Dr Morse – Bringing Crowds Back to Abbotsford

panda 4 rating

Menu:
Dr Morse Menu

N and I headed to Dr Morse before heading out to the footy on a Sunday for lunch. Dr Morse is located on Johnston Street in Abbotsford, near the old Collingwood Football club (and near Victoria Park train station).

Dr Morse is the bigger older brother of Jr Morse – a coffee window which opened up in January this year – by Jon Costelloe and Anth Daniel (owner of The Aviary and The Vic Bar) together with manager Pete Walsh.

Dr Morse offers quite a large area of space and even has a beer garden out the back. The interior consists of exposed brick walls, concrete and timber – and includes the original early 1900s mural advertising “Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills” – which gave the venue it’s name. The renovations were all done by friends and took almost a year.

There is a mix of seating – a high communal table, some lower tables that seat two to four as well as window seating near the entrance, that allows you to look out onto the main street and crowd watch. The fit-out is simple but modern and works well as a whole creating a warm and relaxed feel.

The menu is created by head chef Josh Clark (ex 50 acres) together with sous chefs Kane Papworth (ex Proud Mary) and Tyler Preston (ex Chin Chin). The menu is split into 4 different sections – Sandwiches, Salads, Meals and Sweets. There are five different sandwiches to select from with a couple of vegetarian options, two different salads to choose from and 4 different meals dishes. These dishes include a classic beef burger, lamb ribs, chicken or fish with chips. For the sweets – you can try the S’mores or the poached pear, as well as a range of cakes and sweets from the counter. The usual drinks are available – coffee (hot or over ice), Tea from Storm in a Teacup, as well as freshly squeezed market juices and drinks from Soho. Coffee is sourced from a Canberra roastery – ONA.

For my lunch meal I ordered the Organic Quinoa, Avocado, Pistachio, Pomegranate, Corn & Egg Salad, as well as the freshly squeezed market juice of the day which was Apple & Blackcurrant. My salad came out looking quite colourful, with all the elements mixed together and the egg and watercress leaves placed on top. The egg looked to be cooked perfectly – with the right amount of gooeyness. The salad was a winner in my books – I loved the tanginess of the salad coupled with the bursts sweetness of the corn and the pop of pomegranate. A really great tasting dish and the serving size was quite generous as well. Pity I couldn’t take away the remains for later. Healthy and Tasty – you can’t go wrong!

The freshly squeezed market juice was refreshing as well – the hint of blackcurrant was nice and wasn’t overpowering which was good.

N ordered the Chicken and Chips with Slaw and Gravy. I tried some of his chips – and they were delicious! He did enjoy his dish and particularly liked the slaw.

We didn’t have time and I was really full to try out the desserts – but there is always next time! Next time I want to check out the courtyard / beer garden. For a great chilled out vibe with great tasting food and drink – come and try Dr Morse out!

Check out the review for Jr Morse at https://thegrazingpanda.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/jr-morse-coffee-window-fun/

Rating : 4 Pandas
Price: $$
Menu – Refer to above picture
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Casual, Funky and Relaxed
Service: Friendly and knowledgeable
Online Booking: No
Restaurant Details and Location:
https://www.facebook.com/drmorsebar
274 Johnston Street, Abbotsford
Tel No: 9416 1005

Opening Hours:

Hours (Dr Morse)
Sun to Wed 11.30am–11pm
Thu to Sat 11.30am–1am

Hours (Jr Morse)
Mon to Fri 7am–4pm
Sat & Sun 8am–4pm

Dr Morse Bar & Eatery on Urbanspoon

Taco Truck – Delicious Mexican Food Truck

panda-4-rating1Taco Truck

20121207_200738The Potato Taco, The Fish Taco and two Chicken Tacos

20121207_200753Fish and Potato Tacos

Food trucks have been all the rage in America, and it has taken over Melbourne. Ever since I heard about the Taco Truck I wanted to try it. The Taco Truck is the mastermind of Raph Rashid (who also owns the Beatbox Kitchen – check out https://thegrazingpanda.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/trucks-and-burgers-good-mix/for my review). I finally got my chance to try out the Taco Truck when it was at the Big Designers Market at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. In order to track down the Taco Truck you need to decipher clues that are given out or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. The Taco Truck’s usual haunt is generally the inner city suburbs such as Carlton, Northcote, Brunswick.

The Taco Trucks sells ..you guessed it TACOS! You can individual tacos for $6 each or you can get a Taco Plate which comes with 2 Tacos  (of any combination) and a serving of house made corn chips for $12. There are three different types of Tacos – Fish, Potato or Chicken.

I ordered a Taco Plate with a fish and potato taco and N had a Taco plate with 2 chicken tacos. The potato taco comes with jalapeno, ‘slaw with salsa verde in a crispy tortilla topped with ricotta. This was the most interesting out of all the tacos, due to its crispy tortilla. The salsa verde and ricotta complimented the potato and the crunch perfectly. The fish taco is lightly battered and fried Rockling fillets, with rough ‘slaw, a squeeze of lemon and poppyseed aioli. The poppyseed aioli was fresh and had the right amount of tang and worked perfectly with the fish. These are cooked to order in the van, and have a glorious crunch when they come out. The chicken taco came with grilled chicken, fresh corn, baby spinach and a smoky chipotle mayo. I love how the corn in this taco just oozed out – it is one of the first times I have seen corn in a taco.

All the tacos are cooked to order and therefore have that fresh, unpretentious air about them and boy are they packed with flavour. If you love mexican food and love tacos, definitely hunt this truck down and try it out.

Taco Truck Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taco-truck-melbourne/187938917910211

Twitter: @tacotruckmelb

Rating : 4 Pandas
Price: $
Menu – 3 different types of Tacos – Chicken, Potato and Fish as well as House made Corn Chips
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Fun !!
Standout Dish: ALL THE TACOS!
Service: Friendly, inviting and fun!
Online Booking: No…you will need to track them down!!
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://tacotruck.com.au/
15 Keele St
Collingwood
(this is where they were intially based, but they go around to the inner suburbs, check their Facebook and Twitter for locations)
Tel No: 8060 6664

Taco Truck on Urbanspoon