Monk Vegan Degustation

Monk Vegan Degustation

We have been going to Monk Bodhi Dharma for a few years and have also been to the Friday dinners but we have never done the Degustation at the Cafe' or a Vegan degustation. It you have never been here it is a bit hard to find as it is hidden in an alleyway. 

It is a very small rustic sort of cafe and has an amazing selection of coffees and teas.

We had no idea to expect so it was going to be an interesting night. We ordered the Strawberry and rock melon Smoothie with Maple Syrup. Is was sweet and creamy and very filling.

The first thing we had was a palate cleanser, it was a tomato , cucumber and spiced water. I don't like tomato juice so i did not really like it but it was interesting to say the least.

The next dish we had was a  Tarator and it had Coconut yoghurt with cucumber and pineapple.

  

I don't eat much yoghurt but it was a nice mix, it was sweet and a bit tart with some crunchiness.

The next dish was the Quinoa Cake, it had quinoa , dill butter and tomato.

It was very crunchy and buttery, the flavours were amazing and completely different.

We then had green olives with artichokes with a thyme mayonnaise.

  

The mayonnaise helped change the flavour of the olives so it was not as salty.

The next dish was my favourite Watermelon and Feta. It had watermelon, sharp feta and freeze dried raspberries.

I would have never thought it would have worked as well as it did. It was sweet and crunchy yet smooth and salty, it was AMAZING.

The next dish was chilli , macadamia and mango.

It was not a hot chilli but had a little bit of spice, the macadamia paste gave it structure and the mango gave it a fresh taste.

Most of the courses had bit smallish so the next course was quite big. We got a Persian Stew and it had  vegetables, persian lime, barberries, rice and salad.

I mixed the rice in the stew and it was cooked to perfection. The potatoes fell apart as you ate them. The rice was soft and fluffy with a little bit of crunchiness. It was heavy from the potatoes.

The next dish was also a favourite, the sweet potato stack. 

So it had sweet potato on the top and the bottom like a sandwich with a almond chevre. Almond chavre is cultured almond paste and used to replace goats cheese. The flavours worked so well together and i could go vegan if i had food like this. I was starting to get full and that does not happen very easy with degustations.

The next dish was melon caviar.

I just ate it in one bite and it was sweet from the melon and chewy. The flower gave it a slight bitter taste afterwards.

The first dessert was the Space Library 

The reason they called it space library was because they love the movie Interstellar and it refers to a scene? Anyway it was layered sponge with fruit , berries, vanilla. It was sweet and i would never had expected it to vegan.

The last dish we had was a deconstructed snickers bar.

It had chocolate, peanuts and caramel. It was sickly sweet, crunchy and if you were still hungry this would fill you up. The menu said there was a Mignardises but we did not get one, maybe they ran out?

It did not matter as we ate so much and was amazing value for money.

We loved it all and we will do it again.

They are doing another one on Valentines day and if there is space DO IT..seriously.
Thanks for reading.
Kind E-gards
Dale Stewart

Laziness

Laziness

Laziness is a terrible thing, I have not done an update in ages and it not because i have been that busy but i lost motivation which is not a good thing because we are only a week into a new year. Every year i think i should make a resolution but i never know what to do. The only thing i want to do or get better at is latte' art. For those of you who don't know what latte art is, it is a pattern that people make on their coffee's to make it look awesome.

It is not that easy, it requires a steady hand and perfectly frothed milk. Here is a selection of Latte Art images. Over the christmas break i had 2 weeks off work and Kim and i had one week together. This has never happened so it was nice to spend the time with her.  

We went to a place called B-east Burger. It was very busy but the food was really good. The meat was fresh and good quality.

 I had Pho' from The Local Taphouse and it was a massive serve and went well with my beer.

We had Thai food from Jindai Thai and as always it is fresh and tasty.

We had our friends birthday and played Cards Against Humanity. I also started repainting our old Ikea furniture so will do a blog post when i am done. I don't know if i accomplished anything from start to finish. Normally there is five of us but this week was my boss and i so  has bought me a coffee every day which is nice. I also found out i passed my trial and will be the permanent sales rep so i will be doing interstate work.

This year is going to be a challenging year but i can't wait.
Thanks for reading
Kind E-gards
Dale Stewart

Chuckle Park Bar and Cafe'

Chuckle Park Bar and Cafe' 

It reminds me of an American style bar, It could be me really? As you enter you see a row of tables and chairs. It probably fits 20 / 30 people so it fills up quickly. We arrived and it was empty about 30 min later it was packed.  Sunday was a perfect day to sit back have a few drinks and enjoy the weather.

In the city it is really hard to decide what to eat and where to go. According to urban spoon we have over 1700 cafe's / Restaurants  in the CBD which is crazy. You can spend hours looking and trying to decide. We walked past this place and thought why not? It also has $11 Pulled Pork rolls so another great reason.

You order at the caravan and it has a selection of beers, wines, ciders and can make cocktails. The prices are very reasonable as well.
 To drink i had a Mountain Goat Fancy Pants Ale, it was very light, fruity but had a slight bitter after taste but was still perfect for a sunny afternoon.

I ordered the $11 Pulled pork roll and it was really tasty, not too sweet but cooked well. Not dry and just fell apart.

We really enjoyed this little place and would probably come back.

Have you been here? What do you think?

If you like my pics or blog please vote from the banner on the top.

Kind E-Gards

Dale Stewart