Hello Hallah

Right then,
So I signed up for one of those deals where you get 2 cheap meals, and wine, side dishes, starters etc and then I wondered, will this place will be OK?
It was at Hallah Korean restaurant, in Victoria st, opposite Vic Market.
A quick check of the website before I parted with my credit-card details re-assured me it would be OK. I wanted to take our daughter and her boyfriend out for tea cheaply, so that her father wouldn't complain about how much money he spent on them, and thought this was a good option- better than simply going to a cheap restaurant with dubious fare.
We had been to the Footy at Etihad, and so it was an extension to the fun day we had planned for ourselves. We caught up with our daughter at her new place of residence; a Victorian terrace in North Melbourne, a gorgeous dingy, labyrinthine time capsule. It is unheated, unloved, and very much a purpose-built party haven for students these days. I love it. But I would love it more if someone would please take a squirty bottle of bleach to the bathroom.
Our daughter looks well settled already, and the inconveniently placed bathroom and general disarray in the common living areas I'm sure will be nothing to cope with compared to the proximity to the market,city, the lack of security gates and the ugliness of  the shared courtyard she had in her newly built unit prior to this.
We only had a few minute's drive to Hallah from her place, another plus, and another reason to be glad to have chosen to eat there.
 I should have booked, but didn't. Tried my luck, and thankfully they were happy to accommodate, but did mention to us on our way out that it would be good to book next time.
I had not eaten a real Korean meal before so it was an experiment, but being very intrigued and adventurous when it comes to new things, I was looking forward to it. I knew I loved miso, chilli, sesame, garlic, all commonly used ingredients in Korean food, so I was quite confident I would like it.
 We ordered  BBQ meals for 2 and the obligatory 2 "Famous Chicken Dinners" from the voucher. This included 2 starters, so we ordered dumplings and noodles, and both these dishes were delicious. The BBQ meat came in neat slices, raw, and was cooked in the table set BBQ grill in front of us. We had pork belly and steak, which was delicious on both counts. The steak especially was really good quality, marbly, tasty and juicy.
The side dishes, pickled vegetables, salad (coleslaw), the dipping sauces, of miso, sesame, kimchi, were fresh, with sharp but 'friendly' flavours. Korean food could just as easily become as much of a "comfort food" cuisine as much as I find Chinese and Japanese food to be, I think.
 The starter dishes were beautiful and light and flavoursome; we all dug into the beautiful glassy noodles, (but almost impossible to serve, so elastic were they), with gusto, once we realised how wonderful they were. They had an almost vegemitey, soft, savoury flavour, were enhanced by grated sweet potato, spring onions and what I thought to be enoki mushrooms in them, which were meaty and juicy. I could have happily sat with a bowl of those noodles- and what a perfect thing to have for lunch they would be.
 The chicken was really the highlight of the meal, although the beautiful BBQ meat was not simply incidental at all- it was just out-shone by the gorgeous crispy battered portions of chicken, 1/2 of which glistened under a mild chilli sauce (the marinated version), redolent of kimchi flavours, and half of which drowned in a garlic sauce. (Took us a while to work out what we were ordering, ie the combination of chicken flavours, the serves etc. We substituted the wine for soft drinks, as we were all underslept/partied out, and it was Sunday night.)
 Best bloody bottled Lemon Lime Bitters I ever drank.
 We were enjoying ourselves so much, we forgot to feel guilty for ordering so much food, but actually ate every bit of it, (maybe didn't do all the condiments justice.)
The best part of the evening for me was when my husband, (after being a bit of a pill during the ordering, nearly ruining the evening for us all), snatched a piece of kimchi to taste before the meat was cooked. I straight away knew what his reaction would be and giggled almost uncontrollably- and sure enough he was shocked and awed by it's sharp flavour. Hilarious. The other best bit was hearing my daughter oohing and ahhing and Mmming as she ate- I love that she has a palate nowadays; she was a hell of a difficult kid to feed as a child.
 I gave her the other 2 meal voucher I bought, because I knew after this response to Korean food, she and her guy would value it, and hopefully have another great meal together sometime. I thought the meal would have been better value if the wine was substituted for something else in the food department, otherwise it was quite good for what we spent, which would have been, all up, about $80-$90 I think. Not bad for 4 people.
And delicious.
The decore in Hallah is really nice, probably close to something of the traditions of Korean restaurants, although I can't compare it to anywhere else. Pale bamboo/wood fittings, wall prints in fan-shapes, wooden booths, clean, and cosy, not too brightly lit.The Korean music piped out a little too loudly at first, but actually made for a better ambience I think. Meals using the table built BBQs are optional, and you go upstairs to dine if you want to order from this selection (it does get a little smoky). Downstairs is straight menu food. Lots of people in the place appeared to be Korean, and there was a family in the downstairs part, enjoying their glass noodles, I observed as we left, cutting them on the lip of the serving dish with a spoon. Will remember this next time.
 The service was friendly and attentive, if the language difficulties made it a little tricky to order- but I always relish the challenge of this- to me it makes a more authentic experience. I'm a little weird like that. Our waitress coped very well with our confusing requests, and kept her sense of  humour when my husband lost his. (With me).The kimchi incident was justice : )
 Go to Hallah- try it, you'll love it.

Food...#2

2. Lately I seem to be spending inordinate amounts of time in my small and grimy kitchen labouring over the stove. But it's a good thing- and I enjoy it- especially that sort of cooking that allows me to be creative, experimental - it gives me a source of recreational pleasure. It is cathartic when things go right, and very frustrating when they don't. Tonight I am riding on a culinary wave of pleasure- although not everything went to plan I still managed to make a beautiful three course meal.
We started with chicken and spinach soup, (from a recipe my Mother gave me, which is basically chicken thighs, garlic, coriander and spinach, and is really delicious), then had the braised veal shanks on cous-cous, which were beautifully fragrant with lemon-rind, garlic and parsley, (we ate one between us), and finished with pears poached in red wine and custard. Tea and cherry-bite pods to finish.
 While I was cooking the veal, I also threw together a bolognese sauce, for easy meals through the week.
 The veal was an absolute triumph- unctious, melting in the mouth.
But the red wine poaching liquid was nothing short of a coup. I strained and reduced the cinnamon and vanilla flavoured ruby liquid once I had removed the pears. It turned syrupy (once I added a bit more sugar) and I felt as though I had become an alchemist discovering that I had made gold. It was sublime. But way too powerful to use more than a few dribbles on the dessert. So now I know why chefs only smear the smallest amounts of such essences of pungency: for effect, and for balance.
 The flavours nearly knocked me out, and yes I had served myself way too much, but I know I will wake up tomorrow wondering when I can justify eating it again, and probably stress all day wondering if my chef son will get to taste it.
 (This is so ironic- I am watching Julie and Julia and Julie and her husband have just had the big fight scene, after her grand obsession has caused their relationship to be put under tonnes of pressure). I am fortunate to have married a man almost like Julia's husband and therefore an appreciative supporter of me when I get a cooking mojo on. I am also unfortunate enough to have more of a disposition like the "Julie" of the movie, and am more than a wee bit self-involved at times...
 Hey it's all good, we ate really well tonight, and it's good for our home environment...
I am feeling rather chilled and fulfilled right now
 Thanks God for food...and for grand obsessions.
Ps I am going to use the other poached pears and make a proper pear tart tomorrow. To serve with a blob of cream. Can't wait.

Food

Ok, so what does this foody write and talk about when she has left it several months and can hardly remember what has gone on worth writing about?

...Let's see...

1. Back in April I went with my family to a little roadside cafe, to celebrate my birthday, called the Elkhorn roadhouse - it was a lovely little rural eatery, on the Bellarine Peninsular with a small but tasty menu. The service was great, and the food well executed. I had the ham-steak and braised cabbage sandwich- it was not too salty at all- but juicy and sweet, made with the beautiful Istra Ham. The local wine from the nearby Leura Park Estate was a very crisp young bubbly, which suited our occasion well. Johnny and Sam both had really generous and well dressed hamburgers, and the girls, pumpkin and prosciutto pizzas. We also shared really good herbed potato chunks, and a tasting plate. The delicious pate was a generous and moreish serve. We didn't even try to resist dessert, and my Tipsy Pudding was a delicious, sweet, whiskey soaked treat. Sam's creamed sponge was probably as good as my mother-in-law's, and that's saying something. We left there stuffed full but quite happy- and thanks go to Sam's old boss for giving us the heads-up on this place.
 Elkhorn Roadhouse make their own range of preserves as well as run the well patronised cafe, and these look very tempting-- Berry, peach jams- I didn't get any but will be back for some I'm sure.
The food at Elkhorn warms the cockles and has that cosy home-made quality, but also has that gourmet touch- it is made with the best quality local produce, and is done well.
I was really happy to find an out of town place to have a little family birthday. I didn't want anything flashy that trumpetted it's own merits- so Elkhorn was just the ticket. It's decor reminds you of a roadside cafe, and nothing more ostentatious than that. I needed to fulfill that desire to go somewhere away from the "Burbs" and somewhere as a family we could be that would treated like valued guests.
And so we were~!