My partner snuck off and got herself a coffee and a lemon crepe whilst I was waiting for my order of fried chicken at Rainbow Fried Delights.
This did not wow me, with only a very minimal suggestion of lemon within the crepe that if I wasn’t told about it I might not have noticed. FOr what it’s worth, she enjoyed it.
Saltie Dog
Level 1 food court, Wollongong Central, 200 Crown St, Wollongong NSW 2500
I finally got my wife to agree to go to Angus with me, having seen it mentioned multiple times online as a source of a good fish sandwich.
The fish sandwich ($27.39) was indeed good. The fish was soft and moist, with a crunchy crumbing. The tartare sauce was generous and highly dilled, with the brightness and tartness of capers adding additional flavour.
Though the housemade focaccia was high in volume, its airy and compressible structure meant that it didn’t feel like a burden to consume, and overall the balance of flavour, moisture, and bread was on point.
For our second sandwich my wife chose the crumbed chicken sandwich ($24.01), which is not something I would’ve chosen in addition to crumbed fish, but this is after all a democracy (sometimes).
Neither of us liked the chicken sandwich as much, both finding it dryer and less flavourful – attributes that the furikake, fermented chilli mayo, pickled cucumber, and slaw could not fix.
Overall
Prices were paid as written, inclusive of a 10% weekend surcharge – which on one hand makes sense because of penalty rates, but on the other hand I suspect weekends make up a disproportionate amount of their business. $27.40 for a fish sandwich is really too much, no matter how good it is, and $24 for a less good chicken sandwich is as well. Because of this, Angus will have to be one and done for me.
Angus
69 Meeks Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
It’s hardly fair to write a review about a cafe based only on a croissant that they don’t make themselves, but here I am doing so – this site is as much an attempt to drop pins on everywhere I’ve eaten as it is a real attempt to write food reviews.
I had this croissant ($6.80) from Story So Far on the morning of the second portion of a difficult verbal quiz. My morning’s caffeine needs were already met by a white Monster.
I was informed that it was baked buy a husband and wife operation nearby, but no further information was volunteered.
It did what it needed to do and absolutely nothing more.
Story So Far
8 b Dorcas St, Southbank VIC 3006
I was fresh off the plane, with my luggage at Southern Cross, looking for some viennoiserie at 2:30PM. Sadly there were no obvious nearby locations available, and I settled on an acceptable alternative within a short walk.
The first of two bagels I had was this absolutely loaded Salt ‘N Sauer ($15), packed with an unreasonable quantity of salted beef, a mountain of saukerkraut, and a small amount of dijon mustard on a sesame seed topped rye bagel. This was truly quite filling for something relatively compact in two-dimensional space, though true to its name was quite flavourful, erring on the edge of being too salty (but not too sauer).
After eating half of the above bagel, I then turned my attentions to the Miss U Lox ($16.50), a classical kind of smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese, pickled red onion, and cress, again on rye. This bagel was more expensive but much smaller than the other, reflecting recent increases in price across all brands for smoked salmon products. The filling was simple but clean feeling and tasty, though this did tend to mean that certain bites leant the other way into having inadequate flavour. The sweet pickles came in handy in dealing with the excess bread.
Overall I had a pretty enjoyable meal, but it turns out I was the schmuck, because I went to a bagel shop looking for ‘classical’ bagels, not realising that it was run by Asians and thus missing out on a likely good quality Asian-fusion menu. Maybe I’d try a miso tuna.
Schmucks Bagels (Collins St)
Tenancy 9/567 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
I’m surprised I don’t already have a post up about this place – I recall with some degree of certainty having an expensive but absolutely massive plate of nachos for breakfast after a run of night shifts back in 2021, a similarly massive meal of a burger and chips in a subsequent year, as well as a lamb wrap earlier this year.
I won’t write about those out of respect for the fact that there’s no way that I could even pretend to remember details about a meal eaten as a first year registrar – that’s why this blog exists, after all. What I do want to tell you about today is the secret, off-the-menu item known as the “kid’s meal“.
This Kids Cheese Burger ($12), an off-menu wonder features a very basic cheeseburger with a beef patty, slice of American cheese and some tomato sauce between a seeded bun, and an ample helping of freshly made fries. Those who frequent this establishment will have become wary of their gigantic servings of mains and chips with every order, and yet we find that the simple kid’s meal provides an adequate portion for adults of most shapes and sizes.
There’s nothing particularly kiddy about the Kids Chicken Schnitzel ($12), which again is a delicious, normal amount of food, that can fill up your average adult, especially if they are on a GLP-1RA. The schnitzel comes out fresh, juicy, and piping hot, as do the chips. Ask for a side of tomato sauce in your order notes and enjoy it in front of your workstation whilst discharging patients if you dare. You may be rewarded.
Order via the phone or the website if you don’t want to face the shame of ordering a kid’s meal in person.
Bear Brasserie
Level 2, Cnr Hawkesbury Rd & Hainsworth St, Westmead NSW 2145
(02) 9845 0915