Melba Brasserie at the Langham, Melbourne CBD

On arrival, I saw the variety of seafood, salads, desserts and the theme of readiness. Stone slabs and wooden panels set the tone of Melba's Brasserie. I settled on my chair at the top end of a long dining table, could not pace myself initially, but felt relaxed by my company (the Yeaps) at table and the friendly staff attending to us. Buffets can be tricky, often under appreciated for what they entail and the palate's overall satisfaction depends on the sequence of menu selections thoughtfully chosen.

At the Melba Brasserie, four things stood out, the oysters, Moreton Bay bugs, green lipped mussels and the carvery meats. The evening began on a easy note, not too noisy, as we were early, but as the place filled up on a Sunday evening and the autumn air played its colours outside, more diners messed up their tables even if they still looked elegant. Still, there was no sense of rush as they sensed out intentions to make the most of the lingering hours of the weekend!

Lobster, crab and Beijing duck were available - how yummy. How does one keep Beijing duck tender and moist for a buffet audience who can walk in at any time? I have a crave for Beijing duck in Melbourne's outer suburbs, like near Wartirna, and did not know what to expect of them from this end of town beside the Yarra River. Melba's has been brave in this respect and that evening came out rather okay with the duck. There were no complaints from me with their Japanese bar, not just tuna stuffed sashimi but also, unagi (eel), yellowtail, octopus, king fish and salmon choices, and those California maki rolls. And not to ignore the chocolate fountain and tandoori oven baked bread.

A ritual of any buffet is the unshelling of bright red prawns and the yummy devouring of the delicate flesh. Melba's provides the background, the diversity and the comfort. Consuming such prawns make all of us want to be weekend fishermen, decked out in our boats and hats, learning more of the tides, seasons and currents that deliver such heavenly delights. The freshness and aroma of the rivers and sea came to us as we dabbled our fingers with such prawns, cooked simply without fuss and close to the source they came from.

I finished up the evening , food wise, with small portions of cream brulee, rum baba and a choice of ice cream flavours. Coffee was pretty much taken without too much expectation or comparison from what the Melbourne city lanes could offer. After this dinner, we went for a stroll, with the air slight nippy as for March but also offering us an opportunity for some post digestion of our experience at Melba's.

Atmosphere: Families and good friends gathering all over.

Location: Good side of town.

Taste: Overall satisfaction, but do avoid some specific dishes.

People Engagement: A mature staff member assigned to our table took the effort to commence a dialogue with us, and this is much appreciated, considering the busy night for the restaurant.

Service: Friendly, efficient and without fuss.

Best Time to visit: Saturday evenings.

My Fav Dish Experienced: The Chocolate Melba layer cake. (with both custard and chocolate)

Would I Return?: Oh ya, baby.

Taste Baguette & Grill, Darling Quarter, Sydney CBD

Another business day, another of those precincts designed by the same people paid by the same developers off to milk the same formula? It looked like one of those joints in Melbourne's South Bank. It had the same lay out, perhaps the same frontage. The premises has the same opportunities and challenges. High tourist traffic, with the presence of a bunch (actually a few thousand in number) of resident twenty somethings with high discretionary cash flows, need to unwind after 7pm and with a refusal to go home to another cubicle (after spending ten hours in an office cubicle). The nearby ground space was turned into a kind of recreational adjunct to a gym, even if there was no proper gym outfit nearby so to speak. People were actually playing table tennis on stone tables, others were hanging on the grass and benches as if to escape the confines of their nearby high rise units. Hmnn, I recall Brisbane's South Bank. Rentals of outlets look suspiciously high, so there is obvious pressure to have high margins and high turnover in any business one operates around here.

My overall impressions of Taste, one of several outlets in the food street alley of Darling Quarter, are as follows.

Atmosphere: Commercial

Location: Touristy, Transient and Office

Taste: Below Expectations.

People Engagement: Okay if You Start the Conversation First, maybe the Staff are Too Tired.

Service: Minimal

Best Time To Visit: If You Happen to Pass by

My fav Dish Experienced: None

Would I Return?: Maybe not.

At Taste, I had smoked salmon below some rocket leaves and an omelette all sitting on surprisingly ordinary toasted bread. The place is not just for breakfast, it operates a licensed bar, has sit down arrangements inside and outdoors plus runs a take away counters for those coffees and take away baguettes/ rolls. Taste is open till late and opens early, looks like the literal burning of the candle at both ends. Below image, a profile of the day time crowd. Taste originated in the Surry Hills precinct of inner Sydney and there it offered a fusion of French-Vietnamese fare. The Darling Quarter branch also provides Vietnam-inspired interiors for its sit down restaurant. Oh yes, they served Campos blended coffee with my breakfast choice above.

Sambal Kampung, Little Bourke Street - Melbourne CBD

Sambal Kampung, or chili and shrimp condiment from the village, is run by a Chinese family previously from Sarawak, the portion of northern Borneo once ruled by White Rajahs (the Brookes), home land to various tribes and home of peppercorn plantations. I had arrived there, a small unassuming cafe like shop, on a suggestion from a Sydney family and with a hunger to try Melbourne's Malaysian food reputation. The thousands of students from Malaysia who had trudged through the grid-like streets of Melbourne since the fifties have indelibly left behind a culinary trail of street food, delicacies from the four main racial groups that reside in Malaysia and various styles of unique cooking traditions that may no longer exist in today's Malaysia.

The first thing I realised was that the roti prata they dished up was bigger in size and asked for a bargain price when compared with Sydney. The accompanying curry was even more wholesome than at Mamaks Chinatown Sydney CBD. Wow. The ambiance was informal, the customers were mostly ex-Malaysians and the food tasted a bit different to this ex-Penangite. The tables and chairs were brown, why all this jungle brown in most Malaysian outlets in Australia? However, the teh tarik (milky latte with a cinnamon bark twist) was authentic. On the other hand, the choices of desserts and drinks variety ala Malaysia was limited. Prices at the Sambal Kampung asked are reasonable, good for an office gathering or just to have a practical dinner after a long day at work in the CBD.

I gradually realised I was not the only one indulging in the comfort foods of my childhood. There were several students who felt at home, taking their bowl of curry laksa or plate of char koay teow, and tourists, who were not fully recovered from their amazement at the availability of such Malaysian food. There were also rarities like fried Hakka pork (Kiu Nyuk), Hakka being the "guest' wandering tribe in China driven to settle mostly in southern Chinese mainland provinces by historical events before many Hakkas formed part of the Chinese emigration to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia from the 18th century onwards. These Hakkas then created the now well known Hakka Chicken rice while settled in south-east Asia (just like "chop suey" was dished up in California and does not exist in China).

There is another Sambal Kampung outlet in nearby Edgewater Boulevarde in Melbourne's Maribyrnong and Wellington Parade in East Melbourne.

Taste: Worthwhile for selected dishes

Location: Chinatown vibes

People Engagement: Helpful and with no fuss

Service: Quick and friendly

Best Time to Visit: 2pm to 5pm

My Fav Dish Experienced: Roti prata with wholesome chicken curry

Would I Return? : Maybe, to try the sambal prawns, satay, rendang and the lobak rolls!