Avocado = Guacamole

Avocados are coming back into the markets! And we'll be buying boxes of them! It'll be Guacamole with breakfast, lunch and dinner, made fresh, to order.
Avocados on toast - in burgers and as dips. It's that time of the year.

You can take home unfinished bottles of wine.

Any wine that is left in the bottle after you've consumed part of it, can be taken home. 
Here's the update from the OLGR:
Patrons of licensed  restaurants  and public entertainment venues that provide meals can take home unfinished bottles of wine, but they must be resealed. Bottles can be resealed with, for example, a cap or stopper.

Mother's Day - let's celebrate!

Mother's day is a special day - we celebrate motherhood as a collective, not just in an individual sense. 
At Monal, we'll come up with a great menu - seafood, meat grills as well as vegetarian dishes. It's a very special day after all!

Shakshuka!

This kick-ass dish from Israel will be on the menu this weekend! This, to me, is a real breakfast - something that makes an event out of a weekend breakfast ritual.Love the way I can add my favourite ingredient to this breakfast - red wine!! mmm... yum! Completely cooked, the wine gives it a depth that can only be achieved by infusing the flavours of a red wine with tomatoes. Poached eggs and diced capsicum complete the dish. 

New Seasonal Menu kicks in this week!

Yes! We have done away with the traditional menu format. We are going fresh. Everyday, we'll go out and get the best produce available in the markets and cook it for you. You'll see more and more fresh food, meat and seafood from now on and yes, the signature dishes still feature in the new menu. 

Orlando Gramps - THE Australian Shiraz

This post is from my wine blog, thought I'd share it with you. 
Here's the writing on your screen: grab a dozen bottles of Orlando Gramps Shiraz, Vintage 2006 and put them away!

Don't say you didn't see it. The writing that is.

This is a wine that many have tasted, many have liked. Many have already put away. Join that club.

Tastes like a good wine should. Without digging deep into my literary closet for fancier words, I'd put it simply: it makes you feel good, it makes the meal taste better and the feeling of general well-being is suddenly uplifted to a new high after the first glass.

Try it before you decide to stock up.

Brussel Sprouts - in sesaon

I've been told that it has something to do with farmers in Adelaide Hills. The way they plan the Brussel Sprout yield makes it available pretty much throughout the year... So it really does come down to pricing.

We'll be adding more and more of this funny looking (midget-cabbage?) vegetable to the dishes on the menu. In all different forms - seared (!), poached, grilled, fried - everything. It is, paired with Asparagus, one of my favourite vegetables. Happy times.

Tin Soldier 2007 Chardonnay

94 points by James Halliday - means a lot.

One of the best thing to have come out of Hunter Valley in recent times.

Join us for an evening of good food and great wine!

Michael Park, Sommelier ex-Penfold's, will be conducting a free tasting on Saturday24/04/2010 7pm to 8pm






monal cafe|163 enmore rd|enmore nsw 2042|monalcafe.com

Set menu or seasonal fresh produce?

For a while now, we’ve been toying around with the idea of going with a seasonal fresh produce menu. It has been a very strong idea in itself but I think we’re convinced that it is the way to go. At Monal, we’re all for good, fresh food that will make you feel good. Add good wine to it and that becomes an experience. Everyone deserves to have a good meal when they step into a restaurant and spend their money. Anything less than a complete, fresh and tasty meal won’t do.

The decision has been made – we’re moving towards a seasonal menu. Everyday, a new menu will drawn up, based on whatever is available fresh in the markets. This allows us to bring variety and play around with a diverse pool of available fresh food. The deal-makers behind this decision were:

1. Whatever is in season is fresh – most important
2. Whatever is in season is cheap – helps a lot in passing the savings on to the customer. Do you really want an avocado that bad that you’re willing to pay $5 for it?
3. Signature dishes will always remain on the menu anyway.
4. This allows us to do flashy stuff like chardonnay-grilled snapper every now and then!
5. We’re at the markets, in touch with butchers and talking to suppliers everyday; we’re on top of things (!)
6. The customers get new and exciting stuff every time they come in.

After operating the kitchen in Monal for over a year and half, this seems to be the next step, the only way to go. We’ll bring the best to the table. We’ll change the way things work, for the better. We’re on it.