Two girls on the town in a moderate fashion

Ant. and I decided that it was a good night to be out and about without clutching over-priced, wilting roses in plastic packets. In our search for non-'datey' venues we ended up at the David Jones Noodle Bar. You have to appreciate a venue where everyone sits around and watches the cooks work and the turn over is so fast that there's little risk of limp veggies or bored meat. After slightly underwhelming peking duck and apple dumplings (I know!!?? How could that possibly underwhelm??) we both managed to eat enough to need a constitutional around the designer sections of the department store before we contemplated further adventures. In the shoe section we stumbled across a fashion parade - there are some questionable colours around this season. We managed to avoid the urge to throw food to the starving models and eventually sauntered back down to the underground regions of the building. This time there was no accident about our visit to the cheese counter - we revisited the goats cheese and also tried a Marcel Petite Comte Gruyere (semi-hard) and a Fromager D'Affinois Brie both from France. The brie was nicely fast when it was served, creamy and glistening with that slightly alive flavour that is so good. I've been casting about for the correct terms to describe the Gruyere; it's not a sharp flavour but it is a strong flavour. It's hard to think of a word for this that doesn't suggest it was weak or mild; I guess, really, it was blunt or rounded. Quite nice with quince paste but better without... Ok; I just asked the internet and apparently it's 'smooth and nutty'. There you go. By the way I can see the chard on a Mac but not on a PC. Hmmmm.