The Blue Room

The Blue Room

279 Clarendon St, South Melbourne

(Ph) 9699 4036

I bought a Groupon Voucher - $59 for Three Course Modern Australian Dinner for Two People with a Glass of Wine Each. The entree is set but we get to choose our mains and dessert from the menu, all except the Eye Fillet.

I had read their service was a bit slow but we came quite early on a weekday so service was actually not too bad. They're famous for the wood-fired pizzas here (can see the oven in the picture below) but we'd had too much pizza recently so decided to try something else.

Neither P or I particularly drink wine so we asked the waiter if we could change it to a non-alcoholic drink but she said no =/ how weird is that isn't a juice or Coke cheaper than a glass of wine?!

We were started with a shared entree tasting plate which we didn't get to choose.
Saganaki - pan fried kefalograviera cheese with charred lemon and tomato salsa
Salt and pepper calamari - served with lemon aioli
Pork and veal meatballs - roast pepper and tomato sauce with salsa verde
Tempura prawns - tiger prawns in tempurra batter served with wasabi mayonnaise

They didn't really give us all the side sauces mentioned in the menu, instead just gave us a lemon aioli which was delicious and went well with it all. The saganaki was a little salty eaten by itself but the rest was all very delicious - a nice tasting of a few entrees =)

P went for the Porterhouse Steak 350g - char-grilled to your liking with crispy chips, salad and red wine jus $29.90

The steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare, a little more jus would have been nice though. Chips were deliciously crunchy but slightly soft inside =)

I got the Pork Belly Clay pot - pork served with canellini beans, chorizo sausages and vegetables served with char grilled Turkish bread $25.50

Pretty impressive looking, but they were not very generous with the pork belly, and with the few pieces there were, they were mainly fat and not much meat or crackling =( Few slices of chorizos which was good, "vegetables" was not really existent - it was mainly a pot of canellini beans =/ I should have gone for the Lamb Shank Clay pot instead!

We were pretty full after our mains (the beans and the bread and the chips were all carbs!) but our dessert came. I got the Soft Centred Chocolate Pudding - with house made honeycomb and vanilla ice-cream $12

This was delicious - though the chocolate inside wasn't as runny as I thought it'd be. The home made honeycomb was delicious - love honeycomb!

P got the Chocolate Fudge Brownie - served with berry coulis and vanilla mascapone $10

I had read good reviews about this but it wasn't that special, a very rich brownie, P thought there'd be more berry and sourness to cut the sweetness a bit, Should have gone for the Vanilla Creme Brulee instead of 2 chocolate desserts - was way too rich!

Food~

7/10 - not too bad given we were on a voucher, will come back for their pizzas another time!

Service~

3/5 - not bad, but why can't they change our wines to a non-alcoholic drink?!

Atmosphere~

3/5 - quite a nice restaurant in South Melbourne

C.

xo

Q Eleven

Q Eleven

303 Coventry St, South Melbourne

(Ph) 9645 7311

☆☆☆

Another ☆☆☆ recommendation by the Cheap Eats Guide! It's a little cafe right next to the South Melbourne markets - I've walked past it so many times on my shopping trips there but had never stepped inside it before. And I find out my friend works here casually =) 

It's quite small, and you can see inside the kitchen which doesn't look very big with a single chef. P was hungry so he decided to go for the Spicy chicken, toasted ciabatta, mustard aioli, avocado mash, fresh tomato, bacon $14.50

It was delicious! Toasted ciabatta with fresh ingredients and just a touch of spice in the chicken =)

I'm always a sucker for corn fritters - Corn fritters, a poached egg, avocado mash, tomato chutney $13.90

Lately I've been having alot of corn fritters that are pancake like instead of fritter like - but this pancake-like fritter was still crunchy and yummy =) And the tomato chutney went well with the avocado mash - P who normally doesn't like avocado wanted more of my dish =P

Food~
7.5/10 - delicious! Wanna try all the other dishes on the menu

Service~
3/5 - very friendly homely waiters... think they're mainly family members working here

Atmosphere~
4/5 - lovely cosy little cafe =)

Next time will try to come when my friend is working!

C.
xo

Chez Dre

Chez Dre

287 Coventry St, South Melbourne

(Ph) 9690 2688

Finally managed to find a time to go brunch with W! She suggested Chez Dre - one of the cafes on my to-try list =) P and I were looking for it for ages - what tiny signage it has?!

Typical Melbourne cafe look - you can actually see in to the kitchen here as well as the large display of pretty desserts =)

There was a short waiting period but wasn't too bad given it was peak time (Sunday morning =P) While we were waiting we went to look at the desserts but all were quite expensive for such small pieces =/ Looks good but not sure if I'll have any =P

It was such a hot day P and I both decided to get a drink - I got the Habitat Sparkling Range - Valencia Orange $4.0 and P got the Phoenix Organic Sparkling Juice Drinks - Cranberry & Lime  $4.0

Such fancy names - neither were very tasty to be honest =/ Maybe we just don't like sparkling juice lol =P

P was tossing between the Breakfast Platter - smoked ham, Gruyere cheese, boiled egg, poached fruit, vanilla yoghurt, granola, raspberry jam, butter, croissant & baguette $18.5 or the Grand petit dejeuner - poached eggs on sourdough, bacon, spicy herb lamb sausages, potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, smashed avocado with goats cheese & tomato relish $19.5

Of course he got the big breakfast - the Grand petit dejeuner haha

So much stuff - grand indeed! The smashed avocado with goats cheese was very interesting - P who usually doesn't like avocado liked it too! =) The spicy herb lamb sausages were really good too - very satisfying overall!

I got the Morrocan Baked Eggs - Spicy herb lamb sausages, minted yoghurt & baguette $17.5

<3 baked eggs! Weird how they cut some pieces of the sausage really small and other pieces really big like they made a mistake or something. Nonetheless was very tasty with the yoghurt =) The eggs were deliciously baked - still slightly runny on the inside =) The only downside was the baguette was slightly too hard/crunchy for my liking - would have preferred something softer so it would soak up the baked egg sauce =)

Food~
8/10 - delicioussss! I <3 brunch!!! Both P and I were very satisfied with our dishes - though it is erring on the expensive side of brunch.

Service~
2/5 - was quite busy on this Sunday so took a while for them to take our orders =/

Atmosphere~
3/5 - typical Melbournian cafe =)

C.
xo

St Ali

St Ali

12-18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne

(Ph) 9686 2990

☆☆☆

Finally got a chance to go to St Ali - I've been wanting to come here ever since going to Dead Man Espresso. Surprisingly it doesn't have any stars in the Cheap Eats Guide (mentioned for good coffee) but has 3 ☆☆☆ in the Good Cafe Guide =)

We got there at 10am on a Sunday. We initially went down the wrong alley and couldn't find it, called the cafe and no one picked up - we were so worried the place was closed on Sunday but I was 100% sure it'd be open! Then we realised we were in the wrong street =P There were a few people waiting outside - a group of 4 decided to "go to the other cafe instead" - think they were heading for Dead Man Espresso =P We got a table pretty much instantly - jumped in front of a couple but I guess our table was for 4 anyway - lucky we were in a group of 3 then! =)

We sat in front of this very cool tea machine and were instantly intrigued.

The waiter asked us if we wanted any drinks and we asked her about the machine - it's for the Syphon - a clean, delicate brew that will enlighten you to the intricacies of speciality coffee of our "Champion" house blend. The menu says "market price" - we were so worried it'd be very expensive but we decided to get one after our meal - it's meant to be taken afterwards to cleanse our palate =)

This cafe reminds me of Auction Rooms with its old warehouse look... their lights are just hung on wires... looks so dangerous!

And their random furniture like the target wardrobe... don't think anyone plays it =P

They use beer bottles for water here lol..

N felt like seafood - so he got the judith bit - house cured sake salmon on toasted bagel with avocado feta and horseradish cream cheese $17.00 - the closest thing to seafood on the menu =P

the judith bit

Very generous with the smoked salmon =)

P got coronary - slab of berkshire bacon with poached egg, witlof salad and roasted almonds in smoked paprika with a slice of sourdough $21.00

coronary

Wholy moly... I've never seen bacon like this before... really a SLAB of bacon haha! It was more salty than what bacon is like normally... more like cured meat... different but very tasty =) P liked the witlof salad but I'm not a fan of it, kinda bitter =/

I wanted the my mexican cousin - secret recipe corn fritters, baby spinach, haloumi and kasundi with poached or fried eggs $17.00 - of course I got poached eggs =P

my mexican cousin

Mmmm I <3 corn fritters after trying the yummy one at Mart 130 =) This didn't have bacon or any meat in it but it was delicious, the fritter was so crunchy and full of flavours! P doesn't normally like to eat my food but he kept taking my fritter =P Kasundi is a hot Indian tomato relish though I couldn't really taste the hotness... was so delicious I finished my meal before the 2 boys finished theirs =)

After our meal we decided to try the interesting coffees... we thought they'd make use of this massive coffee machine but it looks more like decoration than use =P

All 3 of us are coffee n00bs but N decided to get a long black geisha, whatever it was but it was one of the coffees of the day.

Geisha

Doesn't look that special (no coffee art?) but N liked it even though it was quite strong.

P and I decided to share a syphon and watch the barista perform the art in front of us =) He weighs the water and the coffee beans precisely on a digital scale...

Boils the water to the specified temperature...

Adds the crushed coffee beans to the filtered cup and gives it a stir...

And when you take it off the flame the coffee filters down to the globe...

The barista explains what's so special about this syphon coffee - something about how it's a tea like coffee, how initially you can taste the cherry flavour then the actual coffee hits you... can't remember what else he said but he sounded very knowledgeable =)

Tada! =)

Was a bit bitter for our liking... P and I thought it tasted like Chinese herbal tea lol =X But N suggested we add some sugar to it and tada! It tasted very different and was quite nice =)

Not sure if I'd go for it again, more 'cause I'm not a fan of coffee, but the whole show was quite entertaining! =)

Food~
coronary - 8/10 - very interesting interpretation of bacon and eggs.. but definitely not good for P's coronary system lol!

my mexican cousin - 8.5/10 - gotta say was one of my favourite brunch dishes of all times!

Atmosphere~
3/5 - a little bit squished but given it was a Sunday morning what do you expect =P

Service~
4/5 - came around a few times asking us what coffees we want etc and food came very quickly =)

Definitely worth coming back for!

C.
xo

South Melbourne Market Dim Sims

South Melbourne Market Dim Sims

South Melbourne Market,

Corner Cecil & Coventry St, South Melbourne

I had read about this place a few times, most recently on the Age about queues around Melbourne. They had mentioned Mamasita (which I know is good but yet to try because the line is just ridiculously long!), Myer Christmas Windows, Apple and Boxing Day Sales - all of which I know are things worth lining up for =P So I thought we should give these Dim Sims a try and thought we should check out South Melbourne Markets anyway.

Dim Sims actually started off in Melbourne when William Young decided to produce these to rival meat pies at football games! (what a surprise - learn something new everyday!) A few years later, Ken Cheng opened up this stall at South Melbourne Markets and have since been a favourite in Melbourne, where people would travel across Melbourne and even interstate to devour a bag of these! He passed away a few years ago, and apparently ever since then, the quality of the dim sims had gotten downhill.

It was a raining gloomy day so I thought there wouldn't be that long a line - all the websites say you should be prepared for a long queue =P But there was only like 3 people waiting in line when we got there at 11am on this Sunday morning. The line moves very quickly, and the lady asks you bluntly for your order, picks it all up and takes your money, then "NEXT!" No time to ponder your order =P We decided to try 2 fried ones and a steamed one. They were $1.80 each,  I had read on websites that they were $1.20 3 years ago - seriously, inflation is not THAT steep!

The dim sims were quite large, and they were so hot fresh from the fryer and the steamer. We decided not to put any sauce on - didn't want any chilli and THANK GOODNESS we didn't put any soy sauce on it!

The skin is quite thick - I guess it's to hold all the meats together, a combination of pork, cabbage and spices and LOTS OF SALT. My gosh it was like a ball of salt and MSG - I'm not sure how people can say these are remotely nice, let alone come back for it and line up?!

I thought maybe the fried one would be better since I <3 fried food.

The casing was alright, crunchy - well, it is deep fried =P but the insides were salty-as again!

P ate half of one and could not take any more. I hate wasting food so decided to finish my own fried one but even then, it was difficult and we ended up throwing away most of it.

What an utter disappointment. Strangely enough, as we shopped at the markets, we saw many Westerners holding BAGS of these dim sims, and munching into them - we could not believe our eyes lol o_Oa

Food~
2/10 - wow, I've never tasted such horrible food before! So super salty and very not nice =(

Service~
2/5 - the lady was really blunt, but I had read it's like that - service is fast and blunt here, you need to know what you want, how many, separate bags? and have your money all ready lol

Definitely NOT coming back.

C.
xo

Dead Man Espresso

Dead Man Espresso

35 Market St, South Melbourne

(Ph) 9686 2255
☆☆☆

S, J and I were going out for a girlies brunch catch up =D I looked up good brunch places a little bit out of the city, we figured since it was a Sunday we could venture out a bit =) I came across Dead Man Espresso in the Cheap Eats Guide which gave it ☆☆☆

The owners used to work at another reputable brunch place, St Ali, which I'm yet to try but since Dead Man Espresso was in the Cheap Eats Guide I thought we'd try here first =)

S had messaged me at 8am and asked me to confirm we were meeting there at 10am, but then at 10am she messages me and says she'll be ~15mins late and will be catching a taxi there! Haha how funny she had fallen back asleep after messaging me in the morning =) so J and I decided to get a table first - they ran out of tables inside but said we could sit outside which we initially said yes. But after a few minutes, we were burning hot, so decided to go inside and wait for a table there =P We didn't have to wait long, maybe 10mins and we got a table and S had arrived just in time! =D

I love the decor inside - wooden tables with plenty of sunlight shining in, we sat at the communal table which I've found is very common at brunch places like Journal and Stellini Bar.

I had read about the Rosti - herb & potato rosti with poached egg, avocado & smoked salmon or bacon $17.50 and decided I must try it =)

Rosti

Combination of my love of hashbrowns, avocado, poached eggs and smoked salmon! What more could I want in a brunch =D The "hashbrown" was the best part - herb and potato rosti <3 It was so crunch yet so much texture and flavour not just like a normal hashbrown =P was delicious with my egg yolk and avocado <3 Was a bit small though, felt like I could do with another whole serve lol =P

Both J and S ordered the Panmolle - pork sausages with fresh tomato salad, char grilled bread, topped with a poached egg $17.50

Panmolle

Both of them thoroughly enjoyed their dish =D The pork sausages were tasty and the salad was super fresh. They were both super hungry that morning so had finished their massive brunch and was still feeling kinda empty haha =P

So S ordered a Vanilla cupcake with pistachio icing and a Soy Mocha

Vanilla cupcake

The cupcake was a little bit dry though =( a bit disappointing given you'd think cupcakes would always be moist!

Soy Mocha

The Soy mocha was good though - I heard from a barista that you can't do coffee art in soy coffees 'cause the soy milk is not "full/fatty" enough for the pattern to stand still, but this is pretty impressive yeah? =)

J and I shared a Scones - traditional scones served with Dead Man Jam & cream $6.50

Scones

Yum! The scones were heated up and was not too crumbly but not too fluffy - just like how scones should be =) The jam was made locally in the cafe so tasted more "real" with bits of real berries inside =) I never like cream normally but only with scones - it's the only time that it compliments everything! The scone really settled my craving for sweetness =)

Was delicious - definitely will want to try St Ali next!

8.5/10

C.

xo