Skyscraper

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

I Eat Blog Magazine Monthly

All my dear readers, I'm so excited to announce the launch of my new magazine, I Eat Blog Monthly. For only a low price of $6.50 an issue, you can learn so many things about food. In this month's issue, we have all the secrets to tasty chocolate salty balls. Once you try them, you'll never want any other balls. We also interview celebrity singer Britney Spears, and find out why she's such a tart...fan. She tells us when she first started being a tart...fan and gives the secrets on an easy tart. Which leads us to this month's reader competition, to find Australia's easiest tart. The winner will get to tour Australia for free and help spread the tart message. Lastly, as strawberries are in season, we find 57 ways to tart up your life with them. In some of the ways, you even get to cook them into a dessert.

So subscribe today and receive a year's subscription of I Eat Blog Monthly (11 copies per year as I'm on holidays during Christmas) for only $78. That's a special price for my wonderful readers today. You can pay all at once or in two easy installments of $40. You can pay with bank transfer, Paypal or credit card. Note that there is a fee on all payment options of 5%.

So without further ado, here is the cover of this month's I Eat Blog magazine.
My chief designer Iron Chef Shellie designed this cover with a photo that was taken by yours truly, editor, photographer, writer and stylist, Thanh Do.

I hope you will enjoy the magazine.

Sincerely,
Thanh Do - Editor

Mamasita - You Already Know It's Good

I think I'm definitely the last person in Melbourne to visit Mamasita. At first it was the queues that put me off going. A few other times I had to cancel and you know how the usual stories go, there's some place new and shiny to visit. However, a chance event near the restaurant meant I could drop in without queuing and try the food. I had sampled a number of the Mamasita dishes at various food festivals before so I already knew it would be good. The meal was just to try a few more items.

The famous Mamasita corn is indeed very good. Yes it's only corn, yes it's expensive for corn, but if that's how you feel, make it yourself and don't order it. I'm happy to order this dish again as I'll eat good food any day.

Other items that were pretty good but not amazing were the ceviche and the quesadillas. They were the two weaker dishes of an otherwise excellent meal.

Another item Mamasita is famous for is their tacos. And they did live up to expectations and were great. The tostaditas and potatoes were also really good. The pancita de cerdo recommended by the waiter was excellent.

Overall, the food was really good and I would go back. The service was both good and not so good. The staff were friendly enough but it was so hard to get their attention when we wanted to order, to ask for water or even to pay the bill.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is good but I actually don't really like the layout of the restaurant. Obviously space is at a premium in the city so seating is close, which I don't mind. We were at a high table and like many places, I hated the bar stool type chairs as you can't lean back and after a 2 hour meal it gets quite uncomfortable. Overall a very good meal and I would definitely recommend it if you're the only other person in Melbourne who hasn't gone yet.

Mamasita on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Jim's Tavern - Really Old Skool

Jim's Tavern is really old skool. It starts with a lack of website. Not many larger restaurants don't have a web presence nowadays. I guess when you've been around for so long and everyone already knows about you, you don't really need to have a website right? I guess as long as people are still coming through the doors, that's all that matters. And one the night I went, people were definitely coming through the doors. The clientele who were dining that night seemed to be mostly big Greek families. Those big groups were seated in the back area, which seems to be where the action is. It felt rather sad sitting in the front area. It just didn't have the right feel. It felt cramped, but not cosy. It could be due to the lack of sufficient lighting.

The waiter came to take our order. There's no menu here, but I guess things don't change too often. There might be a special or two here and there but mostly it's typical Greek dishes you would expect. We go for the dips and saganaki to start off with. Both dishes were good and I did enjoy them. The saganaki had a really good bite to it. Next up was the reason I wanted to visit Jim's Tavern, to eat the grilled octopus. I absolutely love octopus and not enough restaurants serve them. So I was super excited to eat it. And the verdict, it was very good. The octopus had a great charred, smokey flavour and was very tender.

To conclude our meal we had garlic butter scallops, lamb gyros and fried zucchinis. The scallops were ok. You couldn't really taste them under that batter. The lamb was really good but by that point we were so full already and didn't know one plate of lamb was enough to feed four people. I didn't like the fried zucchinis and found them really salty and oily.

The service was good, and the waiters came around to check how we were going and if we wanted anything. The only time we had a problem was actually trying to flag down a waiter to get the bill. Overall, the food was pretty good, but I'd say it's pricey for what it is, which is just simple Greek food. I can eat that elsewhere for cheaper. I don't think there's anything particularly special about Jim's Tavern in terms of the food. I guess it lives on due to it's reputation. As I mentioned, I didn't like the vibe in the front room of the restaurant. I will probably feel differently in the back area. I'd probably not go back to dine as I think you can eat much better Greek food elsewhere for cheaper or comparative cost.

Jim's Greek Tavern on Urbanspoon