Charlie & Co. dined as guests of Two Birds Talking and Pho24.



Today's adventure was a trip just across the street from Southern Cross Station, DFO end. Head towards the blue building and you'll find 'Pho 24' a place for pho on the go, or to stay and chat over awesomely presented coconut water. The cuisine is Vietnamese with a Modern twist, but still affordable.



It's the blue building and very hard to miss, if you're outside Hungry Jacks you're not there yet, keep heading away from the station in the opposite direction to Crown.







On arrival we were all taken in by the beautiful fresh, fun and vibrant deco of conical straw hats and colourful lanterns, and the true mark of a blogger (or tourist) we got some shots before we ever got through the door. 




Time to mingle and be social! We met Monique (mon's adventures) again since we parted last night, Libby from Two Birds and Andrew (and later Craig) of Pho 24. I may have been very fascinated at this point with this drink in my hand, coconut water in a can in a bio-degradable fake totally awesome looking coconut! I've never seen it before, and we checked out four different coconut stalls the other night at the Taste Event.



While we were chatting canapes in the form from perfect bite-size rice paper rolls floated around, which was delightful. I love the way they're served. I love rice paper rolls, and Vietnamese food.





Most odd and interesting there were safety scissors hanging on some of the walls surrounded by bar seats. What are they for? Above them there's herb plants, which you can harvest yourself to add a little consumer interaction to your meal!



The centerpieces were very creative, who would have thought to use a conical straw hat as a centerpiece to frame the sauces and serviettes. The later part wasn't as practical as the top straw piece wasn't hot glued down  and came with the serviette. But the sauce bottles with pumps are a great idea, and much preferred compared to your usual cheap looking $2+ shop style squeezy bottles most Vietnamese places offer.



Craig along with Andrew are the franchisees of Pho 24, a household chain that started in Vietnam that expanded throughout South East Asian and now has opened their first store in Australia in Melbourne earlier this year. Worldwide good & services to fit into a new culture need to be adapted to fit their needs and wants, and the pair have done just so creating fast pho with a Modern Australian twist. Fast and fresh is the idea. 

What's in a name? For Pho 24 they use 24 ingredients (this is anything but your 4 ingredient cooking or Jamie's 20 Minute Meal) and are hoping to be open 24hrs in the future, which is great for when my office closes at midnight and I'm craving pho! For now they're open 7am - 9pm, from breakfast till dinner.  











We started with a 'Fresh Baby Octopus Salad' which in one word was hot! Too hot for me to handle, though as it was served in lettuce cups like san choi bao (which we made in 7th grade home ec) there was a refreshing contrast. But if you love the heat, give this one a go.



Traditional Vietnamese Pork Banh Mi followed, these are the bread rolls that are always a hit, Vietnamese Subway some call it in Footscray. Pho24 bakes their bread daily (while they don't make the bread they do bake it) and are spread with the signature pate (liver) and mayo that's exclusive to Pho24 Australian Edition. As I don't eat pork Andy covered this review saying it was good and very tasty with great bread, however the bottom of the bread was saturated in sauce and sticky. 

Another beautiful pork creation followed, the Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Steamed Buns, which had great presentation, and would be a lovely canape at a party. I love steamed buns though have never seen them served this way. Served warm Andy loved the flavours, and how fresh it was.

Saving the best was last (entree) was the 'Prawn Spring Rolls' which was designed to be served with pickled grated carrots in a lettuce wrap topped with coriander for decoration and dipped in nuoc mum (fish sauce). I have never had spring rolls served like this and loved it! It's like protein meets veggies, the contrast of deep fried and freshness.



We had an opportunity to check out the kitchen and behind the scenes, and see the the huge 150L vats of broth (chicken & beef) that simmer between 8-10hrs to develop all the wonderful flavours of pho. It's all about the broth that makes it or breaks it.

Now we approach the highlight of the evening, 'Pho Under a Minute'. The fastest pho you'll ever get! The system refection our (American) cafeteria, where you a grab a tray, a drink and slide.

As soon as you order the noodles are blanched, placed in a bowl and fly through a speedy production line and may even make it to point of collection ever before you if you stop to take pictures. 





Andy had the silken tofu which he said was nice, though we all know he regrets not ordering the beef. ;) But he liked the broth, and all the colours & flavours of pho. At this point he inquired if behind the scenes the staff were Vietnamese, and they are - so you know that they know what they're doing and would be a hard critique themselves as people are when they grew up eating that dish.




The size is just right for me, as normally bowls of pho are huge. But for those who want more they also come in a larger size. I had the original tender beef scotch fillet, which was like any other Vietnamese restaurant, just as good but with no msg. Pho 24 is better than Roll'd to me, the broth is much nicer. Not sure who drew the evil spoon, as I edited this at work and left the computer for a moment...





I was very interested in seeing the dessert menu as Asians aren't know for their desserts unless you get to know them. There's lots of Vietnamese desserts out there, found in plastic take-away containers at Vietnamese bakeries/shops. But tonight we were presented with a Modern Vietnamese dessert, Taro Pudding topped with dates and yellow beans was quite nice. Craig said you either love it or hate it. I like it but don't love it, while Andy who is Vietnamese said it was too sweet and made him thirsty. But because it's Vietnamese with a Modern twist it would suit our sugar-lovers much more, and more importantly the average office worker who ventures out to lunch & dinner in the city.    



Something I don't like about some  food bloggers is that it's more of just an ad for a restaurant, no comments are made on the food, what the writer honestly thinks of it. I'm not like that.

Prices. The bowl of pho we had is regular size and is $9.50, which is around the same price as Footscray, but smaller although you can be sure it was made in a very clean & hygienic kitchen. Banh mi (bread rolls) are $7.50 to reflect the price of the city, so you could still get lunch for under $10, like out West. Coconut Water is $4.50, if you're not close by 7 Eleven does stock these ones. For the full menu click here. 



As if we didn't have a great evening drinking, socializing and eating, a cherry chili on top was added in the form of wine to take home, a pot of coriander and a jar of satay chili oil.

My companion for the night was mother, who was there in an attempt to put a limit to the number of drinks I had (around 6? I lost count) to one and limit the canapes I'd consume. She failed. Jas and le beau weren't available tonight, neither was Alice who would have loved to be there.

We started by venturing down Flinders Lane to the end I have never been (517) towards Southern Cross, checked-in, received cute macaron brooches (last picture). I got the sour strawberry one.



As a small shop and work-in-progress it was almost a pop-up display of deliciousness, as we were crammed into the small space that is to be the shop. Crammed by choice as we all wanted to get up close and personal with the tarts in th display box for pictures. Works of art, buttery crusts, yummy fillings, topped with fresh fruit. All we're missing is a drizzle of chocolate in a contrasting colour for the wedges, though it's still perfect without it. 




Next door was where the party with, with lots of drinks, champagne, beer, mocktails and cocktails meant there was something for everyone, even water for mother, which she approved of being a health lecturer. The mocktails were lovely, refreshing and fruity fun.









We grazing on some very tasty canapes including fresh mini oysters, chicken skewers and beef & cellophane noodles with miniature red forks - pictured. I hope the skewers are on LuxBite's brunch menu!



An invitation only party, there were about 100 people in a small space, a gallery and soon the party flowed outside as it was cool but not cold. We opted to stay inside for photo ops and the lighting. And we soon rewarded with the arrival of the highlight of the show - the tarts themselves in cute canape size, perfect for sampling. 

I got one great picture of an individual tart slice, but mother has less patience than jas/le beau and got bored of holding the light and wanted me to hurry up. Hence I moved and found a better spot out back, though couldn't seem to achieve the same pictures. 

The tarts themselves were yummy! I prefer the rectuangular ones rather than triangular slices, as I felt they had more life and flavour. Especially the chocolate le beau would have loved and the yuzu one - which everyone loved. While we did get to sample most of the collection we didn't try them all as I had hoped, but that would be another reason to give 'T by LuxBite' a visit when they open next week.

Concluding the night were short & sweet speeches from Bernard, Yen and Andrew (who was on Masterchef), while Bernard claims he's not a great speaker is he still a good one. :) And we had the opportunity to say hi afterwards, which was nice as we have seen him a couple times (not at the event but at the dessert cafe and other food events) and haven't had the pleasure of meeting him. 

Among food bloggers, I saw Cheryl from Cupcake Central (we're excited about their collab with N2 next Wednesday!), Zumbo (who I didn't recognize at the time with his new mustache) and a few others I recognize but can't name. Jas would have loved the event.



We (I) had a good time, and definitely will be back in a week or two, with friends so we can try more tarts! Love the token of the macaron brooch as a memory of the night, which was made with 3D printing - which is more than a magical box that produces duplicates, which was given to me as a simple explanation. Instead the very very thin layers are printed layer upon layer, which is why there's all the lines (best seen from the side).

Tuesday 18th November

A productive day where we went to work, got home and answered emails and then went to the city. Tonight's event was a launch party for LuxBite's New Division 'T(arts) by LuxBite' featuring yummy tarts with fresh fruits and delicious fillings. 

Wednesday

Today was slightly productive, we did answer 18+ emails and are on the way to getting a food vendor, pies not the worst in London by Mrs Lovett. :P 

Le beau says I'm more social then I claim to be, and perhaps he's right. So someone who isn't social I sure go to a lot of events that aren't movie screenings. 



Friday


Today we had a cooking class, eggs 3 ways and a frittata, and got told off for taking pictures and she really doesn't like me as I corrected her when she said this ain't an art gallery.

It was very challenging as when I wash my hands thet get crazy dry so I must use handcream! OCD drains my energy, and by 8pm I was so tired even though I got up at 2pm. 



Saturday

Today failed. I had bad dreams about people being after me cause Abby made a list of people. It didn't make a lot of sense. 

Got up in the evening, got called fat and so I felt fat and had nothing to wear and so didn't go to work, and I was meant to be working today and tomorrow. Because I didn't go today I don't have any info about tomorrow so that's been canceled too. This was to see the event run, before running our first high-involvement event. 


Feeling fat I bought food, yes I eat when upset. But we made healthy choices, and ordered pizza with a wholemeal base and hummus instead of tomato sauce. Tandoori chicken was great! I love Crust, though it is expensive. $23 for the 33cm large one we ordered. The medium is 28cm med.

Sunday


Today we went to the Cream of the Crop Festival which was more an expo as a festival by definition is a series of events within the same/similar category. We got lots of freebies, most of which we shall feature later on.

And then went to a music event. 

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