Wombat Hill House

 Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

With the name of "Wombat Hill House", how could you not love the place?  Nestled within the picturesque Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens in Daylesford, the vibe was very Beatrix Potterish with a board of wombat sightings locations .  It was just a magical environment.

As we were famished from the drive up from Melbourne, we ordered a good fry up.  Fish and chips.  The fish was whiting and it came with shoestring fries and aioli.  Perfectly done.  The only downside was that whiting, being whiting was a bit on the wee side.

The eggplant curry with basmati rice was more substantial and it was flavourful without the spicy heat.  It came with a little side bowl of carrot pickles.  

Kiddo had the kid's pack which was a cheese and chutney toasted sandwich with a smartie cookie and an iced chocolate.  It was woofed down in no time.  Proof that it was good. 

And for no other reason that because we love fried carbs, we had to have the wedges.  No regrets there.  The baby potatoes had their skins intact and it was so comforting to tuck into the bowl of these.  

To finish, I had my first "red latte".  This is a rooibos tea latte and it was the most gorgeous orangey - red colour.  I think I prefer this to a real latte and it came sweetened with a bit of honey.  We also ordered a soy chai latte which was slightly anaemic in colour.  Having tried both, I say that the red latte trumps the chai latte.  

I would definitely be coming back here next time I am in Daylesford.  I would love to try out a picnic hamper and eat out in the beautiful botanical gardens.  I'm pretty sure wombats are nocturnal so I won't hold my breath for a sighting.  I think I'll be too busy eating anyway...

Until next time...

Inlet Fish 'N' Chips

 

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

We were in the beautiful seaside town of Inverloch not too long ago. Being an unfamiliar place, we thought we would go where everyone else flocked to for food.  Chances are it was bound to be good if everyone else is eating it, right?  Wrong!

The Inlet Fish 'N' Chips was ever so crowded - there was a queue extending out the door to order.  It had a few tables within but that was so stinking hot and humid with no air con that people were fighting for the few tables outside.

I ordered the 'Seafood Pack' which was $14.50.  It wasn't my first choice or my second choice either but for some reason, the cashier couldn't input the codes of my first two preference into their ordering system so I ended up ordering whatever they could punch into register.  Humph!  Not off to a very good start.

The Seafood Pack came with a scallop, fried fish of unspecified variety, prawn, two calamari rings (which were actually reconstituted calamari), a seafood stick and a generous serve of chips.  It was enough for kiddo and I.  Due to the heavy grease factor, we could only stomach a portion of it.  Disappointingly for a fish and chip shop, they did not have any of the usual condiments such as vinegar or tomato sauce to go with the chips.

We also ordered a small serve of Greek salad.  It wasn't the freshest but by the time the order came (a good 30 minutes later), I was too hungry to care.

So all in all, it was a rather disappointing experience - first I couldn't actually order what I wanted to order, then the interminable wait for the food, the rather average quality of the food and the uncomfortable seating environment.

Such a shame because the seaside is such a drawcard for tourist and it would have been icing on the cake to have a decent lunch in between exploring the local surrounds.

Until next time...

Northbys Bakery

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

Whenever I'm driving up the idyllic and picturesque Dandenong Ranges my stomach calls out for two things:  Devonshire tea and pies because that is what the tea houses and bakeries in this area are renown for.  


Dandenong Ranges - is it wrong of me to see this and think pies?

Image from megan.blandford.com

On a recent trip to the Ranges, we discovered a new pie source, the Northbys Bakery.  They do good pies.  Good enough to rival the famous Pie In The Sky bakery which every tourist flock to.  And the great thing about Northbys is that you don't have the crazy queues in peak tourist season as you would do at the more famous pie shop. 

We ordered a few different types to take home to savour.  The pastry was light and flaky without being too doughy. 

 My favourite view of the Dandenong Ranges

 Tandoori Chicken.  I don't normally like tandoori chicken in pie form but this is a good one.  The chicken pieces were breast pieces and it had a good ratio of curry and meat. 

 



Beef Burgundy.  This would usually be my pie of choice but I didn't like this particular Beef Burgundy.  The beef whilst delightfully chunky was really tough and stringy.  I picked most of the beef out. 

 

Beef and Mushroom.  Great flavours in the sauce.  Good ratio of meat and mushrooms. 

 

Regular Mince Pie.  No complaints there.  I usually shy away from mince pies as I'm afraid of encountering gristly bits which is off putting.  But no gristly bits in this one. 

The deets:

Location:

Northbys Bakery

140 Main Road, Monbulk VIC 3793

ph: 03 9756 6536

Cost:

$4.50 per pie.

Ambience:

Takeaway

Nom Again:

Absolutely.  Would buy bulk and freeze for another day. 

Until next time,

Nom Seeker, Glutt