Eating out | The Spice Pantry, Prahran

My family was kindly invited to a lovely restaurant in Prahran, called The Spice Pantry.

This cosy little restaurant is a family owned and run business.  A father and son duo run this business with such passion and with the love of what they do.

The Spice Pantry is an authentic Indian restaurant serving traditional food.  I met with Anand and his son, Anuj.  While Anand is the experienced chef in the kitchen, Anuj prefers to be out front chatting with his customers.  He shared his story of how he got into the hospitality business after leaving his full time job of being an accountant and how he just finished his morning shift at the MCG.

Hubby and I like for our children to experience all different cuisines so they can decide for themselves what they like and don’t like.  Whilst our son, Thomas loves curries, our daughter Deanna is not a big fan.  I’m proud to say though after this meal she said she thoroughly enjoyed some of the dishes and that she’d love it again.  That’s a win!

My family were treated to a feast of all the senses.  We started off with a couple of platters of entrees.

The vegetarian platter included crispy samosas filled with chunky potato pieces and the pakoras were chopped spinach and onion. Served with a tangy tamarind sauce.

The non-vegetarian entrees included chicken malai tikka, Tandoori chicken, chili chicken and Seekh kebab.  So colourful and so full of flavour.  Deanna couldn’t get enough of the chicken malai tikka.

We had a feast on our hands for the mains.  Saffron rice was accompanied with a vegetarian korma, butter chicken, Malabar prawns and lamb masala.  We had servings of butter naan and garlic naan.

The curries were not too hot as to over power the taste of all the different spices.  Each dish was complex in flavour and very distinctive from each other.

Both the butter and garlic naans were soft and delicious.  The naan dough is made the traditional way and baked in a tandoor oven. It has to be hands down the best naan I have had in Melbourne.

We couldn’t leave without having dessert.  The children voted for the mango kulfi over the pistachio one.  The kulfi was served with raspberry compote and rose syrup.  It was heavenly and vanished in a blink of an eye.  The gulab jamun (milk dumplings in golden syrup) was Thomas’ and hubby’s favourite.  Hubby could have eaten a billion of those dumplings.  It was so soft and light.  It had absorbed the syrup which made it moreish.

I recommend a visit to The Spice Pantry.  The restaurant is quite small so if you plan ongoing with a big group, best to order takeaway or order via Uber Eats.

Go for the food and the friendly staff.

The since Pantry

68 Commercial rd, Prahran

http://thespicepantry.com.au

 

This post is sponsored and my family dined as guests of The Spice Pantry.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

Lots of Pizza eating during the Melbourne Pizza Festival 2013

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Melbourne Pizza Festival is on right now.  For more information, read about it here.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to attend a couple of events.  I was also honoured to have met the Pizza Festival Director, Matteo Rubbettino.  Matteo created this festival because he wanted Australians to experience the variations of pizzas from different regions and to showcase the pizza makers that create their pizzas with passion and skill.

I attended my first event at Feldman’s in Fitzroy where Chef Andrea Caroli, works his magic on creating delectable pizzas.  Along with Jason Pitt looking after us, my pizza experience at Feldman’s was a memorable one.

Hubby and I enjoyed 2 pizza’s  at Feldman’s.  One was the Bocconcini,  gorgonzola, semi dried figs, prosciutto.  This pizza is one of their more popular ones.  The sweetness of the figs counteracts the saltiness of the prosciutto and gorgonzola.  It was fantastic.

Also tried the Tomato, fior di latte, italian sausage, mushroom, smoked scarmoza.  I’ve never had fior di latte (mozzarella made from cow) or scarmoza cheese before, so I had to try this one.  It, too was tasty.  I’m glad we made the right choices.

Our second Pizza festival event was at Za-Za’s in Richmond.  Za-Za’s is a trattoria in true casalinga style: warm and welcoming, expressive and passionate, with plentiful food and excellent coffee.  The service is friendly and personal.  Morena Miceli likes to make sure her customers are well fed and happy when they leave.  This time hubby and I decided to take the kiddies along as they too, love pizza and we knew they would enjoy the true taste of pizza served at Za-Za’s.  And, of course, they did.

We tried The Bufalina Pizza, which  has Italian tomato salsa, local buffalo mozzarella by Giorgio Linguanti of That’s Amore Cheese, basil & E.V.O Oil  It was light and fresh.  There was plenty of sauce and cheese.

We also tried the Pucinella Pizza, which was amazing.  It is half Margherita & half Calzone filled with leg ham &  Fior di Latte.  The ham in the calzone was amazing and full of flavour.

I’m glad we attended events of the Pizza Festival.  It gave us the opportunity to try authentic pizzas at amazing restaurants.

If you want to attend events, you still have time.  The festival will come to a close this Sunday 30th June 2013 where a closing event will be held.  You can purchase tickets to attend.  It’s $25 for all-you-can-eat pizza.  Now that’s a deal!  Check out their website here to find out how to get your hands on these tickets.

I attended the 2 events courtesy of Kathryn from Keepleft PR and Matteo of Pizza Festival.

Buon Appetito,

Cherrie

Sydney Holiday in Pictures

During Easter this year, we (Hubby, myself and the 2 munchkins) spent a few days in Sydney. Hubby and I have driven to Sydney many times before but this was the first time we took the 9hour drive with two small children.

We left home Thursday evening and arrived in Sydney on Good Friday. The kids were very good during the road trip and slept most of the way there.

The trip was mostly about eating and children-related activities.

As soon as we checked into our motel, we unpacked the car and headed out again. We had lunch at the famous Bourke street Bakery in Surrey Hills.

We had: chorizo pizza (top left), roast beef, chilli and coriander jam sandwich (top right), pork and leek sausage roll (middle left) and a honey roasted ham, cheddar, onion pickle, parsley mayo and rocket sandwich (bottom).

We also had the chocolate tart. Soooo good!

Next, it was onto to Gelato Messina for dessert. The highlight was the mini me ice cream dessert (bottom right)

As if that wasn’t enough, we headed off to Chinatown for the Friday night market. I couldn’t really eat much as we were so full already.

Next day (Saturday) we headed to Westfield Sydney as I have heard yummy things about the food court there. However, we were there too early for any of the cafes or stores to be opened so we wondered downstairs and I found this delicious grilled beef salad. It was a great find.

We then went to the aquarium where the children enjoyed and learnt about the different fish and sea creatures.

Before heading back to the motel for a much needed rest, we drove up to Manly for the essential visit to Zumbos. I bought his macarons. One of each, of course. In Zumbos these are called Zumbarons! Also got one of the infamous V8 cake and the citrus cake.

For dinner that night, we went to Chef’s Gallery. I found out about this place through instagram where I saw many wonderful photos of their food.

We had: Top: shredded peking duck roti.

Bottom left to right: wok fried rice and shredded pork and lettuce. Mini pork fillet burger. Boneless pork ribs topped with pork floss, corn cereal and roasted garlic. Handmade noodles with BBQ pork and soy sauce.

This was the reason why we went to Chef’s Gallery. This dessert is so popular that you have to pre-order when you make your booking. It is their signature “piggy face” sesame bun with marshmallow bunnies set in an edible garden served with berry and mango ice creams. Not only delcious but also very cute.

Every Saturday night, darling harbour holds spectacular fireworks. Darling harbour looks so pretty at night.

Sunday was another busy day for the family. We spent most of the day at Taronga zoo where we arrived by ferry.

My favourite animal at the zoo.

Lunch was Pad Thai at The Rocks.

Deanna and I shared a corn on the cob at The Rocks weekend market.

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in Sydney even though it was a short stay. Thank you Sydney for your hospitality. Hope to see you again very soon.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

 

My Week In Pictures: first day of prep, dinners and diner

This week has been a little emotional for me as a mummy.  My little girl had her first day in prep.  I’m so proud and happy for her.  She is doing well and is making lots of friends quickly.  My mission now, is to find yummy and delicious lunch box meals for her.  I’ll post my ideas and creations.

This week’s dinners have been simple but varied.

Toad in a hole. Not very pretty but yummy!

Home made hamburgers. Hubby had a double beef and cheese one. 

I had left over roast chicken in the freezer so I made a salad with green beans, bacon, croutons and roasted tomatoes.

We ended our week by dinning at Mistys diner.  An American style diner that serves hotdogs, hamburgers and all things American.

For dessert, we had pecan pie, pumpkin pie and the children shared a cinnamon peaks and chocolate.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the service was friendly.  We plan on going back there again.

What did you eat this week?

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie