The Rising Sun Hotel

In terms of Melbourne'a pub scene, nothing much beats a place that offers live music.  Often packed to the rafters, this hidden gem tucked away among the leafy streets of South Melbourne offers live Jazz music on Tuesday and Thursday nights, as well as a various array of other live music events throughout the year. 

Offering all the pub classics, the Rising Sun Hotel serves up the likes of fish and chips, pie of the day, veal schnitzel and of course the classic Parma. But with so much competition out there on the Parma front - what actually makes a good Parma? A big juicy piece of chicken breast is a must, so too is a generous slathering of cheese and flavoursome sauce, and a generous accompaniment of well seasoned chips that are crunchy on the outside, but light and fluffy on the inside is also a requirement. Luckily for The Rising Sun Hotel, it's Parma managed to tick all of these boxes. 

And what pub menu would be complete without an offering of sticky date pudding, and The Rising Sun Hotel's serving of this classic is both generous and delicious.



Good food, great service and great entertainment, The Rising Sun Hotel is quite the hidden gem of south Melbourne.


Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Venue: 3.5/5
Total: 11/15

Verdict: Like - get around to trying it at some point. 

 

Paco Y Lola

Situated at the South Melbourne Market, Paco Y Lola is unsurprisingly packed to the brim on market days - however, even on non-market days Paco Y Lola is still bustling with patrons. Serving up Mexican inspired cuisine at an incredibly reasonable price tag, the venue itself that has a relaxed but colourful vibe.

Paco Y Lola's chicken burrito with corn, red peppers, beans, sour cream and cheese was a highlight of our evening. Whilst it may be a diet's worst nightmare - oozing with meat and cheese, this fat juicy beast was definitely worth the calories.

The Sopes (i.e. those strange purple looking things below which you'd be forgiven for mistaking as hamburger patties) with slow cooked Chilli Colorado beef was also a highlight - served with lettuce, feta, corn and salsa, the dish had an incredible array of flavours and textures, and the juicy slow cooked beef just melted in the mouth.

The pulled pork quesadillas, however, were unfortunately a miss - whilst presented beautifully, they came out cold and claggy.

With its friendly service and great price tag, Paco Y Lola is definitely worth a visit - especially for their burritos.

Food: 3/5
Venue: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Total: 11/15
Verdict: Like - get around to trying it at some point.

Hotel Jesus

Part of the same group as Mamasita, Hotel Jesus is Mamasita's hipster younger brother who is still at Uni so eats out on a budget, and who hangs out on the North Side.  Serving up Mexican inspired cuisine at an incredibly reasonable price tag, the venue itself is akin to the love child of a 1970s American diner and a local Mexican taqueria.

Similar to Miss Chu, ordering is done via a tick-the-box on a form system - a pretty dangerous system if you ask me, as you don't have to worry about the judging eyes of your wait staff as you literally order everything on the menu - especially when Hotel Jesus's menu is designed so you can pretty much order a single serve of anything. 

The raw tuna tostada with ponzu, avocado, tobiko and wasabi crumb, and the grilled banana chilli stuffed with cheese and corn, were both tasty - but the raw tuna tostada could have done with more wasabi (or some other citrus to cut through the creaminess of the tuna and avocado) and the grilled banana chilli could have definitely done with more cheese (although I am a self proclaimed cheese addict, so maybe this criticism says more about me then the quality of the dish).

However, the highlight of the evening was the Huitlacoche Quesadillas which was oozing with cheese and rich with flavour - and for those who don't know, huitlacoche is a black fungus which grows on corn - gross to some perhaps, but I like to think of it as the truffle of corn.

The fish taco unfortunately was dry - however, they do get points for presentation.

With its incredibly friendly and helpful staff, good food and reasonable price tag, Hotel Jesus isn't a terrible choice if looking for a Mexican feed in Collingwood.

Food: 3/5
Venue: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Total: 11/15
Verdict: Like - get around to trying it at some point.

Three Little Dumplings

For a city that it is renowned for its dumpling houses, it came as quite a surprise to realise that South Melbourne was missing one for quite some time.  But Three Little Dumplings has come along to fill the void.

As with many other dumpling houses, Three Little Dumplings offers a cheap and cheerful no frills (cash only) experience (with byo of course).  Also as with many other dumpling houses, your safest bet is to stick with the dumplings.  The highlights of our meal were by far the pan fried pork dumplings and the steamed scallop dumplings.  Juicy, flavorsome, and coming out in a flash, they were so good we ordered another plate.

The fried rice and the chicken satay were okay - but nothing to write home about, with a few bits of grisly chicken making an appearance.

he wontons in spicy soup, however, can be given a miss.  The wontons were soggy and the soup was flavourless.

With friendly staff, a cheap pricetag, and let's be honest, a monopoly of the South Melbourne dumpling house market, Three Little Dumplings is definitely on the list if in the mood for a dumpling sesh in South Melbourne.

Food: 3/5
Venue: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Total: 10/15
Verdict: Like - get around to trying it at some point if in the mood for a dumpling sesh.

Souk

 

 

 

 

 Hidden away on Blight Avenue is Melbourne’s newsih Middle Eastern restaurant Souk. Lit up by only the likes of pink neon signs and yellow taxi lights (hence the terrible pictures), the venue itself is spacious a metro-edgy vibe.

Heading there for a mid week lunch, I was surprised to find that we were the only ones in the restaurant - although let’s be honest, as a Middle Eastern restaurant, you’re always going to face an up hill battle with Melbourne institute Maha situated just around the corner.

But at a slightly cheaper price tag than Maha, $45 will get you the 'Opa Gardash Style' (2 small meze and large meze), $55 will get you the 'Salim Shady' (3 small meze and 2 large meze), $65 the 'Fat Fatima' (4 small meze and 2 large meze) and $70 will get you the 'Yallah Feed Me' (7 items of the chef's choice plus desert).

On this occasion we went for the 'Salim Shady' ordering the KFC (Kuwaiti fried chicken), the Manti (tiny Turkish beef dumplings), the Fattoush Salad, the DIY Kebab Station and the Lamb Shwarma.
The Manti was the highlight of the meal - an incredibly more-ish dish that perfectly balanced in texture and flavour. The Fattoush Salad was also another highlight, but unfortunately the cone it was wrapped in was slightly on the tough (midly soggy) side, making it hard to crack with a spoon.

 

 

The KFC was the disappointment of the day - I know what you’re thinking...how can you go wrong with fried chicken?? But it was dry, almost tasted burnt, and definitely wasn't worth the calories.



The mains were both okay, but the DIY Kebabs hit one of my pet hates - they only gave us 5 pita breads when there were three of us (I mean come on, how hard is it either to cut the pita smaller so there’s six, or just add in a little extra) and there wasn't enough sauce meaning that our kebabs were pretty dry.



 

Was it the best Middle Eastern food I’ve had in Melbourne? Well no, but some of the dishes were still pretty tasty.

Food: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Venue: 3.5/5
Total: 10.5/15
Verdict: like - get around to trying it at some point.

Paper Fish

Owned by the crew behind the Stokehouse and Pontoon, and situated right next door, the view doesn't get much better then from this beachfront casual fish and chippery.  Having been on my To Do list for quite some time, Paper Fish offers all of the usual fish and chip culprits, as well as a few fancy extras (cucumber and mint salad anyone?).

The fish (Blue Grenadiar) and chips (Cajun spiced) themselves were incredibly delicious - the chips were well seasoned and the generous portion of fish was fresh and juicy.  The Fritto Misto was also a highlight - whilst deep fried prawn heads may not seem appealing to the fainthearted, these crunchy little morsels were incredibly delicious.

But then there were the tacos....ohhhh the dreaded tacos...how can you go so wrong with prawn and fish tacos? Well Paper Fish did.  They were so bad to the point that I took one bite and couldn't eat them, and for me not to finish my food is surely saying something. Both the fish and prawn tacos were dry, had no flavour (except for a burnt taste) and the protein had been cooked to smithereens.

Whilst there was the slightest language barrier with the staff, they were certainly still friendly and the food was quick and came out piping hot.

What a shame about the tacos though, otherwise this place would have been a real treat.

Food: 2.5/5
Venue: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Total: 9.5/15
Verdict: Get around to trying it at some point - but stay away from the tacos.

Bangpop

What would you do if you were a waiter at a restaurant, and when two diners were paying for their bill near the bar, you threw your waiter tray at the bar, smashing a full glass of red wine which goes everywhere. Say sorry? Ask if the diners got any red wine on them? Not if you’re at Bangpop - the waiter will make a scene and rudely blame you.

Indeed, the high ratings on Zomato are an absolute surprise when the service is ridiculously slow (although, most reviews say this), we were ignored for 10 minutes on arrival (just say ‘I’ll be with you in a minute as you’re walking past), you are served your food before your wine, and cramped anxiously in. 

It's actually a shame, because some of the food was pretty tasty.  To eat we ordered the green chicken curry, the pad Thai and the papaya salad.  The Pad Thai was pretty flavourless and cluggy, however the papaya salad was actually one of the best papaya salads I’ve ever had - fresh, fragrant and brimming with the right amount of spice. 

 Bad service is never great, but rude service can ruin a night - Bangpop, we will not be back.

IFood: 3/5

Service: 1/5

Venue: 2/5

Total: 6/15

Verdict: don’t bother 

 

Iki-Jime

If I were to tell you that I had the best bread that I have ever had, and that it was from a seafood restaurant, you would probably think I was lying - or perhaps just drunk.  But the whole table agreed that Iki-Jime's bread was the highlight of the meal - sweet and buttery, it was crispy on the outside and warm and fluffy on the in. But back to the important basics. Iki Jime is the latest restaurant opened by Shannon Bennett, and replaces Vue Du Monde's little sisted Bistro Vue.  Only offering seafood, Iki Jime offers a variety of cooked and raw options that are all made for sharing.

For starters, we shared Iki-Jime's "fish and chips", fried fish wings, fish snags with tarragon emulsion and slaw, kingfish with smoked scallops and sweetcorn (served up with fresh bread to mop up the delicious corn juices) and an array of the different fresh oysters they had on offer.

Fish and Chips

Fried Fish Wings

Fish snags with tarragon emulsion and slaw

Kingfish with smoked scallops and sweetcorn

The best bread in the world

Other than the bread, the kingfish and the "fish and chips" were definitely the stars of the show.  The kingfish with smoked scallop was fresh but still rich in flavour, and the the "fish and chips" was a clever take on the family favourite, that was the perfect marriage of textures.  The fish snags, however, sadly had mixed reviews.

To follow, we shared the grilled whole barramundi in paperbark with lemon myrtle, chili and clams, accompanied by a charred zucchini salad and saltbush vinegar tots.

The staff were nice enough to help us de-bone the incredibly juicy barramundi (after my failed attempt to hack into it) which came out still flaming - nothing quite like a bit of theater to go with your meal. The saltbush vinegar tots were another star of the show - although, how can you really go wrong with fried potato?

Whilst open for both lunch and dinner, the venue itself has no natural light, so it's quite moody in the middle of the day.  Nonetheless, which such excellent food, and warm and friendly service, Iki-Jime would still be on my recommendation for places to eat if look for somewhere just that little bit special for lunch or dinner.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
Venue: 3.5/5
Total: 12/15
Verdict: Love - get around to trying it soon