No 35

No 35

Level 35, 25 Collins St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9653 7744

My birthday! =) I had been meaning to come try out No 35 for a while - it's got one of the best views in Melbourne, comparable to Vue de Monde =) And 50% off with my Accor card w00t! The decor is quite nice and classy here... all the tables here are against the window

with a beautiful view! =)

and in the middle of the room there's a bench top with lots of wines, sparkling waters, water etc etc

Complimentary bread with a really good olive oil and vinegarette!

We decided to get 2 entrees to share - this sounded really interesting, kinda reminds me of Son in Law Eggs =) (See Gingerboy, Chin Chin) Chorizo scotch egg, harissa and nigella seeds $10

It's like an egg wrapped in chorizo and deep fried, served with a super hot harissa sauce. Very interesting and delicious! (minus the harissa sauce =P) The yolk was still runny - I'm not sure what egg it is, it's too small to be a chicken egg but too big to be a quail egg... whatever it was super tasty =)

We also shared a Charcuterie platter $26 - david blackmore wagyu bresaola, hunters salami, terrine de campagne, chicken liver parfait

A bit of everything! Chacuterie is a fancy name for cured meats, as I learnt when we went to Cumulus. My favourite was the chicken liver parfait, was delicious with the toasted bread =) Its quite a rich flavour, would have been better if they were more generous with the toasted bread though! Lucky they refilled our complimentary breads =P The terrine was not as flavoursome, but went quite well with the jam and the cute little cured vegetables. The bresaola and the salami were quite ordinary, a little too salty for my liking but P really enjoyed it - he loves proscuitto-like things =P

For main, P wanted the Crispy pork hock with chilli caramel, green papaya, spring onion and roasted peanuts $36

Really reminds me of caramelised pork from both Chin Chin and Gingerboy. Super crispy indeed and the meat was so soft inside! Delicious with the slightly chilli caramel sauce =) I'm not really a fan of asian salads but P liked it, it's 'cause of the coriander... really don't like it =/

I wanted the Special of the day - grilled barramundi with a side of mushrooms, carrots, pumpkin, olives, feta and macadamia (or something like that)

This was not as tasty as the waiter made it sound. The barramundi was cooked to perfection but was quite bland. You're meant to eat it with the salad which was full of flavour but was a bit mushy, more macadamia nuts would have been nice =)

We were quite full by this stage so we just shared one dessert. We wanted something light and not too rich so we went for the Coconut tapioca with passionfruit sorbet, kaffir lime jelly and ginger granita $17

Interesting - kinda reminds me of the Snow Egg concept, hiding stuff inside - in this case the passionfruit sorbet, which was deliciously tangy. I wasn't a fan of the ginger granita, was too gingery to be put in a dessert, but the meringue was quite good with the tanginess of the sorbet inside. Asian flavours put in a Western dessert - fusion indeed. Not my type of dessert but given we wanted something light wasn't too bad.

Food~
8/10 - quite good overall, some familiar flavours but some unique ones too =)

Atmosphere~
5/5 - beautiful view and surroundings! if you can't afford to go to Vue de Monde for the view, it's just as good here =P

Service~
5/5 - very attentive waiters here, what do you expect at Sofitel? =)

Happy Birthday to me again! ^^

C.
xo

Citi Bake

Citi Bake

140 King Street, Melbourne

(Ph) 9621 3000

Lunch with P! We had initially wanted to go to Shanghai Dumplings on King Street but the line was way too long, so we went around the corner to Citi Bake. The pies here have always looked good every time we go past it. 

It's quite a spacious cafe with a cute bookshelf to one side next to some sofas - comfy but not very practical to eat on =P

Their steak pies are meant to be good so we got one each - I got Steak and mushroom, and P got Steak and bacon, $4 each.

Picture inside the Steak and bacon pie - there's not much bacon (or mushroom in the other one). More or less just like a normal steak pie - not bad, but nothing special.

We were still hungry so we went for something sweet. P got a Vanilla Slice $3

and I got a Apple pie $3

The vanilla custard in the Vanilla slice was quite tasty and creamy, but the icing layer was so thick and hard - would have been nicer if there was less icing and more puff pastry.

The Apple pie was similar too - the apple filling was really delicious, but the pastry was a bit too thick. And I normally love shortbread crust, but there was just too much of it =(

Food~
5/10 - not too bad as a bakery, but nothing too special

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a big spacious cafe

Service~
2/5 - you order at the counter, so not much of service here, but the waiters are quite friendly

C.
xo

Tiamo 2

Tiamo 2

305 Lygon St, Carlton

(Ph) 9347 0911

After only coming to Tiamo a few weeks ago, I came back to Lygon Street again, but to it's sister restaurant - Tiamo 2! It's meant to have less traditional Italian dishes and more unique/gourmet ones. And I guess it's the higher class of the two, as all the tables are set with wine glasses compared with Tiamo.

They have meat and seafood dishes here, but I was craving some pasta. There's not a wide range of choices but decided to go for the Penne Ragu - small tubed pasta with stewed meat cooked in a rich wine & tomato sauce with shavings of Parmesan cheese $16.90

Pasta was cooked perfectly al dente =) The sauce was rich with flavour but wish they were more generous with the meat - I like my pasta with lots of sauce and stuff =P

Food~
6.5/10 - pastas are good here, definitely more unique compared to the traditional pastas served at Tiamo =)

Service~
2/5 - no complimentary bread here?! You'd think at the slightly higher class restaurant (compared with Tiamo) that they would definitely give you complimentary bread =P

Atmosphere~
4/5 - we booked a table so they seated us upstairs, pretty spacious area

C.
xo

Margo's

Margo's

Crown Entertainment Complex, Southbank

(Ph) 9292 7406

Friends were visiting Melbourne, and they wanted to go gamble at Grown, so we decided to grab dinner beforehand there. We were in the gaming area already, what better place than Margo's - bonus it's in the Entertainment book =)

Complimentary bread and butter as we sat down =) I was having a craving for pasta so I got the Penne Carbonara - bacon, cream, egg, garlic, parmesan cheese $14.50

It was so ridiculously creamy and cheesy - this is coming from someone who loves cream and cheese normally! Pasta was cooked slightly too soft for my liking, but was alright overall. Surprisingly very filling!

P wanted fish and chips. Beer battered flathead fillets - served with French fries and tartare sauce $19.90. The waiter said they had run out of flathead and were serving hake instead and asked if he was okay with it, so he said okay.

This was a massive disappointment. The fish pieces were so small, and the fish was so rubbery, like it's from those frozen fish packets. Totally should have said no when they said they ran out of flathead =( And they were not very generous with the french fries either... lucky P could eat my pasta otherwise he would have been still hungry afterwards =/

Food~
5/10 - I've been here before, and the food was better from my memory, maybe we just ordered the wrong dishes this time..

Atmosphere~
2/5 - it's a bit loud and rowdy in there, but what do you expect being right in the gaming area?

Service~
3/5 - it's quite busy here all the time but food came quite promptly =)

C.
xo

Max Cafe Bar

Max Cafe Bar

58 Hardware Lane, Melbourne

(Ph) 9600 1697

Some Brisbane friends came down to Melbourne, and I initially wanted to go to Manchester Press for brunch on Sunday, but the wait was 30mins plus and we were starving so decided to go somewhere else. Hardware Lane was nearby so decided to go eat there. We walked past Max Cafe Bar, where the waiters are like at Lygon Street, trying to lure you in to eat at their restaurant. I really hate that but we were hungry and it looked quite full there so thought we'd give it a try.

The breakfast menu is quite limited, and it was nearly midday so they gave us the lunch menu as well, but it feels weird eating non-breakfast food first thing in the morning so we stuck with the breakfast menu. P got the Max Big Breakfast with Eggs, Bacon, Chorizo, Mushroom & Spinach $19.90

Pretty standard and ordinary. What is in that sauce jug? Tasted kinda like hollandaise but not really either =/ Very strange.

I got the Max Omelette with Chorizo, Fetta & Roast Tomato $16.90

Very poor plating and aesthetics! Think the omelette is meant to be a full circle from the pan but it broke and totally failed... They should have made another one instead of serve it up like this =/ Very ordinary taste too, they should have broken the fetta up into smaller bits instead of just having 4 big bits in the whole omelette.

Food~
3/10 - don't come here for breakfast, think their mains (lunch/dinner) are better though

Atmosphere~
4/5 - we sat at the table outside on this sunny day so was quite nice.

Service~
2/5 - took a while trying to get their attention to give us water and to take our orders. They try to lure you into the restaurant but once you're in, they don't really give you the service =/

C.
xo

City Grill Room

City Grill Room

535 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9602 2228

We had relatives come visit from China and we wanted to take them to somewhere "Australian". What's more Australian than steak? =P Plus it's in the Entertainment book =) It's a very spacious restaurant, and caters well for large groups. Lighting was very dark, and I forgot my camera, so apologies for the iPhone pictures with the ridiculous flash.

All their mains are flavoured with CGR baste when grilled, served with choice of chips or baked potato. All steaks are pasture fed. P got the Eye Fillet (200g) $34, cooked rare. Sauces are $4.50 each - choices are mushroom, black pepper, monkeygland, creamy garlic, green pepper, danish blue cheese. P decided to be adventurous and got the Danish Blue Cheese =)

The steak was cooked perfectly, and the sauce was surprisingly really good! I've recently grown to like blue cheese... this sauce was so strong yet goes really well with steak... and chips!

I got the Pork Spare Ribs (2 Racks) $36

Gotta say it's one of the best ribs I've had in Melbourne! Can't compare with Hurricane's in Sydney but these were very meaty and juicy and not dry =) Too bad I didn't have a sauce to dip my chips in so I dipped it in P's blue cheese sauce - seriously delicious!

The relatives aren't used to "raw vegetables" so we didn't get a salad, but instead got Char-grilled Vegetables (mushroom, capsicum, zucchini, & a pumpkin slice) $9

Wow we were kinda expecting them to be a bit more generous - one skewer of vegetables? And a massive slice of pumpkin - hmm.

The relatives ordered Lamb Loin Chops and Eye Fillet, served with baked potato. The potato was the biggest potato I've ever seen - about 15cm long! It was very plain, wrapped in aluminium foil and wasn't even served with sour cream or anything to go with it..

Food~
7/10 - steaks and ribs are good here, and go for the blue cheese sauce! Chips are crunchy and delicious but don't go for the baked potato or any vegetables lol.

Atmosphere~
2/5 - more lighting would be nice =P

Service~
4/5 - waiters are very attentive and polite here =)

C.
xo

Comfort At My Table

Comfort At My Table

Shop 5, 19-23 Cribb St, Milton, Brisbane

I was back in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, of course I had to have brunch with L and M =) Last time we wanted to come to Comfort At My Table, but it was so full we went elsewhere. This time we booked a table =) Service was a  bit slow, even though we booked and the table was free, we had to wait a while for the waiters to clean it and set it up =/ 

I forgot to take a photo of the cafe, but it's a funky girly place with a very homely atmosphere. There are individual tables as well as communal tables inside - kinda feels like the cafes in Melbourne =)

I don't normally order drinks but M suggested the Pot of Chai with soy milk so I got one as well. It comes in a Chinese tea pot - how unique! Get nearly 4 cups of chai from it and makes it more fun =) reminds me of the Chai pot at Max Brenner's.

Mmmmm soy chai goodness =)

There are so many interesting items on the menu! I decided to go for Nim's Eggs - poached eggs, bacon, pesto, banana chutney, roast tomato $11.80

It is pretty much like a normal big breakfast but the banana chutney was delicious! So unique =)

M initially wanted one of the Specials but they took the wrong order and gave her this instead. Mixed Mushrooms - wood ear, field, enoki, shitake (whatever funky things we can find in fact!), danish fetta, grilled lemon, rocket, sourdough $10.80

S said it was delicious despite the mistake =) mushrooms! <3

L got the Savoury Mince - a nod to tex mex with corn tortillas (GF), poached eggs, avocado, coriander creme & grilled lemon $14.80 which I forgot to take a photo of.

Food~
7.5/10 -  very unique dishes here, definitely get the pot of chai if you're a fan of chai =)

Atmosphere~
3/5 - love the decor of the cafe!

Service~
3/5 - service was a bit slow but I guess it was quite busy on this Sunday morning

Definitely worth a visit!

C.
xo

Ocha2go

Ocha2go

64 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn

(Ph) 9819 6928

Catch up with T, and C^2! J was initially meant to come, and he wanted to go somewhere near Glen Waverley, while I wanted to meet in the CBD, so we went for somewhere in between - Hawthorn. Ocha2go is the more casual sister restaurant to Ocha - a fine dining modern Japanese restaurant nearby.

It is very casual indeed, you order at the counter, and there is a service cart in the middle of the restaurant where you get your own cutlery and plates, bowls etc. It's actually a very popular and busy restaurant, lots of people coming to get takeaway - even takeaway sashimi! It's pretty pricey for a casual restaurant though, guess it is Hawthorn =P

We decided to get some entrees and mains to share. Started off with Salmon Tsutsumi - 4 salmon parcels wrapped in a thin pastry deep-fried, served with a silky sauce $9.50

Nothing too special, kinda like salmon wontons deep fried, but the excessive sauce made the wontons soft =(

Next came one of the mains - why would they serve mains before the entrees all came? Pork Katsu - pork fillet crumbed served with a Japanese BBQ sauce on coleslaw $13.50

Strange enough this "main" doesn't come with rice. I'm always a sucker for katsu, but was a bit strange serving it with coleslaw - guess they're trying to modernize and Westernize this dish?

We also got some sushi and sashimi - they served it all on the same plate.
Sashimi Combo (12pc) - today's selection of fish $17.50
Norimaki Rolls - combo (12pc) $7.50
Soft Shell Crab Roll (5pc) - softshell crab, avocado, cucumber, flying fish roe, carrot, salad + Japanese mayo $10

The soft shell crab was delicious - love the end bits with more crab than sushi =P crispy crab with lots of meat, not sure if I like all the salad and leaves in it but was still yum =) I had heard great reviews about the sashimi here but it was nothing special. And the norimaki rolls are just filling and cheap sushi =P

Sukiyaki - paper thin slices of beef cooked in Ocha2go sukiyaki sauce with mungbean noodles, carrots, zucchini & tofu, served on steamed rice with a bowl of miso soup $16.50

Sukiyaki in a main meal? Very different. Usually you have sukiyaki in the pot with the stuff in soupy sauce but this was all cooked for us already and served on rice. The beef was quite flavourful but they could have been a bit more generous with the tofu - only 2 pieces?!

We had totally forgotten about the other entree we ordered, it came so late! Ika burgers - 4 fresh calamari "burgers" glazed with a sweet soy, topped with Japanese mayo $10.50

This was so strange, I guess they did warn us by saying "burgers" in quotation marks =P But it was like a calamari-mixed-with-some-other-mushy-stuff patty served with too much sauce.

Food~
5/10 - nothing too memorable here, and kinda expensive for what you pay, but then again, it is Hawthorn.

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a casual restaurant with lots of families dining here

Service~
3/5 - food didn't take too long, just kinda in the wrong order haha =P

C.
xo

Dr Jekyll

Dr Jekyll

107 Grey St, St Kilda

(Ph) 9525 5999

☆☆☆

Dr Jekyll has been rated ☆☆☆ by the Cheap Eats Guide so thought I should bring my Brisbane friends here. Would have taken them to one of "THE Melbourne" brunch places but knew the waiting line would be at least half an hour so thought I should give St Kilda a try on this Sunday morning.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson about the investigation of Dr Jekyll who has to battle between the good and the bad within himself - the good Dr Jekyll and the evil Mr Hyde. It is commonly used to describe people with split personalities or people who act very different morally in different circumstances.

So this cafe is called Dr Jekyll, so only the good side of things =) You have the option of sitting outside  in the courtyard amongst the garden or inside the cafe. We chose to sit inside against the window - finally the Melbourne sun is out! The waiter told us to wait in the courtyard for 5 minutes for them to clear the table, not bad for a Sunday morning =)

I was tossing between the Brekkie burger: fried egg, leg ham, chorizo, melted cheese, house chutney & roquette $13.50 or the Brekkie trout: scrambled eggs served on grilled viennoise, house cured ocean trout & chive creme fraiche $16.50. I went for the Brekkie trout and it didn't disappoint me =)

The scrambled egg was so fluffy and flavoursome, not sure if I could tell the smoked salmon was "house cured" but never mind, was still quite good with the chive creme fraiche =P Whatever viennoise bread is meant to be, it was delicious - soft and fluffy and slightly sweet, like a broiche, or something you'd get from an Asian bakery. The bread is really the hero of the dish, but complimented well with all the components =)

P went for the Brekkie melt with bacon, beetroot puree, melted mozzarella, 2 fried eggs and a side of rocket $16.50 which was found on the Specials board.

This unfortunately, sounds better than it actually tasted. The pile of rocket salad was a bit sad looking - and who serves rocket by itself? It's so bitter =/ The "melt" was not what we expected, we were expecting more of like a pressed sandwich with melted goodies inside but it was really just a bread with some stuff on top. I'm not a fan of beetroot so didn't really like the beetroot puree, though it didn't taste of much =/ So really it was just bacon and eggs with cheese on toast... hmm...

Food~
6/10 - I would definitely recommend the Brekkie Trout, but just stick with the normal menu and not the "specials". P should have totally ordered the Brekkie Burger instead!

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite nice sitting against the window, there are cushions for you to sit on too =) got a bit too hot after a while! Maybe we should have seated outside in the cool garden instead =P

Service~
2/5 - we were at the corner table, and the table next to us was meant to seat 3, but 5 people seated there, so the waiter couldn't get to our table to give us our food. So we played pass-the-plate from the neighbouring table to us... didn't feel very professional but I guess it's the community feel of brunch cafes?

C.
xo

De Clieu

De Clieu

187 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

(Ph) 9416 4661

☆☆☆

Brunch again! <3 We decided to venture slightly outside the CBD this time - De Clieu was given ☆☆☆ by Cheap Eats Guide and 3 coffee cups by Good Cafe Guide. The chef actually used to work at Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander which we only recently visited =) We recognized one of the waiters also works at Seven Seeds, I guess they are the same group so they share workers and waiters? =P

Gabriel De Clieu managed to bring a single coffee plant from Paris all the way to the Carribean Seas, sharing his own water rations with the plant, and started the French Caribbean coffee plantations there. It was because of his dedication to coffee that the Seven Seeds group decided to name their new cafe after him =)

So of course J and I had to order a coffee each, even though we're not super fans =P I got a Chai Latte with soy, which is really cheating 'cause it's not really coffee, but yum! <3

And J got a Cappuccino - smooooth =)

The menu is full of so many interesting choices! I decided to go for the Sweet roasted Berkshire pork neck with fried free-range egg, spring onion roti & barbeque sauce $16.5

Wasn't sure what to expect but it had fully exceeded my expectations! A new take on bacon and eggs with toast - modern Australian indeed =) The pork neck was so soft, tender and juicy. The roti was crunchy yet slightly chewy, non-oily and just delicious with the sweet barbeque sauce =)

J got the W. A. King Brown mushrooms on white sourdough toast with scrambled eggs & white truffle oil $17.0

Big fat juicy mushrooms! <3 The scrambled eggs were very smooth and the toast was good, but the hero was definitely the mushrooms =) J likes her mushrooms hehe ^^

Food~
8/10 - definitely recommend the pork neck, delicious indeed! =) wanna come back and try some of their other very interesting sounding dishes too!

Atmosphere~
4/5 - quite a small cafe compared to Seven Seeds but very comfortable sitting against the window with the sun on our backs =)

Service~
3/5 - it was quite busy on this weekday so they were a bit short on waiter staff but we didn't mind sitting at the communal tables chatting~

Definitely a recommendation!

C.
xo