Franco Choo's - Prahran, Victoria

Caipirinha - Cachaça, lime, sugar 14 

Chestnut, porcini & mushroom soup with parmesan 13

Baked fennel & potato sformato, roasted Jerusalem artichokes, pancetta & red onion 15

Pan-roasted parboned quail, celeriac puree, barley, leek 28

Pasta of the day, lamb shoulder ragu, saffron, tomato & pecorino 26

Poached quince, chocolate torta, roasted almond semifreddo, black olive caramel 14

Millefoglie, vanilla custard, rhubarb, pistachio 12

Revisit verdict? The food and company were so good that we decided to skip our scheduled movie plans in favour of dessert! 
Time and date of visit: 7 pm Wednesday 25 June 2014 (see our previous visit)

Franco Choo's
179a High Street, Prahran, Victoria, Australia (03) 9529 7310
Open for dinner from 6 pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Bookings Recommended. 

Sen - Footscray, Victoria

Black and White Coffee (Cold) $3.50

Vietnamese Sticky Rice Noodle Soup $10.00

Hai Nam Chicken on Steam Rice $10.00

Would we go back? Sitting on the corner in a quieter part of Barkly Street in Footscray, the clean and comfortable space boasts service which is friendly and attentive. Sen is also home to one his favourite Hainan Chicken dishes. I wasn't blown away by my noodle soup, but I was mostly just put off by the stringy bean shoots. My favourite dish sets a pretty high bar, so most noodle soups are unfortunately set up for failure and ultimately don't rate in my book. As Sen features quite a large and extensive menu, I don't doubt that we'll revisit in future - I'll just make sure to order something that's not in the noodle soup section.  
Time and date of visit: 12:30 pm Sunday 22 June 2014

Sen
74-76 Nicholson Street, Footscray, Victoria, Australia (03) 9687 4450
Open 7 days, 9 am am - 10 pm

Weekly Menu, 12 July - 18 July 2014

Saturday 12 July: Steamed egg with greens on rice 
Sunday 13 July: Sesame Southern fried chicken with Hawaiian style sesame cabbage salad
Monday 14 July: Spinach and bread dumplings
Tuesday 15 July: Shepherd's pie with cauliflower mash 
Wednesday 16 July: Pumpkin soup
Thursday 17 July: Pasta puttanesca
Friday 18 July: Roti Road #takeaway

Cô Thu Quán - Footscray, Victoria

Cafê - Vietnamese drip-brewed coffee with condensed milk (cold) 3.5

Bún Dâu Mam - A vermicelli dish served with fried tofu, steamed pork belly, fried pork patty mixed with young green rice kernels and fermented shrimp sauce 10

Bánh Tráng Cuôn - Mini rice paper wrappers featuring fried shallots, beef jerky, sour mango, dried shrimp and Japanese mayonnaise 5

Phá Lãu - Coconut Beef offal stew served with baguette 5

Bò Bía - Crunchy rice paper rolls with Chinese sausage, basil leaves, lettuce and crunchy jicama served with hoisin sauce 5

Revisit verdict? Still delicious and amazing value. The stew was a bit too watery for our tastes, but it was lovely to try out some new dishes, though the Bánh Tráng Cuôn remains our favourite dish from this cute little eatery.
Time and date of visit: 12 pm Sunday 15 June 2014

Cô Thư Quán
Shop 22, 63 Nicholson Street, Footscray, Victoria, Australia (03) 9913 9692
Open 7 days, 10:30 am - 8 pm

Dainty Sichuan - South Yarra, Victoria

Tasty Cold Noodle - Chilli Oil & Sichuan Pepper $7.80

Garlic Cucumber $11.80

Kong Pao Prawns - Chilli, Sweet & Sour $28.80

Stirfried Pea Seedling $ (seasonal price)

Fish Flavoured Eggplant - Pickled Chilli, Sweet & Sour $19.80 (2 chillies)

Mountain Spring Chicken - Chilli Sauce & Sichuan Pepper $38.80 (3 chillies)

Verdict? I'd recommend skipping the kong pao, but the rest was good, especially the usual suspects of tasty cold noodle, garlic cucumber, stirfried pea seedling and fish flavoured eggplant! Service certainly wasn't as attentive as it's been on previous visits and we had to wait quite a while for our dishes, but it was a very busy Saturday night, so keeping that in mind - the good still definitely outweighs the bad.
Time and date of visit: 7 pm Saturday 14 June 2014 (see our previous visits)

Dainty Sichuan

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia (03) 9078 1686

Open for lunch Mon & Wed-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-2:30pm and for dinner Sun-Mon & Wed-Thu 4:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-10pm

Nieuw Amersterdam - Melbourne, Victoria

Clover Club - Gin, Lemon Juice, Egg White and Raspberry Gum Syrup $19

Chicken Waffles - Pate, terrine, crispy chicken skin, orange caramel $15

Grits Fritters - Variety of sweetcorn, heirloom beetroot $19.50

Southern Style Pork Belly Chops - Sauerkraut, apple sauce, crackle $22

BBQ Lamb Ribs - Honey spiced rub, rosemary, lemon $16

Red Cabbage and Chilli Slaw $7

Chocolate Delice with Honeycomb $13

Peanut Butter Waffle - Salted peanut caramel, raspberry sorbet $14.50

Lemon Mess - Ginger crumble, cream cheese sorbet, lemonade granita $14

Would we go back? Indeed! Nieuw Amsterdam does a pretty good job of presenting modern versions of American comfort food in a beautiful and stylish space. Don't expect a cheap night out, but there's plenty more to try out on the menu, so we'll most definitely be back. 
Time and date of visit: 6 pm Friday 13 June 2014

Nieuw Amsterdam

106-112 Hardware Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (03) 9602 2111

Open Monday to Thursday 12 pm - 3 am, Friday and Saturday 12 pm - 5 am and Sunday 12 pm - 3 am

Gypsy & Pig - Melbourne, Victoria

Kurobuta eye fillet and oysters lunch special $23

Kurobuta eye fillet and oysters

Sauce

Miso soup

Rice

Greens and mushrooms

Pickles

Time and date of visit: 12.30 pm Friday 13 June 2014 (see previous visit)

Gypsy & Pig
Shop 3, 391 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (03) 9640 0731
Open for lunch Monday to Friday 11.30 am - 2.30 pm and for dinner Tuesday to Saturday 5.30 pm - 10 pm