Gumbo Kitchen

Authentic New Orleans cuisine: it's not something you come across often in ole Melbourne town. However things are about to change.

I introduce to you, Gumbo Kitchen. The newest gourmet food van on the scene, bringing their deep south favourites to the masses.

The main attractions at Gumbo Kitchen are gumbo (der) and a little delight known as the Po'Boy sandwich.

For those who are unfamiliar with New Orleans fare, let me elaborate. Gumbo is a spiced thick soup/stew often made with chicken/seafood and vegetables, usually served with rice. A Po'Boy is the Louisiana equivalent of Subway. Gumbo Kitchen do theirs with deep fried crumbed shrimp or beef 'debris' (shredded roast beef in a rich gravy) in a soft white sub roll dressed with lettuce, tomatoes, mayo and pickles. A decadent and tasty 'sometimes' food.

I had the pleasure of finally sampling Gumbo Kitchen's wares at a Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Event at Dandenong Market not long ago. They mainly trundle around similar areas to the other food vans (Brunswick, Northcote etc) but recently have been branching out a little to other parts of Melbourne as well. Needless to say I was very jealous when my husband announced Gumbo Kitchen was outside his workplace in Abbotsford one afternoon!

After much agonising I decided on a shrimp Po'Boy and a serving of chicken and sausage gumbo. Also on offer that day was a sweetcorn gumbo with fried green tomatoes and something called 'The Don', a generous serving of chips smothered in beef debris.

As you can see gumbo ain't pretty but my is it delicious. There were some nice chunks of chicken and smoky, spicy sausage, good value at $11. It's the perfect winter dish and something I'd definitely go back for.

The Po'Boy came with a VERY generous serving of shrimp, in fact I took half of it out to eat separately! The shrimp was a tad overcooked, which was a little disappointing but the crumb was nice and the salad combination went well with the shrimp. My toddler certainly approved, he ate a whole half! $12 might sound a bit steep for a sandwich but considering the amount of shrimp in there, I'd say it was very good value. Had the shrimp not been dry it would have been total ripper.

So a big thumbs up for Gumbo Kitchen, it's a great concept and serves up good, honest comfort food. I've noticed they're now adding a few other items to the menu such as catfish or deep fried oyster Po'Boys and some desserts as well (bread pudding with bourbon sauce...hello!).  So next time you feel like trying something a little different, give them a crack!

Follow Gumbo Kitchen on Twitter: @GumboKitchen

Beer DeLuxe

When you want an apple you go to the greengrocer; when you crave some fresh bread you head to the bakery... and when you want a memorable beer, make your way to Beer DeLuxe.

Tucked in next to the National Gallery in Federation Square, Beer DeLuxe is not so much a single venue but an entire complex (salon, cafe, hamburger bar, beer garden & restaurant) devoted to exposing the everyday beer lover to a wide and varied selection of great brews. It's a place that prides itself on bringing the world's best beer to one place. From local microbrews to quality imports, here beer is the religion and you, the dedicated worshipper. You won't find a pot of VB here.


The 'Beer Salon' is where we found ourselves late one Saturday night, a large split level space which features long beer-hall style tables and a collection of quirky light fittings across the ceiling. A large blackboard feature wall adorned with witty, beer related musings provides plenty of chuckles amongst punters.

The aptly named 'Beer Bible' is an enormous selection of bottled beers, divided into 12 different styles, from breweries as local as Richmond to far flung corners of Europe and Asia. The glossary is a great addition (especially to beer newbies as myself) to decipher the detailed descriptions of each beer style.

The bar staff are friendly and extremely knowledgeable about their products. It is obvious they are passionate beer drinkers themselves and were happy to answer all the nerdy questions my beer nut drinking partner had. For non-believers there is also a fully stocked spirits bar, short wine list and a thoughtful selection of boutique ciders.

While beer is the main focus, the Salon also offers a generous menu of tasty tapas style morsels, designed to perfectly pair with your drink. Also on offer are pizza, pasta and salads at average Melbourne CBD prices.

Outside the beer garden features its own separate bar with cheery red umbrellas and dark timber benches in an attempt brighten up the stark cement and geometry that is Fed Square. However a lack of foliage, bar a few spindly trees makes it feel a little bare and it lacks the character and friendliness of a great beer garden.

During the week the Beer DeLuxe is abuzz with the lunchtime and after work business crowd. It's suits a plenty with a smattering of uni students and the odd tourist. Weekends are a quieter affair with most choosing it as a meeting point for a few drinks before heading elsewhere.

Beer DeLuxe is the beer equivalent of fine dining. It is pricey but the experience of trying some new and exciting is well worth it. With an ever changing selection of beers, it's the sort of place you can keep coming back to and always be pleasantly surprised. Even the sceptics will leave converted.

Fonda Mexican & The Taco Truck

There's a Mexican fever sweeping through Melbourne and I've caught it.

Before my late night jaunt to Mamasita I had never tried decent Mexican fare (Old el Paso and Taco Bill take note), now I can't get enough! I've recently indulged in two more of Melbourne's Mexican offerings, the famous roving 'Taco Truck" (twice) and the relatively new, Fonda Mexican in Richmond.

For those of you that haven't heard of it, the Taco Truck is a food van that cruises around the inner north of Melbourne (mainly Brunswick and Northcote), utilising social media to let punters know of its locations for lunch and dinner. The menu is simple (3 types of taco or tortilla crisps with guacamole) and the food is fantastic; fresh, unpretentious and flavorsome. My first experience was at Meredith 2011 and I have since driven all the way to East Brunswick from outer south east Melbourne (a good hours drive) for another fix. Yes they are that good.  If you buy two, they'll throw in some crispy tortilla chips for free, at $6 a pop you really can't go wrong.

Both times the same tacos have been on offer: chicken, fish and potato.

The first thing I noticed was the tortillas are made from corn and pleasingly chewy, nothing like those scarily pale and sad looking ones from the supermarket. The chicken includes flavoursome pieces of grilled chicken, fresh corn, baby spinach and a smoky chipotle mayo. The fish is cooked to order in the van so retains that glorious crunch in the taco and comes with shredded cabbage and poppyseed mayo. While the fish taco doesn't have the same flavour hit of the chicken it's still very tasty and easily my favourite (which is pretty good coming from someone who turns her nose up at most finned foodstuffs). I'm yet to try the potato but have heard it is rather smashing.

Food out of vans has always conjured up bad images of grease and food poisoning in my mind but thankfully there is a small band of people trying to change that in Melbourne (Taco Truck mastermind Raph Rashid also runs gourmet burger van Beatbox Kitchen), delivering honest and tasty fresh food. Vive le Taco Truck!

.............

Now having been blown away by the quality of food from both the Taco Truck and Mamasita, I had high hopes for Fonda Mexican, unfortunately it fell a little short.

My husband and I wandered in on Labor Day in search of an early lunch. Being the first ones there we were invited to sit anywhere we liked and chose outside on the street (I later discovered there is also a small outdoor area out the back). The space is cheerful, painted in retro colours of lemon, orange and green. The decor is minimalistic but fun, old tequila bottles for water, drinks come in jars and awesome old school, red and white paper straws.

The menu is short but doesn't lack choice, snacks, salad, tacos, quesadillas and burritos. There is also a decent drinks list which includes several Mexican beers and soft drink. We ordered two kinds of taco (fish and pork) and a kangaroo burrito. The fish taco was similar to the Taco Truck with a slaw and mayo combination, however the deep fried fish (couldn't figure out what kind) was dusted in polenta rather than battered which added a nice textual dimension to the dish and was presented in meaty chunks rather than a single piece. I enjoyed it and could happily eat a few more given the chance.

My second taco, the pork and pineapple was a major disappointment. I think a lot of this had to do with the fact the pork and pineapple taco at Mamasita is amazing so in comparison this one just did not meet my expectations. It came with shredded slow cooked pork, white onion, pineapple pieces, coriander and an interesting sprinkle of crispy pork scratchings (deep fried flakes of pork crackling). The pulled pork lacked the flavour punch of its superior cousin and was too watery (yes watery, not juicy), the pineapple was a little unripe and lacked that sweet burst of flavour. I thought the amount of pork in the taco was too much, making it difficult to eat and on further inspection discovered most of the filling consisted of a large piece of fatty, slimy skin which I had to pull out. That kind of put me off and I noticed somebody on Fonda's Facebook page complaining of the same thing. I did like the pork scratchings idea though, it added an extra element to the dish and provided some crunch.

Pork and pineapple taco (left) and half eaten fish taco

The kangaroo burrito was also pretty average, generous in size but overfilled with quinoa and very wet. Also the kangaroo fillet was so blue it was still hopping, but that being said it didn't have that unpleasant raw taste so just looked unappealing. We don't mind our meat quite rare but I think it would be a total turn off to some people. The burrito also came with some chunks of sweet potato, avocado, coriander and 'smoky relish'. That being said I really like the concept of a kangaroo burrito and with a few tweaks, perhaps a spice rub and some nice char flavour on the roo it could be a hit.

Kangaroo burrito

The main downside with the food I found was an obvious lack of seasoning, something the aforementioned fellow Mexican eateries do so well. However the service and atmosphere is great and I like that they support the use of seasonal produce and local ingredients (the burrito wraps are made fresh at Abbotsford Convent Bakery). I think it's a given that all new eateries will suffer from teething problems and this place shows a lot of potential. I'd definitely return to eat the fish tacos if I was in the area and perhaps try a whole bowl of those funky pork scratchings but would I bother ordering a pork taco or roo burrito again? Probably not.

Follow the Taco Truck on Twitter: @tacotruckmelb

Fonda Mexican

248 Swan St, Richmond