Purple Peanuts

Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe

620 Collins Street, Melbourne

(Ph) 9620 9548

On the night we left our Collins Street apartment we thought we had got to try out the super popular Purple Peanuts cafe downstairs again! We had tried it once before, takeaway - think we got the Teriyaki Chicken and can't remember what else but it wasn't very tasty, maybe because it was taken away or something, but since it was so popular we decided to give it another go =)

It's such a funky Japanese cafe with very interesting decor - octopus everywhere (on the name by the window and a massive scary looking one above the fridge), cat with waving paw statues and lots of Beatles posters on the wall.

There are only a few tables inside, but you can sit outside on Collins Street. It's usually packed at lunchtimes but we came for dinner so managed to get a table inside. You order at the counter (the menu is written on butchers paper on the wall) and help yourself to the self service counter of water, utensils and ginger.

Since P didn't like his Chicken Teriyaki last time he went for the Chicken Curry - flame grilled chicken in a mild Japanese curry with carrot, potato, onion, ginger, garlic + pickles. Served with rice. $9.20 with miso soup $11.20

$2 for a miso soup?! I know it's home made but no thanks =P The chicken was cooked perfectly with a slight char, curry was quite flavoursome - you can tell it's not packet stuff =)

I went for the Kakuni Pork - slow-cooked braised pork belly served with rice and salad with a hint of Korean chilli $9.50 with miso soup $11.50

The pork belly was delicious - so soft the meat fell apart with the slightest touch with your fork. The sauce looks scarily spicy but actually wasn't too bad and actually had a hint of sweetness. Not sure if the salad complemented the dish but overall was quite good =)

Food~
7/10 - quite good mains here with a twist. Their sushi is meant to be very good here but given we came here at night thought we should go for the mains. Wouldn't mind trying their onigiri rice balls next time - deep fried rice balls =)

Service~
2/5 - food came quite quickly but it is quite casual here ordering at the counter

Atmosphere~
1/5 - it was a super humid night and they don't have aircon (or heating) here! maybe we really should have taken it away home to eat =P

C.
xo

Maccaroni Trattoria Italiana

Maccaroni Trattoria Italiana

10 Manchester Lane, Melbourne

(Ph) 9090 7634

We were craving some good Italian food, so I searched on Urbanspoon and I found this little gem - 92% likes! It's a small cafe with a very homely atmosphere - lots of hanging plants around and shelves of wines and pastas. The tables are tiny with red and white checkered tablecloths - so cute! We sat at the table closest to the kitchen - food smelt sooo good! The tables had wheels at the legs and were actually sitting in a rail so you could easily push 2 tables together to become 4 - I wonder if they purposely built that!

There's a good selection of entrees, pastas and main dishes but both E and I wanted the Baked Maccaroni Incasciati - maccaroni pasta with Napoli sauce, mince meatballs, eggplants and mozzarella cheese, baked au gratin 

It came very quickly and was delicious! Baked cheesey goodness with perfectly cooked maccaroni - al dente =) The meatballs were a tad dry but were still very flavoursome. Loved the addition of eggplant to the dish!

It was a very filling dish and surprisingly cheap for Italian in the CBD! There are lots of cakes on display and a gelati cart by the door - I'm pretty sure it's homemade too =) We had dessert plans elsewhere so didn't get a chance to try any of the delicious cakes on offer but will definitely be back!

Food~
7.5/10 - delicious homely Italian food =)

Service~
3/5 - service was quite good and efficient

Atmosphere~
3/5 - small little cafe really feels like you're transported to Italy!

C.
xo