En Izakaya (Balaclava) 04/2017

This could be called our local Japanese restaurant. It's the nearest to where we live, barely over a kilometre from home. We eat here several times a year and have reviewed it twice before see  http://1001dinners.blogspot.com.au/search?q=en+izakaya
Virtually nothing has changed.
We started with an attractively presented eel sushi.

This was very tasty accompanied by excellent sweet pickled ginger.
These sticky rice balls 

look exactly like what we had years ago but today they incorporated chicken and eel instead of beef.
An eggplant and tofu dish was new to me.
This is a pic from 2014 which shows an identical dish, seen in the next pic, served today. It is a cold dish of thin sliced wagu on a block of fine silken tofu topped with sour cabbage and a slice of garlic. 
 Not only is the dish identical,

but my view of it remains the same. I remain unimpressed by the wagu but the total dish was very good, particularly because of the fine tofu.
Eggplant with tofu was another unusual presentation 

with the roasted eggplant in broad slices interspersed with tofu, topped with see weed. A nice dish but not outstanding
Sashimi was fairly standard

but the fish was a bit thickly sliced. 
Score:13.5/20 (Previously we scored them 13.5 and 13.75)

Grill'd (St.Kilda East) 02/2017

Sometimes you just feel like having a hamburger and there are plenty to choose from in Melbourne. Over the years we've tried quite a few of them from the massive chains, like McDonalds, Hungry Jacks and so on to the individual operators, such as Ripponlea Fish Supplies and various fish and chip shops. Today we tried yet another "Grill'd"
This home grown Australian franchise has grown from a small start to over 120 shops last year. There has been some controversy over staff pay which has all been ironed out now.
The E. St.Kilda property is simply furnished.

 Order at the entrance.

There's a choice of buns and of sauces - ketchup, aioli with herbs and a couple of spicy ones, and you can have additions to the burger of your choice. Their menu 

includes a few cute names, which have little to do with anything, for example Nourish and Flourish, Mighty Melbourne, Zen Hen. 

They also have steak sandwiches and a few other dishes but we came for a hamburger.

This was the simple version.

Mighty Melbourne hid a free range egg, avocado, bacon cheese, beetroot and lettuce.

 It and the chips were really good. Made excellent by the seasoning, herbs and crisp buns. Not the biggest, not the most stuffed with filling but very tasty.
We have no hesitation in recommending this place for a great hamburger.

Comments Score: 14/20