Up a discreet flight of stairs on to the 1st floor on Bourke Street, we found The Grand Trailer Park Taverna. A homage to the vintage American diner, you will find Milkshakes, Fries and Burgers of all varieties here. We braved a wintry a Melbourne night to try its fare.


While not terribly extensive, the burger list has decent variety and comes complete with names that generate a smirk to slight bewilderment. Personally, we opted for the The Chunk - Double Double ($16.50) and a large bucket of Beer Battered Chips ($5.50). The atmosphere was quite dinerish with a great mix of families, the after work crowd and couples.


Packed with two beef patties, cheese, onion, pickles, jalapenos, pickles, mustard & tomato sauce in between a brioche bun, the Chunk seemed messy and overloaded at times. Despite being of decent size, the Chunk failed to hit the nail on the head conclusively.  It left us satisfied but was not the knockout blow we were looking for.

The jalapenos were a welcome kick of spice and the patties were cooked well but the sweetness of the brioche bun combined with the sauce failed to close the deal. On a side note, the chips were good in their crunchy batter without being too thick.

While batting above average, The Grand Trailer Park can't claim the crown of Melbourne's best this time around. We'll certainly be back though if we are craving burgers around the Parliament end of Bourke Street.

 

From humble beginnings in Sydney, Pie Face scaled the fast food franchise ladder all the way to Japan, United States and Singapore and then came crashing down into administration in 2014. Having secured financing to continue however there are still franchises dotted around the country to deliver the famous variety of mass produced pies. But how does the Pie Face pie stack up to the mum and pop variety? We found out.


One of Pie Face's CBD outlets is located at Southern Cross Station close to the entrance on the corner of Spencer and Collins Street. Given the range of pies on offer was dwindling as were the crowds as it ticked past 6 PM on a rainy Thursday, we opted for the classic Steak and Peppercorn pie. Service was abrupt and disengaged (expected of most chain/franchises) but the pie was delivered warm nevertheless.


Biting into the pie, the pastry held up decently and was sufficiently flaky. The meat as well was chunky with legitimate pieces opposed to the minced mess that we typically steer away from (Four N' Twenty we are looking at you) and the peppercorn delivered a nice punch amidst the salty gravy.

Capitalising on the rising trend of Korean food in Melbourne, Suda presents a quirky mix of Korean fusion that seems to be spreading its tentacles across the city. Nestled in the confines of Healeys Lane in the heart of the city's legal district, Suda serves a steady stream of office workers during the busy lunch hours and a more select crowd for dinner.

Given it was lunch time and we were on the hunt for an interesting take on Korean, Suda was a perfect match. The restaurant itself was fairly busy but the waiter was eager to please and the service was quite good overall and we appreciated the fact that they were hasty to meet all our needs.

We didn't have much time on our hands with just under 25 minutes till our next meeting so we opted for the Bulgogi K-School Lunch Tray ($10.00). 

Bulgogi K-School Lunch Tray ($10.00)

The food came out at a reasonable speed and we were quick to tuck in. Overall, the food seemed a little underwhelming and nothing special really. The bulgogi was nothing to rave about and same could be said about the rice and the accompaniments. Perhaps, we didn't have a go at the true stars of the fusion menu, but for now, Suda just seemed to miss the mark slightly which doesn't bode well given the wealth of Korean and Asian options around it.

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Gazi was the first feather in George Calombaris' now giant Greek casual dining empire that encompasses the Hellenic Republic chain and Jimmy Grants souvlaki outlets. Taking over the prime position of the Press Club on Exhibition Street, Gazi was certainly a bold move at the time.

Now, Gazi is entrenched as a go-to-destination for casual Greek dining in the CBD and we had to check it out for ourselves.


Arriving in the midst of peak time on a Wednesday night, we were lucky enough to snag a seat at the bar and we wasted no time getting down to ordering from the reasonably curated menu (the menu changes often so unfortunately we couldn't recall the exact names of all the dishes we tasted after some research online). The spit roasting meat situated on the wall of the open kitchen was too hard to resist so we had to grab the Chicken with White Beans, Tyrokafteri and Walnut Dressing ($28.00) and Beef. Additionally, we ordered two salads to accompany our meal as well as the Fish with Walnut Dressing ($23.50) and not forgetting the popular Chicken Souvlakakia with Chips, Parsley, Onion and Mustard Mayo ($9.50). 

Chicken with White Beans, Tyrokafteri and Walnut Dressing ($28.00)

Fish with Walnut Dressing ($23.50)

Chicken Souvlakakia with Chips, Parsley, Onion and Mustard Mayo ($9.50)

Despite being in the mid-range tier when it comes to price, all the dishes did not disappoint and the flavours managed to beautifully complement each other in traditional hearty Greek fashion. With pleasant service to boot and a beautifully quirky interior, Gazi may be a trailblazer but it's certainly here to stay.

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As we continue our way around Clayton, we venture to Taste of Taj which is located just opposite Clayton station to abet our Indian food cravings. The constants of any traditional Indian take-away joint seem readily apparent here; blaring Bollywood dance music, a small T.V. attached to side of the room, near non-existent service and glimpses of a steaming kitchen.

Having glanced at the menu and firmly decided that we were here to remain on a budget, we opted for the reasonably priced lunch special ($8.99) and thali special ($10.99). As per usual, we foolishly requested our food to be spicy which produced a wry smile on the waiter's list which alerted us to the fact that she may know more than us about exactly what 'spicy' connotes. Sure enough, as the food arrived and we took our first few bites and we were quickly left seeking water and supplementary roti to cool the fire.

The Thali Special

Nevertheless, the food was of a decent quality but nothing special. The same could be said about the accompaniments with the complementary yoghurt drink extremely watered down and the papadam emerging drenched from a bath of oil.


Is it by any means bad? No. Is it good enough to warrant a return visit with the swathe of other Indian options that dot the centre of Clayton? Certainly not for some time.

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On the iOS App Store and the Google Play store, there comes a game every five months or so that seems to shake the genre to the core. Often these works of art resound across the globe as beacons of light shining the truth that mobile is a truly unique and valid gaming platform.

One of these games is ustwogame's Monument Valley (available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone). A pure revelation.

An absolutely stunning art style, breathtakingly intricate and striking details and a beautiful attention to the little things makes this game a pleasure to play.



Monument Valley charts the journey of the adorable Ida equipped with a white cone hat and she is your's to control at the tap of the finger as she traverses an array of majestic environments. The game's core mechanics as a puzzler lays in its optical illusions which seem to defy physics and enchant us at the same time.

No doubt, it is the picturesque graphics that draw us in but it is the puzzles that keep us engaged as they nicely increase in difficulty and complexity as the game progresses.


Finally, the electronic soundtrack and sound effects just add to the mystery of it all and rounds off an incredible game that is worth much more than its $3.99 price tag.

Hats of to you ustwogames!

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For the hungry Monash University students that teem around Clayton, the quick solution to their lunch or dinner problems seem to be the McDonald's on either corners of the campus on weekends when on-campus dining is scarce. Yet there are a wealth of a reasonably affordable options to be found on Clayton's main street and town centre which is aptly named Clayton road.

One of the many Korean options available is the Hodori Korean Garden which is situated just off the corner of the intersection between Centre Rd and Clayton Rd. The entrance is quite unassuming with the words "Korea House" emblazoned outside but the restaurant opens up into two floors with the main dining floor located on the top floor. Hodori is clearly a family run cash-only affair with what appears to be the mother cooking away in the kitchen, the son waiting tables and the dad scurrying about managing the accounts.


Unfortunately, the service is fairly apathetic and it seemed we were in a constant tussle to garner the waiter's attention despite the table top buzzers. Nevertheless, we ordered our favourite Korean staples of Beef Bulgogi ($15.50) and rice (sorry we can't recall the price) with the accompanying ban chan of course that we thought would be a good measure of the strength of this Korean outpost.


Worryingly for Hodori, the ban chan was quite under par and whittled in comparison to the offerings elsewhere including Oriental Spoon in the CBD. The Kimchi was under done and lacked the punch and depth of better options while the bulgogi seemed lacking in value and flavours were slightly over sweetened. The other ban chan too seemed to lack any sense of vibrancy and energy leaving the meal to be slightly underwhelming.

Hodori is by no means bad for a suburban outpost but there may be superior options just down the road. We'll have to give them a try.

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It's Melbourne's "It" restaurant. The name on everybody's lips and the king of Chris Lucas' casual dining empire. Chin Chin (which is actually Japanese slang for penis). And we're here. Minus the typical queues given the unusual dining time of 2:30 PM on a weekday.

Despite the timing we are still bundled right next to (perhaps uncomfortably so) another pair of diners reminding us that this is certainly not the place for a business meeting or any private conversation for that matter. The noise is jarring, the music loud and the cacophony of it all means Chin Chin is certainly not the place for a quiet lunch.

Nevertheless, food reigns supreme and for all the buzz that is still Chin Chin's main drawcard. Glancing at the menu, prices are not cheap but aren't inordinately expensive either.

Given that we were keen to return to our Christmas shopping this was going to be a quick stop and we went straight to the mains. A simple combination would do so it was to be the Grain Fed Sher Wagyu Sirloin stir fried with Jungle Curry paste, krachai, cha om & holy basil ($28.50) and the Seared Yellow-Fin Tuna ($28.50) (apologies, we can't recall the exact accompaniments for that particular dish) accompanied by two lots of steamed brown rice of course ($4 each).

Grain Fed Sher Wagyu Sirloin stir fried with Jungle Curry paste, krachai, cha om & holy basil ($28.50)

Seared Yellow-Fin Tuna ($28.50)

Knowing that much of Chin Chin's dishes are prepared nearly completely offsite in Moorabbin before final touches are added in the CBD kitchen (as this terrific Broadsheet feature profiles), the fact that the dishes arrived in almost five minutes was no surprise.

The tuna was a decent affair with a subtle cooling tanginess to it from the salad but didn't amount to much in comparison to the punchy Wagyu stir fry.  As with many other restaurants around Melbourne, the waiter fulfilled the courtesy of warning us that the Wagyu would be hot. Twice. Upon ordering and then again on the dish's arrival. As with other restaurants, we dismissed these warnings as exaggerated for the quasi-spice dishes they were bundled with.

How wrong we were.

The wagyu was delicious but strikingly hot at the same time which left us wondering why there weren't more cucumbers to cool down with. Despite the heat, this was certainly a winner with an appropriately generous lump of wagyu sitting in the devilish curry paste to boot.

Coconut Sago with Sweetcorn Ice Cream Praline and Puffed White Rice ($14)

Finally the Coconut Sago with Sweetcorn Ice Cream Praline and Puffed White Rice ($14) was a delightful end to the meal with a sublime mix of crunchy texture intertwined with some iconic Asian desserts.

But the question remains: Is Chin Chin worth the hype? Service was nice and attentive and the food was generally pretty good. Definitely on the pricey side though but certainly some great flavours.

By no stretch of the imagination is Chin Chin Melbourne's best restaurant but it's pretty good and the perfect start to a noisy and exciting night.

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