All Day Donuts - Brunswick

Ever wondered where Melbourne's food trucks disappear to at the end of the day? A modern day Bat-cave perhaps? Hidden under an inner-suburban Wayne Manor? Well wonder no more! 12 Edward Street, Brunswick: that is the location. And Melbourne's Bruce Wayne? He goes by the name of Raph Rashid, the man behind Beatbox Kitchen and the Taco Truck. The food trucks take up residence out the back, whilst the front section of the warehouse has been turned into a small cafe/eatery called All Day Donuts.

Why do you care? Well, presumably you're reading this because you're heavily into Melbourne's culinary scene...either that, or you're one of my workmates who I've cajoled into reading my write-ups for my own egotistical purposes - apologies in advance to Caucasian Dr Dre, that's pretty much directed solely at you buddy. However, assuming you fit into the former category, you'll know that Melbournians - heck, Australians in general - have got a passion for donuts that puts even Homer Simpson to shame! Remember the lines around the city block when Krispy Kreme opened their first Melbourne store on Collins St nearly eight years ago? Or the lines of people camping out two days in advance for the opening of Adelaide's first Krispy Kreme just this week? No dig at South Australia intended...well, maybe a little. Krispy Kreme is sooo 2007!

Rashid was ahead of the game when his first Beatbox Kitchen truck pulled in at the top of Rathdowne Street, Carlton North, some five years ago. In my eyes, this is the guy pretty much responsible for the proliferation of food trucks in this city, and we should be thankful for that. Judging by the tremendous comings and goings at All Day Donuts last Saturday, he's backed another winner. The donut selection on the day I attended was limited to five options, but they posed more than enough challenges for the indecisive amongst us. My personal favourite was the Lime Brulee, packed with citrus custard and offset by the scorched glaze on top. I also sampled the Coffee Glaze, filled with passionfruit curd, and the Rose Cream. The options here are a little more flamboyant than at your local 7-11/Krispy Kreme, and tastier too. Care - as opposed to copious amounts have sugar - has been packed into these donuts to create an interesting array of flavours. That being said, I have one major gripe with this place. Yes, the donuts are great, and I haven't even mentioned yet the bubbly, sociable staff stationed at the counter. But here's the thing: when I order two donuts and hand over a hard-earned speckled hen, I expect either some change or a foot rub. On this occasion, I received neither. Maybe hipster chic means you can charge $5 for a donut, and truthfully, based on the business they were doing and the impending liquor license and expansion of business hours, I can't see All Day Donuts struggling for popularity any time soon. That being said, given the glut of quality cake and pastry shops in the area - Balha's, Trivelli, and Sugardough, to name a few - I feel it is a little too exorbitant for what it is. Perhaps more of a 'once in a while' place...actually, until I crack it in Hollywood and make the big bucks, better make that 'once in a loooong while'.

The selection at All Day Donuts

3.5/5

Roti Road - Footscray

You know what is outrageous? Suggesting to a friend/family member/unfortunate-soul-who-happens-to-be-sitting-next-to-you-on-the-tram that you should hit up some roti canai for breakfast together, and receiving a blank stare in reply as if you are some crazy loon who licks toes and hangs out in wheelie bins in your spare time. For the record, the wheelie bin thing only happened once, purely to prove that I could...unfortunately, when it came to cleaning my clothes later on, my washing machine proved that it couldn't.

But I digress! Devotees of this blog may recall a 'Blogging on the Road' entry I made about Penang in Malaysia; the birthplace of many of our favourite dishes from the orient. There, as in many other corners of Malaysia and South-East Asia, a healthy dose of roti canai is an acceptable meal morning, noon and night. And why not! Golden, crispy, flaky, buttery perfection. The flat bread is cooked to order in a heavily oiled up skillet and served with a selection of sambal, dhal, and curry...it's enough to give the editors of one of those fad diet magazines a conniption! Of course, for myself, it is more likely to cause more salivation than even a rabid bloodhound can muster. After a recent word-up about this Malaysian establishment on Barkly Street that serves a mean roti canai, all that suppressed yearning for my fresh morning flat-bread and dose of dhal came out of hibernation and a Saturday morning breakfast sesh in Melbourne's inner West side was well and truly on the cards.

A few things to note about Roti Road. Firstly, the word I'd heard is that the chef has a tendency to break free of the kitchen and whip the roti dough into shape amongst the diners, keeping in time to the pop tunes blasting out of the sound system. Unfortunately - but not unexpectedly - this display of flair did not transpire first thing Saturday morning to a near empty restaurant. Secondly, the restaurant has more than enough options to suit the dietary needs of us vegetarian types. My compadre also noted that the prawn dumplings were of a good sort, and word is they do a pretty decent curry laksa too. However, that seemed a little too heavy for this occasion, so I stuck with the tried and true option. At the suggestion of the waitress, I opted for a double serve of the roti. In truth, one serve would have sufficed, as it can be quite a gluggy dish. For the vego option, the sambal and curry - invariably chicken - have to go out the window, meaning the only option is a triple serve of dhal to dunk your dough into. The main issue here was that the dhal was just a little too thin for my liking. The messiness of it isn't an issue for me, but it makes it a little more difficult to get a decent scoop of it onto your bread. I also found the roti a little thicker and chewier than I had hoped for. It didn't quite have the same 'melt-in-your-mouth' texture of its ancestors back in Penang. That being said, it certainly was not lacking in taste, and went some way toward sating my roti yearning. I look forward to returning to give the laksa and some of their veg. dumplings a go down the track.

3/5