tasted better $7.99 bottles of wine.

Not a good experience drinks wise. The rest of us had table water which the waitress was all too happy to replace halfway through the meal.

Con indulged in the crab linguine - $28. He said that it had no flavour and was very bland. He said that he could probably make it at home better for less than $5.

Richard's meal consisted of a rocket and Parmesan salad with Tagliatelle Bolognese - $26 + $7. Richard thought that for what it was, it was way too pricy. He felt the pasta was a tad too hard and it wasn't hot enough. There could have been a little extra on the plate.

Stephen had, what I think, was the raw end of the deal. Not happy after his serving of wine, he was even more disappointed with the serving size of his meal. I think there were a total of 6 pasta parcels. Stephen had the Lamb Ravioli. Wait for it... $32 for his pasta! We had a serving of 'funky chips' which were again, so small that it contained less than 10 chips.

I had the Prawn linguine. What can I say? It looked good. It was a reasonable serving size. I felt the pasta was cooked perfectly and the prawns were fresh and delicate. The flavour was all there. My meal was $33 - way too expensive for what it was.

It would have been nice to have had complimentary bread - at the price we all paid, they could have done that without any problems.

Richard had a voucher so he got 15% off bill because he's a Fringe member.

Scores:
Me - 8 (minus 2 points for the cost) so now 6
Stephen - 5.5
Richard - 6
Con - 4

There was no Chad tonight and we very guiltily snuck over to PANCAKE KITCHEN!!! for dessert.

To mark the occasion, we flagged down a passerby and had this group shot especially for Chad :-)

Yummy pancakes - way too filling.

It is the opening of the Fringe and the other end of town was extremely busy, the tables in the streets and the end of Rundle Street closed off. Con, Stephen and I strolled back up to the car (parked near the old German club).

It's Con's turn next week, so I think it's another visit to the tried and tested Bun Cha.