Richmond Archives - Wander Wonder Wonton

Dumpling Trail Richmond – A Vacation For Your Mouth

October 18, 2017August 19, 2017

A vacation for your mouth… I love that! Smart marketing campaign, Richmond BC!

A Dumpling Trail. Can you imagine my excitement when I came across it on Twitter? I still didn’t realise it was an actual campaign, I thought it was just some bloggers in Vancouver going to town with the dumplings and making up hashtags.

Then I found the website… I may have squealed with excitement. And just like that, I knew what I was doing the next day!

The website is a fantastic resource – there’s itineraries, maps, fast facts. It’s a hive of information and I wanted to devour it all! It was like they had created a marketing campaign just for me and luckily other people would enjoy it too.

I checked out the dumpling itineraries on the site and came up with my own. I’m a huge fan of Xiao Long Bao (XLB soup dumplings) which automatically added R&H Chinese to my list. I also can’t go past a spicy wonton option – those bad boys make my mouth water when they’re done right! Xi’an Cuisine was rumoured to have the best ones around so they went on the list. I had a third option too, Golden Sichuan for more spicy dumplings, water boiled ones. I never made it there though as I was so full! I recommend taking a friend so you can get through more dishes.

R&H Chinese is at Lansdowne Centre Food Court. you get off the skytrain and turn right (I turned left, oops – lucky I enjoy walking and the sun was shining) to head into the small foodcourt. You go around and around and end up in the food court. There there was a large line up for the outlet already, turns out there’s no secret that these are fab dumplings. It took all my willpower not to order a bunch of plates and just the XLB. You can watch the staff make the dumplings right in front of you by hand while you wait. The wait was worth it, the XLB was delicious and full of soup! The wrappers weren’t too thick or thin, the broth was flavorsome and steaming hot. Perfect!

I walked to my next spot, Xi’an Cuisine at Richmond Public Markets. It’s a very unassuming place. You have no idea about the buzz on the inside from the outside. It’s a plain building, I thought I was in the wrong place! You enter, go up some stairs and come out in an open spaced hawker-style market, bustling with people and stalls and eateries. I ordered my spicy wontons (again, so many things I wanted to try) and waited, people watching. These are hands down the best spicy wontons I have eaten. And believe me, I have eaten soooo many spicy wontons! They were soft and silky with a delicious filling and the sauce, oh the sauce!!! I actually drank it from my spoon when I was finished. It was both spicy and sweet, not too hot though. I was in a very happy place right there.

A very happy place and a very full place. I couldn’t eat any more if I tried. That was the end of the dumpling trail for me unfortunately, although fortunately for my waistline.

Awesome tourism idea – I loved it and wish I had more time to sample the entire list of twenty!

Check out their website here and create your own dumpling trail – awesome day out for a group of friends who love those little parcels of goodness that we call dumplings.

Weekend combo update

October 8, 2014

I’m wayyyy behind on my weekend updates. And by wayyyy behind, I mean the last two. So you’re getting a combo. That’s right, two weekends, one blog post! Boom!

So the weekend before last began with dinner at Matteo’s in Fitzroy. Awesome place, I highly recommend going there. Not only was dinner fantastic but Matteo himself joined us for a quick drink after our fantastic meal. Next thing you know it’s 2am! We had some others join us and Matteo shut the restaurant while we all kicked back and enjoyed the company. We had a fantastic time! Afterwards we headed to St Kilda for a boogie then home to bed. Late. Or early.

Saturday was the AFL grand final. My first grand final in Australia! I’ve always been out of the country, it was great to enjoy the festivities in Melbourne. I met the girls at Holliva in Richmond where we drank a few jugs of punch and smashed some pork (on a spit!!) burgers. We cabbed to South bank and watched the flocks of fans past by from a restaurant patio. An early evening was had after the big night before!

Sunday, Fred & Sammy picked me up for brunch but it was so late (2pm) we had to have the lunch menu at Phamish in St Kilda. Lunch was long and we wandered down to Riva to watch the sunset and have some cocktails and snacks. That turned into dinner at the Pier Port Melbourne. There goes Sunday! But what a great way to spend it.

Last weekend was much quieter. Lisa and I chilled Friday night and met Cheena for a cabaret in Port Melbourne. It was part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival and involved a variety of acts. My fave was the silks performer. The girl was stunning and I was in awe of her aerial skills. We hit the beach… Well, the pier in Port Melbourne and just lay down to watch the clouds and pass time after lunch.

Saturday night we headed out in Fitzroy but it wasn’t really for us. I did however find an amazing cocktail at the Alchemist. It literally came with a shot of crackle lollies!! The ones that pop in your mouth. The alchemist wins cocktails.

Sunday was brunch at Einsteins Relative in South Yarra where I’ve also been meaning to go for ages. Fantastic brunch menu and almond milk – whoop! We explored Fitzroy markets and shops afterwards then crashed at home, exhausted from another weekend

Baby Pizza, Richmond

October 4, 2014

Monday night and it’s packed. Got to be good right?

Operates the same as Chin Chin in that it takes no bookings. This is probably because it is from the masterminds of Chin Chin itself!

We started with a beautiful bottle of chianti while we waited half an hour for a table at the bustling bar.

Stage night started perfectly with a beautiful cured meat platter with the softest buffalo mozzarella cheese and warm baked focaccia.

We let Fred choose the pizza since he’s Italian and should, in theory, know better than us! He chose the Melanzane pizza which is topped with fior de latte, San marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, thinly sliced eggplant and a little chilli. Bellissimo!

I chose the beef carpaccio salad to piece the meal together. It was beautiful.

To finish we ordered the salted caramel pizza. It took forever to come out, I actually had to remind the server and I do think they had forgot. I wasn’t impressed when we finally got it. I don’t think it rang true to salted caramel. It was just like a gluey caramel topping.

Other than the dessert the meal itself was lovely. I’ll be back as I can’t wait to try the duck ragu – it smells freaking amazing. I had food envy over my neighbour.

The Art of Eating – La Cucina Di Sandra

August 7, 2017September 30, 2014

I had the absolute pleasure of joining a northern Italian cooking class with La Cucina Di Sandra in Richmond, Melbourne recently. As you all know, I love Italian and I love to cook and learn, so you can imagine my excitement building up to the evening! Sandra casually takes you through an entire meal in her kitchen, teaching you about products, techniques, recipes and serving. Her witty quips and vast knowledge makes for a fantastic evening.

As you walk into Sandra’s house you feel immediately inspired. It’s bright, it’s beautiful and there’s a great vibe. Italian music floods your ears as you are introduced to the others (three lovely ladies in my case) and seated at the kitchen bench where your notes are waiting and you are poured a glass of beautiful wine and offered some delightful, freshly baked polenta cookies.

Then it’s go time! Sandra wants to demonstrate that Italian cooking isn’t just pizza and pasta. It’s much, much broader than that. So with that in mind the entrée we learnt was was tortellini nudi, or tortellini meatballs. It was very different to anything I had ever tried. A different texture too and when combined with the chopped pistachios and baked pasta sticks it made for a really different sensation in your mouth. I would never have thought to put all those different ingredients together!

Sandra has pre-prepared a lot of the meal. Everything is measured and ready and waiting for her. This saves lots of time so you can focus on the exciting parts and chat more about Italy; the food, the culture, the music. She then put’s everything together while you watch, explaining the process and you have prime position to watch her cooking on the element. She has so many hints and tricks, I know I said it earlier but her knowledge on Italy, cooking and ingredients is amazing. Would you believe she has over 500 cookbooks sitting around her apartment?! 500! She uses an online directory to help her find specific recipes. Blew my mind.

The next entree is gamberi alla fonduta di gorgonzola, or prawns in gorgonzola fondue. Now, I’m not sure if I have told you about how I feel about gorgonzola but my goodness, it has to be one of my favourite cheeses. Again, this is a dish that wouldn’t have ever crossed my mind but I would happily serve at a dinner party!

Sandra was born in the centre of Italy, about 1.5hours from Rome, and has been in Australia 40-ish years. These classes have been her dream for about twenty years. Her passion shines through.

We consume the entrées at the bench while Sandra starts on the main. Maiale in crosta di pancetta, or pork fillet rolled in pancetta. She dices up vegetables and fries a pork strap in some cream before taking it out, wrapping it in pancetta and finishing it in the oven while the asiago cheese sauce is bubbling away on the bench. All this with such an air of enjoyment and relaxation. You can tell it is her true passion.

Sandra started the classes at the end of June and soon needed to add more on to keep up with demand. She now runs two classes per week and sometimes an extra for bespoke events. Keep an eye out for her finger food classes which will be on their way soon!

We are shown how to serve the dish and ushered to the table to enjoy the meal together. Sandra’s husband has arrived home and adds to the great mix of people we have in the group. I think he must time it perfectly to get in for the main meal – smart man! The pork is tender, the prosciutto crisp and the vegetable flan finishes it all off. The sauce is to die for. Asiago cheese base and generously poured. I’m practically drooling at the memory.

Back to the kitchen bench, Sandra demonstrates how to throw together quick tiramisu. She chooses her recipes keeping in mind a number of factors and having the time to be with your guests during a dinner party is one of them. Even though I was full I still managed to eat most of it! The mascarpone mix with the quality choc and cocoa was unreal. Unlike many tiramisu’s the coffee flavour (I don’t like coffee) wasn’t too empowering.

We sat around chatting for quite some time after dinner about not only the food but our backgrounds and passions.

All in all it was a phenomenal evening and I would definitely suggest it to anyone in or visiting Melbourne.

I will leave you with a few of the tidbits I learnt from Sandra during the evening. I won’t tell you them all though because you need to go find out for yourself!

Mediterranean Wholesalers on Sydney Street in Melbourne have pretty much anything you could want to cook with at a great price and best quality
Dolce means sweet, picante means savoury in Italian
Mortadella is called bologna in Italy
Prosciutto comes from the leg of the Pig
Cucina means cuisine or kitchen in Italian

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Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder, Melbourne

August 8, 2019June 17, 2014

We met Lisa here for brunch and although I’m not a massive fan of coriander I took a dive and ordered the coriander corn fritters with smoked salmon and a poached egg.

It looked great but the fritter wasn’t what I expected. Instead of being mainly corn it was mainly a flour texture with a few pieces of corn thrown in. The three of us were quite disappointed as we had all ordered it.

I also ordered a chai with almond milk – yay almond milk! Except they made it from scratch is guess and while I’m sure it was good quality, I’m used to the sweet crap they usually serve at cafes which made it taste very spicy to me. I had to add a pack of sugar to make it drinkable.

The egg and salmon were good though so I’d probably give them another chance as I have heard good things.

Richmond Night Market – Foodie Heaven

October 9, 2013

I love the Richmond Night Market! From the amazing food, Asian nicknacks to the ‘interesting’ performances there’s everything I need to keep me happy for an evening.

I’ve been twice now, just a 20min ride from the Yaletown station, 2 block walk then $2 at the door and you’re ready to rumble!

Food wise, it’s a dream come true. Delicious plates with small portions and smaller prices. You can eat a huge variety of everything. Thank God as its hard enough to choose knowing I can fit in only 5 plates as it is!

There’s stalls upon stalls on mobile cases, accessories and chargers. There’s onesies, fake jewellery, Hello Kitty, scarves, bags, glowing items – most things you can think of from an Asian marketplace are there.

Then there’s the entertainment… Interesting is the word I’d use. Put it this way, I’ve never sat down to watch a show but I’m sure plenty of people enjoy it…

So without further adieu my top food picks:
– BBQ’d fresh squid. I love.
– Choc dipped (sprayed) strawberries. Quality of the Choc is average at best but it’s a fun novelty to spray them yourself.
– The spiral potatoes. The name evades me right now and again it’s more for the novelty here. Maybe mine was over seasoned.
– Bacon wrapped asparagus skewers
– Pork dim sims on a stick
– Steamed pork buns
– Chow mein
– Japanese dessert crepes
– Slovakian pastry filled with Nutella and rolled in cinnamon sugar
– Bubble tea
– Mango & coconut smoothie
– Ramen

I could go on but they’re the best ones I’ve had and they’re all between $3.50 & $6! Take a friend and share to try as much goodness as you can, but they close on the 14th so get there this weekend!

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