#foosic

HAPPY KAPPA, RICHMOND

Let's be honest, this isn't a fancy restaurant...it's the type of place where you go for a quick meal that's relatively inexpensive but taste like your Japanese mother in law cooked it for you, with a mother's only ingredient - love. If I had to score this in terms of value for money, then it would be a 5 out of 5. However, 5's are reserved for places a little bit more upmarket like a Vue de Monde or a Tetsuya's. My faves? Katsu Don and for those colder Melbourne days, go the Katsu Curry. Want a side? Ask for their off the menu friend mini prawns and thank me later. This place is a Swan Street gem!

I LOVE Frusciante - a true musical maverick, a genius unwilling to compromise on his art. 

I didn't like Black Knights' Medieval project / album (release early this year) but I get that his music only progresses with all these other artistic avenues taken. Much like his solo releases in between each RHCP album, his craft is honed and nurtured to get to a particular and polished point.

The Empyrean, Shadows Collide with People and To Only Record Water For Ten Days are the albums as a fan that you dream of putting you ears against. The albums in between allow you listen for progression or hopelessly understand the experimentation and risk taken and hints in which his skills, taste and colours are evolving.

When Enclosure is release on the 8th April, I hope it is that polished milestone that I'm duly anticipating.

“Enclosure, upon its completion, was the record which represented the achievement of all the musical goals I had been aiming at for the previous 5 years.  It was recorded simultaneously with Black Knights’ Medieval Chamber, and as different as the two albums appear to be, they represent one investigative creative thought process. What I learned from one fed directly into the other. Enclosure is presently my last word on the musical statement which began with PBX.

Silversun Pickups | Cannibal

I really loved their album Carnavas...its sound, that trade mark industrial fuzz entwined with melodic guitar and a percussion section that rivaled any digital program linked by fiery vocals through the teeth of Brian Aubert the subsequent albums lacked...

So, below is a list my favourite places to dine and cheap eats for 2012. Splitting the list into two categories because it’s a little unfair to compare fine dining with a cheap n’ tasty.  Kinda like comparing a Hyundai with an Audi right? There's is no comparison...

The places to dine I guess are places you wouldn’t visit frequently and you would expect to pay anywhere between $30 to $50  for a main meal plus drinks. With Tetsuya’s being the obvious exception (its degustation menu coming in at $210).

Top Five Restaurants to Dine

Tetsuya's

Portello Rosso

Cicciolina

Huxtable

HuTong (Prahan)

Listing my top five cheap eats definitely wasn’t easy. As a person like most peeps busy with the hustle n' bustle of life, I find most of these places listed below fill my natural need for home style cooking without having to dig too deep into my pockets. Being Asian, of course the list toppers are predominately of the Asian kind. There were so many that didn’t make the list (I would've needed a top twenty list!) but these places were always reliable in taste, was is quick and easy to give me the fill I needed before I’m on to the next one…

Top Five Cheap Eats

Dao Vinh

Niko Niko

Jalan Alor

Laksa Bar

Fonda