A good mate of mine, Rich, said he works opposite a great pho place and said a few of us should go for dinner one day. Unbeknownst to me, he meant one I’d been to before. Pho Chu The Bo Ga is always packed. If you want to eat there, then this is something you will need to bear in mind when you arrive. The stream of diners coming and going is pretty constant so don’t be put off if you need to wait.
Because I didn’t dip my tripe in hoisin as recommended by Vietnamese cuisine aficionado Billy on my previous pho outing, I went the special beef pho. It has tripe, sliced beef and beef balls. Normally beef or fish balls taste a bit…dodgy, but the ones in this were freaking delicious.
Tris went the sliced beef and beef brisket. Sorry about the blurry photo. The beef is always thinly sliced and tender.
Everyone who went to the inaugural phoTUB was here, plus Rich. Most of them went for plain beef pho. The service here is great – fast, always super-friendly and efficient. Rich actually told us that he calls them up to order and they bring him his pho across the road. When he finishes, he takes the bowls back and pays. How is that for takeaway?
I don’t get to hang out with Mike often enough, so when he asked if anyone was interested in a casual dinner after he finished teaching in the city, I jumped at the chance even though I was nowhere near the city that day. Nope, wasn’t even trying to con a guest post out of him, just wanted to hang.
Sometimes, you just want to go out for dinner somewhere where you can be yourself and not care about how scruffy you look. For this reason, I suggested we head out to The Waiters’ Club in Meyers Place in the city. As you enter Meyers Place, look up! You might just see a Space Invader mosaic creation.
Once you enter The Waiters’ Club, it should be obvious by the 80s diner aesthetic still in place. Seriously, there is nothing fancy-looking about this joint. As soon as you enter, you’re sure to be enthusiastically greeted by wait staff. The menu is on boards around the restaurant, so just take a look (or a squint in my myopic case) and don’t forget the specials board at the front of the restaurant.
Mike and I were waiting for Tris whose work had him running late and so both of us ordered. Mike initially chose the calamari but they’d run out so he settled for the veal schnitzel. It was pretty freaking huge. I think they could have done to give more vegetables and it’s pretty amusing that they don’t even bother to cut up the potato, haha.
The special I wanted was still available – the porcini mushroom risotto. Good-sized serving with plenty of mushrooms (I suspect there wasn’t a great deal of porcini in there…or at least if so then they tasted an awful lot like regular mushrooms). It’s not the best risotto I’ve ever had, but it was just what I was in the mood for. I generally prefer my rice with a hint more ‘bite’. Still, it’s better than my mum’s…(thank god she doesn’t read this blog) One thing I will say is that The Waiters’ Club’s risotto kicks arse over Pellegrini’s any day.
Ah and yes – if you want wine, then be prepared to have it served to you in latte tumblers. That’s the way this place rolls, yo. It doesn’t faze me personally and I had a glass of the house red while Mike got some Pepsi (not Coke, chuckle).
Tris eventually arrived and we cajoled him into ordering something even though he was shy to eat when we’d finished our meals. Silly thing, he didn’t realise we needed an excuse for dessert! Oh okay, not really. Mike chose the chocolate mousse.
I had the tartufo – ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by the Italian desserts they had on offer at local pizza joints so whenever I see them available, I try to get them. They looked so appealing on the poster, do you know the ones I mean? And this one had a glacé cherry in it, woo!
Yea! Tris’ spaghetti marinara came out as we started tucking into our desserts. It was bloody generous with the amount of seafood it had in it. I may have stolen a few mussels when he wasn’t looking…
It’d been quite a few years since I’d visited up till this recent visit. The prices are a little dearer than I remember but it’s a good ol’ faithful. So next time you’re bemoaning not being able to get a seat at nearby Pellegrini’s (which is pretty much just opposite the road), come here for dinner – the food is better anyway. Waiters’ Club, I retain my fondness for you, especially after seeing this sticker:
Alas, time conspired against us. Whilst Kathleen was in town, she wanted to visit Mamasita – highly recommended by many Melburnian friends. When Mamasita had a table free, there was little point in accompanying given that there was a film we had to see at the Melbourne Recital Centre all the way down in Southbank.
As Tristan and I marched to tram stop, we passed Izakaya Hachibeh. I suggested we try it out – it seemed to get a decent write-up on Mel: Hot or Not and didn’t seem too busy. Turned out this wasn’t too bad an idea! The food we sampled was fantastic.
Mandatory ordering for us was the yukke. Holy cow, this was even better than Izakaya Chuji’s rendition. The serving was larger and the marinade was tastier. Fresh, simple flavours and easily enough for two to share.
Sadly, the asari butter – pipis in a miso and butter soup was a less inspired choice. The pipis were fairly small overcooked from being in the too hot soup for too long and it wasn’t exciting. My fault for choosing – I had hoped it would resemble a dish of the same name at an old Japanese restaurant I used to haunt back in uni days where the pipis were gently sauteed in butter sauce rather than drowned in scalding broth. Please excuse the photo below – trying to get the pipis in the soup wasn’t all that exciting looking.
As a main, we both shared the chef’s selection of sushi and sashimi. Cannot utter a word of complaint against this. Easily enough for two and ridiculously fresh – seeing the pattern here? My photo really doesn’t do it justice.
Perhaps not quite as trendy a choice as Mamasita, and yes, there are more popular izakaya in Melbourne at the moment, but don’t neglect this joint. I’m eager to test out more of their izakaya-type items. After reading Joyce’s post as mentioned above, I’m actually keen to see what their ‘lady’ set lunches consist of! Service was friendly and lightning-fast – all this plus drinks cost us just a little over $50 and then it was run run run to see Buster Keaton’s The General at the opposite end of the city.
