Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Marvellous Melbourne

In the last few days I have been enjoying Melbourne in Autumn, crisp mornings, streets layered with falling leaves and searching the neighbourhood for neglected quince trees - it's amazing how many fruit trees adorn backyards laden with bountiful crops which go unharvested.  Autumn in this fair city is also rich in non-organic events - cultural festivals abound. So in just a few short days I have been soaking up the atmosphere (and a glass or two of Tempranillo) at 'La Mirada' Spanish film festival, belly laughing at Comedy festival gigs and concerting to the earthy blues vocals and guitar brilliance of visiting Ruthie Foster and Eric Bibb.

But after all that wonderful entertainment one gets a little peckish and there's always sustenance to consider. Between comedy festival shows we have a very quick but tasty Gorgonzola gnocchi at Rosati.  But there's no problem finding somewhere open for satisfying food after all this 'culture', even at 11pm, even on a Monday night and even in suburban Box Hill. On offer at Oriental Inn (open until 2am) is simple yet delicious Cantonese fare with the added bonus of an array of wonderful roasted meats. Our usual is a bowl of steamed rice with some crispy salted roasted pork or roasted duck or soy chicken or a mixed platter and some garlicky vegetables most often Chinese broccoli but this time we had the snow pea shoots which were excellent.

Oriental Inn, 29 Carrington Rd Box Hill 
Oriental Inn on Urbanspoon

And as for those quinces I had to travel a little further a field but now have some jars of luscious Quince Jelly for my morning toast (courtesy of my sister) and a few left over for another of Greg Maloufs recipes - Slow cooked lamb and quinces but that's tomorrow so that's another food story!

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