Foo Doo's

We were surprised to find Foo Doo's open on a Sunday, specially as the sign outside says "Sundays Closed" but there were several people inside so we walked in and after looking at the specials board, grabbed ourselves a table.

ET chose the Gnocchi Amatriciana which he said "wasn't bad, it's hard to do gnocchi".  It had bacon, capsicum, chilli and onion in napoli sauce.  (Lucky it was on the specials board because I was able to write that all down.  It's hard to write down ingredients when they take menus away at most places.)

My French Toast with Banana was barely warm and a bit soggy with no crisp edges.  But there were two big pieces of bread and the maple syrup was on a small saucer so I was able to dispurse it as I pleased.

Foo Doo's

366 Smith St, Fitzroy

Cafe Coco (III)

Back at Cafe Coco for a second week in a row, but boy, were we disappointed!  ET's pasta lacked flavour and looking at the photo, looks a bit dry.

I went for the Burger Pide and "oh my God" was what came out of my mouth when I saw this tower of food.  Why didn't I learn my lesson from a week ago?

I thought the burger was a little under-done.  Plus the chips were nowhere near as nice and crispy as they have been on our previous visits.  This was an unsuccessful meal for both of us.  So much so that ET and I were left wondering if Cafe Coco had a new cook for the day.

Cafe Coco

129 Smith St, Fitzroy

Cafe Coco (II)

This was one of those times I wasn't meant to take photos, but I did anyway.  Only problem is, I forgot what ET ordered!  Obviously pasta.  And I do remember his enjoying it.  But that's about it.

The Chicken BLT Pide took my fancy. It wasn't bad but incase you can't tell, it's actually an open sandwich. The pide is on the bottom with the BLT on top, plus a skewer holding it all together. Because there was no bread on top, I couldn't squish it all down, so I ended up making quite a mess. But I did manage to polish it all off!

Cafe Coco

129 Smith St, Fitzroy

Claypots

Claypots show you all their tapas style dishes on a big tray.  ET thinks it strange, but knows it’s a good tactic as not many people would refuse when the goods are all presented in front of you.  So it wasn’t a surprise we fell into that category and chose the Greek type salad that ET liked.  I chose what I believe was dried kelp.  ET thought the flavour was real subtle so it needed some sort of sauce to balance it.

We then went for a Cajun claypot (being it’s namesake, you really got to order at least one of them!).  It had a little spice which people with normal tolerance probably wouldn’t notice.  ET really liked this dish although neither of us saw or tasted the anchovies.  And we had to ask for bread as they serve the claypot on its own.  At least they didn’t charge us for it unlike some other places.

Next we went with grilled fish.  This came with some bokchoy and potatoes which was overcooked and dry, unfortunately.   

Even though we ordered the larger size fish, we still managed to polish it all off minus the head.

Claypots

153 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

Cafe Coco

Arriving lunchtime with one other person in the cafe, I wasn’t sure how good this Cafe Coco would be. 
The coffee was just ok but I quite enjoyed my Pesto Chicken with Spinach sandwich.  I was surprised to find pesto smeared onto the bread as well as the chicken but that, along with the creamy aioli made the sandwich more appealing to me.
ET’s Chicken Tandoori Focaccia was also nice.
But we really enjoyed the chips.  They were the correct crunchy texture and the chmichurri sauce drizzled across the top was an interesting change.  Although I’m not sure why they call it “Big chips”…
Having a few more couples come in during the hour we were there, service was attentive but not overbearing, plus we were given water as soon as we sat down so just from that simple act, they already got a smile from me!


Cafe Coco
129 Smith St, Fitzroy

The Oven

Make sure you order pizza at The Oven, either that or become a regular because that’s the only way you’ll be served here.

ET & I both ordered pasta and from my seat I had to watch the 2 guys behind the counter make pizza after pizza.  One of the guys eventually disappeared (presumably to deliver the pizzas?) and the other continued to make even more pizzas; one of which was served to a couple who arrived after we had already ordered.

When finally served, my lasagne had a burnt corner on top and when I hungrily cut into it, I found the whole bottom layer was also burnt black. 

ET’s ravioli just ok.  Correct me if I’m wrong here, but when the ‘chef’ orders one of the waitresses to cook it for him because he’s “too busy” to do it himself, then directs her on how to cook it over his shoulder, then what the hell do you expect???

To top it all off, we had waited over 30 minutes for our meals with no apologies for the delay or offer of a discount even though the couple (who we presume are regulars and friends of the chef) got served before us AND didn’t even seem to pay.  I had no intention of blogging about this place (hence no photos) but I had such a bad experience that this place is now blacklisted in my book.  Enough said!!


The Oven
339 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

Blue Chillies

We arrived at Blue Chillies just as a couple was walking out the door, so we were lucky to grab the only available table.  This place is open until late which is a bonus specially when, like us, several people came in late in the evening without a booking.

For entrée I requested the whitebait and sweet potato fritter from the specials.  It really didn’t have much taste so you needed the sauce to give it some flavour.  Unfortunately it was full of chillies so I had to take it quite easy.  ET, on the other hand, seemed to douse his fitter in it.  And being a chilli lover, he wasn’t complaining.

Pre-blog visit, ET & I had ordered a squid entrée we both loved.  Unfortunately the squid we ordered off the normal menu was not that dish.  This one arrived battered (seen in the background of picture below) and although it wasn’t bad, we were disappointed we weren’t able to get the dish we got last time.  Oh well, I guess that’s why they’re called “specials”. 

For main ET ordered strips of beef.  We probably should have shared this dish as it’s too much beef for one person.  You can see it all piled up on a dish below.

I went for crispy fried noodles with beef & bok choy.  The beef was a tad bit chewy and lacked some flavour but was not at all spicy, which was my hope.  Although I found it quite funny ET also ended up with a non-spicy dish when I found it difficult to see anything on the menu without chilli on it!  This is just as well, considering the restaurant’s name.

Blue Chillies
182 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 3065 VIC

Joe's Garage

On the way to see a Michael Chamberlin we wanted something reliable and quick. Having chosen a table by the bar, rather than the dining area of Joe's Garage seemed to put us at a disadvantage.  I tried to catch the eye of one of the three waitresses by the bar, to no avail.  Being on a time constraint, Et finally walked up to the bar and returned with a waiter.

Thankfully drinks were quickly served.  Soon the somewhat anaemic looking garlic bread was put down in front of us sans side plate.  Weird.  We tucked in regardless and were surprisingly served our meals while still chewing on our first slice of garlic bread.

Carbonara ordered by ET was fine but he had to pick out some of the bacon as he felt there was way too much in it.  He said it felt like they were just using up all their bacon so they would not have any left overs.

I felt the same way with the shoe string fries they served as part of my fish and chips.  Even with ET's help we couldn't eat all of it!

 Having been initially ignored by the staff, we were then approached several times after ordering.  We even got a comment of "You're just enjoying the wine" when ET said he didn't want to order another glass of red.  Hmmm....

 

Joe's Garage

366 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

Monties

It came as a surprise to both of us that Monties has a pizza takeaway joint that you can walk through from the restaurant. And on a quiet rainy day, the staff walked between the two areas to serve the few who dared to venture out in the pouring rain.

I ordered the lasagne which, from first bite, I did not like the taste of. I actually asked ET to taste it, to see what he thought. I've never done that before - I usually don't like to share ;)  He thought the sauce wasn't great.

Needless to say, I did not finish the dish. It was quite a large serve, so I probably would have struggled to finish it anyhow.

ET ordered the carbonara. He didn't seem to mind it at the time, but (dare I say it?) he wasn't well afterwards.

So now ET can't make any positive comment except they had pleasant staff; but we were the only table being served, so now he might be reluctant to go there again.

I guess the highlight of the meal came at the beginning when we got our coffees.

My latte cup was cute but too hot to hold. I think ET finished his long black before I was happy enough to start drinking mine. Now that I think of it, that seems to be when it all started going downhill.


Monties
351 Smith St, Fitzroy