Amok

119 Chapel St, Windsor

Cambodian

http://www.amokrestaurant.com.au/

I stumbled upon this new restaurant last night so immediately gave it a try.  I was particularly interested as I’d been to Cambodia earlier in the year and not only tried amok, I’d learned to make it in a cooking school.  Amok is one of the most traditional dishes of Cambodia and is a curried fish dish steamed in a banana leaf.

The styling of the restaurant would have to be described as varied at best.  There are many traditional Asian pieces around the room including paintings and stone busts.  These are interspersed with pieces that might normally be found in a restaurant with industrial styling including a large sign spelling AMOK behind the bar, made of what appears to be steel guttering and a large lighting fixture which is basically a roll of wire fencing with an LED strip through it.

The waitress who greeted us was very friendly and helpful.  Obviously the liquor licence hasn’t come through yet as currently the restaurant is BYO only so I was directed to the bottle store a few doors down to pick up some wine or beer.

The menu is full of mouth-watering flavours of Cambodia but many had a more modern Western twist as well.  Divided in ‘small’, ‘to share’ and ‘big’, we chose cured salmon with pomegranate and a young coconut dressing in a betel leaf, and naked prawn with chocolate bacon, smoked paprika, mayo and gherkin in a slider bun from the ‘small’ section for starters.

For mains we chose char grilled quail with puff rice, pickled papaya, longan fruit and tamarind dressing from the ‘to share’ menu and the fish amok with Tasmanian salmon from the ‘big’ section.  Oddly the char grilled quail was marked as a vegetarian option as was another dish with octopus so there maybe a cultural translation issue there.

The prawn slider and salmon in betel leaf were presented very nicely and the salmon dish in particular was delicious.  I got the prawn slider as the chocolate bacon intrigued me.  The chocolate flavour wasn’t prominent but it still tasted fantastic.

The quail was cooked nicely however the puffed rice in the salad did give me the impression of somebody pouring Rice Bubbles over my meal.  That said, it was still very good.  I thought the Tassie salmon was an odd choice for the amok since I believe it’s normally done with a white fish however I love salmon so who am I to complain and there are many many variations on how to cook an amok.  The result was excellent with a lovely curry flavour but if you’re looking for any heat in your curry though this is not what you’re after.  Cambodian food in general is much less spicy than some of its other South East Asian neighbours.

I think Amok has a lot going for it. I certainly want to go back and try other items on the menu.  There are a lot of Asian restaurants in the area but no other Cambodian ones that I know of.  This may be a boon for people who like Asian food at the milder end of the spice scale.  The modern take on traditional food seems to be well done.  The chef came out to chat to some of the diners about their experiences so they’re obviously not afraid of feedback.

I think the main issue the restaurant is facing is the decor.  It doesn’t have a modern Asian feel like other local restaurants such as Saigon Sally, Tokyo Tina and Mr Miyagi.  It’s sort of a half way house between modern and traditional and as such it lacks consistency and vibe.  They may not have the decor budget of these other restaurants however a simple consistent style could work wonders for the place.  The fact is, the only reason I was in Amok in the first place was that Tokyo Tina and Mr Miyagi had waits well in excess of an hour to get a table so it seems to be interior design is money well spent.

I imagine getting a liquor licence will be a priority for the owners as that’s generally where the best profits are.  I also think the menu needs a bit of a tidy up.  Beyond describing non-vegetarian meals as vegetarian, the descriptions of the meals could use work.

It would be a shame if these issues held the restaurant back from being a success as it certainly wouldn’t be the food at fault.  Let’s hope they know how to run Amok.

Shanghai Street

145 Chapel Street Windsor 3181

Chinese

So it’s been quite a while since my last review.  Apologies for that, but there are now a few new places for me to try.  Last weekend I popped into Shanghai Street – purveyors of xiao long bao and dumplings.

This restaurant is the baby sister restaurant to the Shanghai Street in Little Bourke St in the city and is at the site where Haruaki used to be.  First impressions are that the “reno” seems to consist of painting everything poo brown and sticking a Coke machine in the corner.  Certainly the focus hasn’t been on decor or vibe so hopefully the food is able to make up for it.

   

After we got the prerequisite Tsingtao beers in, we ordered some traditional xiao long bao (pork filled steamed buns) and some pan fried pork dumplings.  Get some pork on your chopstick doesn’t have quite the same ring to it but I like pork so I was happy to double up.  For the main we decided to share the stir fried eye fillet and garlic and cashew nuts.  Well cashew nut singular according to the menu but I was secretly hoping for more, especially since we were sharing.  A fight over a single cashew using chopsticks is always going to get messy.

Oddly, since it was supposed to be the main, it was the eye fillet that arrived first.  The fact that it was sitting prouder than a honeymooners dick on a leaf of iceberg lettuce let us know that it was the dish we’d ordered rather than them just clearing up some doggy do from their pet German Shepard which they mistakenly left on our table.  It wasn’t pretty, but we’d already determined that aesthetics wasn’t what this restaurant was about.  Luckily the meat was juicy and tender with lovely flavours, plenty of garlic… and more than one nut.

No long into our first bite, the xiao long bao and the dumplings turned up as well which required a bit of jostling to fit onto the table.  It was quite a sizable amount of food.  Luckily, I can eat a sizable amount of food.

The xiao long bao gave the impression of the pork being under done… but maybe they’re supposed to be that pink, I’m not sure.  It didn’t stop me from eating them, and they were pretty good but they were a lot better once I discovered the tin of chilli in oil on the table.  The chilli definitely added an extra taste dimension and is highly recommended.  The pan fried dumplings were more than a mouthful and very tasty.  Again, the chilli oil improved them significantly.

Would I go back?  Well, it was a good meal at a reasonable price in a less than salubrious environment.  And really that could be in any one of dozens of Chinese restaurants in inner Melbourne.  So, I guess whether I go back might be proportional to how many beers I’ve had and my prevailing care factor of poo brown decor.

Note: This is for CBD restaurant as the Chapel St one isn’t on Urban Spoon yet.

 

Ayatana

97 Chapel St, Windsor

Thai

http://www.ayatana.com.au/

I had visited the Thai restaurant that used to reside at this site a number of times but for some reason I hadn’t got around to going to Ayatana until now although I’d heard good things.  After it opened it seemed to be very quiet for quite a few weeks – before obviously word of mouth got around and now it is often full.  As soon as you walk in you can tell Ayatana is a more refined experience than its predecessor.  The décor is simple but classic, and the lighting is muted.  A good date destination I imagine.

The restaurant is small but you know what they say about good things.  The tables soon fill up but it doesn’t feel overly crowded.  The service is prompt and polite.  The menu is full of so many items that sound delicious none of us come to a quick decision over what to order.  In the end we selected the pan seared Japanese scallops, the minced pork and prawn rice paper rolls, and the five spiced duck breast steamed buns.

All of the entrees are delicious and presently beautifully.  A lot of care and attention has gone into the food and it’s obvious.  For mains, we ordered the hot, sweet and sour crispy barramundi fillets, the slow cooked massaman curry, and the roasted macadamia and cashew nuts stir fried with chicken breast fillets.  I had the barramundi and it was fantastic.  Just the right amount of kick, and the sweet and sour were balanced perfectly.  The barramundi was also nice and crispy.  By all accounts the other two mains were very well received as well.  I was impressed with the presentation of the stirfry in particular as too often that can just be a pile on a plate with no care in the presentation.  It also had a nice bite without being overpowering.

There were so many things that I missed out on trying I’ll definitely head back here soon to try more of it.  I can hear the pork belly calling me.  When the worst bit of the meal is when your scallop falls off its perch of sliced Granny Smith apple, you know you have very little to complain about.  Ayatana isn’t into trendy, it’s just into good food.

Note: There is also a take away menu available.

Colonel Tan’s

229 Chapel Street, Prahran, 3181

Thai

www.revolverupstairs.com.au/colonel-tans/

Revolver, Revs, Revolting… whatever you call it, Revolver Upstairs is as Melbourne as dim sims and hook turns.  I’ve lost more hours than I can count, or certainly remember, in its dark and sticky environs dancing away to Boogs and Spacey Space on a Sunday morning, surrounded by people for who sleep is but a distant memory and the only meal they’ve eaten in the last two days is the inside of their mouth.  It’s certainly not an image that conjures up the thought – yeah, that’s were I’d like to pop into for some delicious Thai food sometime, but if you don’t, you’re missing out.

Colonel Tan’s was created by Karen Batson of Cookie and The Toff in Town.  It’s named after Revolver co-owner and Thai pop star Tan Punturaumporn, with the Colonel ranking being a reference to the five spice chicken specialty and it’s Southern American cousin.

The stairs leading up to Colonel Tan’s are a decent workout, and I’ve seen plenty of people struggle to navigate them, but that’s mainly on the way down after 15 hours dancing inside.  The inside of the venue is lowly lit with a myriad of aging lampshades and chandeliers, and is littered with 80’s video game machines and old couches with an appetite for mobile phones and wallets.   The kitsch floral vinyl tablecloth clad tables are set out at the far end of the room near the utilitarian bar.  The walls (and ceiling) are an absolute joy at Revolver Upstairs.  They are full of artworks from brilliant artists and are always evolving.  Banksy and Shepard Fairey feature prominently among them, with works from prior to their global fame.  The more attention you pay the more fascinating art work you will find.

The food menu is quite extensive, but if you don’t like spicy food then you may be restricted a little.  The drinks menu is also very extensive and it’s nice to be able to order these from your table rather than fight your way to the front of the bar with sweaty patrons queued five deep as is the case on a weekend.  Fruit infused water is also provided.  We ordered a couple of baskets of the requisite Colonel’s five spice chicken, and betel leaf salad with snapper, peanuts, ginger, chilli and lime to start with.  The chicken kicks arse.  Or it would do if it’s legs weren’t amputated and deep-fried in a beautifully spiced and crispy coating.  It’s a definite winner when compared to that of the more famous Colonel.  Make sure you get at least one basket of this when you visit.  The betel leaf salad is a DIY dish where you wrap the snapper filling into a betel leaf.  It’s a cracking dish but be warned, it has some serious chilli kick.  You’ll be heading for a serviette or two after knocking back these two finger food dishes, the salad can be particularly sticky.

For mains we ordered Penang lamb curry, stir fried tumeric chicken, Pad Thai eggnet and stir fried red curry pork to share between the five of us.  The lamb and the pork were particularly good, with nice juicy pork belly chunks in the red curry and plenty of chilli kick in the lamb.  We were all close to letting out the belt a notch at the end of it, and the best bit, since Thursday is locals night, it’s half price for anybody with a 3181 post code or a Revolver membership.  Eight dishes of food ended up costing us less than $15 each.

There are two dinner sittings per evening, one at 6pm and one at 8pm, and it’s closed on Sundays and Mondays.  If you turn up on a Sunday you’re in for a whole different sort of evening.  Bookings are recommended for Thursdays.

Do yourself a favour – forget about the boozy nights and days where you ended up in Revolver and promised yourself you’d never return… and return.  Return for the food.

 

Note: Most of the photos are not mine – it’s so dark in there the iPhone doesn’t really cut the mustard.

Haruaki

145 Chapel St, Windsor

Japanese/Korean

I decided to give this place a go last Sunday evening.  Chapel St was buzzing and restaurants were full – except Haruaki, which was emptier than a hermit’s address book.  To be honest I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a customer here.  The place doesn’t look that terrible so we pulled up a seat at a table on the street.

The menu is a fairly extensive collection of standard Japanese/Korean fare and I decided to go with the unagi don as I couldn’t recall trying eel before, and my friend went with a chicken teriyaki bento box.   The food was fairly quick to arrive as you’d hope in an empty restaurant, and the only hiccup was there was no sushi roll for the bento box but it was replaced with croquettes.

The food all tasted pretty good (the eel tastes like fish), it was reasonably priced, and the service was good.  I’m not quite sure why this place is often empty.  Maybe they do a roaring weekday lunchtime trade, they do have lunch specials.  There is certainly no shortage of Asian restaurants on Chapel St though so you have to do something to set yourself apart – and perhaps that is what’s missing here.  It’s good – but nothing special.

Kin

Shop 1, 233 Chapel St, Prahran

Vietnamese

Kin has taken over the old Chapelino Cafe site but the shop has had a full make over.  Recycled wood is used extensively, from thick wooden bench tops to the Kin sign hanging over the bar.  Lighting is provided by the now ubiquitous naked Edison bulbs – surely this fad must end eventually.  It does however provide a homely feel, also helped by the naked red brick, and wooden panel walls.

My friend and I ordered a bowl of phở each, one chicken and one beef,  the bò lá lốp and the chargrilled herb and chilli squid.

The phở was delicious and came with all the various accompaniments you’d expect.  The bò lá lốp is marinated beef wrapped a betel leaves and then grilled.  The bite sized morsels were succulent and tender.  The squid was served as flat and pre-sliced.  It didn’t have a particularly big chilli hit but was tasty all same and it was cooked well. 

I forgot to take photos of the dishes – but here’s the aftermath.

 All the meals were reasonably priced and the staff were friendly and helpful.  I’ll definitely be going back to try our more of their menu.  They are also open for breakfasts.

Laksa Bar

247 Chapel St, Prahran Asian Street Food Laksa bar is the sister of the Lt Lonsdale restaurant in the CBD.  I was pleased to see it had taken over the old Straits of Malacca restaurant.  I hadn’t tried it yet but, not to wish ill of the owners, I was waiting for it to fail – it just looked very unappealing and they’d made no effort with decor.  It was really pretty fugly.  With so many good Asian restaurants in the area there was no reason to go there.  Unfortunately Laksa Bar hasn’t really improved the situation.  In fact, you can still see portions of the Straights of Malacca signage on the wall as,  as far as I can tell, all they’ve done is pasted a few brewery sponsored posters on the wall, replaced the counter, and changed a few of the lights.  It’s a large restaurant so they really should have made more of an effort.  Hopefully the food is good enough to allow us to ignore the slapdash decorating.  It started out… well pretty average to be honest.  We ordered some soft shell crab and some of “Miss Ling’s” chicken and prawn dumplings.  The crab was okay in that it was crab shaped I guess, but the overriding taste was the oil in the batter.  I was sort of hoping crab and spices would be in the top two flavours and the chilli mayo that came with it seemed like it was store bought.  The pan-fried dumplings were actually pretty good, as was the house special black bean sauce.  Maybe it’s house special because it’s the only one actually made in house. We also ordered some of the ‘signature’ crispy chicken with hot and spicy sauce.  The menu asks for 20 minutes to prep time as it’s “slightly trickier to prepare”.  I’m not sure what’s tricky about deep frying chicken but we ordered at the same time as our entrees and it came out just before our mains.  The chicken was the highlight of the night.  The hot and spicy sauce wasn’t really either particularly, but it was tasty… and sticky.  Maybe that’s what attracted all the little fruit flies. For mains I ordered the house laksa with fish while my friend ordered the nasi lemak with beef rendang.  My overriding impression of the laksa was yellow.  Everything was yellow.   From the sauce to the deep fried emping chips on top, it was very yellow.  The laksa contained both thick and thin noodles and the fish component was deep fried… making it quite yellow.  It was disappointing that the fish was battered and deep fried, it would have been a better dish with fish pieces cooked in the laksa.   The tofu was also fried and spongy.  The over all taste was okay but nothing special. The beef rendang… well lets not sugar coat it, it tasted pretty awful.  I really like a beef rendang done well but we barely touched this.  It was grim.  The dish was saved a little by having the nasi lemak to eat instead but really that should be a side. So, pretty awful decor and some pretty average to awful food.  How long with this one last?

Mr Miyagi

99 Chapel St, Windsor

Japanese

http://www.mrmiyagi.com.au/

Let’s cut straight to the chase.  This place is fucking fantastic and you should go.  If that’s not enough for you and you want to know why, then read on.  I have a feeling this might be a long one though.

We rocked up at 7:30pm on a Thursday and were told that there would be a 45 minute wait for a table, so they took a mobile number and we went to a bar.  At this point it’s fairly easy to tell that the place is doing much better than its predecessor in this location which lasted literally 3 weeks before folding.

We got the call 45 minutes later as promised.  There was a bit of a wait at the front while people paid their bills so perhaps separating the check-out and check-in functions might be a good idea but it’s a minor quibble and the maître d’ was hot so we’ll let it slide.  We were given a seat at the bar which, as it turns out, is a fantastic place to sit.  The decor is industrial with polished concrete floors and walls that are a combination of raw brick, corrugated cardboard panels painted black, and flat panels painted with what appears to be a large Japanese Pac-Man character.  It is lit with naked Edison bulbs dropping low from the ceiling.

The menu is divided into 4 sections named, with a nod to the arcade game “Mortal Kombat”, Rounds 1 through 3 and “Finish Him”, the desserts section.   It is also littered with  amusing quotes from Mr Miyagi such as “Mr M says man with one chopstick go hungry”.

Round 1

We selected the tuna cracker, the black pig gyoza and the Miyagi fried chicken.  When the yellow fin tuna cracker arrived it looked amazing topped with its ball of saké sorbet.  The waiter effused over how each ingredient added to the total flavour and was greater than the sum of the parts.  I tried to take a small bite to sample it but this pretty much led to the destruction of the entire stack and was such a debacle that I forgot to really taste it.  Apparently it’s amazing though, particularly the tomato confit.  The next to arrive was the black pig gyoza.  I’m not sure how much difference the pig being black makes but these were delicious.  Full of flavour and excellent consistency, and the dipping sauce had a nice chilli kick.  The true winner though was the Miyagi fried chicken.  It arrived, along with dish of Japanese mayo, in a cute ‘MFC’ takeaway box lined with Japanese newspaper.  If The Colonel had come up with this recipe maybe he wouldn’t have been turned away 1009 times before he found a backer.  This really was the shizz.

Sitting at the bar we got talking to the friendly bar staff.  Their enthusiasm for their job was obvious and their skill and knowledge of the ingredients was impressive.  I definitely came away with more knowledge of saké than I arrived with.  The barman wearing a Kamikaze head band (which isn’t racist because he was given it by a Japanese person apparently) offered us a sample of a couple of the sakés before we selected the Umenoyado Gin Junmai Ginjo.  It was served cold, and was quite floral.  We also drank Orion beer from Okinawa which was very fresh tasting.  One of the bar staff also gave us a sample of the white chocolate saké foam used to top one of the cocktails.  It was very rich but I put that cocktail on the must try list for later in the evening.  It was good to see a bulberator put to a practical use.

Round 2

Sitting at the bar had given us a chance to see the two chefs in action.   The only Japanese staff that I saw, these knife ninjas were very impressive to watch.  For round 2 we selected the 21 piece large Nigiri and Sashimi combo. The fish was all top quality and very fresh, and was absolutely delicious.  One of the knife ninjas catapulted himself onto the bar in front of us to inquire as to whether we were enjoying it.  I asked about one particular cut of sashimi and it turns out it was Japanese Kingfish seared with a blow torch.  So so good!  I saw the chefs filling water balloons at one point and after inquiring about it I was told that they were frozen and then burst, and used to serve the monster combo on.  I wish I’d ordered the monster combo now.

Back to Round 1

We were enjoying the food so much we decided to sample more of it and ordered the Wagu beef tataki.  The beef was wafer thin and just melted in your mouth.  Each slice was wrapped around shredded carrot and garlic crisps.  This dish is a must try.

At this point we’re quite a few beers and sakés in, so the one thing that is calling my name is more of that Miyagi fried chicken.  It’s honestly so good!  I never thought of using mayo on fried chicken before but it really worked well.

Throughout the night the music had jumped around a bit but was always fun.  When I went to the bathroom (which has some pretty amusing decoration by the way) some random stopped me to tell me how impressed he was with the music.  It turns out the staff have a tablet hooked up to Spotify so they just play whatever they feel like and were even taking requests from patrons.  I got them to play Toto – Africa which seemed to feel right after Kim Carnes – Betty Davis Eyes.

Currently the bar is only licenced until 11pm (application for later licence pending) and the kitchen closes around the same time so we wrapped things up with the white chocolate saké foam topped cocktail although it probably had more caffeine in it than was sensible for that time of night.   The bill arrived in an envelope labeled “The Damage” but considering I’d had the best Japanese food I’d ever had, I wasn’t too concerned about the contents.  Do yourself a favour and get along to this fantastic restaurant.

Ghin Kopi

58 Chapel St, Windsor

Thai

http://www.ghinkopionline.com.au/

Ghin Kopi has been around a couple of years now judging from the size of the stack of takeaway containers my flatmate has accumulated from there.  I’d been a couple of times before but, to be honest, the last time was after a pretty epic bender and I’m not sure I was fully able to appreciate what was served up to me.  This time, a lot more sober, I had another go.

A friend and I sat at one of the small outdoor tables since it was a warm evening.  A waitress brought out menus and water promptly.  Now the odd thing about the water glasses at Ghin Kopi is that they have a rounded base.  They webble and they wooble but they don’t fall down.  This was enough to scare my dinner companion enough that she asked the waitress to remove the glass from her sight.  It really is an odd choice for tumblers and seems to be courting disaster, especially as they hadn’t taken down their Christmas decorations and it was after Jan 5th!  My friend ordered two entrees, the Thai fish cakes and the prawn spring rolls, and I ordered the garlic pepper chicken as a main, and a couple of beers of course.

We’d asked for the entrees and mains to be brought out at the same time however the entrees arrived out first and I had a sample of them.  The fish cakes tasted like they were home brand supermarket fish cakes.  The fish cake mixture was highly processed and lacked any identifiable chucks of fish.  They also bent rather than broke when you tried to break one down the middle.  I definitely wouldn’t recommend them.  The prawn spring rolls were okay, although the one I tried seemed to have very little prawn in it, the others looked okay so it could have been the odd one out.

When my chicken dish arrived we had to do some plate shuffling and stacking.  The small round tables really aren’t big enough for two people to eat a full meal at.  It’d be better if the tables were at least square to give you a bit more real estate to work with.  Once I had my meal in front of me it look and smelled great.  Lots of juicy looking chicken chucks along with the usual stir-fry accompaniments.  It also tasted delicious and it was a good portion size.  The only hindrance to enjoying this was some child running up and down the street from the pizza joint a couple of doors down, screaming like he was having his eye ball removed with a chopstick, although it appears they were screams of joy from being chased up the street  by a lumbering adult.

On the front window, under the Ghin Kopi name is the text “Thonburi Culinary School”.  I asked the waitress if a cooking school was being run from the restaurant or that is where the chefs trained at.  She responded that it was where the chefs trained at in Thailand, however a quick Google search later showed that they were indeed running a cooking school there, seemingly sold through group buying websites.

It seems the food here is a bit hit and miss and my have deteriorated a little from when it first opened.  Newly opened next door is the exciting My Little Gogo so Ghin Kopi will have to stay on top of their game to compete.

New Wind

120 Chapel St, Windsor

Vietnamese/Thai

http://www.newwind.com.au/

New Wind has been around since 2001 and I’ve eaten here a couple of times before.  I visited it again on New Years Eve with a group of friends, looking to line our stomachs before the subsequent festivities.   Inside is decorated with original paintings by the owner and a piano in the corner, sometimes played by the owner as well.  On this night we sat outside at the wooden tables which look like they were made by your dad who failed shop class and they could certainly have benefited from some sandpaper.

We ordered roast quail, pendan chicken and the charcoal grilled octopus for entrées.  The pendan chicken consisted of marinated chicken pieces wrapped in a pendan leaf and then grilled and served with a plum sauce.  It was quite tasty although the four pieces of fish were quite inconsistently sized which is a bit annoying when sharing.   The char-grilled baby octopus was marinated in a spicy Thai sauce served with a sweet chilli sauce and was also a tasty if slightly unattractive dish.  The roast quail sprinkled with spices was delicious.

For mains we ordered the coconut prawn clay pot and a pork stir fry with a plum sauce.  When they arrived the waiter struggled to find space on the table for them due to the number of glasses and bottles that had accumulated however he didn’t seem particularly interested in removing any.  Once every dish, plate, bottle and glass was jockeyed slightly to accommodate the mains they turned out to be pretty good.  Nothing exceptional but they hit the spot, were a decent portion size, and were reasonably priced.

If you’re looking for well priced reasonable Vietnamese/Thai food then you could do worse than choosing New Wind, but it’s certainly not the best on Chapel St, and I’d probably avoid trying to use the bathrooms there as well.

Footnote:  I have since returned here reasonably late on a Saturday night with three friends.  We ordered the prawn dumplings, fried wontons and steamed chicken dim sims.  All were terrible.  The wontons were flat and lacked filling, the chicken dim sim wrappings looked like sheep scrotum and were falling apart.  The prawn dumplings were stodgy and all the ones I had an inedible hard glutenous bit in them.  I certainly do not recommend these entrées.  Additionally there is a smell of gas outside the restaurant which could well worry any Jewish clientelle more than the pork stir-fry.  Apparently the council have been around to check it a few times but found nothing.  Still, it can make sitting outside quite unpleasant.