doctor who?

Doctor Java - Check it out on Urbanspoon

• 87a Smith Street, Fitzroy

Doctor Java is pretty much on the corner of Smith and Gertrude Streets.  The sign caught my eye when I first moved to Melbourne as it serves organic coffee.  There are three things that I love about this cosy little cafe:

1. The coffee is great - and organic.
2. The iced coffee is arguably the best I have ever had.
3. The savoury scone is to die for.

I do not need to say too much about the coffee as my coffee palate is relatively simple: I don't like it tasting burnt and I like the milk a tad on the "too hot "side.  My usual order is simple - a latte.  No skinny/trim milk, no sugar - just coffee and full fat milk.  The coffee here is consistently great, has a great flavour and is a great temperature. I have not once been disappointed with my simple latte from Doctor Java.

However, as the Melbourne summer is upon us and last weekend in particular was exceptionally hot for this Wellingtonian, it was difficult for me to get my caffeine fix from a "tad on the hot side" latte.  I immediately thought of good old Doctor Java to provide me the caffeine I needed (and the calories I didn't) with their oh so amazing iced coffee.

There are three types of iced coffee on offer:

1. DJ Iced Coffee $5.50 - espresso, ice, ice cream, milk, simple!
2. Da Bomb Sugar IC $5.50 - 2 scoops house espresso sorbet, 1 scoop ice cream and milk
3. The Godfather $6 - 3 scoops ice cream, 3 shots coffee, the affogato you can't resist!

On this particular day, I opted for number 1, the simple iced coffee.  I have also tried da bomb sugar iced coffee - the name only attracts me!  Both these iced coffees have a delicious coffee flavour (a result from the great organic coffee beans no doubt) and it has the perfect amount of ice cream to milk to coffee ratio.  How many times have you ordered an iced coffee and it is literally ice + coffee and you come away disappointed and unsatisfied?  It has happened to me plenty of times, therefore the prerequisite for ordering an iced coffee is that it must have ice cream to rightfully give it the sweetness and creaminess.

One thing I struggle to find in Melbourne is savoury scones or muffins.  I mentioned savoury scones to a colleague once, and he looked at me as if I had said something in a foreign language, like he had never heard of it before.  I just love savoury scones or muffins (as opposed to sweet scones or muffins) and together with a latte, it is a match made in heaven.

Needless to say, when I discovered the savoury scone at Doctor Java, I knew where to go to satisfy my savoury-scone-craving.  It is $5.50 and described as "tomato, vintage cheddar and basil scone with red wine and onion jam".  The price may be a bit steep, but it is worth every cent.  For one, it is huge and therefore perfect for sharing, but every bite of this scone is scrumptious.  It is a great consistency, in other words, not dry or stodgy.  It is not only flavoursome but filling and hits the spot every time.

So if you are looking for a great cup of coffee to wake up, a much needed iced coffee to cool down, or a snack to fill that growling gap, then Doctor Java is a great place to tick all or some of the above boxes.  Whether you are in the neighbourhood or if you wish to especially go there, with it only being a stone's throw away from the city, the trip will be well worth it fulfilling your expectations.  Well, it hasn't disappointed me yet!

curry curry curry

Fitz Curry Cafe www.fitzcurrycafe.com.au

• 44 Johnston Street, Fitzroy
• Dining at dinnertime
• Party of two
• Da bill: less than $50

I love a good curry.  I have often said to people that if I could choose just one type of meal to have for the rest of my life for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it would be curry.  Call me a "curry-muncher" or whatever you like, but I absolutely love all types of curries.  I must admit, I especially enjoy curries that come from India as nothing beats the smell and taste.  I don't really have a favourite Indian curry but generally love Indian cuisine as a whole.  

Hopefully now you get the idea of how much curry means to me, so since I have lived in Melbourne, I have been on the constant lookout for a curry house to satisfy my palate.  I have tried a few scattered around the city, but nothing ever completely satisfied me.  There were times when the aroma of a place has lured me in only to be disappointed by the taste.  It is that extra bit disappointing when something that smells so good can fail in the taste department.

I have often walked past the Fitz Curry house on Johnston Street in Fitzroy and was always curious about what the food was like.  However with the selection of restaurants in Melbourne being so vast, I never decided to try it until after a year of living here.  It was a random night and although there are a number of great restaurants on this street, this was the night for the Fitz Curry House.

The selection of curries in vegetarian, chicken, lamb, beef and seafood options were plenty, however it was not too difficult to decide what to order. We ordered a vegetable samosa and a meat samosa to begin with.  Both samosas had crisp skin the way it should be and the filling in both varieties was tasty.   Although the one thing about samosas when ordered in a restaurant is that they are never spicy enough.  I realise that samosas are not meant to be spicy but just a tad more heat would make this favourite morsel of mine so much better.  The only other let down with the samosas was the mint raita as it lacked the fresh flavour of mint and was on the salty side.

Before I get into the mains, I must mention one fault and that is we waited a long time for them to be served.  Despite the length of time we waited (45 minutes) the service was great and to be fair, but not to make an excuse, there was only one chef in this full restaurant.  

We ordered Chicken Makhani, more famously know as Butter Chicken and Lamb Rogan Josh.  We asked for extra spice in both dishes and they came with a perfect amount of "hotness".  The Butter Chicken was described in the menu as "the fountainhead of Indian Cuisine, chicken cooked in Tandoor and then cooked with home made tomato sauce and spices".  This dish did not disappoint.  It was perfectly creamy with just the right amount of sweetness, very well spiced and seasoned and was a delight to eat.

The Lamb Rogan Josh is contrasting in flavour to a Butter Chicken, with different spices, colour and obviously taste.  It was very delicious, packed with amazing flavour and the lamb was so beautifully tender.  The extra spice packed a punch but the dish was perfect in its own right.  The curries were accompanied with garlic naan and plain rice.  I must mention that the naan was light and fluffy and contained enough garlic to warrant it being called garlic naan as there have been times I have ordered garlic naan when it may as well have been just naan!

It took over a year but I have now found the best curry house in Melbourne.  It is great value for money, offers friendly service and most importantly the taste is deliciously great.  It serves free range chicken and natural spring lamb which is just an added bonus to what will now be the place to satisfy my curry cravings.

nothing like a german sausage

Hofbrauhaus http://www.hofbrauhaus.com.au/

• 18 - 28 Market Lane, Melbourne
• Dining at dinnertime
• Party of six

There is something about German sausages that put them in a category above all other sausages I have tried.  I am not entirely sure what the Germans do differently but all I know is their sausages, from kranskys to bratwursts, are always full of flavour and satisfaction.  The Hofbrauhaus is one of several places where Melburnians can find these German delights in an authentic, restaurant setting.

We started our meal with a vorspeisen or entree to share and we opted for the Gebackener Camembert which was a crumbed camembert cheese with ligonberry compote.  Now I love crumbed camembert, perhaps one of the most indulgent things I eat.  I can still remember the very first time I tried deep-fried camembert.  I was seventeen and it was at the Dunedin Wine and Food Festival where I initially thought, what a strange thing to deep-fry.  That camembert was cut in wedges, crumbed and served with a cranberry sauce that was both sweet and tart.  The camembert oozed in your mouth, the creamy richness perfectly complemented with the cranberry sauce.  Unfortunately, the crumbed camembert at Hofbrauhaus did not compare and for $13.50, it disappointed my eager expectation.  It was bland and lacked the fullness of one of my most fondest food memories.

Now to the sausages, I chose the HB Wurstplatte which was a selection of sausages (nurnberger, cheese kransky, Swiss bratwurst) on a bed of sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and served with German mustard for $26.50.  The stand-out sausage on the plate was definitely the cheese kransky, the cheese in the middle is perfect with the seasoned flavour of the meat.  If I were to dine here again, next time, I would opt just for the cheese kransky.  Having said that all three sausages were delicious in their own right, and if it is variety you are after or if you just can't decide, this is the perfect dish to sample three different types of superior German sausages.  I must also add the mashed potatoes were well-seasoned, light, fluffy and creamy and there was also an overly generous serve of sauerkraut.  I have had better sauerkraut but German sausage is just not the same without it, so this sauerkraut was better than having none.  The German mustard was not at all memorable and the dish would have been just as good without.

For great atmosphere, service, beer, schnapps and German sausages to boot, Hofbrauhaus is a place to enjoy a complete dining experience.  Until next post, may your taste buds be continually tantalised!