Archive for category Bars
Making Cocktails and a Little Mischief @ 1806, Melbourne
Posted by amystown in Bars, Cocktails, Melbourne, Melbourne CBD on February 27, 2012
Many of you already know that my beautiful big sister is getting married soon. You might not know that along with the other three bridesmaids I was given the task of the hen’s night.
A scary and exiting task this was…How do you make a night fun, and in the theme of a hen’s night when you are under strict orders that there will be no strippers, no games and nothing the bride would feel uncomfortable doing? Well…you simply ignore these orders! (I did agree to no strippers I will tell you now…sorry for those playing at home).
Anyway, I am a good bridesmaid and won’t share too many secrets from the evening. I will however tell you how we started our night…
1806, a cocktail bar on Exhibition Street in Melbourne has come to be a little favourite of mine. After randomly attending a Murder Mystery night there with a group of girl friends last year, I discovered that this little bar has old school class and seriously good cocktails. The espresso martini here is insane…and we all know how much I like espresso martinis.
So when I was planning my sister’s hen’s night I thought 1806 could be a nice start to the evening. It was then that I found out that they run cocktail making classes downstairs in ‘The Understudy’. I was sold.
5pm rolled around last Saturday night and 11 of us took refuge from the heat and the sun in the darkened 1806.
We headed downstairs into the little bar to find four cocktail making stations all ready for our arrival…even a station for the beautifully pregnant (and therefore mocktail making) bridesmaid.
Our Cocktail making tools
After a little cocktail history we were taught a little math’s behind the perfect cocktail – this was seen to come in handy in the second part of the session.
Then to the cocktails…we watched and listened and make a few cheeky comments here and there and then attempted to replicate what we saw before us. It was a Caprioska, a combination of vodka, lime, sugar syrup and ice. I have to say, we made some delicious cocktails!
I'm busy muddling my limes
After a little chat and sip on our Caprioska we were called back for round two.
This time we were given the choice of spirits, juices, sweeteners and fresh fruits. Each group had to come up with a cocktail, name it and present it to the group.
Delicious Fresh Fruit
My group consisting of myself, the Hen and another bridesmaid decided we wanted to win! We created a combination of vodka, orange – vanilla liqueur, orange bitters some sugar syrup, muddled raspberries and ice. We named this little baby a Little Red Corvette.
Little Red Corvette
In a taste off, it came down to two teams. In the end, our little vixen won! I am not willing to accept that this may have been completely due to the hen being in my group. I like to think we are amazing cocktail creators. I hope you agree!
The session was a fun and interactive way to get our evening started. The hen was very happy.
After once again enjoying our delicious creations, we said farewell to 1806 for the evening feeling very light headed and quite pleased with ourselves.
Drinks with the Girls @ Go Go Bar, Melbourne
Posted by amystown in Bars, Cocktails, Melbourne, Melbourne CBD on October 20, 2011
When I heard that Go Go Bar was opening last Monday night I couldn’t help but drag the girls out for a cheeky drink.
We entered the busting Chin Chin restaurant and headed down the stairs to the exciting new venture below. Excited and friendly staff greeted us, clearly eagerly awaiting opening night.
The bar is dark and sexy with large round booths, cozy seating as well as risen tables down the Center.
We settled into our huge round booths and took to the menu.
The menu is quite unique offering options broken down by season. Each season offers a few cocktails, a few beers and two or three wines by the glass. That’s all folks! It’s not a big menu, but its different and fun.
There is also food available from Chin Chin upstairs, so if yours struggling to get a table in the restaurant, you can still get a taste of the food. We ordered the Soy and Spice crusted nuts, which were really flavoursome and the perfect little addition to our drinks.
We decided to do something a little different and order the DIY Champagne Cocktail. This involved a bottle of champagne, three different shots (elderflower, plum wine and cassis) and a bowl of fresh strawberries. Between the three of us, this was quite an order!
We happily nibbles, poured, mixed and chatted the night away.
I’m looking forward to coming back to have another drink and some food at what I am sure will be a packed venue.
For more information:
Go Go Bar
125 Flinders lane, Melbourne
(Enter via Higsons Lane or Chin Chin)
(03) 8663 2020
Girly dinner @ D.O.C Pizza and Mozzarella Bar, Carlton
It was Thursday night and I had a bottle of Pino Gris in hand. I was ready for a BYO girly dinner. The venue of choice for the evening: D.O.C Pizza Mozzarella Bar in Carlton.
I was the last to arrive and after meeting the girls outside, we headed in to find a table. It was packed! For a moment I was a bit worried we wouldn’t get a seat. Thankfully there was a table spare, and we nestled in. After opening a bottle of wine the chatting started!
In the busy venue, and our inability to decide what to order was starting to frustrate the wait staff. After about probably 15 minutes our waiter came over and said “girls, let me hassle you to order or you won’t be eating tonight!”. While he said it with a smile, not to offend, the vibe of the restaurant is clearly a fast one!
We all decided on a pizza. I decided on the Pizza San Daniele, which was San Marzano tomato, D.O.P buffalo mozzarella and D.O.P. San Daniele Prosciutto. The others ordered a ‘Pizza Tiger Prawn (prawns, tomato, mozzarella, endive and fresh chilli) and a ‘Pizza ai Porcini’ (wild mushroom, truffle oil and mozzaralla in bianco). Thinking it might all be very rich and cheesy we also ordered a salad of mixed leaves and balsamic dressing to share. I note here that there are no alterations available. I got the feeling, they see their way of making pizza the right way to make pizza!
While pizza is pretty much the only main on the menu, there are a range of antipasto options and a whole section dedicated to mozzarella and a range of accompaniments. Pizza’s range from $15-$22 depending on toppings.
By this time there was almost a line out the door, eager pizza lovers were hovering outside and on spare bar stools casually drinking beers and chatting, awaiting a table.
The pizza finally arrived and it smelled amazing!
My pizza was delicious! The crisp base was topped generously with mozzarella and prosciutto, and then each piece was topped with fresh white buffalo mozzarella which was flaky and beautiful. While it was not the most flavoursome pizza I have ever had, each ingredient was lovely.
We were right in ordering a salad; the mix of the tart balsamic vinegar and the peppery lettuce was the perfect side to cut through the rich pizzas.
While I didn’t try the other two pizzas, I could smell the freshness of the prawns and was informed that both were delicious.
It did take us a while to make our way through the large pizza’s, yet once we had ordered no one seemed to mind how long we took!
Finally there was one amusing happenings I feel I need to share…On a visit to the bathroom I heard a number of young girls arguing in the next cubicle. I came out and asked if they were ok…This little girl, aged about 8 looked up at me and said “What’s your name?” as I told her her friend looked at me and said, with a hand movement only Beyonce could have replicated “She is the owners daughter you know?!”. “Wow” I responded, “That’s awesome”. Realising they were quite capable to take care of themselves I went to leave, the young owner turned to me and said “Enjoy your meal”…little business woman in the making!
D.O.C Pizza and Mozzarella bar is vibrant, loud, busy and fun. They serve reliably good pizza with beautiful produce. The line out the door is evidence of that!
A great place for a casual night out with friends.
For more information:
D.O.C. Pizza and Mozzarella bar
295 Drummond St
Carton, 3053
(03) 9347 2998
A Birthday Celebration @ Gingerboy, Crossley Street, Melbourne
Posted by amystown in Bars, Fine Dining, Laneway Restaurants, Melbourne CBD, Thai on June 23, 2011
Now I must admit I have been a bad blogger and left this write up for a few month. Yet…I feel it is still important to share my lovely evening at Gingerboy!
So…back in April, the day after my boyfriend’s birthday, I treated him to a night out at Gingerboy, another fine dining experience tucked away in the laneway world that is Melbourne CBD.
As we arrived we entered the small buzzing venue and headed upstairs for a glass of champagne to start off the evening. The service here was delightful, they know who we were and never miss a beat. After enjoying the relaxed darkened cocktail bar on the top level we headed downstairs to our table, which was situated among the busy dinning room.
This venue is not your standard fine dining, the room is busy and loud and filled with excitement. The tables are close together and the room is dark and moody. This makes perfect sense when you know that Gingerboy serves Asian street/hawker style food, with Thai, Chinese and other Asian influences running through the flavours.
The menu is also different, it is split up into snacks and street foods and then shared dishes. While it can be quite daunting as to how much and what to order the wait staff are fully aware of this and are offering help before asked. Here they suggest four small and one large dish for two people or two small and two large. A make your own adventure street banquet!!
Opting for four small and one large dish to share, we were looking forward to tasting a large variety of flavours.
First of the small tastes were the famous Son in Law Eggs served with chilli jam and asian herbs. Having heard a lot about this dish I was quite excited! The waiter informed me that the egg must be placed in your mouth whole to avoid it exploding…wow! This was definitely an experience, the crisp outer of the egg burst to release a whole soft-boiled egg into your mouth at one time. Not a huge fan of soft-boiled eggs, it wasn’t my favorite dish of the evening. It was however a fun experience!
We then had the coconut-marinated kingfish served with peanut tamarind dressing and rice noodles. This was outstanding. The sashimi was like butter and the sauce was creamy and rich. The noodles created crunch and texture and completed the taste.
Then we had the pork and chive dumplings with Sichuan chilli dressing. Wow did these pack a punch! The chilli hit you straight in the face. The filling was flavoursome and tender and the combination was great.
My standout favorite small food, was the last to come and it was the Spiced wagu beef with broken rice, smoked tomatoes and lettuce cups. This twist on san choi bao was amazing! The beef was juicy and so flavoursome. The lettuce provided crisp and fresh relief from the intense flavours and richness from the beef. I could not stop talking about these.
After entrée we were keenly awaiting what main would bring. Our Nonya Chicken Curry with Kifler Potatoes and rice crackers served with Coconut Rice was divine! It was by far the best curry I have ever tasted. Cooked in coconut cream, the curry was strong in flavour and spice and rich and creamy in texture. The chicken was perfectly tender and the rice crackers again gave texture contrast and crunch. To top this meal off was the delicious coconut rice, which accompanied it. It was sticky and creamy and yum. There is no better way to describe it.
When I thought I had experienced all the taste sensations I could for one evening, dessert arrived. We ordered the Spiced pear crumble with citrus custard and vanilla bean ice cream to share. Think crumble melted into creamy custard and then spice from the chilli flakes speckling the top and that’s what this was. It was so much more creamy than your standard crumble and the hit of chilli was quite fun! It was delicious as well as exciting!
All in all Gingerboy provided not only a night of amazing food, but a night of fun, new experiences and taste sensations I could never have imagined!
I am dying to go back and try all the other creations they are whipping up.
For more information
Gingerboy
27/29 Crossley Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
(03) 9662 4200
www.gingerboy.com.au/
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