They say the food in Melbourne is the best in the world. While this claim is difficult to substantiate, it might very well be true. What makes it so excellent is the way the different cultures and influences have come together bringing the best of their cuisine and leaving behind everything else.
No one ever goes to England and comes back raving about the food, but Australia definitely has a strong British influence. Foods such as fish and chips, sausage roles, or meat pies can be found in abundance here and they are all very good. Of course, one could get fish and chips in the States, but somehow, they are flat out better here.
In Melbourne, there is the largest population of Greeks living outside of Athens and it is readily apparent in the local cuisine. Pitas, humus, Kalmato olives, and roast lamb can be easily found and the food has a strong Mediterranean influence. Walk down any street and it is easy to purchase a kebab, gyro, or stuffed grape leaves. All of it is fantastic.
The large number of Italians brought with them their recipes for pizza and pasta. The pizza here, like most things in Australia, are neither better nor worse than in the States - it is simply different. Although a pizza here may look like a pizza in the States; it is served on a thinner crust, has less sauce, and the ingredients may be radically different. It would not be unusual to have a pizza here that has salami or a hard boiled egg on it. Personally, I don’t go for salami and have held out for peperoni without much luck. However, I have had a pizza served with pumpkin, goat cheese, and rosemary that is the best non-pizza I have ever had. Maybe it’s because I have a pumpkin fetish, but I truly love some of these recipes. Trying to compare them to the pizza I knew back home is like comparing apples to oranges. Both have their own merits and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to have tried both.
The Japanese, Thais, and Chinese have brought their food with them, but it seems like the immigration process weeded out the mediocre restauranters and only allowed the best ones in. Even a fast Teryaki restaurant in the mall will provide a much better quality of meal than I was used to back home.
Having lived in Redmond for so long, I assumed that I was getting excellent Indian food. I was wrong as the Indian food here is flat out better. The naan is slightly more delicious. The selection of chutneys is broader. The curries are tastier and the Tandoori is zestier.
With all of this excellent food, one would think that I would have nothing to whinge about, but I’m me and I can always find something to whinge about. I am not against drinking, I just don’t do it that often. It’s not because I get drunk and say stupid things that I shouldn’t say. I do. It’s not because when inebriated I do things I shouldn’t. That definitely happens. In fact, one memorable New Year’s Eve, pre-kids, Julie and I found ourselves in Tahiti. We were seated with another couple who had broken up before the trip but decided to go anyway since it was payed for. I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyhoo, the tension was thick and the champagne was free, so drink I did. I proceeded to offend the couple - horribly. I urinated off of a bridge. I went streaking. I have no regrets to this day, for these are the kind of things that I do when I’m inebriated.
The reason I don’t drink often is because it leads to horrible decisions about what I eat. When I have had a few cocktails, all of a sudden, it seems like a great idea to eat an entire pizza at 2:00AM. My appetite is insatiable and I will eat anything and everything. Back to my point, I had a fantastic evening with friends and went to my first “footy” in late May. Julie and I started to stumble back to our hotel room when we walked past Mr. Pie Face. I saw a giant piece of cheesecake in the display case and decided that I must have it.
Back in the room, I took a few bites and realized it was easily the single worst piece of cheesecake that I had ever tasted. It was so vile, that I wasn’t willing to eat it drunk which is about the worst insult I could ever give to food. Since then, I have had mediocre cheesecake, but nothing as good as what one could get at the Cheesecake Factory back in the States. I will continue to whinge until I find a place that can consistently beat the average chain restaurant in America.
With all of the great food around me (except cheesecake), I have a new found purpose in my life. Roughly ten years ago, Julie and I were both full time employees at Microsoft in Silicon Valley. We lived in Mountain View and would occasionally make the five mile drive to Cupertino to eat at the Outback Steakhouse. We would look at the Apple campus and feel sorry for the unfortunate people who worked there thinking Apple would go under any day. After a few meals at the Outback, our idea of Australian food was blooming onions, shrimp on the barbie, and Foster’s beer. Although the food there is pretty bad, it brings back good memories and makes me laugh at myself a little for believing it to be even mildly authentic. Knowing what I know now, I love to tease my Aussie mates about the Outback Steakhouse.
One night randomly reading nothing special on my iPad in bed, I decided to look up the Outback. I was shocked to discover that they have an international presence. Even better, there are Outback Steakhouses in Australia! I was disappointed to find that all eight of the restaurants are in New South Wales (Sydney) and none in Victoria. I vow to do everything in my power to lobby the good owners of the chain to bring their presence here in Victoria.
Back in the States, the Outback is a bunch of Americans pretending to be Australians. It makes me wonder if in Australia, it is filled with Australians pretending to be Americans pretending to be Australians. It gets very meta very quickly. Nothing would entertain me more than telling some of my Aussie mates that we should go out to dinner, offering to pick them up, locking the doors, and dragging them to the Outback. Maybe I am homesick if I want the Outback to come here, but maybe if this is my greatest burning desire, then my life is pretty good.
No one ever goes to England and comes back raving about the food, but Australia definitely has a strong British influence. Foods such as fish and chips, sausage roles, or meat pies can be found in abundance here and they are all very good. Of course, one could get fish and chips in the States, but somehow, they are flat out better here.
In Melbourne, there is the largest population of Greeks living outside of Athens and it is readily apparent in the local cuisine. Pitas, humus, Kalmato olives, and roast lamb can be easily found and the food has a strong Mediterranean influence. Walk down any street and it is easy to purchase a kebab, gyro, or stuffed grape leaves. All of it is fantastic.
The large number of Italians brought with them their recipes for pizza and pasta. The pizza here, like most things in Australia, are neither better nor worse than in the States - it is simply different. Although a pizza here may look like a pizza in the States; it is served on a thinner crust, has less sauce, and the ingredients may be radically different. It would not be unusual to have a pizza here that has salami or a hard boiled egg on it. Personally, I don’t go for salami and have held out for peperoni without much luck. However, I have had a pizza served with pumpkin, goat cheese, and rosemary that is the best non-pizza I have ever had. Maybe it’s because I have a pumpkin fetish, but I truly love some of these recipes. Trying to compare them to the pizza I knew back home is like comparing apples to oranges. Both have their own merits and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to have tried both.
The Japanese, Thais, and Chinese have brought their food with them, but it seems like the immigration process weeded out the mediocre restauranters and only allowed the best ones in. Even a fast Teryaki restaurant in the mall will provide a much better quality of meal than I was used to back home.
Having lived in Redmond for so long, I assumed that I was getting excellent Indian food. I was wrong as the Indian food here is flat out better. The naan is slightly more delicious. The selection of chutneys is broader. The curries are tastier and the Tandoori is zestier.
With all of this excellent food, one would think that I would have nothing to whinge about, but I’m me and I can always find something to whinge about. I am not against drinking, I just don’t do it that often. It’s not because I get drunk and say stupid things that I shouldn’t say. I do. It’s not because when inebriated I do things I shouldn’t. That definitely happens. In fact, one memorable New Year’s Eve, pre-kids, Julie and I found ourselves in Tahiti. We were seated with another couple who had broken up before the trip but decided to go anyway since it was payed for. I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyhoo, the tension was thick and the champagne was free, so drink I did. I proceeded to offend the couple - horribly. I urinated off of a bridge. I went streaking. I have no regrets to this day, for these are the kind of things that I do when I’m inebriated.
The reason I don’t drink often is because it leads to horrible decisions about what I eat. When I have had a few cocktails, all of a sudden, it seems like a great idea to eat an entire pizza at 2:00AM. My appetite is insatiable and I will eat anything and everything. Back to my point, I had a fantastic evening with friends and went to my first “footy” in late May. Julie and I started to stumble back to our hotel room when we walked past Mr. Pie Face. I saw a giant piece of cheesecake in the display case and decided that I must have it.
Back in the room, I took a few bites and realized it was easily the single worst piece of cheesecake that I had ever tasted. It was so vile, that I wasn’t willing to eat it drunk which is about the worst insult I could ever give to food. Since then, I have had mediocre cheesecake, but nothing as good as what one could get at the Cheesecake Factory back in the States. I will continue to whinge until I find a place that can consistently beat the average chain restaurant in America.
With all of the great food around me (except cheesecake), I have a new found purpose in my life. Roughly ten years ago, Julie and I were both full time employees at Microsoft in Silicon Valley. We lived in Mountain View and would occasionally make the five mile drive to Cupertino to eat at the Outback Steakhouse. We would look at the Apple campus and feel sorry for the unfortunate people who worked there thinking Apple would go under any day. After a few meals at the Outback, our idea of Australian food was blooming onions, shrimp on the barbie, and Foster’s beer. Although the food there is pretty bad, it brings back good memories and makes me laugh at myself a little for believing it to be even mildly authentic. Knowing what I know now, I love to tease my Aussie mates about the Outback Steakhouse.
One night randomly reading nothing special on my iPad in bed, I decided to look up the Outback. I was shocked to discover that they have an international presence. Even better, there are Outback Steakhouses in Australia! I was disappointed to find that all eight of the restaurants are in New South Wales (Sydney) and none in Victoria. I vow to do everything in my power to lobby the good owners of the chain to bring their presence here in Victoria.
Back in the States, the Outback is a bunch of Americans pretending to be Australians. It makes me wonder if in Australia, it is filled with Australians pretending to be Americans pretending to be Australians. It gets very meta very quickly. Nothing would entertain me more than telling some of my Aussie mates that we should go out to dinner, offering to pick them up, locking the doors, and dragging them to the Outback. Maybe I am homesick if I want the Outback to come here, but maybe if this is my greatest burning desire, then my life is pretty good.
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