Burma Lane

Burma Lane – Melbourne.

As you walk into Burma Lane, the high ceilings and prominent artwork of Aung San Suu Kyi give the atmosphere a positive vibe and feeling of freedom. Columns of picture frames are hung against the wall with images and artifacts representing Burmese culture. I went to Burma Lane with my family as a post Christmas dinner. Our choice of restaurant was significant because it was where my Dad was from. Although my dad is no longer with us, it was really special to taste the delicious flavours from his culture that reminded us of his cooking.  The Mohingha was a fave. The waiters were friendly and attentive which made dinner at Burma Lane a great experience.

Burma Lane – The three condiments.

Before we ordered, we were introduced to three condiments to accompany our meals. There was a Burmese style sweet and sour sauce,  a chilli relish and Balachan, which was like a dried shrimp mix.

Burma Lane – Swami delight.

My brother ordered a mocktail called ‘Swami delight’ which was apple, cardamom syrup, agave and indian yoghurt. It was an interesting drink and might I add, delicious.

Burma Lane – Chargrilled chicken chop.

The entrees were onesies, entrées for one.  They’re not for sharing because each entrée is a one piece serving. The Chicken chop chargrilled with ginger, turmeric, lime & chilli was a great starter. It was fresh, delicious and a good canvas to trial each of the condiments on. The Kun Sar Thi was a mixture of chicken, shallot, green mango & Sichuan pepper that you wrap up in a Betel leaf like a taco.

Burma Lane – Roasted lamb potato cake.

We tried the potato cake. This was no ordinary potato cake, it was filled with spicy slow roasted lamb belly aside a cabbage salad with a dollop of minty yoghurt on top. Heaps yummy.  We also had the broad bean fritter with crunchy broad beans & vibrant spinach relish which was like a Burmese inspired falafel.

Burma Lane – Five spice pork belly.

I liked the five-spice pork belly chunk. It was fried and coated in a curry sauce with chilli, lemongrass and turmeric, which was delicious. The pork belly was a little tough to bite through though. It had a dry, crispy texture.

Burma Lane – Flat rice noodles.

The noodles we tried were really yummy, we got the flat rice noodles with tofu puffs, spicy coconut broth, greens & beansprouts. The creamy curry sauce with the fresh greens, were delicious. A great vegetarian dish! Plus there was a little debacle where my brother was trying to transport noodles from the sharing plate onto his own plate… SMASH! the plate broke in two. The waiter promptly cleared the mess and arranged another plate of noodles. They replaced the plate and noodles free of charge, which was really nice considering it was our fault. (Can’t take my brother anywhere!)

Burma Lane – Rockling AKA Funky Mohingha.

The rockling was perfectly cooked in turmeric, lemongrass & tomato with vermicelli noodles, mustard greens & egg. This was Burma Lane’s take on a well known Burmese classic, Mohingha. It was a great representation of Burmese food and it’s culture.

Burma Lane – Sago & coconut pudding .

For dessert we tried the sago and coconut pudding with fresh coconut & seasonal fruits. This was delicious. With the fluffy pudding top and texture of sago on the bottom it was a real delight. The fruit lifted the flavour. I heart pomegranate!

Burma Lane – Jasmine Rice Ice-cream.

We tried a scoop of the Jasmine rice ice-cream which was hmm…perplexing. The best way I can describe it is that it tastes like a floral scent. When you eat it, it tastes like a smell. Strange, yet compelling. You want more and more because it is different. It has a distinct flavour of Jasmine. I wouldn’t say it’s delicious but it is definitely worth trying, even just to experience the confusing twist on your senses.

Burma Lane – Brown butter semolina cake w palm sugar ice cream.

Lastly, we had the semolina cake with brown butter. This was a warm moist cake (like a pudding) which went perfectly with the cold palm sugar ice-cream. It was topped with sticky raisins and toasted almonds, which gave it great texture. Yum, Yum, Yum!

Burma Lane has added a modern twist to Burmese inspired food.

Olives x

Burma Lane
Address: 118 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
Website: http://burmalane.com.au
Phone: 03 9615 8500
Trading Hours: Mon-Fri: 12pm-3pm (Lunch), 6pm-late (Dinner) Sat: 6pm-late, Sun: closed

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Olive Christmas 2013

Merry Max – Maximum Santa.

Merry Christmas to everyone from Olive Sundays!! Hope you had a wonderful day filled with lots of food, family and fun times. Christmas is a super busy time so I’ll just write a quick post on the festive events that were.

So my brother and I have an annual crap present competition where we create a crap present for each other.  And quite simply the crappiest present wins. My family members judge and decide on a winner with a show of hands. This year I won with my homemade LOAFers.

LOAFers.

LOAFers – Loafers are comfortable slippers worn around the house and they are made out of loafs of bread. These loaves function as practical footwear or a delicious snack. The soft bread moulds around your foot for extra comfort.

Merry Mel – The LOAFers are fully functional.

Loafers are one crappy present and I was well chuffed with the win. My brother made an interactive gift where it was like pass the parcel with little toiletries as gifts. It was fun and lame but unfortunately not good crap enough to win.

Gingerbread house decorating competition.

We also had a gingerbread house decorating competition. Our gingerbread house had lots of detail that was unseen by the unimaginative eye. Firstly our ginger bread house had landed on top of the wicked Santa of the East, so you can see on the side of our house, only his legs and boots remain (you know, like in the wizard of oz). Secondly our team was called Team Kick-ass so we had little kick-ass and hit girl snowmen out front. Then there was the Christmas tree decorated with decapitated jelly baby heads as the bobbles and the corresponding bodies skewered by toothpicks as the presents under the tree. So our gingerbread house had a little bit of a dark twist but it was still really pretty. Our team didn’t win sigh, but it was heaps of fun decorating.

Jess’ Trifle – Best Trifle ever.

My cousins wife Jess made the best trifle I’ve ever eaten in my life! Om-n0mn0m. Look how even the layers are….impressive! It was the perfect amount of sweetness for it to be delicious but not too sweet so you can still have seconds or thirds. Yum!

Kim’s snowman cupcakes.

My cousin Kim made these adorable little snowman cupcakes and each of them had a different personality…how cute. Plus they were yummy too. Some of the snowmen looked really worried though which was cause for concern. I realised that it is probably because in Australia it is summer and summer and snowmen don’t mix.

My cousin Ali made really pretty Christmas coloured jelly shots. Red on the bottom and green on top was alcoholic and green on the bottom with red on top was non-alcoholic so the kids could eat them. It was difficult to remember which was which.

My cousin Rolls made peanut butter cups but left them at home (probably because they were too delicious to share) I know the feeling….and so does Max.

Merry Max loves Festive Food.

This year was Max’s very first Christmas and he is loving the opening presents and excessive eating part the most.

Overall I had a really wonderful Christmas. I hope you did too.

I heart Christmas!

Olives x

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets 2013

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets 2013 – Alexandra Gardens.

Yesterday concluded Melbourne’s first and much-loved night noodle markets. It was a plethora of Asian food. There were dumplings, noodles, sliders, peking duck pancakes, curries, skewers, pho, roti, steamed buns, everything! All of the Asian street food you could imagine and all in one place, it was marvelous. For two weeks people flocked to Alexandra Gardens to experience a taste of what Melbourne has to offer in terms of Asian cuisine. Over 25,000 people went on just the first day alone.

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets – Chin Chin.

The Chin Chin pork slider with siracha and burnt chilli mayo was insanely delicious. The cute little burger bun was so soft you just want to pet it. And the shredded pork just melts in your mouth. The chilli and mayo intensifies the punch of flavours and the crisp Asian slaw and coriander gave it a freshness.  I know you’re not supposed to pick favourites but this was absolutely delicious! I love Chin Chin.

The chilli-caramel popcorn at the chin chin stall was amazing too. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was definitely curious to try it. It was like reading the twist at the end of a thriller novel. It was sweet like caramel popcorn ordinarily is, but then BAM! Out of nowhere, chilli makes a sudden appearance and changes everything you thought you knew before. Omg! No way! Really? The realisation leaves you in shock but rounds off the sweet tones of the caramel and ends perfectly. You finish the spiral of popcorn with the sweetness of the caramel and a smooth hum of chilli lingering on your tastebuds. These are telltale signs of a great novel/popcorn.

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets – Longrain.

At the Longrain stall we got the grilled chicken noodles. It was a bowl of thick rice noodles with crispy skin grilled chicken pieces and yellow beans. It was topped with lots of fresh coriander, chilli and crunchy fried shallots. The sauce brought all the flavours together, a delicious balance of sweet, salty and sour, yum! In the interest of trying the most foods we possibly could, we had to share this meal because it was quite filling. There is a limited amount of space in one tummy so when you’re on a tummy budget you have to share the heavier meals with friends so that you can keep on chomping.  This strategy worked a charm.

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets – Aangan.

We saw someone with what looked like a giant fried crepe, which was fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside with a side of curry to dip it in.  I tapped her on the shoulder and asked what it was and where we could get one. She pointed to where the stall was, and so we went. We then sat down to eat it and someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked what it was and where they could get one. I pointed to the stall. It looked delicious and it was like a chain reaction. Aangan was the stall and it was an Indian Masala Dosa filled with potato, which you dip in the curry and coconut chutney. Absolutely delicious! From the same place we got Papri Chaat, which was like a mixture of crisp fried dough wafers and potato with yoghurt, paprika, green tamerind and chilli. Yummo! It was a really interesting flavours and sort of like indian style nachos.

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets – Mr Huang Jin.

We got some pork and ginger steamed xiao long baos from the Mr Huang Jin stall and a mixed yum cha plate at Let’s do yum cha. Both were yummy.

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets – Hoy Pinoy.

At Hoy Pinoy there was a Filipino barbeque with chicken skewers in traditional glaze, pork belly skewers with banana ketchup and longganisa (pork sausage) on a stick. Yum! Yum! and Yum! These skewers aside a bed of steamed rice and green papaya pickle, so delish! A skewer in one hand and a beer/cider in another, perfect combo!

At the Gelato Messina stall they had a range of different sundaes. For example they had a halo halo sundae. OMG! Halo halo is a Filipino dessert usually made with shaved ice, condensed/evaporated milk, red beans, jellies etc. Gelato Messina made a delicious rendition of halo halo. It was sundae with coconut sorbet, jackfruit crème patissier, leche flan, rambutan jellies, fresh mango and condensed milk. This was such a wonderful creation. I absolutely loved it!

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets – Wonderbao.

The Wonderbao stall had a range of their delicious baos. I love Wonderbao. All their baos are incredible. Their pork bao has always been my fave with pork, egg, shitake mushroom and chinese sausage encased in a soft steamed bao. But all of them are delicious. We had the gua bao, which is like an open bao with a piece of soft and sweet roast pork belly with pickled mustard, coriander and crushed peanuts. Deliciousness!

There were bar people floating around taking orders for drinks so you could secure a place to sit and have them bring the drinks to you. This was handy, it allowed you be so full that you could barely move but still be able to order drinks from the bar from wherever you were. It was definitely a huge success and hopefully it will be on again. Same time next year? Hope so.

I heart the Melbourne Night Noodle Markets!

Olives x

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets 2013
Address: Alexandra Gardens, Melbourne 3000
Website: http://melbourne.goodfoodmonth.com/nightnoodlemarkets
Event Dates: November 18^th – 30^th 2013
Mon-Tue: 5-9pm; Wed: 5-10pm; Thu-Fri 5-11pm; Sat:4-10pm; Sun: 4-9pm