My year in food

I had a big year this year of eating out! And spent too much money! So to honour my commitment to spend less money on eating out/takeaway (2023 is the year of cheap eats babay!!), I've focussed this "year of food" list on under $20 hits. Note that most are under $10!

North East China Family and their :cabbage and pork soup

:x soup

If you can, ask for a small dish of minced garlic, and pour some soy sauce in. Dip each spoonful of pork, cabbage and potato noodles in this mix, let a little bit of soup onto your spoon (be careful not to let the soy sauce/garlic mixture escape!) and top with rice. This is how my family and I eat it when I visit them in :Dongbei. Sometimes it comes with suan cai (pickled cabbage) instead of plain like it is here, which adds a lovely kick.

My mum makes a great one, but was still so impressed with the one at NECF (although we both wish it came with more slices of pork). :Tastes like home.

:x soup-pic

a blue and white china bowl carrying a pale yellow broth with cabbage, pork belly slices and pork blood jelly. A ladle sits in it, full of soup.

Vic Market's Borek Shop and their :spinach and cheese borek

:x borek

This borek borders on being too salty but for that it is not only daring but is also perfectly seasoned. Salt – as you likely know if you've seen or read Samin Nosrat's Salt Fat Acid Heat – makes things taste more like themselves. In this borek you can really taste the spinach, bitter and balancing with the salt and fat of the cheese.

The bread modulates in texture, almost like a focaccia; in some places crunchy and others pillowy and soft. Like the bridge in a song, it keeps me captivated. They have another location at South Melbourne Market, and the other day I ate this marching down the street in the sun: a perfectly portable little meal!

I’ve heard the spicy potato is great too but I’ve never had the courage to try because the thought of missing out on the spinach and cheese is too painful.

Vic Market's Bratwurst Shop and Co. and their :spicy bratwurst topped with onions

:x bratwurst

I don’t have the energy to be wary of innuendo here so here goes:

The Vic Market Bratwurst comes with a totally succulent sausage, hiding pockets of fat which burst as you bite. I've never had a sausage as delicious as this! I eat mine with their sloppy, translucent onions, American mustard and tomato sauce, but if you're a relish or sauerkraut or cheese person, don't hold back.

Though this bratwurst is also a little package, unlike the borek it's not quite as portable. The onion and sauce slips and slides so it's best to stop and eat and focus on it: it deserves it! I always :chow this down standing in the street directly outside the deli as the busker plays (the last two times I've been it was a lady doing karaoke). It’s pretty great to eat a meal that cost me less than $9 and that'll keep me going for hours. In an era of rapidly rising inflation, these places are becoming rarer.

:x bratwurst-pic

a bratwurst with mustard and plenty of softened onions on top, sitting in a paper wrapping

Shanghai Dragon Dumpling House and their :pork dumplings

:x dumplings

I’ve been unimpressed with their mains, but their dumplings never fail me. Back when I was in highschool I used to go; when we had a free session abutting lunch, when we had time to make it to the city and back for a meal. Back then, it was ridiculously cheap; dumplings were 15 for something like 8-9 bucks. Now, they’re a bit more, but still so worth it.

I like to get the pork dumplings (when I’m by myself, I get the boiled ones, but with friends we often like to get the fried ones), and get a bowl of rice too with some garlicky greens. I dip the pork dumplings in their crispy chilli oil with vinegar and a splash of soy sauce, and then I eat it over the rice bowl – that way, any of the juice that doesn’t make it into my mouth drips down over the rice. At the end, I tip the remaining dumpling sauce mixture into my bowl and I eat this now-seasoned rice with the greens. It’s heaven...

Dong Ba and their :bún bò

:x bun-bo-hue

This comes loaded will :all the drippings, so going for “the perfect bite” is essential. Sliced beef brisket and pork, fish cakes, pork blood, and slivers of onion are ladled with hot, savoury soup over soft, white rice noodles. You know the broth is going to be satisfying, meaty and umami when it glistens with :little roundels of fat, which these noodles have aplenty.

:x bun-bo-pic

a white bowl with black plastic chopsticks sitting across it has broth, sliced sausage, sliced beef, cubed pork blood jelly, pork slices and pickled onions swimming inside it. The soup is visibly spicy: a layer of chilli oil sits on top. Behind the bowl, on the table, sits a golden metal plate with lettuce, cabbage, bean sprouts and a slice of lemon.

:x roundels-pic

White noodles, a beef slice and spring onions can be made out through the orangey-brown soup. Little circles of fat and flecks of fresh chilli sit on the surface.

Pie Thief and their :steak and cheese pie

:x pie

Usually Australian bakery classics like the meat pie and the sausage roll lose their attraction for me when they get the up-market treatment. I’ve always found the local bakery’s pale sausage roll with salty meat more tantalising than the brunch cafe’s sausage roll, with its browned crust and italian-spiced sausage. For me, these fancier numbers feel out of touch with their common-fare counterparts.

Pie Thief is the exception. Famously, an ex-Supernormal chef started this place, and though still under the $10 mark, they’re a big jump from the bog-standard footy pie. Instead of the accustomed hard-shell, these soft and flaky parcels come with a tender bite and meld to the shape of your hand. Soft chunks of cubed steak swim in sauce and cheese, and rendered fat nestles amongst its nooks and crannies. Like the top layer of a spag bol, it’s a sign of something well-seasoned and cooked low and slow to bring about full-bodied flavour. Hands down :the best pie I’ve ever eaten.

:x pie-pic

a hand holds a saucy steak and cheese pie over a plate. The pie crust looks flaky and slightly puffed, and the meat sauce is a deep, dark brown. A pocket of melted cheese sits in the top layer between meat and crust, and a spot of relish has been left in the place where I bit into the pie.

Bakemono Bakers and their :croissants

:x croissant

Their croissants are better than Lune’s, cheaper too, and you won’t have to line up for 20mins to get them (although they’re definitely very popular, there’s often a little line and they sell out of most things before 11). I find that a lot of croissants in Melbourne don't really taste of butter! But theirs are perfectly buttery (and leave a slight sensation of its grease on your fingers, never unwelcome), flaky, and shatter ever-so-slightly as you bite.

The chocolate croissants' chocolate is slightly melty but still have a 'snap' that only carefully tempered chocolate can manage. I've also had their strawberry, and blueberry, danishes. These come loaded with a bundle of fruits which threaten to tumble off as you bite. Strawberry comes piled on top of a swathe of lightly chocolatey custard and blueberry is bundled with an equally light vanilla custard.

The best thing though is that incredible as these pastries are, their plain croissant is only $4.80 (as opposed to Agathe and Lune's which are $5.50).

Palette. at night and their :croffle

:x croffle

Croffles! Maybe it sounds stupid (yeah, it *is* a :croissant cooked in a waffle maker) but they’re perfectly hot and crispy and come loaded with house-made whipped cream, infused with the flavour of your choice – I like to keep it simple with cinnamon.

Plus, this place stays open until 11 at night, making it the perfect late-night coffee spot for the designated driver.

:x croffle-pic

a croissant sprinkled with cinnamon and flattened and with waffle marks in it, sits on an oval metal plate with a pile of whipped cream – also sprinkled with cinnamon – sitting in its side. A knife and fork rest on the edge of a plate, and a half-full glass of water sits beside it. Although the room can't be seen, it appears it was dimly lit as the photo is quite dark and low-resolution.

If you're feeling curious, I also have a Google Maps list, where I keep track of where I've eaten and the dishes I particularly enjoyed.

This post was made using Nicky Case's Nutshell.

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