Porgie and Mr Jones

Porgie and Mr Jones

291 Auburn Rd, Hawthorn

(Ph) 9882 2955

C had been in Melbourne for a while now but we never got around to catching up - finally we made time! =) Porgie and Mr Jones is managed by the same people as Friends of Mine and Snow Pony, both of which are cafes I've been meaning to try too!

We got there at around 10.30am on a Sunday morning, and what did we expect, but a full cafe... the waitress said it'd be about 15mins wait and said we could wait out the back in the courtyard so we said okay. We walked out the back but the courtyard was all wet from the rain so we just huddled in the corner next to the front counter, turned out we waited at least 25mins for a table, I guess it was 'cause it was raining so they didn't open the courtyard =_=

The cafe has a very homely feel - the front room have communal tables, the back rooms have cosy small tables some with armchairs next to the fireplace and lots of hanging paintings, and the courtyard out the back which would have been nice if it wasn't so wet and cold on this summer day!

I started off with a Chai Latte - no complaints here =)

Their menu wasn't too extensive, but they try to use lots of organic, free range and locally grown ingredients - organic bread, free range eggs and bacon, own grown herbs =) I went for the Smashed avocado w/ thyme buttered mushrooms, marinated feta + basil on wholegrain toast $17.9 w/ poached egg $19.9

Wow it was massive! The smashed avocado was one of the best I've had and the egg was perfectly poached. Combination of my 2 favourite breakfast ingredients - mushrooms and avocado! <3 The bread was a little hard to cut though - probably 'cause it was a grainy bread.

C wanted something light so went for the Toasted banana bread w/ maple syrup mascapone, fresh banana, berry compote + crushed pistachio $15.9

It was not light at all! Looked and tasted amazing - the banana bread was soaked in the berry sauce and was delicious with the mascapone. Would definitely want to come back for this =)

We were so full after our dishes I didn't have room to try their famous fluffy scones - next time!

Food~
7.5/10 - very filling and delicious menu items, would definitely want to come back and try some other dishes

Service~
2/5 - Would have been better if they didn't underestimate the wait time, and what kinda restaurant in Hawthorn doesn't accept card payment?!

Atmosphere~
3/5 - the back rooms felt like we were actually in someone's house, very homely =)

C.
xo

Original Taste of Northern China Cuisine

Original Taste of Northern China Cuisine

930 Whitehorse Rd, Boxhill

(Ph) 9898 8787

This was one of the few Boxhill restaurants in my Cheap Eats Guide so thought we'd go check it out. Very ordinary decor - with the terracotta tile roof decor again! (see Hills BBQ Noodle Shop). P said it really feels like Beijing with the white walls and high ceilings, and waiters with their deep Northern accent =P

The waiter (owner?) was busy talking to some regular customers and kinda didn't serve us/take our orders for a while =/ Though I did take ages to decide - I was going for some normal dumplings since dumplings are meant to be a northern China dish, but then though I should try one of their specialties. This was mentioned in the Cheap Eats Guide so thought I'd try it - Stir-fried threaded pork in sweet soy sauce in Beijing style $14.80

I think they mean shredded pork instead of threaded pork? It was quite bland was seriously just some soy sauce pork on a bed of raw spring onion =/ I saw the waiter take a packet of pancakes which I assume had just come out of the microwave, opened it and put the pancakes on the plate - so they're definitely not freshly made which I guess was expected. They were a bit stuck together but I guess was good they were very thin and uniform.

They don't have many rice dishes here - most of their dishes are proper main dishes and you order rice on the side, so it would have been a massive. P finally settled on one of their very few rice dishes - Basa with batter in sweet and sour sauce with rice $9.80

Looks like sweet and sour pork - I guess it's pretty much the same thing. Though the batter wasn't very good - it should still be crunchy even after drenched in sauce, but it was all soft and soggy =(

Food~
3/10 - maybe we don't know how to appreciate Northern food but I didn't think it was that great here =/

Atmosphere~
2/5 - nothing much

Service~
1/5 - would have been nice if the waiter served everyone equally, or at least serve us first before chatting!

C.
xo

Miss Chu

Miss Chu

276 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

(Ph) 9041 5848

J had suggested we come to this super chic and trendy Vietnamese restaurant down the road from her place =) After doing some research, this restaurant actually only opened up a few months ago, but there's been one in the city for a while. They serve high end Vietnamese hawker food, eat in, takeaway or delivery (order online) - that's why they call it the tuckshop! We saw some delivery bicycles outside the restaurant - so authentic!

They don't take bookings here so lucky we came at 6pm on a weeknight, got a table up the back immediately. The decor is very trendy - it's a very long thin restaurant with a row of tables by the wall, some high tables and stools and some seating by the bar.

They have upside down Asian ceramic bowls (some real, some fake paper ones =P) as light shades! They also have all these wooden sticks poking out from the wall - I'm assuming you hang your bag/coats on them?

Water is self serve - literally from the tap, couldn't they have filled some bottles with tap water so it looked better? But I like their cups - I guess they reuse customers' Coconut Juice cups =P I wouldn't mind having some Coconut juice but I didn't like how it was frozen and not fresh =(

You order on a piece of paper and hand it to the waiter (seems to be quite popular now, like Pho Chu The), I guess that eliminates wrong orders and saves waiter time. We decided to share an entree - Prawn + Crab Vermicelli Net Spring Rolls (4 per serve) $6.00

Very interesting wrapping spring rolls with vermicelli instead of spring roll paper - how do they even wrap with vermicelli?! It must have come as a dried net piece already - it was really tasty with the homemade fish sauce (I assume?) The vermicelli bits broke off easily so was like little chips =)

J got the Warm Vermicelli Salad with Satay Chicken $13.00

Quite good with lots of herbs and flavour.

I got something off the Specials Board. Banh Xeo - wrap your own crispy pork crepe served with herbs & rice paper $13 The specials weren't on the menu paper so the waiter told us to just write it on the bottom. The entree and J's dish came really quickly, and mine still hadn't come I had to chase it up. But just as I did, it finally arrived - I guess it's freshly cooked =)

Wow so much stuff! This is one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes (see Tien Dat) - I like how they cut it up into more manageable pieces for you. This is the first time I've seen it served with rice paper and herbs - I guess once it's wrapped up you can eat it with your hands as opposed to with knife and fork (which they don't provide here =P) The crepe was super crispy and delicious but the filling was really really salty =/ I always try to finish the food I order but I really couldn't eat all the filling it was way too salty =( And because there was no mung bean in the filling, when you pick up a piece of the crepe, all the filling fell out... pretty messy meal =P

I only realised after we left that they overcharged us =( The bill was $34, it should have been $32, not that the $2 really matters but I don't like places overcharging us without our consent!

Food~
5/10 - I like the modernization of Vietnamese Hawker foods though it is a little bit on the expensive side compared to Richmond or Boxhill =P And I would have enjoyed the crepe much more if they just eased on the salt!

Service~
2/5 - the waiters are so busy that it took a while to try and ask one of them if my dish was coming

Atmosphere~
4/5 - super trendy and hip restaurant, suits the South Yarra vibe =)

C.
xo

Liar Liar

Liar Liar

90 Kinkora Rd, Hawthorn

(Ph) 9818 8864

After moving to Hawthorn, we decided we had to go check out the local popular cafes! First one was Liar Liar, I had heard a lot about it before - it's previously managed by people who now manage Proud Mary and St Ali, so we thought it must be good =) It's on a street off Glenferrie Rd, there is really no signage outside though there is only one cafe on this street so couldn't really miss it =P

It's got quite a nice vibe inside, and nice new decor unlike the typical redo-warehouse decor of many Melbourne cafes.

As usual, P got the Big Fat Liar - eggs anyway + bacon + chipolatas + slow roasted mushrooms + sauteed spinach + thyme roasted tomato + house made relish $17.50

Quite a generous dish, eggs were poached perfectly. The relish was full of flavour and the chipolatas were tasty. The only downside was the toast was really tough like it might be a bit stale? =/

I got the Smashed Avocado - feta, avocado smash + maple glazed bacon + two poached eggs + sourdough toast + dukkah $17.00

Ooh maple glazed bacon! We actually compared our bacons and mine was distinctly sweeter and tastier than P's! The avocado was really good - with feta and lemon acidity =) My sourdough was much better and softer than P's toast - shouldn't they serve the same bread?!

Food~
6.5/10 - pretty good tasty food here! I was going to try the Pea + feta fritters on the lunch menu, but it doesn't come with eggs and you have to pay extra for salmon - they need to put fritters on the brunch menu!

Atmosphere~
3/5 - they have communal tables here but we came on a weekday so wasn't too packed, we were seated up the back which had pretty dim lighting, maybe they need to fix that =P

Service~
3/5 - very friendly waiters here

C.
xo

Pho Chu The

Pho Chu The

936 Whitehorse Rd, Boxhill

(Ph) 9890 1688

P loves his Vietnamese food - I decided to be a nice girlfriend and accompany him (slightly reluctantly =P) We were actually going to go to Tan Tan on Carrington Road, but we had walked over to Whitehorse Road for some errands and came across Pho Chu The - decided to eat there instead 'cause we were too lazy to walk back. I found out afterwards there are restaurants with the same name in Richmond and in Fitzroy - I wonder if they're owned by the same people?

It's a relatively new restaurant - the tables are specially made with Vietnamese sceneries and the restaurant name on it, I like that nice touch =) All the tables come equipped with a stack of fold up menus, and a bell - customers tick their orders on the menu paper and press the bell for service. Kind reminds me of China Red but not quite as high tech =P

The menu paper

There's really only Pho here and a few rice and rice noodle dishes, but they don't have alot of the typical Vietnamese dishes like Banh Xeo (Vietnamese crepes) or Banh Beo (steamed rice flour cakes) =( They do have a very extensive drinks menu though - kinda like a bubble tea place.

On the wall there's a TV screen with beautiful pictures of their food dishes though it only flickers between like 5 dishes =P

P of course got Pho Special Beef - he got a large for $12.00 This is him picking the mint leaves off the branches =P

Omg the large is REALLY big =/ It was alright, the broth was not too bad (yes! not too much coriander in it!) but wasn't as flavoursome as it could be. The "Special Beef" didn't have anything special that I liked - no brisket or liver or jelly (blood) - disappointing, though P did like the stomach and other offal bits.

I wasn't that hungry so just decided to get some spring rolls - there are some big posters on the wall of some of their dishes - look now nice these spring rolls look =P

Wasn't quite the same when it came out but was not too bad - some of the spring roll skin broke, they probably premade lots and froze them and the skin cracks when they're defrosting or separating from each other =(

Food~
5/10 - nothing too special here though I am a bit biased against Vietnamese food. I do like that they didn't put much coriander in the soup =P

Service~
3/5 - quick efficient service here

Atmosphere~
4/5 - quite nice here without the dirty old feel of most Asian restaurants

C.
xo

Vegie Bar

Vegie Bar

380 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

(Ph) 9417 6935

I had been to Vegie Bar back at uni and remember it to be quite a memorable experience despite being meatless. It's a very popular restaurant which doesn't take bookings. Surprisingly we managed to get a table on this Saturday night without too long a wait =)

It was February already but they still have a big Santa figurine hanging from the ceiling? =P

It's a very big warehouse with 2 rooms downstairs and an upstairs area. The walls are full of posters of bands/performances etc and lots of plants on the tables - a very hipster atmosphere. They have mainly communal tables in the main room but smaller individual tables in the second room which was where we were seated =)

Their menu is very international with Asian dishes, Mexican, Italian etc etc. They have specials written on the whiteboard on the wall. P went for the Faux Meat Lovers - minced seitan, crispy facon, mock chicken, jalapenos, topped with mozzarella & BBQ sauce - small $10.50, large $12.50

Of course he would go for the most meat-like dish of the restaurant =P This was surprisingly very tasty! I'm used to faux meat before (had it multiple times in Hong Kong) but P was truly intrigued! The facon really tasted like bacon, though the seitan (supposed to be fake duck) wasn't as real - it's all made from tofu or wheat etc. So clever =) Crust was very crispy - for $12.50 this was well worth it!

I went for the Mexican Burrito - tortilla bread with refried kidney beans, spinach, onion & mushroom, served with rice, topped with melted cheese, chilli, sour cream & guacamole $14.50

Wow what a big serving! The burrito was filled with very delicious flavours, topped with some salsa, cheese and some orange chilli sauce which wasn't too spicy. Loved how there's a side of corn chips and guacamole as well - nachos and burrito in one! It also came with a bed of rice which really was not necessary - the dish was so filling without the rice!

We also got a side of Chips - traditional straight-cut chips served with tomato sauce $4.50

Crispy thick cut chips - no complaint here at all =)

Food~
7/10 - even for P who normally can't have a meal without meat actually enjoyed his dish very much =) would love to come back to try some of their other dishes!

Service~
2/5 - it was quite busy on this Saturday night so kinda expected the service to be a bit slow but not too bad

Atmosphere~
3/5 - very hip atmosphere =)

C.
xo

Hills BBQ Noodle Shop

Hills BBQ Noodle Shop

586 Station St, Boxhill

(Ph) 9899 3382

Hills BBQ Noodle Shop is famous for their BBQ meats - I had been here a few times before for takeaway BBQ meats and when I saw it was in the Cheap Eats Guide for ☆☆ I thought I'd pay it a visit again.

Inside is a very authentic Honky atmosphere - look at the Ancient Chinese palace tiling around the kitchen lol

I went for the Roast Duck + Honey Glazed Pork (BBQ pork) on rice - one meat is $8.80, "extra dollar for extra mixed $1.00" - I just love Asian English =P

They were quite generous with the BBQ meats, though was a bit disappointing =( The bbq pork was flavoursome but was quite dry and tough. The duck meat was good but the skin wasn't crisp at all =( It wasn't like we came really late, we came during peak lunch time and it still wasn't good..

For some reason P is always sick when we eat at Boxhill so he wanted congee again - Seafood Combination Congee $9.50

Very generous with big tiger prawns, lots of fish and scallops =) the congee was very flavoursome - it wasn't like they just made white congee and put the seafood in afterwards like how they do it at some places.

Food~
5/10 - I had remembered the BBQ meats to be much better, maybe this was just a bad day =( We saw someone have a plate of beef fried noodles which looked super tasty with crunchy noodles - wouldn't mind trying that next time

Atmosphere~
2/5 - quite loud and rowdy here, but really feels like you're transported to a cafe in Hong Kong!

Service~
3/5 - quick service here

C.
xo

Seed Cafe

Seed Cafe

9 Centreway, Mordialloc

(Ph) 9587 5766

A hot day calls for the beach with J and T! =) Before heading to the sand and water, we stopped over for some brunch in Mordialloc. Quite a nice cafe with seating inside and a nice decked alfresco area out the back - we opted for outdoor as there was overlying trees so was quite nice in the shade.

I went for the specials board - Crispy Corn Fritters - w bacon, avocado, salad & sour cream $17.50

I am such a sucker for corn fritters <3 and these were deliciously crispy unlike so many uncrispy corn fritters I've had elsewhere! It was super flavoursome - would have liked it if they were bigger =P On the plus side they were super generous with the bacon though. Thought a salad on a brunch dish was a bit strange but was quite fresh. Only downside is I'm not a fan of sour cream and would have preferred if they gave me a relish or something instead.

P of course went for the "Seed Big Feed" - 2 free range eggs (fried or poached) served with bacon, grilled tomato, field mushrooms, chipolatas, homemade hash brown & tomato relish on crusty rustic bread $18.00

Such a big generous dish! Their tomato relish was very tasty - pretty sure it's homemade =) The hash brown was like a big blob of mash deep fried but was not as crunchy as we would have liked - how come they could make such crispy corn fritters but not hash browns?! If they were a bit crispier they would have been perfect! Eggs were poached quite nicely without the vinegar taste =)

T got the Vegie Stack - 2 free range eggs poached, sauteed spinach, roasted tomato, field mushrooms, avocado & pesto on sourdough toast $16.50

J wanted the mushroom dish on the specials board but it was not available on this day =( So she went for Seed Brekkie Bagel - 2 free-range eggs poached, crispy bacon, avocado & hollandaise served on a bagel $16.50

Food~
7/10 - all the dishes are really big and generous here. Though we did wait like 20mins for the food to come - we were starving so anything tasted good to us =P

Service~
2/5 - if only the food came quicker!

Atmosphere~
4/5 - quite nice sitting outside on the deck among the trees and garden on such a nice day =)

C.
xo

Golden Dragon Palace

Golden Dragon Palace

363 Manningham Rd, Templestowe

(Ph) 9852 4086

For once I had a Saturday off! We were going to go to Boxhill for lunch and shopping but decided to go yumcha first instead. We wanted to go to a new place - found this place on Urbanspoon, looks expensive but we'd give it a go. The waiters asked if we had made a booking (this was 1pm), we said no and they seemed a bit reluctant but finally said there was a table free for us.

Started off with 燒賣 (siu mai) - bit irregular sized? =P

They had 小籠包 (xiao long bao) here! Though a bit disappointing - no soup inside =(

P's favourite 排骨 (pai gu) - pretty good here.

蛋撻 (egg tarts)! <3 why do they always make egg tarts with puff pastry instead of shortcrust at yumcha places =( I like shortcrust better, less oily!

叉燒腸粉 (cha siu rice noodle rolls) - was alright.

馬拉糕 (ma lai gao - Chinese steamed sponge cake) - was delicious here! Super soft and fluffy and yum =)

蝦餃 (har gao) - P just loves his prawn dumplings, even though he knows I don't like prawns so I won't eat any he'll gladly eat all three =P

P wanted the deep fried wontons - it's meant to be served with sweet and sour sauce but it came with some weird Plum sauce-like sauce, very strange =/

I asked the waiters whether the steamed buns were out yet and she goes "steamed buns? of course! (in Chinese)". We waited for about 15mins for a steamed buns cart to come along but it never came so we decided to leave. I was a bit bummed no fancy steamed buns here for me to try (like 流沙包 or 麻蓉包) =( We were satisfied but not overly full, the bill shocked us - $49 for the 2 of us =/

Food~
5/10 - nothing too special, do get the 馬拉糕 if you come here though =) a bit too expensive for my liking, kinda like Plume but without any special steamed buns for me =(

Service~
3/5 - waiters are very prompt clearing our plates and refilling our tea

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a nice big Chinese restaurant

C.
xo