Eat Out: Joomak + Giraffe Cafe + Living Room

Recently we've just celebrated my brother's and mother's birthdays. Usually we would cook up a feast and invite all our relatives over to celebrate, but this year they've all gone overseas for Chinese New Year. So sadly, it was only Mum, bro and me for their birthday celebrations this year. Not that that's bad, because we decided to go out for dinner for both their birthdays. Less stressful, and it's nice when someone else does the cooking anyway. =P

For my brother's birthday we went to Joomak, a Korean restaurant. Firstly, I don't know how anyone could find this restaurant without having someone to guide you directly to its doorstep. It was the most nondescript restaurant I've seen, and that's saying something when you live in Melbourne. Located at the basement of a chiropractor clinic, stepping inside was like being transported to Korea. The ambiance was great, from the dimly lit cottage booths to a drinking corner just for ajjushis and their soju, it really was authentic to the tee.

We had braised chicken, beef bulgolgi, both delicious.

The fish roe stew was not spectacular, but the soup was tasty. I think the let down were the fish eggs being too cooked, becoming sort of rubbery.

The kimchi pancake was really addicting. Crisp, thin and not too oily either.

The portions of the dishes were small, the price a bit expensive, but with the quality as great as it was I can't say I really mind. Plus they don't use msg in their food! For real authentic korean, come to Joomak.

After that, we went to have cake. What's a birthday without cake, right? I finally get to try desserts at Giraffe Cafe. The famed baked berry cheesecake really lives up to its reputation. Smooth, creamy, oh-so-good. My brother was guarding it with his fork, and we let him have the rest of it only because it was his birthday. Hmph.

The sticky date pudding came with honeyed walnuts and butterscotch sauce. The pudding was nice, but I've had better ones. Still moist and warm though.

The finishing drool-worthy shot with butterscotch streaming down the sides of the pudding... Tell me you're not licking the screen right now.

For my Mum's birthday, we went to the Living Room, a modern Australian restaurant. I only took pictures of the entree and desserts though.

Pumpkin souffle with prosciutto on salad. The souffle was yummy, it had the flavour of a rich pumpkin soup. The prosciutto, however, was burnt. It didn't look burnt, but man, it tasted of charcoal.

This was the vanilla panacotta with mango coulis and almond tuile. The panacotta was delicious! Not too sweet, slight tang of citrus paired beautifully with the mango.

The hazelnut chocolate cake with poached pear was awesome as well. Dense and wonderfully moist, it reminded me of eating nutella out of the jar. Yum.