Indian Delights, Forest Hill MELB

Impromptu is the name of the game of late and one that my sister would happily oblige to. However, took a bit of compromising to mutually agree on a place, especially when both of us are feeling peckish post-gym class.

A colleague of mine recommended this restaurant to me and funnily enough, recommended their fried noodle dishes as opposed to curries or roti, which is what the restaurant is renown for.

Self-service is the concept for this restaurant and after ordering and paying, we patiently awaited our meal.

Kway teow goreng - albeit being different from the ones prepared at Chinese restaurants, I found this very appetising and prepared with a lot of "wok hei" aka heat from the wok, a term cleverly coined to describe a good plate of fried noodles.

Teh tarik - the warm weather is not going to stop me from drinking something warm.

Lamb murtabak - loaded with a generous amount of lamb pieces and served with a side of rich curry gravy, I happily consumed this dish with much gusto. Would have liked the roti to be a tad thicker to sponge up all the extra gravy but aside from that, this dish fed me well.

Servery and Spoon, Malvern East MELB

There's an interesting story behind this. After an intensive morning combat session, the potatoe and I used the gym's steamer to better cleanse our stinky bodies. An experience it was being a first timer as I recall fumbling into the steamy room and staring intently at the lad sitting in the corner in his bonds shorts before I shyly closed the door, determined to wait for potatoe to guide me through the steamer's etiquette.

Fast forward, we showered post-steaming and drove down the road to a quaint little cafe, peacefully located along Waverley road.

Moroccan slow cooked lamb salad - pulled lamb, quinoa, chickpeas, kale, pickled red onion, minted labneh, beetroot hummus and chilli dressing. Such a yummy salad and one that is generously packed with an assortment of ingredients.

Black bean shakshuka - absolutely delicious and as per the other dish, generously packed with ingredients. I love the flavour combination coming from the savoury beans cooked in tomato sauce, spicy chorizo and richness from the egg yolks. Slices of bread were toasted prior to getting a good dose of butter slapped on it. Damn, was that a good way to end the week.

Miss Korea Kitchen, Camberwell MELB

As the weather becomes colder during the night, I am slowly craving for hearty meals that may or may not agree with my current physical fitness goals. Whilst I try to emphasise more on fibre in my diet, I am still undoubtedly reaching out for the less healthy options.

WL and I visited Miss Korea Kitchen last night and my mind instantly reminded me to have at least one plate of fibre to which, WL funnily hesitated but obliged nonetheless. We had no trouble finding parking in Camberwell and as it was past 6pm, parking tickets are not required.

Miss Korea Kitchen has two outlets, one in Camberwell and the other in Nunawading. The Camberwell branch housed more ala carte dishes whilst the Nunawading branch was for buffet goers. I would certainly choose the latter option if I have to organize a catch up outing with friends as buffets usually offer something for everyone be it vegetarians or the voracious individual like myself.

The Camberwell outlet can comfortably house around 40 diners although I would highly recommend making bookings to avoid disappointment. As the outlet is not enormous, staff members' are quick to respond whenever diners call out to them.

Menu wise, there is certainly a lot to choose from and we had to kindly ask the waiting staff for recommendations as every item on the menu sounded very tempting.

Calamari salad - deep fried calamari with lemon chilli dressing. As I have not had a proper lunch prior to dinner, I craved for freshly prepared veggies and yes, the chef did deliver. Well dressed salad tinged with some acidity to kick start my palate. Bonus points for calamari that is deep fried to perfection.

Korean fried chicken - fried chicken is now a must have at any Korean restaurant and once again, kudos to having perfected cooked chicken that is not dripping in grease nor cooked in recycled oil.
I liked the soy garlic sauce version although I wouldn't mind the sweet and spicy version if I need to spice up my palate.

Served with a small side of salad and pickles, these accompaniments were perfect for toning down the dish's overall grease level.

Ox tongue - pan seared ox tongue with garlic, onion and Korean sesame oil. One of my favourite dishes for the night and one that I wished I had a bowl of rice to soak up all the lovely juices sitting at the base of the pan. Had the right ratio of meat to veggies, each ingredient separately prepared before being tossed together.

Chef's recommendation K Barbeque - this menu comprised of wagyu scotch fillet, wagyu chuck flap tail and wagyu cap slices, served with kimchi fried rice and vegetable ssam. I am horrible at barbecuing meat and hence, am extremely thankful that staff members did the cooking for us. Cooked over a hot plate and flamed torched, each piece of meat was well prepared and if you're in doubt whether the meat would be dry, fret not as wagyu meat has fat marbled around it, giving it that added bit of moisture.

The other half of our meat selection was flambeed for that added aroma of alcohol. Oh and did I mention that the broccoli, mushroom and onion pieces had nicely soaked up all the beef's juices as it was cooked on the same pan? Best way to soak up all the fluid. Traditionally, a piece of meat would be dotted with either chilli, soy or salt before being wrapped with lettuce prior to consumption.

Kimchi fried rice that's been left to warm up on the still hot plate. Love how this created a crisp texture at the bottom of it:)

Overall a very enjoyable meal that left us full to the brim and sadly, I did not have any space for dessert but I do endeavour to pop by again to try their soup dishes and bulgogi. P.s, our waiting staff recommended the soft tofu soup which wouldn't be a bad idea for those cold winter days.

The Oakleigh Doughnut Co, Oakleigh MELB

Round 2 of my donut run for the week and quite possibly one of the last places I have tried in Melbourne. Having followed their Instagram page, I felt the need to strike whilst the iron is still hot aka before I lose interest.

Priced at $4.50 per piece, I would recommend patrons to pop in at least 3 hours before they close to avoid disappointment as some flavours may run out by end of the day.

Oreo cream, snickers, galakdough, nutella snow and raspberry jam. True to its claim of being artisan donuts, I love how bread like the dough is and how generously stuffed each donut was.

Peanut butter, strawberry cheesecake, lemon meringue pie, sour cherry and bakladough - not disappointed with this bunch at all. Whilst one donut would be more than enough to push my daily calorie intake to its limit, I felt had no regrets whatsoever and would happily drop by again in the future to try out their other flavours :)

Daniel's Donuts, Springvale MELB

Last week's donut run turned out to be quite a success. The sister and I were rather efficient with our choices and were lucky enough to have only waited for 5 minutes before we were served.

At $15 for a 6 pack or $3.50 per donut, it was reasonably priced. Lots of chocolate inspired types to choose from although my favourite would have to be, surprisingly, the cream filled versions as I found the cream fresh and was not overly sweet.

The donut dough itself would be the same across all donuts. It's airy and freshly prepared regularly to accommodate it's steady stream of customers flowing through their doors.

Tried the salted caramel, tiramisu, lemon cheesecake, nutella, apple crumble, blueberry, strawberries and cream, cookies and cream, snickers, hazelnut and coffee cheesecake. Could not fault any of them and if I had to pick a favourite, it would be the strawberries and cream.

Meatmaiden, CBD MELB

Am a big fan of casual dining whereby guests do not need to go over the top in terms of dressing nor assume pretentious behaviours with dining etiquettes. Meatmaiden is one of the many places that offers diners this convenience and with a bar located in the restaurant itself, I came to understand why there were a couple of cheerful bloke groups celebrating buck's night there.

Chopped beef tartare, egg jam and heirloom beets - delicious and very moreish indeed.

Saltbush lamb shoulder, smoked tomato and confit garlic - WL likes his meat dishes and so, we decided on ordering a few of the bigger meat dishes to share. Not a bad dish although it did have a very strong gamy taste.

If I remembered this correctly, this was the wagyu rump which came with a small pot of jus - well grilled and seasoned.

Eye fillet - yet another well grilled and seasoned piece.

Fries, rosemary salt and aioli - what is a steak without its trusty potato companion.

Dessert was a molten lava cake - very decadent and not a bad way to end the meal.

Hakata Gensuke Ramen Professional, Hawthorn MELB

Every now and then, I would crave for a bowl of non-commercially produced ramen that had been carefully prepared in the kitchen as opposed to in a factory. Having been to their first branch in the CBD, I had good faith that the Hawthorn branch would not disappoint.

Only downside is travelling here requires a bit of patience due to rush hour traffic congestion and lack of available parking nearby. Nevertheless, I still made it to the restaurant. More than a few minutes after the desired meeting time.

Chicken karaage - can we all take a pause and admire how round this piece of chicken is? Golden, crisp and juicy.

Signature tonkatsu - deliciously rich and well seasoned, topped with a generous amount of spring onions and black fungus. Both of us had to order a flavoured egg each to bump up our protein intake. Diners can choose how they want their noodles cooked be it al dente, soft or firm. I liked mine al dente and had thoroughly enjoyed each bite.

Gyoza - bite sized pan fried dumplings, not overly greasy and pleasantly flavourful.