Here we go off on another adventure. This time we are winging across to Melbourne Australia for three nights and then off to Adelaide to join some friends.
Getting up early is always easy when you are going away holiday, so the 5am start wasn't too unbearable. And what made it easier this trip was that we had an upgrade to Premium Economy arranged with Air New Zealand. Of course this was a lovely treat, with all the bells and whistles, only to be met at the airport by the driver that I had arranged to whisk us off to the Hero City Pad Apartments in Russell St. I had booked this online and the apartment is perfect. One bedroom and a selfcontained area, close to everything. And of course 'air conditioning' which is great because today we hit 34 degrees.
We were met at the apartment by Tricia, who showed us around. Then we quickly unpacked and hit the streets. This is my very first venture to Melbourne, Lance has been here several times for business, but not for some time. Following our normal holiday regime, we hopped on the 'Hop On Hop Off' bus to get our bearings. There were two routes on our ticket and we chose to hop on the St Kilda route first, rather than the city route. This was only because the city route looked quite full. We managed to get a seat on the top deck and the warm wind kept us mildly refreshed.
The commentary was good, and we picked up some facts. Half way through we decided to hop off in Bay St for a late lunch. Fish and chips at BELVGA. The sign said that they had the best fish and chips in Melbourne, it was okay, but not great and I certainly doubt that they are the best in Melbourne. I went for a wander and Lance took a seat (he has a bad hip at the moment) and there was nothing to see, just food and beauty places. Back on the bus we decided that we would finish this route and then jump on the City route. And that is just what we did, except when we got on the other bus we had to wait for 20 minutes before it got started and it was roasting. As soon as the commentary started we realised it was doing the same route! Bugger, never mind, we sat back and enjoyed it all over again. There were no stops that were close to anywhere else and Lance wasn't up to walking far. Then a stop before the last stop the driver said that he was finished and we all had to hop off and walk the last bit, which wasn't far. But after all the sitting Lance had seized up, so we got a cab back to our apartment and had a beer and a shandy across the road.
After a well deserved rest we headed off to a restaurant called Lucy Liu which is situated in a small dark cobbled lane off Flinders Lane. We had been directed to this place by a good friend and foodie who would never put us wrong. The basement restaurant was humming and we had a 45 minute wait for a table. Perched behind a concrete pole we enjoyed a cocktail and a beer and sat back taking in the vibes. I was a little concerned that the young woman who had greeted us would never find us amoungst the throng of people, particularly because we were hidden behind the pole. But right on cue she arrived and showed us to our table, well not actually a table, but a couple of stools perched at a bar. Please don't misinterpret this as a disappointed tone. We were delighted to be looking straight into the prep area of the kitchen, in fact the chef leaned over and directed us to his favourite dishes, not to be missed. Our waiter also was charming, in a casual chatty but professional way. Food: 8 freshly shucked oysters, we chose 4 with ponzu sauce and 4 with a spicy red nam jim. There was almost a fight over the last oyster, I felt sure that it must have been mine. The oysters were followed by kingfish sashimi with refreshing green chilli and mint and coconut cream. I know, anything with coconut cream is delicious, but I think that this was my favourite of the evening and I wanted desperately to lick the plate. The Peking duck dumplings were great, filled with tasty duck and wrapped in a dough that was fleshy and light. My second pick of the night was the soft shell crab 'JIANBING' in a pancake roll with hoi sin sauce. The crispy crab was complimented with a fresh Vietnamese flavours and a rush of hoi sin sauce. (salivating as I write this, I need breakfast badly). The chef had insisted that we must have the roasted short rib with rending curry and when we ordered it he leaned over and told the waiter that we wanted roti as well. The beef was melt in your mouth, in fact it was a bit rich for me so Lance had the honour of hoovering it down. Even the roti gets a mention, it was almost like a soft pastry and my regime of not eating grains just flew out the basement window. The roti came with pickled vegetables and a tasty tangy relish. As I was absolutely stuffed I had decided that I wouldn't have desert, but alas, when asked the words just flew out of my mouth "banana fritters please". And that is just what we got, nothing over the top, good old banana fritters with vanilla ice cream. What an outstanding meal, service and ambience. Definitely on our ' places that need a second go' list. Thanks to Debbie Zouch for the recommendation.
On our 5 minute work back to our apartment Lance needed to stop and rest his hip. It is a bit of a worry really and we hope that it is better tomorrow.
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