Suishaya Inn

Walking in without a booking, we were advised we only had a limited time because of a later booking.  We were hungry so we started off with several entrees.  Miso Shiru (miso soup) was good and the Osumino - chicken and fish soup tasted more of fish and less of chicken.  I didn't quite like the Gyoza but I can't remember the reason why :")

The Nasu Dengaku was a thick lenghtwise cut of grilled eggplant topped with miso sauce that was spilling over the sides.  It was served with a fork and spoon but it was still hard to cut and divide but I enjoyed the taste.

Finally for main ET chose the Sashimi.  It wasn't bad but the "horseradish" was not very hot.  Perhaps that's the reason why they didn't refer to is as wasabi?

I went for fish cooked in miso flavoured sauce.  The fish arrived in 3 large pieces with only the top totally covered in sauce so the bottom ones hardly got any.  It made me wish they left the eggplant dish instead of clearing it away.  Nevertheless ET & I both thought the dish intesting.

Suishaya Inn not only advertise but they also calculate on your bill the 10% discount you would get for paying cash.  And with that kind of figure in front of you, how can you resist?


Suishaya Inn
62A Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood

The Firehouse (VI)

In all honesty we were hoping for brunch at Smoken Joe’s Cafe but they are still under renovation.  We then headed off to Firehouse thinking we’d be able to have the lunch menu.  Unfortunately we were an hour early :(

ET not wanting to order the same dish as last time, was swayed by the sound of  poached eggs, double smoked bacon, chive fromage and hash brown.  Both having compromised what to order the last few times we’ve been out, we decided to hell with it and ordered the same dish.

ET was much surprised at how much he liked it.  Me, on the other hand, was surprised that the hollandaise sauce was poured on top of the eggs because a lady at the adjoining table had hers served in a small bowl.  (Perhaps she’d specially requested it that way?)  Admittedly, seeing her dish while we were looking over the menu was one reason why I ordered it and why I nodded my head towards their table when telling ET what I was going to order.

The other things that surprised me was I didn’t like the double smoked bacon.  I think it was just too much for my palette.  And lastly, when I saw the fried triangle piece on the adjoining table, I presumed it was the fromage fried like saganaki & other similar cheeses.  It came quite a surprise to me that it was in fact the hash brown.  Fancy that – hash brown shaped as a triangle block!

The Firehouse

253 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood

The Firehouse (V)

Before you shake your head and say 'Not again!', in our defence at least this time we went for breakfast.

The breakfast menu lists 12 items, some of which were a tad unusual like the breakfast bruschetta or the baked rice and buttermilk.  Partly because of the fact everything I had my eye on had too much dairy for my liking, I had to order scrambled eggs. Luckily the scrambled eggs were nice & fluffy. However the piece of turkish bread underneath the eggs was not large enough for me. Since I forgot to order extra bread, and service was quite slow, I just went with it. Thankfully the serve was not too big so I left nothing on my plate. ;)

ET chose the Huevos Rancheros with a side of sausage. Although the dish wasn't quite what he expected, he did say it was delicious.

Coffee also got a very good rating from ET so Firehouse gets a thumbs up for breakfast. Now we'll just have to visit for lunch to complete the picture!

The Firehouse

253 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood

The Firehouse (IV)

Back again, you may ask.  Yep.  This time an early dinner was booked and I thought we should try more  tapas/share dishes.  Although ET wasn't so keen on the polenta with green beans, he was kind enough to order it to appease me.  And just as well - because he thought it delicious!

We both loved the braised chicken's nice color and taste. 

ET thought the whitebait "interesting".  For me, it wasn't crispy enough and tasted a little more fishy than I thought it should.

However overall ET thought we chose a great combination of flavours for entree.

For mains I opted for mussels; one of Firehouse's medium dishes.  This was just the perfect size considering our somewhat gluttonous start.  The mussels were nice, not at all chewy and I liked the dollops of butter which melted into the dish.  Although by the end of it I had a bowl full of soup (for lack of a better word) which probably could've been mopped up with crusty bread if they hadn't served the dish with just one thin piece of turkish bread :(

ET went for the 8 hour slow cooked lamb.  There was an unidentifiable mash under the lamb (see photo below) but the dish had plenty of bold but complementing flavours which he really enjoyed.

Which brings me to our waiter for the night.  He seemed really knowledgeable and explained on ordering that the lamb would be a piece of neck and that, indeed, the dish would have strong flavours.  He also enquired how I liked the warm turkish apple cocktail I ordered.  Apparently I was the first one to ever order it!  I'm not sure I liked being the guinea pig.  But the drink was not for me.  I liked the candied apple garnish better!

ET also noticed the waiter's interactions with other diners and couldn't help but be impressed by his passion.  His attitude alone could've given any place a thumbs up.  This, coupled with the great food, made for a very good enjoyable night out for us.


The Firehouse
253 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood

The Firehouse (III)

Fantastic.  It seemed that was ET's comment of the night.  From the taramasalata & tatziki dip with warm bread to his (second) wine and my atlantic salmon dish.  Admittedly his first wine was a little too sweet for his liking.  And although his steak was good, he thought perhaps he should not have ordered it to be rare.  But that, my friends, was his mistake.

 (Here's another shot of my salmon below, just cos I like the photo!)

We noticed The Firehouse has updated its menu since our last visit.  Presumably this is to go with the change in weather.  Happily they still had the chickpea churros we loved last time.  But we decided on the bread and dips this time.

Water wellness though, wasn't up to scratch.  I saw them take a bottle from a windowsill, which is where they seem to keep an assortment of items.  Then the waitress proceeded to pour water into our glasses, holding the bottle at the bottom and pouring as if it were wine.  Which probably would've been better since the water was room temperature.  But I prefer cool, if not chilled, water.

ET did make mention afterwards that The Firehouse is not by any means cheap.  And even though we booked (for a change!) we were seated next to a door in the back room, a room that he believes lacks ambiance; so ET didn't feel as if we were dining in a nice restaurant.  Which is a pity considering the waitstaff weren't bad.  At one stage the straw fell out of my glass as it was being served.  And, much to my amusement, the waitress returned with a straw placed on top of a serviette on a saucer!  I almost laughed from the absurdity of it!

And one final thing.  As our mains were served I did my usual preening and photo-taking.  One of the waitstaff came over and asked how everything was.  I told her we hadn't tasted anything yet and she said she noticed me taking photos and wanted to ensure there was nothing wrong.  After telling her it all looked great and that's the reason why I was taking photos, she left us to it.  I wonder if I should've said I have a blog in the hopes they'll remember us and be extra nice next time we come and visit.  After all, I'm sure there'll be a next time...

The Firehouse

253 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood

Smoken Joe’s Cafe

Walking into Smoken Joe's Ringwood, the first thing we noticed was its large size and colorful setting.  It has that American diner-style setting.  There’s even a lounge/bar area and because the place is fully licenced, ET thinks this might be a good place to have a function.  Although I think it might get a bit loud if you have a raucous party.  Since we were there for a weekend lunch, we didn’t have to put up with any of that.

To begin with, I have two things I must make special mention about their rather large menu – you have to check out their “gourmet” pizzas.  To ET & I, they sounded more like “weird” pizzas.  As in: Nacho pizza, anyone? :s   Kudos, however, for having something called a "Big Ass Breakfast" on the menu.  I kid you not!

Anyway, after going through the menu, I was tossing up between two dishes and ended up with the lasagna.  Which was a bit of a disappointment.  Although there was plenty of mince in the bolognese, it was actually quite dry and I would’ve preferred more sauce.  Also, the pasta was quite chewy in some parts.

The dish I passed on was the French Farmhouse Chicken because ET had decided on it while I was still tossing up my choices.  Anyhow he fared better that I did but he did mention the sauce was a little over the top.  You can see it drowning the chicken in the photo below.  

Nevertheless ET said the coffee was nice (which is always a bonus) and we have no complaints about the wait staff.  Although ET said the woman behind at the register was a bit weird.  I didn’t notice anything because I was too busy taking photos.  But may be that’s why she was acting weird – she was suspicious of me taking a picture of the lounge area!

But the best bit (at least for me, anyhow) is we got to sit at a booth – the kind where you sit across from each other and no one’s stuck on an uncomfortable chair while the other is on an either too high or too low bench.  This one was a real, proper booth.  And who doesn’t love a booth! :)

Smoken Joe's Cafe

305 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood 

The Firehouse (II)

Being a Friday night, we actually made a booking at Firehouse.  ET had wanted to visit the bar beforehand but we took an unintended detour before getting there and ended up arriving right on time.  Since our table was actually ready and we were quite hungry, it looks as if the bar will have to wait until next time.

We were seated in the small room off the main one.  I would dearly have loved to sit by the window but unfortunately that table was already taken by the time we got there. And, incidentally, they were still happily drinking from their carafe by the time we left.

But anyhow, lucky I had already started this blog or I wouldn't have been able to answer ET's questions about what we ate last time we were here.  This time ET was eyeing the omelette and the chickpea churros had me sold.

The omelette, sadly to say, was quite bland.  Both ET and I put seasoning on it.  :(   The churros, however, was a real winner.  ET seemed quite surprised that he enjoyed the unusual choice.  He thought the taste was quite mild but matched well with the aioli - a good dish to have as an entree.

For main I went for parpadelle with beef ragu.  Beef in the dish had quite a strong flavour but eaten with the sheets of pasta (they looked more like sheets to me, not wide strips of pasta) meant it wasn't over-powering.  I wasn't quite sure about the pine nuts in the dish though.  And the cut of meat had a little too much fat on it for my liking.

The porterhouse, much to my surprise was requested by ET as medium rare.  He said they did a good job on it.  Although we weren't quite sure what they were trying to achieve with those sad looking peas.  Judge for yourself --

For me, the chickpea churros is definitely enough to bring me back.  It may be a little crumbly, but the aioli had a strong garlic taste which I surprisingly enjoyed, and smothered all over the churros.  Yum!

The Firehouse

253 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood

The Firehouse

Arriving at Firehouse after 8pm on a Thursday night, we thought it was a good sign that the place was still packed.  The menu is short with a huge wine list.  And although the menu leans towards tapas/shared dishes, we just ordered the Spanish braised octopus.

ET really enjoyed the combination of cheese with octopus.  I'm sure he'll want to order it again.

For the main I went for the paella.  Since that night I've come to the realisation that you should only order paella at a reputable Spanish restaurant.  Enough said.

ET chose the salmon with parsnip mash.  (Sorry, the photo is pretty terrible).

ET believes the mains could have been plated better.  And although I found the staff attentive enough, ET thought one had a weird smell and was a bit put off that the half dozen or so floor staff were dressed differently.  Some wore aprons, and those that did, had different styles on.  I don't think staff need to be dressed identically, but a bit of consistency would have been nice.


The Firehouse
253 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood