The tiny gastronomer

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

La Tortilleria

72 Stubbs Street Kensington, VIC, 3031

Opening Hours:
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

Dinner from 6:00pm onwards

Thursday and Friday

Lunch from 12:00pm to 2:30pm

Saturday and Sunday

Lunch from 11:30am to 3:00pm

Dinner from 6:00pm onwards

Located in a small industrial street in Kensington lies a brightly painted blue building serving some of Melbourne's most impressive Mexican cuisine. On first appearance La Tortilleria resembles a brothel from the late 1990's; delicately lighting up the street with a chain of fairy lights and a mysterious queue of people weaving up the wooden staircase it creates and enticing yet slightly seedy atmosphere. Parking on Stubbs street is next to impossible, so unfortunately for the designated driver leaving your car in narrow side streets is the only stress free option. Since their recent appearance on the television series Postcards La Tortilleria has become the new 'it' venue, meaning bookings are essential for larger groups of people. The floor space is crammed and there doesn't seem to be enough chairs for the demand of customers entering through the door.

I had booked ahead which was probably the only way that I could get a table at 8pm on a hectically busy Saturday evening. The staff rushed through the narrowly set tables and delivered meals to other patrons, it did take quite some time to be offered a menu, or be greeted by any staff. This is one of the draw backs of the venue, however, it is not a deal breaker.

La Tortilleria make their own tortillas on the premises and as you wait to be served the large industrial machinery sits patiently and quietly in the corner of the building.

The business was started by Mexican born Gerardo Lopez and avid Australian traveller Diana Hull. When tasting the food and observing the decorations that cover all of the walls and hidden nooks of the building it is evidently clear that La Tortilleria is truly authentic and brings honest, delicious Mexican food to hungry Melbournian's.

The menu is quite basic but everything is made to order and uses local Australian produce. The menu consists of tacos, quesadillas and sopes (a thick tortilla base with beans and meat). I highly recommend the amigos share platter; appropriately named the platter gives you a choice of 8 or 12 different menu options. The platter is a lot cheaper then ordering everything separately and allows you to try a range of things. The portion sizes are small, so if you have a large appetite I would say there is no harm in ordering a few extra tacos.

La Tortilleria is licensed and only have Mexican beer for sale (which is brilliant), it was also great to see that they were embracing some breweries other then Sol and Corona, which allows you to sample some Mexican beer that nicely accompanies your meal. There is also a large range of Mexican juices and soft drinks available, this small product list creates the feeling of being over seas and venturing out of your comfort zone.

The next time anyone says to you "I feel like Mexican, do not let them take you to a nasty franchised venue filled with canned meat and stale tortillas. La Tortilleria is worth the hype and struggle to get a table; the food is delicious, clean and local which ticks all the major boxes for any foodie and lover of spicy foreign cuisine. Best said by the Spanish, provecho!

Friday, 27 September 2013

Distance can make the taste buds grow stronger

In life people make promises, usually based on a sincere intent to keep them, perhaps they were even with an honest level of guilt that had driven them to make un-realistic decisions. I made a promise, almost 500 days ago, that I was unable to keep. Instead of writing about all of the wonderful (and not so wonderful) places that I explored and had consumed large amounts of food and decadent alcoholic beverages at.... I forgot to take notes. The few of you reading this may say "well, we didn't miss you Molly, in fact we weren't even aware that you had left.." This may be the case, but all I have to say to that is you're bloody missing out on all of the exciting things I had to share.

In 500 days I have been to numerous countries, cities, states and airports in which I have drunk my body weight in excellent coffee, eaten a Noah's ark of cuisine (this means an assortment of animals and animal products to you un-educated atheists) and I have seen wonderful decor in stylish brasseries.

I suggest if you like food, coffee and a good yarn, then you keep your peepers on this site and I shall take you on a decadent journey that certainly has taken a toll on my waistline and savings.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe

620 Collins St Melbourne, VIC 3000

Sitting at home with my eyes blaring from the bright light of my computer screen I decide that a tasty late lunch is in order. I mean, I did at least four straight hours of study...article after essay after opinion piece; I felt I deserved to try something new.
The place I went to today is not off my wonderful bucket list, it was something that I just stumbled across whilst day dreaming on Urban Spoon.

Rated quite highly on the website and approximately 7 minutes from where I am living at the moment; 'Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe' sits neatly inbetween the large business district of Collins Street and is quite accessible for anyone. A building that I have walked past a thousand times, never really taking notice of the interior, the one exclusion being the Japanese artwork of the Beatles that hangs above a refrigerator. Entering the small restaurant I felt as though I had walked into an average take-away sushi place that has the pre-packed sashimi accompanied by the wasabi in a plastic grass sheath... this is a pet hate of mine. But, I judged too soon; looking around the venue I noticed the attention to detail and the accommodating atmosphere. Cutlery is self serve and you can help yourself to your own jug of water and condiments (which I love).

The menu reads quite simply, meat seafood and vegetarian variations of three main styles: curries, salads or sashimi accompanied by a soup or optional white/brown rice is the basis of their dishes.

The handwritten menu adds a touch of informality which many Japanese restaurants have, as if to claim that a sleek stylised venue = high quality dining/meals.

'Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe' has a silly name, small venue, but some of the most delicious Japanese food I have ever eaten. Clean, healthy and organically sourced their meals seem to have purpose and don't come across as pretentious or stereotypical.

I ordered the prawn and buckwheat noodle salad with a side of miso soup. All of this only came to $11.90, which if you are familiar with Japanese food (especially quite large portions) is very cheap.
The salad was delicious, fresh and flavoursome. A creamy avocado and chilli based dressing sat beneath the noodles to allow a controlled portion. Overall the salad was exactly what I was craving and did not leave me hungry or feeling ill, two of the most common signs of a bad meal!

Miso may not be to everyones liking, but until you have tried this version you cannot say you don't like it. I will admit, that sometimes I enjoy the preservative filled miso soup sachets that you can buy from the supermarket. They have that distinctive salty manipulated bland flavour that after a while gives your pallet quite a boring hint of tofu. This soup actually had levels of flavour, filled with silken tofu and chunks of vegetables it tasted like a soup rather then a sodium filled broth. Very cheap and very tasty.

As I was not alone on this journey my very lovely date also enjoyed his slow cooked pork doused in a chilli sauce that wasn't too spicy. The pork was unbelievably tender and had the perfect amount of fat surrounding the meat making sure it was moist and not too dry.

'Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe' was surprising as the actual building it not overly nice (especially on a very hot day) to sit in as there was not any (noticeable) air conditioning. Apart from the building the food both cost wise and taste were perfect and exactly what anyone could want from authentic Japanese food with that hint of a Korean influence. I definitely recommend it for anyone trying to find a decent lunch in the CBD.

Sunday, 11 March 2012

A sort of bucket list.

Happy Labour Day to all! Many of you may have enjoyed Melbourne's most meaningless public holiday at home, relaxing. Perhaps you even ventured into the CBD to watch the Moomba parade (I wouldn't have recommended it due to the overload of lower class scum that seemed to be filling all of the pathways and building entrances with their sad eyes and cigarette smoke odour) apart from my own personal negativity surrounding the public holiday... purely based upon the fact that I have two options: either work or attend Deakin University (like many other universities which decide to remain open).

All of these things have now led me to write a sort of bucket list, taking one out of Karl Pilkington's book I seek to do all of the things on my own personal itinerary. I have now written a list of eateries across Melbourne that I have to go to before the end of the year... unless I die before then. I will soon enchant all of you with my tales of foreign lands, but first I need to make a plan. This plan is to try as much as possible and not become lazy when it comes to the most important thing in the world: eating.

So here is the list. I would love to have some company across my travels, so if anyone is interested feel free to join me.

Breakfast:

The Hardware Societe: 118-120 Hardware St

Melbourne, VIC 3000