Cafe Trevi

Cafe Trevi

294-296 Lygon St, Carlton

(Ph) 9349 1029

P was in Melbourne and asked us to all join her for dinner at Cafe Trevi on Lygon Street. I had never eaten here before though I have had takeaway cake here - their cake display is very impressive and tempting! Though the cakes are not made here and are actually Mark's cakes =P (which by the way, are one of the best cakes around!)

They actually have an upstairs here I didn't even know - we were a group of nearly 40 people so it was nice they sat us upstairs pretty much like a private function =)

P, M and I decided to share 2 pastas and a pizza. We were initially thinking of the Pasta Mista - 3 entree serves of pasta for $37.50 but then decided to go for 2 main sizes instead. The first was the Papone - chicken & avocado in a napoli & cream sauce with penne $18.50 We were thinking of having tortellini or ravioli with it but then decided didn't want a meaty pasta with chicken.

I'm such a sucker for chicken and avocado and tomato cream sauce =P P really doesn't like tomato cream sauce usually - he thinks it should be either tomato (like bolognaise or napoli) or cream (like carbonara) but not both combined =P It was good they left the avocado pieces quite large otherwise it would have been quite mushy. I thought it was quite tasty though and the pasta was cooked al dente =)

P wanted the Trevi - sauteed prawns & garlic in a champagne cream sauce with fettucini $20.50

I usually don't like ordering seafood pasta 'cause I always think they give crappy frozen seafood but this was surprisingly good! They were quite generous with the prawns but look at the discrepancy in size! Most of them were the small prawn size (which to be honest is actually not that small) compared to the big tiger prawns still with the shell on the tail! The prawns were very fresh and weren't mushy like frozen prawns =)

The sauce was creamy but with a hint of garlic and champagne - quite delicious indeed (and this is coming from someone who doesn't like prawns normally =P)

The pizza took ages to come out - I guess they have to woodfire oven it but don't they have to cook the pasta too?! The gourmet - tomato, cheese, Virginia ham, sundried tomatoes, olives & fresh basil $19.00

This doesn't look as gourmet as we thought it would look =( They were not very generous with the sundried tomatoes (probably only about 3 pieces on the whole pizza?) and more cheese would have been appreciated. And what happened to the fresh basil?! They ovened the basil so it was all dried and shriveled up =/ I don't like how they put massive pieces of ham on it so when you bite into the pizza the whole piece of ham goes into your mouth in the first bite - why can't they cut it up into smaller bits? The crust was not too bad, crunchy with the smokey woodfire taste but was a tad on the thick side.

One of the other friends had ordered a main pasta but the waitress took the wrong order and gave him an entree size instead. When it came out he said if he could get another small portion of it so it becomes a main so the waitress went and got him another entree size pasta. But when the bill came it was 2 entrees instead of 1 main for him and he asked the waitress if she could change it, and she said "sorry I know it's my fault for putting down the wrong order but you still got 2 entrees 'cause the chef had to cook it twice" =/ we were very disappointed after this!

Food~
7/10 - think the pastas are better than the pizzas here even though there are neon lights on the windows advertizing "Woodfire Pizza" here =P

Atmosphere~

4/5 - quite nice how they sat us upstairs like a private function =)

Service~
1/5 - definite thumbs down here though, they should have been smart about the waitress putting down the wrong order and just changed the bill for us, makes us really not want to come back here =(

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

Tiamo

Tiamo

303 Lygon St, Carlton

(Ph) 9347 5759

How can you come to Melbourne without coming to Lygon Street? I've been to Il Gambero the past few times, so decided to go to the other end of Lygon St, to Tiamo. There's Tiamo, and it's sister restaurant, Tiamo 2 next door. Tiamo serves more traditional Italian dishes while Tiamo 2 has more gourmet dishes. You can order from both menus at either restaurants but we all decided to go for traditional pastas at Tiamo. It's very casual inside with lots of posters and currency notes stuck on the walls.

A plate of bread already buttered for us! Reminds me of Pellegrini's. Feels very homely and for some reason, genuinely Italian =)

You choose the sauce and the pasta type to go with it. P got Carbonara - bacon & egg $16.50 with fettucine.

Looks quite ordinary but was so creamy and filling! The pasta was cooked slightly too long so it was a bit less al dente than we would have liked.

I got the Lasagne - layers of pasta sheets filled with bechamel sauce & Bologna sauce $15.50. I was thinking of getting the Cannelloni but after my failed one at Spaghetti Tree didn't want to risk it again.

Looks ridiculously big and messy. Lots of bolognaise <3 P thought it was a bit too salty but I thought it was still not too bad. They gave us a bowl of parmesan cheese and a jar of chilli flakes, so of course I topped my lasagne full of cheesy goodness =D

Food~
6/10 - very genuine Italian food =)

Atmosphere~
2/5 - it was surprisingly packed on this weekday night, very cosy atmosphere with the dim lighting

Service~
3/5 - food came very promptly, we were starving!

C.
xo



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Came back here again a few months later, P got the Carbonara again but this time with penne - seemed a bit dryer this time but with they were more generous with the bacon bits =)

I got the Cannelloni - not as sloppy as the lasagne and not as salty as I remembered the lasagne to be either so both a plus =) 

Il Gambero on the Park

Il Gambero on the Park

166 Lygon St, Carlton

(Ph) 9663 2246

All visitors to Melbourne always want to come to Lygon St for Italian food - personally I think it's way too overrated but since I had an Entertainment voucher for Il Gambero anyway and it's not bad there thought I'd take my other P there - he can be P2 =)

I had actually come here with some other Brisbane friends last year - see here for that post.

We got here at nearly 8pm on Sunday night - the street was still very full and lively as per usual. P2 had been having a lot of pizza lately so he said he wanted some pasta, while P1 wanted some pizza - so we decided to share 3 dishes.

Dimattina Fettucini - chicken, avocado, pesto, spring onions, dash of cream & napoli sauce with pine nuts $18.90 (large)

2 coloured fettucini with lots of chicken and avocado and sauce - just how I like it! Such an interesting combination of pesto and cream and napoli sauce but works well together! Gotta say was one of the best chicken pastas I've had =)

We decided to get the pasta special - Calamari & chorizo linguine tossed with olive oil, garlic, spanish onions, chilli puree with a touch of napoli sauce $23.50

The linguine looks pretty much the same as the fettucini except the fettucini had 2 colours - I thought linguine is meant to be thinner? We asked the waiter and he said they were what they're meant to be hmm. This was very delicious too, with a touch of spice - the chilli puree. P liked this pasta better but I found it lacked a bit in sauce - personal taste =)

We got one pizza to share. Mark's Special - garlic, herb, cheese, salami, bacon, caramelised onions and prawns $22 (large)

Man it was massive! Crusty base and lots of cheeeeeese =D I espeically liked the caramelised onion - gave the pizza a bit of sophistication =) Why is it that when you eat pizza out at restaurants they always give you so little toppings? I guess that's how pizza's are meant to be =P

Food~
8/10 - P2 who used to work at a pizza store and loves Italian food said the food here was good too =)

Service~
3/5 - waiters were very friendly here - P2 was especially interested in one of the waitresses =P though they were quite busy and at times took a while to get their attention =/

Atmosphere~
3/5 - nice ambient restaurant =)

C.
xo

Seven Seeds

Seven Seeds

106-114 Berkeley St, Carlton

(Ph) 9347 8664

Brunch with J again! =D After our delicious time at Dead Man Espresso, I thought we should go to another cafe =) I had heard about Seven Seeds for a while, it's opened by the ex-owners of St Ali (which I'm STILL yet to try =P) who transformed an old warehouse into this trendy spacious cafe =) 

This was by the entrance - are the bikes there for looks or are they the customers'?

Since the coffees here are meant to be one of the best in Melbourne, we decided to get some - even though we're totally NOT coffee drinkers =P J decided to get a normal coffee $3.80 - the waiter was like "what type of coffee?" lol we are such coffee n00bs =P She ended up getting a Latte =)

Smooth and not too bitter - perfect for us coffee n00bs =)

I thought I should get a Mocha $4.00 so I would actually drink it without screwing up my face through the bitterness =P

Wow beautiful coffee art! Smooth and chocolatey - I like =)

I had read on blogs that the menu was quite limited here and there weren't many egg options - but they have now definitely expanded their menu! Despite this, we both looked at the menu and decided to get the Currant studded brioche French toast, grilled banana, spiced marscapone, maple syrup & toasted pecans $13.50. We're both sweet tooth's but always have the dilemma of deciding sweet or savoury for our brunches =P

Mmmm we both super liked! =D the french toast was soft on the inside and crunchy with egg on the outside. I like brioche and it was nice they gave us currant ones - added to the sweetness =) I don't normally like cream but the spiced marscapone was not too creamy and was delicious with a bit of banana and a bit of pecan. Strange how they gave us the grilled banana with the skin on, but I guess if they didn't give us the skin it would be kinda soft and mushy? Thought they could have been slightly more generous with the maple syrup given they gave us 3 pieces of french toast - but definitely thumbs up =)


Food~
8/10 - deliciousss! That's all =)


Service~
3/5 - great! food came very quickly =)


Atmosphere~
4/5 - love these cafe environments with the sunlight filtering in and people coming just to enjoy the food, like people coming by themselves to read or study =)

Next will definitely be St Ali!

C.
xo

Indya Bistro

Indya Bistro

643 Rathdowne St, Carlton North

(Ph) 9347 6387

I had bought a voucher from Zizzle a few months ago - "Just $34 for an unbelievable 8 course Indian banquet for two at Indya Bistro - Voted Victoria's best Indian restaurant!" It sounded like a bargain at the time - this when when online deals seemed so awesome =P

I had booked a table online for 7pm so thought we'd get a decent table, but when we got there, the waiter said we had to sit right next to the door, and when we asked if we could move to one of the inside tables she said "they're for groups of 4" =___= and then 5 minutes later, a group of 2 came in and the waiter separated the 4 people table and let them sit at one of them!! =O how rude!

She gave us this sheet of paper that had listed all the choices for the "8 courses" and told us to pick what we wanted in each course. We finally came to a decision, and then 'cause there were only 2 waiters, and they were serving the tables who sat at 600/630pm so were too busy to take our orders =(

P decided to order a Mango Lassi, thinking the curries would be really spicy, and also 'cause he likes the drink =)

Mango Lassi

It was so thick, thought they're normally slightly thinner, but it was yum! I wonder if they put real mango in it or just mango powder/flavouring?

Course 1 was the Sheekh Kebabs - featuring spicy aromatic minced lamb kebabs cooked in the tandoori oven

Sheekh kebabs

Doesn't look very appealing but it was really tasty! I was saying to P how it doesn't look like kebabs at all, but then he said they probably roasted it on a stick in the oven and then took the stick out when serving it, making them look aweful lol. Spices went well with the yoghurt sauce =)

Course 2 was Samosa & Chickpeas - lightly spiced & seasoned vegetables in a homemade pastry served with chickpea & chutney

Samosa & Chickpeas

The samosa was super crunchy (well the top was) though it was filled with chickpeas/lentils AND covered in chickpeas - wish they had a bit of variation =P the chickpea chutney sauce was quite tasty though it kinda made the samosa a bit soft - samosas' are meant to be crunchy!

Course 3 was Aloo Tikki Chat - spicy potato patty served with chickpea & chutney

Aloo Tikka Chat

Omg chickpea and chutney again?! We didn't even read the menu properly =S it said so in it's description =( This was not very good - the potato patty was very mushy, like potato mash, and didn't taste of much, could only taste the chickpea and chutney sauce over it. P really wanted to try this though which was a disappointment =(

Should have instead ordered the Indya Dips - a selection of Indian dips served with freshly baked naan bread for course 2 and Samosa - lightly spiced & seasoned vegetable pillows in a homemade pastry for course 3 =(

Course 4 was Chicken Tikka - tender pieces of tandoori-grilled chicken infused with aromatic spices - didn't get a choice with this one.

Chicken tikka

But it was surprisingly good =) The chicken was chicken thigh so even though it was tandoori ovened, it was not too dry or tough and yes was "infused with aromatic spices" indeed!

We waited like 20 minutes before the main meals come - P was saying how he thinks we might need to get some drive through afterwards 'cause all the "courses" are so small!

Finally course 5 came - Lamb Rogan Josh - tender lamb cooked in a rich onion sauce, garnished with fresh coriander

Lamb Rogan Josh

This was a disappointment - it was so watery, like they ran out of curry so just decided to add water to it =S And it was very bland - didn't really taste of anything and definitely not hot at all! There weren't very many pieces of lamb and they were all quite small pieces - it was quite soft which I liked but P thought it was a bit too mushy.

Course 6 was Paneer & Spinach - delicious Cottage cheese cooked in aromatic flavoured spinach

Paneer & Spinach

This was alright - quite different to what we're used to in Indian restaurants. P said it tasted like salted preserved vegetables (mei cai 梅菜) you get at Chinese restaurants - I totally don't agree 'cause 1. they're usually salty duh =P and 2. they're usually chewy and not mushy like spinach is =P Cheese and spinach in curry is really rather strange though I quite liked it, even though it was so mushy and kinda felt like baby food =P

Course 7 was the Freshly baked Naan and basmati rice

Naan

The naan bread came like 5 minutes after the curries and rice came, so I was just sitting there waiting for them to give us the bread, tried to catch either waiters' attention but both were so busy. You'd think given everyone needs to book for this restaurant, that they'd know how many people are coming and have enough staff to cater for us all =/

Naan bread was quite good though - crunchy and puffy. If only the curries were tastier...

Finally it was dessert time! Course 8 was Gulab Jamun - a juicy sweet dumpling fried and bathed with rose syrup and Vanilla Ice cream. I don't know why P ordered one of each - should have got 2 Gulab Jamuns!

Gulub Jamun

This was another thumbs up - the dumplings were infused in the syrup. They were so stingy and only gave us 2 little ones - we had one each and a scoop of ice cream with it.

Vanilla Ice cream

Lol the ice cream bowl was so much bigger than the Gulab Jamun bowl =P It actually was very tasty with the ice cream - good end to the meal!

Food~

Sheekh Kebabs - 7/10 - this was yum! though they probably need to work on their plating =P

Samosa & Chickpeas - 5.5/10 - not too bad, but would have been better if we had ordered just the samosas without the chickpea chutney softening the crispy pastry

Aloo Tikki Chat - 3/10 - this was not nice, mush and more mush =/

Chicken Tikka - 7.5/10 - yum! if only they weren't so stingy! I looked on the official menu, you're meant to get 3 pieces of you ordered it normally!

Lamb Rogan Josh - 2/10 - very disappointing... you'd expect good curry at an Indian restaurant, especially "Victoria's best Indian restaurant"... maybe we should have stuck to Butter Chicken but this was really not very nice =/

Paneer & Spinach - 5/10 - interesting mixture of flavours, probably would have been nicer if it wasn't so mushy and had a bit of texture in it

Naan bread - 7/10 - this was good =P it was be horrendous if an Indian restaurant can't get their naan bread right =P

Gulab Jamun - 7.5/10 - this was the star of the night =P yum indeed! if only they weren't so stingy and gave us more than 2 little dumplings...

Service~

1.5/5 - was not that great... wouldn't give us the table that we wanted, and then giving it to someone else a few minutes after us! and only having 2 waiters working on the night, so we had to wait ages to  order, wait for our plates to be taken, and wait for our naan bread to come while the curries go cold (not that it mattered much but still!)

Atmosphere~

2/5 - small restaurant for "Victoria's best Indian restaurant", the decor was quite basic and nothing resembling Indian culture. They had an upstairs which I think they didn't want to open 'cause they only had 2 waiters working, so they got the customers waiting for a table to go upstairs and have a drink and then when a table was ready downstairs, to bring them down to eat =/ they kept turning the upstairs lights on and off to take customers up/down =/

Not going to buy these online vouchers anymore! Tried quite a few and the service and food quality is just so much poorer than what we would have got if we went without the voucher =( ah well worth a try!

C.

xo

Universal

Universal

139-141 Lygon St, Carlton

(Ph) 9347 4393

Catching up with E again! We initially wanted to go to Ying Thai since E felt like Asian food but there was a massive line! On a Wednesday night at 6pm! We ended up going across the road to Universal - Italian food again argh!

I decided to NOT get pizza this time - I remember the last time we came here P had steak and the chips were delicious so I decided to get the Pork Ribs & Chicken Wings - tender marinated & grilled pork ribs & chicken wings served with Universal's beer battered chips & salad $14.90

Pork Ribs & Chicken Wings

Mmm I love pork ribs <3 Beautifully marinated and grilled =D Too bad there's not much meat on either the ribs or the chicken wings =P The chips weren't as good as I remembered them to be - I guess I like crunchy thin chips more and these are more like steak chips.

E can't get away from her pizza and ordered The Lot - tomato,cheese, ham, mushroom, hot salami, capsicum, onion, olives, pineapple & bacon - small for $10.90

The Lot

She said she was gonna order a Small 'cause she wanted to save room for dessert, even though she's decided to go on a non-unhealthy food diet with her bf - she said she doesn't have to tell him she ordered dessert tonight tsk tsk =P We had decided to get the Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake - New York style cheesecake with chocolate brownie chunks on a chocolate biscuit crust $9.00 sounds so tasty and reminiscing our NY memories! =D

There was literally EVERYTHING on this pizza lol - not much meat though. The crust was thicker than I'd like it to be, and it's not crispy at all =(

After we finished our mains, I was stuffed from my plate but still felt like dessert - there is always room for dessert! But then E said she felt guilty and didn't want to eat dessert boo =( so we left lol

Next time!

6.5/10

C.

xo

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Last time I came here with P, I ordered the Chicken Avocado gourmet pizza - tomato, cheese, mushroom, grilled chicken tenders & fresh avocado

Chicken Avocado

Which was delicious! Gourmet indeed served on a wooden board =) chicken + avocado + mushroom = YUM YUM =D And it was wood-fired to a crisp! =D I wonder why the gourmet pizzas and the traditional pizzas are so different...

P ordered the Rib Eye - high country prime yearling, 21 day aged 200 day grain fed 350g, served with mushroom sauce, salad & Universal's Beer Battered Fritz

Rib Eye

The steak was grilled on the outside but tender inside and medium rare - perfecto =) Mushroom sauce is the best for steak! It's the only time P likes mushrooms =P Lol they used to call their chips "Fritz" and realised the name was too fancy and now call it "chips" on the menu haha =P Don't know why but when we try to make beer battered chips at home the batter is always super thick - like tempura... why are restaurant beer battered chips always so crispy and without batter?! Now I feel like steak...

=P

C.

xo

Brunetti

Brunetti

198-204 Faraday St, Carlton

(Ph) 9347 2801

After Kaz Bar we went all the way to Carlton for dessert 'cause Mum said I have never taken her there before - I personally think it's a bit hyped up and not as good as it used to be, but yes, I agree it's the best place for all sorts of dessert - for whatever sweets you feel like =)

Mum wanted a cheesecake - there weren't that many to choose from since it was 10pm on a Thursday night. I would have liked the Ricotta and Sultana Cheesecake but Mum doesn't like Sultanas so she settled for the Nutella and ricotta cheesecake - shortbread crust filled with a baked creamy ricotta cheese and layered with Nutella $6.50. Dad got a piece of Pistachio Nougat $2.70 and the Piemontese - a crunchy profiterole filled with a hazelnut praline and hazelnut cream $5.40.

Nutella and Ricotta Cheesecake and Pistachio Nougat

The cheesecake is very delicious, but I would have liked it more if there was more of a base - that's the best part of a cheesecake! The layers of nutella and ricotta cheese mmm <3

The nougat was surprisingly tasty - I'm used to hard nougat that hurts when you bite into it, but this was soft and chewy and filled with pistachio. What's the difference between white nougat and brown nougat?

Piemontese

Dad's Piemontese was like a Cream Puff that you can get from Puffy but the cream was not too creamy and tasted like a mousse. The hazelnut praline was at the bottom of the profiterole and was a surprise in every bite. The profiterole was surprisingly still crunchy =)

I wanted the Sultana cheesecake but since Mum doesn't like it much, I decided to try something new - Lemon meringue tart - shortbread filled with a lemon mustard and topped with a fired meringue $6.50.

Lemon Meringue Tart

This was kinda disappointing =( The tart was kinda soft and wasn't crunchy like you'd expect of a tart. The meringue and the lemon curd was good, but the tart really ruined the whole dessert.

Mum wanted to try a Macaron here and wanted the tiramisu one - but the waiter misheard her and gave her a Tiramisu instead. Mum didn't realise until we got to our table that we were missing our macaron and the tiramisu was sitting on the bench top the whole time!

Tiramisu

This was the most expensive dessert - $8.00! And we were soo full that we didn't have any of it and decided to leave it for my brother when he gets here. (We ended up having it before they left Melbourne - I'm not sure it's worth $8 it's not that fantastic. There wasn't enough ladyfingers in it, only little bits scattered inside).

We ordered drinks as well. Dad got a Double Espresso $3.80 - lol, he hates coffee normally so we thought he was joking, but he said if he's gonna order something he might as well get the full hit.

Double Espresso

Strange how the espresso was in such a large mug - I thought they normally put espressos in espresso cups. It was soo bitter I don't know how he drunk it - I don't think he even put any sugars in it =/ And he managed to sleep fine that night haha =P

Mum got a Hot Chocolate $3.80 which she didn't quite manage to finish and ended up forcing it down so didn't enjoy it as much - woops think we ordered too much =P

Hot Chocolate

I got an Iced Chocolate $6.00 with no cream - mmm I've always been a fan of their Iced Chocolates =)

Iced Chocolate

And for once the ice-cream didn't all melt before I finished the drink!

P got a Raspberry Granita $5.00 - he said he was too full from dinner and didn't want anything to eat.

Raspberry Granita

Granitas are just like Frozen Cokes but double the price lol - he thoroughly enjoyed it and his tongue was bright red after he finished the drink =P

We were STUFFED after it all - wasn't the best but was a great variety of desserts!

7/10

C.

xo

Here are a few other desserts I've had previously at Brunetti's. The problem with them is their dessert is that it's always different and there's no menu so I've forgotten what these are anymore =P

Some pear and berry crumble cheesecake?

Some chocolate parcel thing?

This one I found the name of! Bacio - chocolate sponge, chocolate hazelnut cream & kirsch liqueur and Vanilla Macaron

Bacio

This was another time I had the Nutella and Ricotta Cheesecake - noticed it looks different from the one Mum got? I think this is their most famous cake (which I think I'd agree on!) 'cause I see lots of people blogging about Brunetti's have tried this one =)

Nutella and Ricotta Cheesecake

And here's the whole cake we had for a friend's birthday...

A whole Nutella & Ricotta Cheesecake

Doesn't look as good on the inside does it? The layers are not very regular but I think it tasted better 'cause it had the biscuit crust on the side as well <3 What's a cheesecake without the crust =)

The following are various birthday cakes I've had from Brunetti's in the past =)

Sottobosco - chocolate sponge, kirsch liqueur, chocolate chantilly cream with strawberry pieces and crushed hazelnuts

Braziliana - vanilla sponge, coffee liqueur, coffee cream and chocolate chips

Classic black forest - chocolate sponge, kirsch liqueur, blackcurrant jam, fresh chocolate cream and cherries

Classic white chocolate - chocolate sponge, kirsch liqueur, blackcurrant jam, fresh cream and cherries

Fancy cakes indeed =)