Gazi @ Exhibition St/ Flinders St

Street food, I love; Street food done well, what more can one ask for. This tasty soft shell crab souvlakakia has sent me into George’s Greek embrace. George Calombaris, everyone knows him as the chilly-hating, tweezers-loving judge on Masterchef Australia. In a nutshell, Gazi is all about putting tasty, casual, affordable Hellenic street food on a plate.

Gazi has replaced The Press Club at No. 2 Exhibition Street. Well, I haven’t been to the latter but who cares. The moment I stepped into the restaurant, my eyes can’t help but fixated upon the orange sheet of upturned terracotta pots that filled the ceiling, drawing attention away from the exposed un-rendered concrete walls. The high-back booth seating, black communal tables and metal chairs gave the place a rustic, laid-back and casual vibe.

What I love about this place, is the open kitchen, which reminded me about Penang Street Food. To me, the assembling of a dish is an art on its own. The sounds, the smells, and the sights of cooking can absolutely help one work up an appetite. The place was crowded and booking is essential, thanks to my dear friend, L we managed to secure a table for four at 1pm.

Service was unexpectedly quick. Before I could snap enough photos of the interior decor, food was already on the table. Time to dig in!!

Grains – $12.50

A healthy start to a great meal. The combination of freekeh, quinoa, barley, poppy seeds and pistachios offered a light crunchy texture. The yoghurt gave the dish a refreshing taste and lifted the otherwise boring grains to a whole new level. Simple yet with good flavour combination. The salads and grains dishes range between $9.50 to $12.50.

Wood Fire Spit Roasted Pork Belly - $32.00

Spit Roasted Pork Belly married with white beans, apple skordalia and walnut dressing. Skordalia is a traditional Greek sauce usually made from potato and flavoured with garlic, lemon juice and parsley.  Hailing from Malaysia, roasted pork belly is a staple street food (we call it “Siu Bak” meaning roast pork). Just when I thought I knew how a roasted pork should taste like, this dish showed up. The moment I sank my teeth into that juicy, tender, well seasoned meat, I thought: “man, this is how a roast pork should taste like”. That crackling, three words – OH, MY, GOSH – amazing. Those ear splittingly crunch was just music to mah (my) ears. The apple skordalia on the other hand offered a nice contrasting balance to the slightly salty pork.

Soft Shell Crab Souvlakakia – $12.00

Souvlaki, the ultimate Greek street food. Gazi’s souvlakakia (meaning small souvlaki) however is an absolute winner. What they lack in size and tradition,  they make up for in taste. That crispy fried soft shell crab with the right touch of mint, coriander, honey and mayonnaise; enveloped in a pillowy charred flatbread was smashing. If I have a bottomless stomach, I could easily use a second helping. The other souvlakakia variations (which we did not try), were duck, chicken and beef brisket, all three combos (except for crab) are served with fries wrapped inside.

Risogalo Jar – $14.50

One of the best desserts I’ve taste. Upon opening the mason jar, I kinda expected a theatrical smoke to uncover, which to my slight disappointment, did not happen. This jar contains layers of rice pudding, banana, smoked almonds and salted caramel. Not too sweet with smudges of airy milk chocolate throughout. It’s one of those desserts that you wish you could snatch the jar away from your friends and dig into it alone. Opps….

Pavlova – $12.50

I usually am not a fan of meringues because they are often disgustingly sweet. BUT, this, this is not any pavlova, this is George’s pavlova. The fun just got tuned up another notch. First, an interesting meringue dome, painted with dehydrated raspberry, smash it, and inside reveals a picture perfect scene of white chocolate sorbet and lemon curd, fresh meringue, musk sticks, and pomegranate seeds. The perfect ending to a great meal.

Needless to say, I am in love with this place. Given any day on any occasion, I am happy to revisit Gazi in a heartbeat. That chili-hating judge may be short but he sure is a smart bloke. Gazi is a perfect example of clever cooking, quick customer turnover and most importantly delectable food. 

Gazi Restaurant

Address: 2 Exhibition St, Melbourne VIC, 3000 (at the intersection between Flinders and Exhibition St_

Contact: 03 9207 7444

Opening hours: 11:30pm – 12am

Nearby Eats: Om Nom Dessert Bar, Hardware Society, Manchester Press

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Om Nom Dessert Bar @ Flinders Lane

It started with:

• A gruelling elimination challenge on MasterChef
• Christy Tania’s mouth-watering signature dish, Mango Alfonso
• A visit from mum……..

And I found myself sitting on the posh floors of the 40-seat Om Nom Dessert Bar. Labelled as the “female Adriano Zumbo”, Kristy Tania’s  simple yet complex desserts proved that her appearance as guest judge on MasterChef was no fluke.  Once the youngest project manager of IBM Singapore, Kristy Tania packed her bags and headed off to France where she trained under world renowned chef Alain Ducasse and now head chef at Melbourne’s new Om Nom Restaurant.

Up a short flight of stairs and you will come upon what looked like a hotel-reception desk where a friendly receptionist will direct you to the a longue consisting of eight black cauldron tables. Above is a ceiling of hammered copper-coloured metal reflecting the interior of the lounge and the soft glows of candle-light.  

Walking into a restaurant where traditional main courses were treated as ‘bar snack’ to the featured mouth watering desserts, I had no idea what to expect. First glance of the menu was rather unexpected and was different from the menu I browsed from their website which features ala carte savoury dishes (perhaps they have changed it). Now, dinners get to select from three different savoury menus, each featuring different dishes from savoury to desserts – Express Menu $69, Tasting Menu $79 and Degustation Menu $99. The bar snacks were mainly entree dishes rather than main courses.

I’ll be frank that I planned on having a Pan Seared Duck breast ala cart, plus a couple desserts but with the new menu, we certainly were not prepared to drill a dip hole in our wallets for a three course meal, hence we skipped right to the dessert menu and sampled three desserts. Not the cheapest of desserts with prices ranging from $25 to $28, or you can opt for the “Dessert Degustation” where you have three desserts for $55 per person.

Mango Alfonso – $27

Yes, it was the dish that sent the MasterChef’s contestants into a whirlwind of pain as they struggle to recreate the hero of the dish – the choux pastry. And yes, it tasted just as good as it looked on TV.  I tried really hard not to make a mess as I attempted to disassemble this edible work of art. The mango moose in the profiterole was to-die-for, silky with a good mango punch. Sandwiched between the two profiteroles were liquid fondant and tempered dark chocolate. On top of that sat two halved spheres, one half was the mango moose and the other aws shiso cremo. Displayed on the sides were poached diced mangoes and two pops of coconut spheres that burst in your mouth. On the far left, was a coconut-lemongrass-ginger foam piped on top of a serving of smooth calamansi (a type of citrus that grows in tropical areas) sorbet. The ten elements on this dish were subtlety flavoursome and had a cohesive balance.

Basil Garden – $25

Mum’s and Cutie’s favourite. The centrepiece, a dark chocolate pot filled with vanilla, olive oil and honey ice cream and four orbs of lime, basil and white chocolate creameux. The dark chocolate crumble was quite savoury and bitter which balanced out all the other sweet elements.

Raspberry Field – $27

Our last dish, the Raspberry field featured two meringue stems, perched on top of them were two mushroom-heads of frozen raspberry sorbet. Surrounding them were raspberries, syrup coated lychees, strawberries plus raspberry and rosewater creamuex.  Whilst I enjoyed the sorbet and meringue, in comparison with the earlier two dishes which had something to balance out the sweetness, this felt just a tinge too sweet in comparison. Nevertheless, I must say that if you have a sweet tooth, this might be tailored made for you. Hands down the prettiest dessert I’ve every seen, displaying an orchestra of absolute finest and refined artistry.

The only downside of this bar is that the dishes are over-priced. Having said that, in exchange for that extra ka-ching $$$, you get sophistication, classy, balance, creativity, originality and finest. Well, just enough to pamper yourself and make you leave the place a happy person, contented yet yearning for more. Om Nom Dessert Bar is truly something special and the young, talented Kristy Tania is the one to watch.

Om Nom Dessert Bar
Address            : Adelphi Hotel. 187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC, 3000
Contact No.       : +61(3) 8080 8888

Operating Hours : Breakfast 7am - 12pm
                            Dinner & Desserts 6pm - 12am, Mon to Sat
                            High Tea 12pm - 4pm Sun

Nearby Eats      :  Hardware Societe, Manchester Press

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Grampians (McKenzie Falls, Briggs Bluff)–Day 2

I have a love-hate relationship with hiking. "Hate" - the journey to the summit is likened to swallowing a bitter pill. It's more of a test of patience rather than endurance. The closer you get to the top, it appears that the summit is drifting farther away, with no end in sight. "Love" - once I get a first glimpse of the view from the summit, I am filled with supreme joy.

Oh, did I mention that we bunked in a three-bed dorm room (1 queen size bed and 1 bunker bed, AUD98 per night) at Grampians Eco YHA, Halls Gap for the night? The room was really clean, comfortable and had patio doors which opened out to a courtyard area. The kitchen is spacious and well equipped with stoves, fridges, microwave ovens, plates and cutleries. The TV room is a great place to chill out and relax.

For breakfast, we gobbled down some red bean buns and leftover party pastries, before setting off for McKenzie Falls. It is impossible to visit Grampians without going to McKenzie Falls. Standing over 30 metres in height, this largest waterfall in Victoria is one of only a handful of spills that flow all year round. From MacKenzie Falls Car Park, we veered right from fork of the trail and took an easy 1km stroll towards the viewing platform.

After, capturing a few shots of this majestic fall, we returned to the fork and started our 0.75km descent towards the base of MacKenzie Falls. Half-way down the trail and there were still no tourist in sight, hence we shamelessly, climbed over the railings and carefully inched our way towards the edge  of the anterior end of the fall. For a moment, I feel like a trespasser, but who cares!!  

Me, “trespassing”. I bet I’m not the first and last to do so

It feels amazing sitting there, immersing yourself in the moment the tranquillity while streams of water pass you by. I could sit here forever, but the grandeur of the great MacKenzie Falls awaits us at the base. Time to move it move it. We gotta move it move it.

Streams of water cascading down huge cliffs into a deep pool that narrows into Mackenzie River 

Within seconds, the base transformed from a silent solitude to a tourist fest. Hence, we decided to leave for lunch before the 5.3km hike to Briggs Bluff. Speaking of lunch, I had the weirdest meal ever! Picture this, peanut butter, raw cabbage leaves, potato chips, tuna chunks wrapped in tortillas or even worst – two bars of Snickers, tuna chunks and raw cabbage!! So how did it taste like? Stay tuned for my post on “Idiotic Stuff to do in Grampians”.

Carb loading done, sunscreen applied liberally, water bottles packed and we’re ready for a much anticipated hike. The first part of the trail is 1.3km to Beehive Falls, which was a flat and wide dirt track. Initially we weren't sure how it'll look like, but expected sounds of pouring water that will eventually guide us to the waterfall. Instead we came across this.

Beehive Falls without the fall - Dry as a bone

After this, the trail squeezes into a steep ascend. In geographical terms a ‘bluff’ according to the freedictionary.com is “a steep promontory, bank, or cliff, particularly one formed by river erosion on the outside bend of a meander”. However, I reckon the name Briggs Bluff suggests otherwise, as it’s easy for one to lose the trail (especially during the descend) because lines of flat rocks go off in different directions. Even with a compass, and brochure map in hand, we somehow manage to get lost several times. As if, hours traipsing on uneven tracks weren’t enough, for most parts, we had to clamber up slopes of loose rocks and near vertical sandstones.

Follow the yellow arrows

I posted these photos, to give a sense of the size and steepness of our passage. 5 hours of these, amazingly fun. When I said fun, I meant gruelling, at least for someone who had virtually no experience with near vertical sandstones. I had to grip tightly onto the sandstones and  haul myself up. Every step I took, I wonder how in the world am I gonna get down?! No time for self-pity, we had to trudge onwards and upwards. Well, the journey wasn’t that all arduous, as we were treated onto the first plateau where the view of Briggs Bluff was finally insight. After ~1km, the route loops into the main plateau, through a rock arch and arriving at an intersection.

Unfortunately, our navigation skills were not perfect. From an intersection, we veered right instead of left and found ourselves walking aimlessly towards Mount Difficult. It wasn't until we came across three girls whom like us, took the wrong path. Hence, we turned around, went all the way back to the intersection and found the proper trail head for Take 2 i.e. left.  

Again, hauling ourselves up the rock  face with our hands, we finally reached the last phase of the trek and made it to the summit.  

Looking out from Briggs Bluff over the Western Victorian plans and the Northern Grampians, was a surreal and profoundly satisfying. 30 hours prior to this moment, I was trembling at Boronia Peak as I allowed my fear of heights to dominate my being. At this point in time, I won’t profess that I am Spiderman, but me being able to stand calmly at the edge of the cliff (well nearly), tells me that Achilles heel of mine is ‘curable’.

Our return journey back down the same route wasn’t the smoothest descent as we had to detour a few times before we located the next yellow arrow. That involved clambering up and down steep rocky peaks numerous times. My advice would be to take note of the small markers of passage on your way up.

All in all, the trip to Grampians was all I wanted and more. Great workout, great scenic views and great company. Though it’s a short weekend getaway, there’s so many elements to Grampians that I would like to put together including a comprehensive tourist guide, a food review of The Views Restaurant and a post on “Idiotic stuff to do in Grampians”. So stay tuned.

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Grampians (Mt Williams, Boroka Lookout, Reeds Lookout, the Balconies, the Pinnacle)

Mount Williams Summit

Following Boronia Peak, we made our way to Mount Williams Summit, the highest point within the Grampians National Park. We drove to Mount Williams Carpark, then proceeded on foot for 1.8km to the summit via a sealed road.

Strenuous walking involved. I repeat…..strenuous walking involved. 

The path started off with a steep inclination and trailed off into a plateau towards the end.

See the whitish tree brunches with blackened spots, I reckon they’re part of the remains from the 2006 major bushfire which burnt a large section of the area.

Panaromic view of the eastern vantage from Mount William, towards Ararat.

We made a few idiotic poses for the camera from push-ups to martial art poses to filming a parody of the scene from Lion King where Rafiki presents Simba to the Pride Lands. I shall include this in a separate post, which I’m dying to put together – “Idiotic Stuff to Do in Grampians”. We could have stayed longer and continue to act like fools on the summit but the chill of the weather urged us to hustle back to the car and make our way to  Boroka Lookout.

Boroka Lookout

The walk to the lookout point from the carpark was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. I shall cherish this moment. Take a mere 10 seconds walk and you’ll find yourself overlooking the spectacular 180 degree views out over the the north and east regions and over Halls Gap and Lake Bellfield to the south. After spending ~15 minutes admiring the awe inspiring view, we proceeded to Reed Lookout/ The Balconies.

Did I mention it is beautiful? Because it is!! You can even point out Lake Lonsdale and Lake Fyans from a distance.

Reed Lookout/ The Balconies Lookout

To get to the Balconies, take a relatively easy 1km stroll along a gravelled trail where you’ll come across wooden chairs carved out from tree trunks and mini stone henges resting on rock outcrops.

After what felt like forever into the stringybark (Eucalyptus) forest, I finally laid eyes on this beauty.

I saw people clambered pass the steep edges of the rocks then balance on their two feet like a stork at the tip of the cliff, posing for the camera. Something in me wanted to scream: “Are you out of your freaking mind?!”. Anyone that knows me, knows I crave adventure and an adrenaline spike. Yes, it would be exhilarating to tempt fate but for me, I crawled to the edge, looked down, snapped a quick photo, then quickly scurry back to safety before the wooziness kicks in. Better safe than sorry, one misstep and it’s hasta la vista.

By the time we returned to Reeds Carpark, the time displayed on my watch was 3:45pm. Signs of exhaustion were beginning to show and our knees were starting to feel ancient. However, we still yet to make a 20 minutes drive to Wonderland Carpark and complete another hike to the Pinnacle.

The Pinnacle via Grand Canyon

The Pinnacle is a popular attraction for day trippers. From Wonderland Carpark, it’s an alleged 0.1km walk to the Grand Canyon and a 2.1km hike to the Pinnacle. Note that I mentioned “alleged”, because it feels like much longer and an effort of a 10km run. Despite the fact that it isn’t the most challenging trek, by the time we reached the end of Grand Canyon, we were laughing at the distance. They must have gotten the signage wrong. Another option is to bypass the Grand Canyon but I must say that it is one of the most unique and inviting site of the Grampians. You wouldn’t want to give it a miss.

Like most walkers, we veered left towards the Grand Canyon track; veer right and you’ll ascend directly to the pinnacle bypassing the Grand Canyon. Following the small yellow arrows painted on the rocks we began the uphill walk.

Half an hour in and I found myself panting away, hopping from one rock to the next. The trail ahead seemed like a never ending series of ragged sandstone formations.

The Grand Canyon houses massive stacks of rocks, neatly balance precariously on top of one another. This hard sandstone nature was formed after thick layers of sediments were intensely folded and thrust up from under the earth dating back to 430 million years ago, making human existence on earth seem tiny in comparison. 

As you can see, there are metal railings and stairways along the gorge at various section, however most sections involves rock-hopping and uneven surfaces. All you need is yourself and a pair of good gripping shoes. Ironically, I was surprised at how many people were in sandals and worse – dressed up as if they’re heading to the mall.

Once we approached the Pinnacle, instead of heading to the strategically placed fenced platform, I immediately head to the massive cliff situated adjacent to it, clambered to the edge of the cliff, well nearly and set there for what felt like eternity.

After perching on that cliff for 15 minutes or so, I finally clomped my way up the the Pinnacle lookout. Again amazing view.

Having taken various shots at the top, we finally made our descend and head back to Halls Gap.

Last stretch of sandstones for the day

First order of business: A much needed shower

Second order of business: A well deserved hearty dinner at the View Restaurant. How good is the food? I shall elaborate in detail in another post. For now, I would say it’s a MUST GO.

The View VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Third order of business: A game of 500 (card game).

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