I’ve never really had a local place that I revisit. The reason probably is because of what I do and the fact that I’m always trying to find new places. But the idea of having a local sounds lovely and there is occasionally a place that you feel so comfortable and at home in and that is decorated just so that you want to go back and explore the menu more. And for  friends and people that I had met, that place is The Falconer.

On Oxford Street towards the Hyde Park end, it used to be one of those cafes whose name you can’t quite remember with neon signs outside and a window-ful of cakes and a heavy sliding door. It looks as if the neon signs are still there and there a few cakes in the window but the decor has been replaced with a vintage typewriter sitting on a vintage sideboard and an reference book sits open. There are brass statues of deer and other assorted wildlife and every table has a booth for that comforting at home feel. A mix of jazz and country music plays in the background and there is a shelf full of LPs.

Petrina and I peruse the menu which is broken down into sections and a sandwich board out the front announces the special, for $20 a bowl of pasta, garlic bread and wine can be yours. The menu has entrees including terrines, scallops with prosciutto and an antipasto plate. There is a section of pastas (which smell tempting) and a meaty wintry main section plus sides and salads. The most expensive item is the beef tenderloin at $28. It is also licensed and open until midnight with many wines available by the glass.

Golden beetroot salad with spinach, crispy bacon and gorgonzola filo $16

The golden beetroot salad has soft golden beetroots, smaller than I’ve ever seen them, with spinach leaves, crispy bacon pieces and a gorgonzola filo pastry finger. The gorgonzola in the filo pastry was a bit too rich and salty for the rest and I always find gorgozonola goes well with sweeter items so it needed more of the sweet roasted golden beetroot than what there was.

Braised rabbit pie with carrot puree and micro green salad $17

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Do you know how you can lure certain creatures with food? Well I can easily be lured in a similar fashion by a crayfish roll. We had just left Coonawarra and Penola on our South Australian road trip and by way of a quick mention, Philip had suggested that we stop at Robe for a crayfish roll on our drive from Penola to Goolwa. Well, it didn’t take much convincing to stop at Robe and I can almost taste the crayfish roll and imagine the mayonnaise. We make it to the wharf and alas, the shop is closed! So we call the information centre who suggests that we try the fish and chips store in the town centre.

There’s a sign outside saying that crayfish are $81 a kilo and they’re selling halves for $32 and $42 and we also buy a roll and some added tartare sauce and for old times’ sake, a potato scallop as it’s been about 20 years since my last. We take this and the pie from Vintage Cafe to the picnic tables on the beach where we unwrap our goodies and make a crayfish sandwich. I should have chosen bread slices as the rolls are a bit too thick for the crayfish so we make this a more open faced sandwich. It’s satisfying and hits the spot although some of our travelling partners didn’t really rate the fish and chips there. And the chicken, mushroom and champagne pie from Vintage Cafe in Penola? Superb! Generous chunks of meat, perfectly balanced with mushrooms and champagne cream sauce.

Chicken, mushroom and champagne pie from Vintage Cafe 

It’s a hot day so we wander around in Robe which is a lovely seaside town. We stop at the ice cream shop on the main road where they make all of their ice creams on site (except for two flavours). There are flavours like Mars Bar and Cherry Ripe (the latter one of their bestsellers) but I home in on a jam donut one.

Jam donut ice cream $4.50

How brilliant an ice cream flavour is this? With strawberry jam streaked through and cinnamon sugar crunchy throughout, there is the occasional piece of donut interspersed through the creamy ice cream.

Mango sorbet $4.50

The mango tastes more of unripe mangoes than ripe ones. We do a bit of shopping, the Robe Town store holds an excellent range of goodies including an ornate glass cake stand which I can’t resist but buy as it is the bargain price of $10!

OK tell me the truth Dear Reader, if you had just eaten a crayfish sandwich and then you came across another town that sold crayfish sandwiches, wouldn’t you be a tiny bit curious to try one of their sandwiches just for comparison or research sake? No? OK perhaps it’s just me

Mr NQN refuses to stop at Kingston when I see the crayfish sandwich signs telling me very sternly “You’ve already had one crayfish sandwich, you can’t have another!” even though I doth protest about research purposes so I’m sorry Dear Reader, but I can’t give you any impressions or comparisons about crayfish sandwiches between the two towns. But I can give you an enormous picture of a giant lobster instead, will that do perhaps?

The Australasian circa 1858

The next drive to Goolwa involves driving down a very long, straight and not particularly smooth road and then getting onto a ferry which is more like a barge that takes us across the Murray River. Mr NQN recalls the book and movie Storm Boy. We pass several signs advertising Coorong mullet but alas we don’t have time to stop and I don’t think I should
have another meal because we’re on our way to somewhere very special that evening…

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Although I consider myself a complete cake enthusiast, what I know about cake decorating is vast. Scratch that, what I don’t know could probably fit into or be found at Glasshouse Cakes and Supplies in Revesby. For the seriously cake obsessed as well as the mum or dad that wants to make and decorate cakes for their kids, the store is a treasure trove of goodies. One sunny Saturday afternoon Mr NQN and I took the drive out to Revesby. You see I had a big list of must purchases as my supplies were running low and every few months I restock.

Glasshouse Cakes and Supplies is the baby of Betty Lakkis and her husband Michael. I first met Betty when she was the facilitator at a Planet Cake  decorating class and she has since branched out on her own to supply the avid cake decorating world with an enormous range of items, some of which I’ve never seen or heard of before. The aim is to appeal to the hardcore cake decorators who want the tools to make world class cakes but they also wanted to stock items that a harried mum might want to pick up to help decorate cupcakes or cakes herself.

The staff are all cake decorators and even Michael can make valued recommendations (I dare say he has probably watched Betty make more cakes than Mr NQN has mine).

There are amazing food extract oils from U.S. brand LorAnn which comes from Michigan. The flavours range from a delicious cheesecake, peanut butter, red licorice, marshmallow, champagne, cotton candy and more. The fact that they are oils means that they can be used to flavour chocolates without causing the chocolate to seize.

Holly the sales assistant shows us the latest trend – cake pop molds. You fill the mold with cake or cookie dough as per the recipe and then close it up tightly so that any surplus extrudes (you want it to be packed tightly) and you have your cake pop top. It comes in various shapes including an already made cupcake one.

She also shows us the cake pushers which you fill with cake layer and then push the bottom lever up to eat.

Another recent trend? The Martha Stewart paper flowers.

A kaleidoscope of colours

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