Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Oldies


For the people who don't follow me on instagram and for the people who actually give a damn about what i've been eating and where.
my jar of cafés, my The Age Good Café Guide that my jar is largely based on, my trusty Sharpie and Sesame Street pen, and my Star Wars Moleskine where i record my personal reviews of the cafés i've been to. :)


St. Ali
12-18 Yarra Place,  South Melbourne VIC 
http://stali.com.au/au/
[ tram 1, stop 20 (Kings Way/Sturt Street) ]St Ali on Urbanspoon

We sat outside and that's when i came up with the idea of going somewhere new every weekend. No idea where the idea came from, but it's definitely keeping me happy (and my wallet empty) this semester. Gives me something to look forward to at the end of the week, y'know?

Hermanos Rodrigues Breakfast Sandwich- Chorizo from Casa Iberica with fried egg, roquette, paprika spiced semi hard cheese named mahon and lemon aioli on sourdough.

Smokey and The Bandit "In the House"- Victorian rainbow trout fillet on Israeli couscous with roasted Spanish onions, "house" semi dried tomatoes and "house" smoked eggplant.


LE MIEL at la lune
330 Cardigan Street, Carlton VIC
http://www.lemiel.com.au/
[ tram 1/8, stop 111 (Swanston St/Elgin St) ]LE MIEL et la lune on Urbanspoon

I guess in a way, this was pretty significant cause this is where Jason and i went for lunch on our 1-year anniversary. The choice was pretty random, but we chose it mainly cause it got good reviews on urbanspoon and cause it was just down the road from uni (he had class).

Potato hash with pork belly, three mix mushroom and a well done poached egg.

Beef ragu with cannelloni beans, rocket salad, meridith feta and poached egg.


Affogato Espresso Bar
29, Hardware Lane, Melbourne VIC 
http://www.affogato.com.au/
Affogato Espresso Bar on Urbanspoon

Another random choice. The staff there were really friendly and helpful, although the food took a long time to arrive. Their limited menu might be the reason why I probably wouldn't think of going back there again, unless i'm hungry while picking up macarons from La Belle Miette which is just across the road.

Smoked Salmon Special - scrambled (or poached) eggs with smoked salmon on toast and spinach.

Morning Start - bacon, toast, avocado, garlic mushroom, hash brown and spinach.

Soul Soup Café
55 Cardigan Street, Carlton VIC 
http://www.soulsoup.com.au/
Soul Soup Cafe on Urbanspoon

Jason's favourite place to go to. It's about 5 minutes away from where we live, and this place has the best soups ever. It's kind of a family-run business, probably on the bottom floor of their house in Carlton. Love the couple who owns the place; they even gave me a free 3oz helping of a soup that i really liked on my 4th visit there!

They have 2-3 different kinds of soup every weekday served with woodfire bread.

Chez Dré
287, Coventry Street, South Melbourne VIC
http://chezdre.com.au/
[ tram 96, stop 127 (South Melbourne Station/Light rail) ]
Chez Dré on Urbanspoon

One of the best cafés i've been to in Melbourne so far. The name's pretty famous for good reason: service was excellent (we had a French waiter with the quirkiest attitude) and the food was great too. Too bad we didnt try their Fererro Roché cake..

Cheese and corn soufflé with marinated smoked salmon and fresh corn and avocado salsa.

Grand petit dejeuner: little big lunch.

Green Refectory
115, Sydney Road, Brunswick VIC
[ tram 19, stop 20 (Barkly Square/Sydney Road) ]
Green Refectory on Urbanspoon

Everyone who follows me on instagram might've noticed that i've been to this café 6 times in 6 weeks. I made it a point to bring nearly every visitor i've had there.. Or i'd just hop on the number 19 tram and get off at stop 20 after class.


Green's big breakfast


Breakfast burrito

Salmon quiche

Breakfast trifle

Vanilla slice

Mars bar cake

Twenty & Six Espresso
594, Queensberry Street, North Melbourne VIC
http://www.twentyandsix.com.au/
[ tram 57, stop 13 (Curzon St/Queensberry St) ]
Twenty & Six Espresso on Urbanspoon

Sure, we had to wait about 30 minutes on a Sunday morning in the cold but i was determined to try out a new place instead of going to Auction Rooms (which probably would've had a longer waiting time actually..) which was just down the road. The wait was pretty worth it though.

The Hunter: balsamic and port roasted portobello mushrooms, spicy Spanish chorizo on sourdough with crème fraiche and black truffle oil.

Organic Balinese black sticky rice with banana, fresh mango, salted coconut cream, palm sugar and passion fruit pulp.

Manchester Press
8 Rankins Lane, Melbourne VIC
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manchester-Press/171807409566156?rf=196023050422681
Manchester Press on Urbanspoon

Probably the easiest choice if you live in the city since it actually is in the city. I think i've been here about 10 times in the past year and it's probably the first Melbourne-style café i've been to in Melbourne. While most people would order the smoked salmon bagel, i'd say try the fruit and nut bagel. It's my personal favourite, and you'd never have the chance to be disappointed with poverty amounts of salmon (happened to Jason once..).

Smoked salmon bagel

Fruit and nut bagel with berries mascarpone - DOESN'T IT LOOK AMAZING!?

Sally's Kitchen
296, Exhibition Street, Melbourne VIC
http://www.sallyskitchen.com.au/
[ tram 24/30/35, stop 8 (Exhibition St/La Trobe St) ]
Sally's Kitchen on Urbanspoon

The one time i didnt check for a café's opening time would be on our 13th month anniversary, wanted to go to 65 degrees but it was closed. Sally's Kitchen was a few steps away we definitely didnt walk away disappointed (though i would've preferred to try their lunch menu which isn't available on Saturdays). Slightly on the pricier side compared to other café i've been to though.. Or maybe i'm just a cheapo.

Porridge and honey sultana compote and vanilla bean compote.

Truffled scrambled eggs with pork and fennel sausages.

De Clieu
187, Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC 3000
http://sevenseeds.com.au/seeds/de-clieu/ 
[ tram 86, stop 14 (Napier St/ Gertrude St) ]
De Clieu on Urbanspoon

I was pretty disappointed with the trout but i got over it. Again, it was the issue with price more than with taste.. Their pork belly was excellent but what really made me forgive them was the quality of the soy latté i was served. Honestly one of the best i've tasted in Melbourne!

Ocean trout Gravadlax with salsa verde, horseradish crème, picked cucumber and ciabatta.


Sweet roasted Berkshire pork neck with fried egg, spring onion roti and barbecue sauce. SO GOOD. MUST TRY.

LuxBite
38, Toorak Road, South Yarra VIC
http://www.luxbite.com.au/
[ tram 8, stop 28 (Punt Road/Toorak Road) or train to South Yarra station]
LuxBite on Urbanspoon

I LOVE macarons. have i ever mentioned that i ate 56 macarons in 21 days when i first discovered them? What made me love this place more was that it actually had a lunch menu as well! And their savoury food was as good as their macarons. (what's cooler is that Iryan's housemate's friend is the chef! asdfghjkl)


Pandan chicken burger


Open pork belly sandwich - you HAVE to order this.

Endless Love - rose, lychee and raspberry macaron (that's my idea of heaven)

Pretty big selection of macarons there. 
I'd say try the orange jaffa, peanut butter and jelly, and ribena and lemonade. Actually, try everything.

65 Degrees
309, Exhibition Street Melbourne VIC
http://www.65degreescafe.com/
[ tram 24/30/35, stop 8 (Exhibition St/La Trobe St) ]
65 Degrees Café on Urbanspoon

I didn't notice much about the place when i first went there with Demie.. my second visit made me discover that there is an extremely good latté art barista there (his/her trophies were all over the shelves behind the counter). I must say i'm pretty annoyed with the place though, i went there twice at about 2pm and their kitchen was closed. Sigh.. maybe they just sell out that fast eh?

Chorizo, spinach and capsicum risotto.

Pumpkin scone

Proud Mary
172 Oxford Street, Collingwood, VIC
http://www.proudmarycoffee.com.au/
[ tram 86, stop 18 (Hodgson Street/Smith Street) ]
Proud Mary on Urbanspoon

Went there for lunch with Megan, Maxine and Jason. It was a Thursday mid-morning and the place was packed to the brim. The Age Good Café Guide did state that it was the best food café around.. and based on the meal i had there, i wouldn't have much to say to disagree.

Ricotta hot cakes with caramelised mandarin, dark chocolate fudge, whipped mascarpone and hazelnuts.
'It's like it's marinated in sunshine..!'- Maxine

Miss Jackson
2/19 Grey Street, St Kilda VIC
[ tram 3a /16 /96, stop 133 (Cantebury Road/Fitzroy Street) ] 
Miss Jackson on Urbanspoon

One that really came out at random from the jar. I think it was the owner who greeted and seated us.. and I'd give them 9/10 for service hands down. He was just so friendly and appreciative and all that jazz.. Their wasabi crab cakes were a little on the pricier side but they were REALLY good. And they also served me the best soy latté i've had so far.

Wasabi crab cakes with watercress, pea and grapefruit salad.

Potato and leek hash with smashed green peas, smoked trout and poached egg.

Hobba
428 Malvern Road, Prahran VIC
http://hobba.com.au/
[ tram 72, stop 3 (Francis St/Malvern Road) ]
Hobba Coffee + Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Another café we had to wait for.. do yourself a favour and wait about 10 minutes after 12pm for them to update their 'specials' board if you're after the lunch menu. They updated their ' Lunch Specials' board after our waitress walked away.. imagine my face when i saw 'osso bucco ragout', which was going for the same price as my Kinkawooka mussels =p. But the taste of the mussells really did make up for it.. the broth that came with it was excellent with the bread that was served with it. 
Kinkawooka mussels with harissa, yogurt and crusty bread.


Hobba breakfast- slow cooked eggs, mushrooms, roasted tomato, bacon, sausage and tomato chutney.

So those are some of the places i've been to over the last two months or less. Of course, everything up there wasn't eaten by me.. If i had a taste i'd post it up. Do leave comments whatsoever! I decided against leaving a chatbox here cause the previous one had loads of virus-like spams on em.. 

does anyone have any idea how to completely wipe out your tweets from twitter? seriously!
may.

2 comments:

C H I Q E S S said...

WOW. Melbourne cafes look amazing!
Looks like you're having a great stay there (esp. food wise) :)

May Lim said...

haahah only recently! i didn't start going out till about two months ago! :D