Attitude served cold @ cafe Koukla

Perhaps I should have referred to Urbanspoon before I decided to visit Koukla, because it appears that their level of service or rather lack of, seems all too common a gripe. The same cannot be said of all the staff, but the cashier ruined what was already a run of the mill dinning experience. What sets restaurants apart other than their food, is the service that they provide and Koukla was by far, yards away from meeting the mark.

Koukla, part of the Frangos & Frangos establishment is situated in a beautiful building, shaded by leafy vines. That is exactly what drew K and I in for a spot of brunch, on a sunny Monday morning. We were actually hoping to have a late brekky, but nearing noon we were out of luck. There was a sign at the door, 'staff wanted,' it said and this was definitely true. There were two waitresses at count and the place was absolutely bustling, one poor waitress was looking utterly confused, buzzing around, struggling to cope without adequate support.

Browsing their menu we settled upon a pair of cappuccinos ($3.80 each) and the only two brunch items they had on their menu. K chose to go with the zucchini and corn fritters, with chilli, fried egg, bacon and roquette ($15.90). I ordered Jim's Greek omelette with tomato, potato, red onion and feta, served with a slice of sourdough toast. ($15.90) I also requested a side of avocado, which I found came to a whopping $5.00 for a mere half.

The drinks came first. As far as doing the best in Daylesford, Larder ranked higher in my book, nonetheless Koukla still did a decent cup. The meals didn't take too long to come out, despite the waitresses looking absolutely run off their feet. The omelette arrived sizzling hot in the pan in which it was made, rustic charm at its best. The meals were also more than generous in size, with my omelette being big enough for two to share. Unfortunately, what they made up for in appearance, they lacked in flavour. Both dishes were average, rather bland and I couldn't even taste any fetta in my omelette.

After a rather lackluster meal, we proceeded to the counter to pay the bill. The cashier told us the cost of our meal was $49.70, which didn't quite add up in my head, so I asked her if she could double check. She looked rather annoyed and rattled off two cappuccinos and the two meals we had ordered and then promptly disappeared. When I questioned another staff member about it, she called the cashier over, who looked even more unfriendly than the first time. Without checking the bill, the cashier dipped into the tip money jar and then opened up the cash register and took out some further loose change and gave it to me with a dirty look on her face. Not so much as a word from her explaining what went wrong, or even a sorry. The other staff member (who unlike her colleague, did her best to be helpful) said it appeared I had been charged for someone else's coffee, yet the rude cashier knowingly omitted telling me that I was being charged for 3 coffees when I requested she confirm the order. Furthermore, she still failed to give me the correct change, at which point K and I could not be bothered and just left. We left feeling very annoyed that anybody would deem it acceptable to treat their customers as a nuisance when they themselves were actually in the wrong, and more importantly I do not understand how they could be so up themselves that they wont even dignify you with a response, other than slamming money at you, basically telling you to piss off. 

Koukla was all in all, a failure. Whoever the brown haired middle aged cashier/waitress was, you are a disgrace to the cafe and could benefit from learning some manners. With mediocre food, and service to put you in a foul mood, I'd recommend you spend your money elsewhere.











My Rating: 3.5/10

An offering to the tastebuds @ Araliya

The Araliya mala, more commonly known as the frangipani flower is known for its aromatic fragrance and is often associated with worship in Sri Lanka, and the flowers are used as an offering. Thus, one could expect a restaurant named after the temple flower to also serve up a meal fit for Buddha himself.

Being of Sri Lankan origin and having a constantly burgeoning Sri Lankan community here in Melbourne, it always astounds me how few Sri Lankan restaurants we have. Yes, there are plenty of take away options available if you want some savory rolls or a hot Sri Lankan curry, but when it comes to having a proper sit down dinning experience in an actual restaurant, I could probably count the number of 'proper' Sri Lankan restaurants in Melbourne on one hand.

I'm always excited to find a new Sri Lankan restaurant, in fact I had heard about Araliya quite awhile ago, but it wasn't until U's birthday last week that I actually visited it. U,V, R and I headed to Araliya for a late dinner last Sunday night. When we arrived there were two tables full of people, but other than that the restaurant was pretty empty. We were seated promptly and offered a wine menu, they appeared to have a fairly decent wine list, but none of us felt like any and we settled for lemon and lime bitters instead. R however decided he wanted a tea. He loves his tea (like any good Sri Lankan), so we asked for the drinks menu to see what they had. There were different types of tea but they were the type you could get anywhere else, nothing particularly Sri Lankan at all. I would have liked to see some plain tea with jaggery on the side.

The waiters were friendly but not very attentive, despite the restaurant being quiet. As for the menu, I felt it could do with a few more vegetarian dishes that came with curry, as opposed to being on the dry side. For me there's nothing worse than dry rice with dry curry, just a tad bit difficult to get down!

Having two vegetarians amongst us. We mostly stuck to herbivorous choices, well all but me. I ended up ordering the string hopper pilau with beef ($18.50), which is basically like fine noodles mixed with vegies. U ordered the vegetarian string hopper pilau ($16) and R and V decided to share and ordered two serves of steamed basmati rice ($5ea), a deep fried chilli onion sambol, otherwise known as lunu miris ($4), the pepper fried okra (bandakka) sans the sun-dried white bait, to make it vegetarian friendly ($14) and one of the specials of the day, the pennywort salad (gotukola sambol). The salad consisted of; pennywort leaves, shredded coconut, tomato, onion and lemon juice. I'm not sure how much the salad was, I think it was around the $14 range, but it's not a regularly available option on Araliyas' menu.

I enjoyed my pilau, though U found hers to be too oily. The carrots were on the crunchy side, but they actually added a nice texture, and the spice/chili balance was perfect for me (I requested medium hot). There were a few chunks of beef in mine, but I would have really liked to have a couple more. I also sampled the vegie dishes, to see how they rated. The chili onion sambol being an accompaniment was rather small, but it was divine and it's not even something I normally like. The okra on the other hand was nothing special, not bad, but I have to say my mum makes better. Similarly, my dad makes a mean pennywort salad, Araliyas' version was different to his, with the inclusion of coconut and tomato. I have to admit it worked and it successfully managed to downplay the usual bitterness of pennywort. The serving sizes were average but on the smaller side, yet it was plenty for the four of us.

The food was tasty but not outstanding and it was on the pricier side. Had I tried the meat dishes I would have expected something pretty amazing if I was going to part with nearly $40 for a dish. I can't but help compare Araliya to Elephant Corridor (another Sri Lankan restaurant, located in Glen Waverley). The latter wins hands down and definitely gives more bang for your buck.

Given we stuck to vegetarian options the prices were not too unreasonable, but flicking through the menu, their meat and seafood dishes were well overpriced. The jaggery beef caught my eye, but at $36 looked a little steep, as did the deviled prawns which were priced the same. The desserts were similarly pricy, all ranging between $14 and $15. Though we didn't try any at Araliya, I absolutely love and would recommend you try watalappan, which is a baked coconut custard with jaggery (palm sugar) and if you like cake, you really can't go past love cake.

From Araliyas' website it looks like they have a curry night every Wednesday from 6pm onwards, where you get eight dishes with a glass of premium wine, all for $45.00 per person (minimum 2 people). I think this option may in fact be better value for money if you're itching to try Araliya out.



My Rating: 7/10

Pho and tell @ Pho Bo Ga Mekong Vietnam

I never liked show and tell back in primary school, yes a million years ago, I know. In fact I would do almost anything to get out of it. Life is much easier in this technological era, I can sit on my couch and blog away to my hearts content, share anything I like, with anyone I want. Now it may have been a struggle at age five to write a blog (let alone write a sentence), but I'm sure I would have much rather posted up a picture of my barbie doll and a little description, than gotten up on my soapbox in front of the whole grade.

So now I'm an adult, I've moved on from my show and tell about toys, to much more adult content; food, glorious food! And so my journey begins for the search of a good bowl of pho.

Now I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but after more than half a lifetime living in Melbourne (home to a serious Vietnamese population), I have never, ever before, tasted pho. So no claims from me about being an expert on pho, in fact I'm not even qualified to offer comparisons. But, if I dare say so myself, I'd like to think I have quite an international palate, so if I say it's good, clearly it must be!   

Mekong is a bustling shop right in the heart of the Melbourne CBD and I decided it would be my first pho test subject. R and I decided on an early dinner, so we avoided the queuing up that Mekong is apparently notorious for. Nevertheless the shop was still about 85% full, always a good sign. We were seated immediately, and got straight into ordering. I ordered a cold lemon and honey drink and a medium bowl of char-grilled chicken pho. R ordered a small bowl of the beef and sausage pho.

The drink was an abysmal disappointment, Mekong were more than generous with the lemon, but I could barely taste the honey. The main attraction however was the pho, so I pushed my drink aside and dipped my spoon into the broth. My broth was flavorsome and infused with the smokiness of the chicken. The chicken was cooked through fairly well and there were no bones (which I am never a fan of). However, the quality of chicken used wasn't the best, it had bits of pinkness and darker bits as well. Also the pieces of chicken were just a bit too large, given there were no knives around, breaking it into smaller pieces was not the easiest feat. The noodles on the other hand were well cooked. R enjoyed his beef and sausage pho as well, in fact he devoured the whole thing and left nothing but a miniscule puddle at the bottom. His sausage was nice and chunky and had a liver taste to it and the slices of beef were so finely cut that they cooked in the hot broth almost instantly.

We were also presented with a side plate each of sprouts, Thai basil and lemon and there were communal share ingredients of chopped red chillies and onions (for hygienic purposes, I would much prefer individual servings of these). A range of other condiments were also supplied, consisting of the 'usual suspects' you would find in any Vietnamese restaurant.

It was a tasty, cheap meal and if memory serves me right, dishes range from around $8.50 for a small to around $10.50 for a large. Service was prompt and friendly enough. If you want a nice relaxing dinning experience Mekong is not the place for you, but if you're happy to share a table with a cockroach (yes there was a dead one, belly up on the table next to us) and block out the chatter around you, I think you may in fact quite enjoy this place.

My Rating: 6/10