Amazulu

Yes, I'm all over ramen now - started making it at home too. There's some great Japanese food to be had in Perth too and we have a great Japanese restaurant in Kalamunda.

In the west, we don't really get to experience a lot of the food culture that Japan has. Sure, we get ramen and sushi in spades but not so much stuff like Okonomiyaki, Tonkatsu, their fried noodles, Japanese curry etc. Even their tofu can be pretty special - and I normally hate the stuff!

Japan and their food and culture is now firmly my favourite Asian destination

the troubadour

Sorry I wasn't clear. I call all eating out places, 'chow houses', not meaning Chinese. I was more thinking of Sub Continent places, be they Indian/Nepalese/Bangla . Melbourne, being the' fav' settlement city for folk from that region, one may assume the choice and quality is improving. I wonder how Harris Park is for Indian dining, being so many moving there, forming a Little India? I believe thee are two designated Indian areas in Melbourne to date. I guess an equivalent to Outer London's Southall or Brick Lane, or will become so over time.
I consider a Chinese chow house, without the noise and din, to be a little faux. Chinese love company and expressing themselves over food, often in loud voices, but personally love that atmosphere when in Asia. All too sedate and cinema like here.
Chinese food especially, one must only go where Chinese diners abound. More likely to be the real thing. Indian food IMO is best sampled at home in a traditional environment. Although some real Macoy in Malaysia, with banana leaf and good old fashioned rude servers to compliment. Love it.
We have a supposedly very good Thai minutes from us, top range, but never been. Always appears near full though. Perth, I've always said, should be the centre for Indian ocean cuisine, arts and culture in Australia. It has the weather. Geographic location and little else outside of mining on offer. A foodie heaven of cuisine from Southern and Eastern Africa all through the Indian Sub Continent and Malay Peninsula to include Thailand and Indo china and Indonesia. Combine that with arts and culture and provide a vibe and destination of interest.

ozzieeagle

If I ever do airbnb my place out, I'm definitely very confident I can push the food tourism angle as "the" major attraction of the inner North..... That and pubs and live music venues etc,

Plenty of Nepalese places around here as well. A lot of Malaysian Laksa places as well. Then you've got Gastropubs...There are tons of those and IMO they provide the most interesting eating of the lot as you never know what fusion you are going to get. Pricey though, compared to the ethnic places.... probably 250pct dearer. 35 bucks a meal generally in those, great beer, it's not uncommon for them to have 15 different types of craft tap beer and dozens and dozens of different varities of craft bottles.. Carwyn Cellars Hight street Thorunbury is probably the most interesting beer outlet in Melbourne. Worth travelling to just to see how they do it....

Carwyn Cellars


Tip for anyone coming to the Northern burbs..... Lygon st is more of a walking tourism street than a foodie street for locals. All the others, Smith, Brunswick, Rathcown, High, and the one I'm at the top of.... Sydney rd, are really worth going out of your way for.

BadgeIsBack

yes, Logon very faux and seems to be the sort of place Italian F1 drivers would hang about once a year with the local wog proprietors queueing up to add to the number of signed tat on display at their establishments to endorse their heritage...

paulry

The best Chinese food I've eaten has been at London's Chinatown. In fact, on my recent trip over there I was reminded how sub-standard much of the Chinese food that we get served here in Australia is. The food here seems to have a lot of sugar added to it. I haven't yet found an excellent Indian restaurant in Australia. Asian food in general here is very mediocre.

Kooky.

I certainly wouldn't go there for a food tour (though I know some go for cooking classes) but there are some fabulous restaurants. It's one place I will go to hotel restaurants (e.g., The Restaurant at the Legian, Seminyak), and quite a few Australian chefs have opened there (try Mejekawi above Ku De Ta). Yes it seems sacrilege but, as previously mentioned, sadly I have health issues that mean I don't risk eating on the street. (I do go to Indonesian restaurants.)

Sydney has some very good and some very mediocre Asian restaurants. A lot of them try to cover too many cuisines, i.e., have "Asian" menus, and don't cover any of them well. I'd be wary of generic "Chinese" or "Indian" places. My favourite curry (a fish methi) comes from a basic little Pakistani restaurant (Himalaya) which is conveniently about 10m from my office in Surry Hills. Over the bridge (and worthy of us going back that way occasionally) is Ravi's Cumin at Crows Nest. There is a fair bit of decent Malaysian, Indonesian, SEA food - the students demand it.

Amazulu

I agree about Indian food but we get much better Thai and Viet food here compared to the UK. Chinese food is average in both countries - compared to Singapore and, err, China

ozzieeagle

You can add Malaysian along with Thai and Vietnamese, some great Laksa and Rendang around.

Amazulu

Yes - and Indonesian

the troubadour

Well Australia has a far greater number of Vietnamese than UK. No area like Sydney's Cabramatta over there. But again hit and miss. Some are very good, some you wonder how they maintain a business. Something to do with lower prices and undiscerning tastes I expect.
Thai food was a bit of a fad in the eighties. Again hit and miss now. Some not even run by Thai's but Chinese or Cambodians. Chinese food only to be consumed in localities of plentiful Chinese patronage other wise too often 'something' else. London China Town does indeed have a few exceptional places. I used to frequent there very regularly. Probably even better with so many more Chinese living there now. There is a word for it in Cantonese. (I expect Mandarin as well) For Laksa head for Penang. Arguably the best in Malaysia. But hard to beat Malaysian food in general for a taste of Asia.