Dainty Sichuan, South Yarra

A bunch of friends and us went to Dainty Sichuan in South Yarra as I was craving Sichuan food, and we saw that it had really high ratings on Urbanspoon. When we got there, we saw the clientele was 80% Chinese-20% Caucasian, which was a pretty good sign. Had it been the other way round, we would have left. 

There were around 7 people, so we ordered 5 main dishes and 2 starters, which worked out well for us.

The tea tree mushrooms with dried bean curd and vegetables was all right. Not bad, but nothing to crow about. 

The 辣子鸡 was pretty good. I would head back there just for this dish. 

We also had eggplant served with a sweetish spicy sauce, which was fabulous with hot steamed rice especially in the cold weather.

The green beans were pretty boring, but the tofu with preserved egg, spring onions and garlic sauce was really tasty. 

The main star of the evening was this fish that came with all the hot spices on top of the grill. Really tasty, and it was a good serve. 

Everyone was happy - definitely a meal none of us regretted

The bill worked out to just under $30 per person, including drinks. Definitely a place worth going back to, although we all had fiery gastrointestinal tracts and bottoms the following day.

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra VIC 3141
(03) 9078 1686

Autumn Leaves in Bright

We went to Bright in central Victoria for the autumn festival in early May, and spent a night at Mt Beauty. It was a gorgeous weekend, slightly overcast but the weather held. 

Some snippets of the autumn leaves: 

Lakes Entrance - Fish, Crabs and Mussels

We headed to Lakes Entrance a couple of months ago when the weather was still warmer, for some fishing and crabbing. It's a beautiful place around 4 hours drive from Melbourne. 

The view rounding the bend before approaching the town.

On our first day, we picked mussels off the rocks

Just like that- the bigger ones were found in deeper water

Come to momma

Only those decent enough to be eaten were taken, we gave the babies another chance at feeding someone else another day

Our haul was pretty good. 

View from Bullock Island jetty

Gorgeous summer sunset

Another view 

They were full of algae, seaweed and barnacles, and took about an hour to clean. I'm not sure the harvesting was worth the effort when Mt Martha mussels are $7 a kilo from our local market, but I suppose it was for the experience.

Cooked with white wine, garlic, butter and onions

Yums!

Seriously fresh and tasty.

The next day we rented a little drive-it-yourself boat to head out to fish

It was a lovely day with perfect weather

Off we went

Within minutes of setting down our crab nets, ta-dah! Success

So many hungry crabs 

Our total haul for the morning

We used super smelly chicken carcasses that had rotted during the drive from Melbourne, and they seemed to have done the trick

We also caught fish, but none worth mentioning

Like this ugly fella here

We bought some prawns and crayfish off the fishing boat at Post Office Jetty

The crabs fighting in the pail- still pretty feisty.

The road to the slaughter

Putting them out of misery quickly and brutally

All cleaned and ready to be cooked

With Singapore chilli crab sauce and egg. Super yummy especially with bread.

We stopped by Paynesville on the way back to have a look at the silt jetties.

Super scenic spot

The crayfish, or bugs, were still alive when we were back in Melbourne after around 8 hours in the boot of our car, so we decided we just had to cook them there and then. The king prawns were alive when we bought them, so we knew they were super fresh too. But they went into the freezer since we were full from dinner.

We stocked up on more chilli crab paste

This bug was flapping. I was screaming.

Ready for cooking.

Possibly the most yummy crayfish ever

Especially with the eggy sauce

Super firm meat...perhaps the freshest I've ever eaten

Another shot of the meat. Salivating now thinking about it.

Since summer's long gone, the next thing to look forward to is ski season....once I clear the backlog.