suburban paradise

Oh boy am I excited. Marion gave me a tip-off that KimChi Grandma had been reviewed in the age. Had a read and I was tempted - good Korean, not too flashy - only catch was it's in Carnegie. Luckily I somehow convinced Sarah to go on a pilgrimage - we had a walk on the beach on the way and suburbia wasn't too bad at all - lots of promising looking op-shops.

KimChi Grandma It was just what I've been craving - packed out (on a Tuesday) with Koreans and skips, speedy service, masses of side dishes... not too wallet busting either ($30 for 2).

As usual the side dishes were the highlight - and there were 7 complimentary ones! Great cucumber kimchi, asparagus with chilli, lovely radish slices, eggplant, some wacky honeyed potatoes, beansprouts with seaweed and regular cabbage kimchi! To wash them down we had a tofu dish very much like Agedashi Tofu, potato noodles (!) and a stew based on kimchi with vegies and a bit of rice cake. Everything was simple but with very good flavour. Mixed up with the sharp and chilli tastes of the sides, rice and that awesome corn tea - such a bloody feast.

Oh how I wish that KimChi Grandma was around the corner from my house. They even have ice cream mochi - the little dumpling cakes filled with red bean ice cream that I used to get in Footscray. So if you happen to be in the south-east cruise down to 125 Koornang Rd, Carnegie for a feast. Apparently there's one in Box Hill too. Oh shit - a Whitepages search just revealed one in the city - 145 Bourke St... maybe I should have done my research better. Don't tell Sarah.

Well, there is a reason we had to trek to Carnegie - the other thing that's got me totally stoked is Cafe Armenia which we stumbled across - across the road from KimChi Grandma. Sarah and I had to admit we didn't even know where Armenia is - I said Middle East, she said Baltic. We were both kinda on the right track - between Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Anyway the place is only a year old but looks like a relic from the 50s - handpainted Armenian (I guess) landscapes and old plates with gold rims like my grandma had. And on the menu, besides the endless meaty stews and bbq platters - cherry dumplings, pancakes with potato, walnut and bean spread!!!! So saturday will be an op-shop crawl and Armenian lunch. I am truly overexcited... Will let you know what it's like.