Venus and Co

Located on Victoria Avenue in Albert Park, relatively newish Greek inspired restaurant Venus and Co offers a delicious array of Mediterranean dishes made to share. Located in a casual but warm and inviting venue, the vibe makes you feel like you're a million miles away, and the staff make you feel like you've instantly arrived home.  

The Three Dips and Olives is a must as a starter dish. So too is the perfectly cooked Southern Calamari with squid ink ouzo fennel seed aioli (which looks a little creepy due to the colour and its tar consistency, but is oh so delicious!). 

The Saganaki of Haloumi with golden raisin compote and pickled zucchini, whilst having a lot of potential, came out cold, making it on the tough and chewy side (rather than the ooze i usually enjoy from a Saganaki). 

For mains, the lamb shoulder over coals was an excellent choice - the meat was tender and juicy, and filled with a delicious charcoal flavour.  However, the moussaka was by far the highlight of the night.  Smothered with cheese and rich with flavour - it was the sort of dish worth dreaming about.  It was by far the best mousakka I've had in Melbourne. All three of us wanted to dive in and lick the bowl to savour the last of the flavours. 

With such incredibly friendly and attentive service, delicious food and a reasonable price tag, I was actually quite surprised by Venus’s low-3s score on Zomato. It was definitely a winner in my books and I look forward to going back again - especially if the special of mousakka is on the menu. 

Food: 4/5

Venue: 3.5/5

Service: 4/5

Total: 11.5/15

Verdict: love - get around to trying it soon 

KL Bunga Raya

Slightly off the beaten track on Errol Street in North Melbourne is Malaysian inspired restaurant KL Bunga Raya. With prices that make McDonalds look expensive (including an array of $7 wines!)  KL Bunga Raya's food is inexpensive but still tasty, in a venue that’s casual but warm and friendly. 

The freshly cooked roti that came out minutes after we sat down was by far the highlight of the night - crisp on the outside and buttery on the inside, it’s a must for anyone’s order when attending this venue.



The fresh and fragrant soup of the laksa was another highlight of the evening - however the seafood didn’t exactly taste fresh, so perhaps go with another one of their laksa options. The beef rendang was also a disappointment - whilst the beef was cooked to perfection, the overall dish lacked any great flavour.

Whilst a far cry from the best Malaysian in Melbourne, with its reasonable price tag, incredibly friendly staff and plenty of other mouth watering-looking dishes to choose from, I would recommend hitting up KL Bunga Raya if you’re in the area and in the mood for Malaysian.

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 4/5
Venue: 3/5
Total: 9.5/15
Verdict: like - get around to trying it at some point

 

Oriental Teahouse

Oriental Teahouse is one of the more underated Asian eateries of Melbourne.  Offering roaming yum cha all of the time (no need to wait for the traditional Sunday lunch), Oriental Teahouse has a venue both in Little Collins Street and South Yarra. On this occasion, we hit up Little Collins Street.

Whilst Oriental Teahouse offers more than just dumplings, dumplings seemed to feature heavily on the yum cha roaming menu of the day. Of the dumplings we tried, both the peking duck dumplings and the prawn dumplings deserve honorary mentions - whilst the site of the pink peking duck dumplings made me slightly hesitant, both types of dumplings were fresh and full of flavour. 

The chili wagyu beef dumplings and the XO scallop and prawn dumplings were also pretty tasty - but would have tasted even better if they hadn't come out luke warm.

The venue at Little Collins Street, however, is not one of its highlights - incredibly dark (and not in the mood lighting way), the tables are surprisingly small for 2 guests, making it rather difficult to order more than one offering of yum cha at a time.

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