Chooka Asian Kitchen (Yehud Israel) 07/2018

We felt like a Chinese meal and our host suggested this franchise. It's an open air place with one table inside. There's an open suchi bar at one end of the room,

where suchi are made to order,

and a counter with eight wok style pans of food - sweet sour chicken, 

chicken with vegetables, 

beef with vegetables a vegetable dish of peppers, 

potatoes!, white rice, fried rice and noodles.

They offer a meal deal, one protein serve and two others, a soup or spring roll 

and a non alcoholic drink for about A$20.
The place was hot, no air conditioning, and noisy. The guy who served was very obliging but there's not much more that we could say about the place. The only distinctly Asian thing about the place is the name, or at least the sub title. Perhaps the sushi was OK but we didn't have that. 
The photo's of the food do not look particularly attractive and it didn't look or taste any better on the plate.
At least, as the three letters top right tell us, 

it's kosher. MSG doesn't get a mention, they've probably never heard of it.

This would have been the worst meal I have eaten since I did National Service in the army 60 years ago.

Score: Anything would be too much.

Thai-Riffic (Mildura) 04/2017

Thai-Riffic is another Langtree St. restaurant.  It aims to provide authentic Thai food with a modern twist. Many restaurants provide a small introduction the origin of their names, when they are not self explanatory, to their aims, and occasionally to their history. T-R does that in spades having pages of information about what their food will do for you and lauding some of their dishes and the health benefits of their food.
They have an introduction, a page of 'Important' information, a note about the use of cutlery by Thai people and they promise (with some dubious explanations):

You will have more immune boosting power

Your heart will be happy

You'll look (and feel) years younger

You'll fight off cold and flu viruses

You'll sleep better

Who knows but when I read stuff like this my pragmatic Western biases become overwhelming.
The venue is simple with bare wooden tables and hard wooden seats.

Decor is largely images of Buddha.

Light bulbs are enclosed in large shades, reminiscent of is sea urchins, or hairy lobster pots.

How did they do.

Tom Yum soup.

The plate was round of course! A pretty standard dish. Up to expectation.
Combo 2, A Thai fish cake, Tempura vegetables and Chicken with three sauces.

The tempura batter was full of oil, the fish cake badly overcooked and dry and the satee sauce for the chicken very very mild, as were the other two dipping sauces - one a sweet chii and the other a standard tempura dipping sauce
Tempura Prawn Spring Rolls.

I did not taste this but apparently it was passable but not more than that.
Money bags.

Evidently tasted about as good as it looked.
Moo Krob

Evidently this is so popular that they warn you that it may not be available!
There was plenty of crisp pork belly buried under the salad and it presented well but even with the addition of cracked pepper, chili and herb salt it remained unexciting.
Massaman Curry

According to the menu rated as the tastiest dish in the world. I guess they did not taste this one.
Pad Hokien Pork

A pleasant sweet noodle dish.
Khao Pad Pork

Left me flat.

Comments: Failed to achieve it's aims on this occasion. Very over rated.

Score: 13.25/20

Bamboo Room (Balaclava) 01/2012

Balaclava Rd is an area full of character with a great variety of shops catering particularly for an ethnic mix of Russians, middle Europeans and established Australians. There is a thriving coffee culture and a good variety of restaurants. Not long ago one that I especially liked, Wallah, closed. It has reopened with new tenants as a refurbished Chinese restaurant. Previously Chef Tina and front of house man, Danny, had this as a 23 seat restaurant in Collingwood. They've now finding their feet in an entirely different environment and in a much larger venue. It's a different sort of community and tastes are different too but they are serving food which has a lot to be said for it anywhere. The menu is not large but it has good variety.
We started with home-made chicken dumpling. There is a choice of chicken, beef, pork, prawn or veg (steamed or fried) black vinegar, sesame, chilli oil, garlic, coriander sauce (10pcs) $10.00. There are dumplings and dumplings. Most look good but the combination of really good pastry, well balanced and tasty flavours with the freshest of ingredients is hard to come by. Here they got it just right. A second entree, smoked salmon tart with avocado, radish, sriracha, ginger and soy dressing (4pcs) (gf) came in pretty little gold plated pots. We had ours without the sriracha which is a hot Thai chili sauce. This made it a little bland but their freshness and textures shone through.Bamboo room crispy pork loin in sweet sour sauce, chicken breast was an option, shredded bamboo shoot, ginger, spring onion, picked carrot, coriander (gf) $21.00 was a great surprise. The sauce was light with just the right level of sweetness and tartness, the pork, in a genuinely crispy butter, a delight and it was a good size serve too. A great dish. Braised whole New Zealand flounder spring onion, garlic, ginger and soy dressing ($28.5)turned out to be a HUGE New Zealand sole. I had ordered flounder and was disappointed to be served this fish which is only like flounder in shape but the flesh is quite different, being coarser and less delicate in taste. We managed less than half of it but were pleased to take the rest home. To end on a sweet note we had green tea crepe and guava ice cream ($11.50) This interesting dessert had the crepes stuffed with bean paste which worked well. The restaurant is clean and attractive, serves are large and very tasty. Chairs comfortable so it is nice to spend time eating there however the service left something to be desired. It was exceptionally slow because everything was cooked from scratch and not pre prepared. Our waitress was pleasant but clueless. She took a seat at the table with us to explain some of the items on the menu which I can not recall ever happening before.
They are awaiting a license but accept BYO with corkage $3.
Not expensive, at 302 Balaclava Rd., this is another fine addition to the street.
Score 14.75/20