Travelling in Mary Janes

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Have you read Part 1 of Eat.Drink.Blog 2010?

South Melbourne isn’t really my turf. I hardly stop by the suburb as I have no business in the area. So while I have long heard of St. Ali, I have never had the chance to sample any of their offerings. Happily for me, St. Ali was one of our amazing sponsors for Eat.Drink.Blog 2010 so that was where we headed to after the hasty exit we made from The Essential Ingredients.

It was also the location for the SBS food bloggers photography exhibition where a selection of some of the most astounding photos taken by food bloggers in Australia were shown to the public. But SBS didn’t stop there. Just in case you thought that a photography exhibition and a visual feast wasn’t quite enough for you, SBS also came prepared with goodie bags for all which included Episode 2 of Italian Food Safari which has not been aired on TV just yet.

We also finally got to Cocktail hour! Der Raum came up with some amazingly inventive cocktails, check out the smoking bottles in the photo above! That was called a chamomile chrome, but I wasn’t particularly fond of the taste. I do love chamomile tho!

This however, was fantastic. Beetroot juice and lime along with other things mixed in, it smelt like chinese herbal medicine but tasted nothing like medicine. It was delicious, tho not to the taste of some fellow food bloggers. Personally, I loved it and wouldn’t have minded a 2nd glass!

It seemed forever before the long awaited cry of “FOOD!” came ringing through and the masses of hungry foodies started to sit themselves within the grungy interior of St. Ali. The lighting wasn’t terribly bright so I do apologize for the drop in photo quality. Unlike the amazing photographers whose photos we just saw at the exhibition, I didn’t possess god-like skills with the camera.

Titled “Bloggers Banquet”, the feast opened up with seared scallops and steamed oysters. The scallop was absolutely delicious and I wouldn’t have minded having much much more of it to cram down my throat. Did I mention that I am greedy and have absolutely no restrain? That’s why I don’t like my weighing scale. Anyways.

Followed by Ox-tail Wontons. The difference in the soft and slippery texture of the wonton skin contrasted beautifully with the rough texture of the ox-tail, and it made for a delightful sensation as it slid down my throat. The soup that came with it was a tad salty but the spiciness made up for it. Some found the soup too spicy, but you know me and my love of chili. Not very much faze me.

Thinly sliced cucumbers with pickled asian mushrooms. Yet another tick in the right box for me. Mushrooms are a sure win, these were no different. But as I chewed through my mushrooms, I couldn’t help but feel that something had been lacking so far. The three different courses so far while delicious had been lacking in the wow factor. Something that I would remember forever, and crave for months on end. I wondered if that magic moment would happen for me at St. Ali.

And it did. With this dish that consisted of Grilled kingfish head with shachimi, ponzu, fresh lemon and shiso cress. Oh heaven, I want to go back there now and eat that again. It’s been so long since I last had Fish Head on my table, and I savoured every last bite of it. Plus fish eyes, you can’t forget the amazingly delicious fish eyes and the beautifully tender and soft meat that surrounds the eye. Oh, heaven.

The rice that came with this dish was also incredibly yummy. Roll it about in the plate with the fish to soak up the gravy and juices and you will have the most amazing tasting rice you can ever imagine. More please, mummy?

Beautiful things come in pairs, or at least in this case, as the beautiful finale to the savoury part of the dinner. The Coconut and gapi marinated lamb rump with sautéed green beans and a dry red chili and cashew sambal was mouth watering, the meat cooked to perfection while still leaving that hint of redness in the middle. I did find the Sambal slightly too salty, but again, my diet tends to be reduced salt and my dinner companions assured me that it wasn’t quite as salty as I made it out to be. So that’s my problem, really.

And to wash it all down, was wine kindly sponsored by Prentice Wine. Unfortunately, if I had been out on my wine rounds, this wine would not have caught my attention at all. It just wasn’t to my taste. Alas.

St. Ali sealed my approval with their very last course. I have never been fond of heavy desserts such as cakes and the like. I do eat them occasionally but after a very heavy or rich meal, I prefer light desserts like fruits or jelly. They may sound boring, but they definitely do a much better job at cleansing the palate and refreshing me up. But with St. Ali, there is nothing boring about seasonal fruits.

Plated and served like a piece of art, the plates of fruits come accompanied by three small dipping dishes filled with sugar and chili. From the bottom, they were: red chili and brown sugar; green chili and white sugar; and the very last being chili and coconut sugar. Take a piece of fruit, dip it in the sugar of choice and put it in your mouth. Cue an explosion of juicy sweetness with a tinge of spiciness at the end. Absolutely delicious!

Eat.Drink.Blog 2010 was a blast. But it could not have happened without the amazing generosity of our sponsors.

So Thank You very much!

• The Essential Ingredient provided the venue and even included a prize for a tweet your favourite @EsntlIngredient competition.
• SBS Foodsponsored the exhibition of photographs from food and wine blogs.  
• St Ali provided attendees with lunch and the evening meal by chef Ben Cooper,plus the space for the exhibition and kick-off cocktail party.  
• Der Raumprovided some amazing cocktails and drinks.
• Prentice Wine provided wine matched to our evening meal.
• Red Hill Brewery sponsored hand-crafter ales that I wish I had a chance to try!
• Daylesford and Hepburn Springs Mineral Springs Co kept us hydrated throughout the day with sparkling mineral water and soft drinks. And I came home craving for more.

List of sponsors and explanations stolen and tweaked from Eat.Drink.Blog.’s blog

Till the next Eat.Drink.Blog!

St. Ali
12-18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne 3205
Tel: (03) 9686.2990
Email: stali@stali.com.au
Twitter: ST_ALi