Miss Jackson

Miss Jackson

2/19 Grey St, St Kilda

(Ph) 9534 8415

Miss Jackson at St Kilda is located slightly away from the strip of cafes on Fitzroy Street, and even though the address is Grey Street, you actually enter on Jackson Street - hence "Miss Jackson" =) It's given ☆☆ by the Cheap Eats Guide 

There's quite a nice outdoor area but it was quite chilly on this day so we decided to sit inside.

The waiter, or I think was actually the owner, was very friendly and chatty to us =) We ordered our coffees - a latte

and a hot chocolate - since when does hot chocolate come in a glass? =P

One of the specials of the day was Pulled pork, chorizo and potato hash with a fried egg $18 which sounded very delicious and both P and I wanted it, but I decided to be nice and let P get it =P

What happened to the potato hash?! They were just roast potatoes - fully jipped! =( Thought it would be like the Potato and leek hash - with minted peas, smoked trout and a poached egg which actually came with a big homemade hashbrown =( The pulled pork was a bit dry and very oily - was a disappointing dish. It was quite a heavy dish - bit too much for brunch =/

Dad and I both got the Corn fritters - with bacon, avocado and roasted vine tomatoes and homemade chilli jam

<3 corn fritters! These ones weren't crunchy or fried enough on the outside but were quite tasty with the chilli jam =) How cute are the roast vine tomatoes!

Mum got the Spanish baked eggs - with chorizo, char grilled capsicum and olives 

Quite a typical baked eggs dish full of flavour but the bread they provided was a bit hard and felt a bit stale =/

Dad also wanted some Crumbed polenta chips - with harissa mayo

Yummy! Polenta tastes a bit like mashed potato - not much flavour but with the delicious coating of panko crumbs and the slightly chilli mayo was super tasty <3

Food~
6/10 - just get the stuff on the normal menu and not the specials, and definitely try the polenta chips!

Atmosphere~
4/5 -  small cosy cafe, lucky we came on a weekday or I can imagine it would be packed on the weekends!

Service~
4/5 - very friendly and chatty waiters here =)

C.
xo

I-Spicy 2

I-Spicy 2

80 Victoria St, Richmond

(Ph) 9429 4559

Parents were in Melbourne and we felt like some Thai food so I looked in the Entertainment book and found a 25% off voucher for I-Spicy =) They have a few locations but we thought Richmond would be the most convenient. The original I-Spicy is in Hawthorn and is a much more casual restaurant where you order at the counter compared to this one at Richmond.

We booked a table for 7pm, got there 5mins late and saw all the tables were taken already =O we told the waiter we had booked a table and she looked at us blankly and said there were no bookings made for the night =/ she then talked to another waiter and finally told us we could go upstairs. *phew* we didn't even know there's an upstairs! There was only one other group up there, guess they try to not seat people upstairs 'cause the waiters have to carry the dishes up and down =P

Dad wanted to start off with BBQ Stuffed Calamari - marinated minced chicken, stuffed in calamari grilled served with ispicy lemon sauce $10

Would have been nicer if they grilled the calamari longer. The mince chicken wasn't too flavoursome but the supposed "lemon sauce" was very spicy =/

P wanted the Tod Mun Pla - fish cake is made from blended fish, red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and sliced green beans $8

Aren't fish cakes meant to be like fish balls and have a slightly chewy and bouncy texture? These didn't feel too bouncy - they were kinda like fish patties but quite tasty nonetheless.

Next came the Tom Yum Mixed Seafood - clear seafood soup cooked with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, galangala, coriander roots, flavored with fish sauce, lemon sauce and chilli $21

I didn't think I would be able to drink tom yum, I normally can't take much chilli but the sourness made the chilli not too bad and actually quite refreshing =) galangala is a very strong ginger-like plant - couldn't really taste it whatever it is. There was a small candle underneath it but it didn't do much to keep the soup hot =(

Of course we had to get a Pad Thai (chicken, pork and beef) - a sweet and sour stir fry of thin rice noodles with ground peanuts, eggs and bean sprouts $12

Such an ordinary Thai dish but so tasty - slightly sweet and slightly sour with the crunch of bean sprouts and peanuts =)

Dad saw the other table get this and wanted it too. Garlic Soft Crab - deep fried soft crab topping with crunchy garlic $21

So much soft shell crab and so crunchy and delicious with the sweet and sour dipping sauce! There were meaty bits (soft shell crab is actually very sweet!) and there were crunchy leg bits =) My favourite dish of the night even though it's not a very typical Thai dish!

Of course we had to also get a curry - Green Curry (chicken or beef) - home made curry with green chilli, lemongrass, garlic with your choice of meat $16

It came in a small pot and surprisingly was quite big. This one also had a small candle flame underneath but because it was in a copper pot it kept the heat much better than the tom yum soup =) Green curry is a bit too chilli for me but it went well with some Roti - flat pan bread $3 each

The star of the meal was the Pork Shank - pork shank slowly three hours cook in five spicy herbs then deep fried until crispy and serve with spicy sauce $24 They need some improvement on their English =P

I'm not normally a fan of fatty meat but this was surprisingly so delicious! Super crispy skin on the outside and the meat inside was so soft and tender and wasn't too fat either =) Apart from serving it with a sweet and sour sauce, how is this a Thai dish? =P

Dessert time! Thai Sweet Potato Delight $5

Didn't taste like sweet potato - kinda like sweet glutinous rice balls, deep fried and crunchy on the outside =)

Last came the Thai Coconut Rice Pancake $5

We could have it with corn or spring onion - spring onion sounded really weird but we decided to go half half. Surprisingly the spring oinion ones were tastier as the savouriness balanced the sweet coconut flavour nicely. They kinda look like half takoyaki balls - soft and gooey inside with a slight crunch underneath =)

Food~
6.5/10 - quite good food overall =) definitely get the soft shell crab and the pork shank!

Service~
2/5 - food took a while to come out, guess the waiters had to walk up the stairs took them a bit longer =P

Atmosophere~
3/5 - downstairs was quite cramped but upstairs was nice and spacious =)

C.
xo

Izakaya Den

Izakaya Den

114 Russell St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9654 2977

I had come to Izakaya Den a while ago, remembering it was very difficult to find the entrance!

There's no sign on Russell Street but you go down this flight of stairs, but don't go down too far or you'll end up in this boutique, which on this night was actually a ladies charity function.

If you turn left at the first landing you'll find this glass door and a black curtain behind it. Very hidden and random if you don't know about it!

It really is a basement restaurant with a waiting area up the front. You can either sit at the high tables with tall stools or at the bar watching the chefs in the open kitchen.

They only take bookings for big groups and we were only a group of 4 so I thought we'd have to wait a while but lucky we came early (6pm) and got a table straight away =) The waitress placed 2 rolls on the table - the larger one is actually the drinks menu, while the smaller one is the food menu consisting of small, chargrilled, cold, hot and sweet dishes.

Cute water glasses and a warm towel to wipe your hands - feels very high class =)

We weren't too keen on the drinks but decided to share a few dishes. I remember the Sweet corn "kaki-age" $9 from my last visit here.

Definitely the best dish on the menu! Balls of corn deep fried together into a fritter and dipped in green tea salt - amazingly delicious =) we all loved it so much we got a 2nd one of this!

Their deep fried dishes are definitely recommended - next was the Den fried chicken $11

Marinated deep fried chicken dipped in Kewpie mayo (or was it homemade?) Surprisingly they were quite generous with this dish =)

How can you come to a Japanese restaurant without ordering some sashimi. We went for the Salmon sashimi, yuzu vinaigrette $17

This was a bit disappointing - quite expensive for such a small dish! It was more like a ceviche but I didn't think it was anything too special.

For the meats we went for Gotzinger Berkshire pork sausage $14

Gotzinger is actually a European smallgoods supplier and deli based in Queensland, they used to only supply to 5 star hotels and resorts around Australia but now have expanded to retail. These Berkshire sausages really reminds me of German sausages with the sauerkraut and mustard - felt like it really lacked some bread of some sort but I guess it is a small dish?

The Kurobuta pork belly $19 was recommended so we ordered it

But it was a bit of a disappointment - firstly, only 4 tiny pieces of pork belly? The pork was a bit dry and lacked the fattiness and juiciness you would normally expect in pork belly =(

We also got the Ox tongue, spring onion $15

They were a bit more generous with this - the ox tongue was nicely grilled and marinated, slightly chewy each with a small paste of spring onion mashed up.

One last savoury dish was the Baked wild barramundi fillet, coconut miso $21

This took a while to come out, looks quite fancy but didn't taste as good as it looks. Inside the bamboo leaves the barramundi meat was a bit too soft and mushy with the coconut sauce.

We just decided to get one dessert to share - heard the Apple Millefeuille $12 was good

It's like a tower of apple chips and apple sorbet - looks very fancy and pretty =) the apple sorbet was very cold and tangy it hurt our teeth to eat it! The apple chips got a bit soft placed against the sorbet which was a bit of shame =(

Food~
7.5/10 - definitely come here for the fried foods especially the sweet corn kaki-age! <3

Atmosphere~
4/5 - very unique atmosphere eating in a basement restaurant, would have been nicer if our seats had backs though =P

Service~
4/5 - quite good service, I like the little gestures like a hand towel when we sat down =)

C.
xo

Hong Kong Best Food

Hong Kong Best Food

35 Carrington Rd, Boxhill

(Ph) 9898 6088

Another 茶餐廳 (tea cafe) in Boxhill - we were craving some good Honky food =) We always go to New Age Cafe so this time we decided to try out Hong Kong Best Food. It looks kinda small and dirty from the outside but inside just feels like a typical 茶餐廳 in Hong Kong - felt like we've been transported to HK =)

The manager lady initially seated us at a table seating 4 people, but then 2 minutes later wanted us to move to another table sharing with another couple so they could seat a group of 4 at our initial table =__= bit annoying but not like we could say no

Menu is a bit tacky looking - think they might need to renew them soon =P They have a breakfast menu and an afternoon tea menu which look quite tempting but we were smack bang at lunch time.

They do have some lunch specials - $9 for a dish + coffee/tea. We saw lots of people ordered it and changed the drink to a cold one - it was such a hot day we decided to get a cold milk tea. P saw someone else's fried rice noodles with beef and assumed it was on the specials list - the only one with beef and noodles in it was Spanish style beef on rice or spaghetti so he ordered it.

Woops wasn't quite what he expected it to be... the sauce was kinda like sweet and sour... what is Spanish style anyway?! The beef was quite tender and soft but P was slightly disappointed.

At least the cold milk tea was delicious and thirst quenching =)

P also ordered a Pork Chop Bun $5.50

Why do these 茶餐廳s all like to give us a few Pringles instead of chips?! Like at New Age Cafe. The pork chop was quite small compared to the burger bun and was a little tough. And would have been nicer if they were more generous with the mayo and gave us some lettuce or something.

I couldn't resist getting a baked rice - Baked Portuguese Chicken with Fried Rice $9

I really like the Portuguese sauce.. creamy and coconuty =) They were quite stingy with the vegetables, only 2 pieces of carrots... you'd think vegetables are cheaper than chicken right? =P The so called fried rice was not really fried rice - there were only a few bits of egg in it but nothing else =( The dish was massive, I could only finish half of it so asked for a takeaway box - the waiter wasn't very happy about giving me a takeaway box =/

Food~
5/10 - alright food, very typical Honky =)

Service~
1/5 - the manager lady was yelling at this trainee waiter for doing things wrong and not being efficient etc, felt kinda bad for him =/ And she was eating her bowl of food while working and placed her bowl on the table next to us... was a bit weird and very unprofessional =/

Atmosphere~
1/5 - quite loud with the waiters shouting orders and many families with kids there

C.

xo

Pizza Bar

Pizza Bar

137 Pakington St, Geelong

(Ph) 5229 5394

Day trip to Geelong! We had initially wanted to go to Mr Hyde, after going to Dr Jekyll in St Kilda, to complete my Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde series. Mr Hyde is a bistro which looks quite expensive on the outside but it's in the Cheap Eats Guide so thought we'd give it a go. We got there at 12 noon and surprisingly it was closed! =O We were so hungry we just looked up urbanspoon for a nearby place to eat. J had heard friends say there was a good pizza place Geelong, and urbanspoon had quite a good rating for Pizza Bar so we decided to check it out. V who has been living in Geelong the whole year and actually lives near this place had never tried it out before =P

Quite a small cosy cafe, the menu is written on the back wall with chalk, or they do have it in paper form too =P You can see into the kitchen - it's not very big but you can see the woodfire for their pizzas (white thing in the back)

Lunch pizza's are 7" big and range from $9 to $14. They have a lunch special - +$5 for a green salad and a drink. D and P both wanted the lunch special but the waiter said their fridge froze the night before and all their salad froze so they weren't doing lunch special today =( Halfway through our meal, a couple sat at the table next to us and asked about the lunch special too. Another waiter was serving them and said they weren't doing it but they could have a drink for $2 =O They didn't offer that to us, oh well =(

I was tossing between Ham off the bone, mushroom passato, provolone cheese $12 or Nonna's meatball, braised silverbeet, boccocini $12. P doesn't like mushrooms (even though passato is just a puree so not like there's mushroom bits in it) so I went for the meatball one instead.

Looks quite small but was actually very filling and super delicious! The crust was not very thin but was super crunchy - mmm woodfired goodness. The meatballs were juicy and flavoursome and the braised silverbeet surprisingly goes really well with it all - who would have thought to put silverbeet on pizza?! love boccocini cheese =)

P got the Fire roasted free range chicken, lemon, bacon, sage, pine nuts $12.50. He was going to get the large size (12") but then decided to not be so greedy, and lucky he didn't he was full from this tiny pizza already!

Wasn't as tasty as mine, not enough cheese in my opinion =P Why would they give you a lemon piece? The lemon juice would just make the pizza wet =/

J loves her mushrooms and got the Mushroom passato, swiss browns, porcini, truffle oil, parmigiano $12

I tried a bit of it and it was delicious! The mushroom puree was tasty with the many types of mushrooms and cheesy goodness =) J actually liked lemon with her pizza and took P's lemon wedge - all worked out =P

Food~
7/10 - surprisingly good! V said we've found him a new eatery in Geelong - he said there's not that much good food there haha =P

Service~
2/5 - alright but would have been nice if they offered us the +$2 drink special too

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a cosy little eatery

C.

xo

Patterns Cafe

Patterns Cafe

254 Swanston St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9650 8868

A new cafe opened up on Swanston Street, which happens so frequently that it doesn't surprise/interest me usually but there was a poster on the window saying they sell Hong Kong Style Egg Waffle! <3 My favourite! And there was an opening special - $3.90 down from $5. Still quite expensive (usually only HKD$10 which is AUD$1.20 =P) but I've never seen it sold in Australia before so had to come try it out!

Bonus, on this day they were handing out 20% off vouchers =) It's a small cafe with some tables at the back and a bar area with high stools too. I wondered why they would call this cafe "Patterns Cafe" but then realised they were priding themselves on the patterns on their coffee. We didn't try any 'cause it was such a hot afternoon but looking at other people's it just looks like normal leaf etc coffee art - how does it compare to Manchester Press?! Oh and they need some help with their English/grammar - lots of spelling mistakes and random typos on their menu =/

We were really thirsty so P got a Watermelon with herb jelly $5.50

I cringed at the sound of this - watermelon with herbal jelly?! I don't like grass jelly normally though P thought he would like it as he normally likes pearls and other jelly in his bubble teas, but thought it was very slimy and didn't go well with the watermelon juice =/

I got the Taro Ice Blended $3.90

Forgot to tell them I didn't want cream =( Delicious love taro <3 P who usually doesn't like taro really enjoyed this =) even though this doesn't taste like real taro (is it like some taro syrup or something?) and doesn't look the colour either (bright purple? =P) it's a good substitute and definitely quenched my thirst =)

P wanted something savoury so he got Fried Calamarine (spell check?) $5 - we figured they meant calamari =P

Was quite good though there was only $5 pieces - $1 per piece? Very crunchy and not overly battered.

Last came the highlight, the reason we came into the cafe - the Hong Kong Style Egg Waffle!

It wasn't as good as the ones in Hong Kong =( The batter was quite crispy so the edge bits were good, but the inside was filled with cakey batter. It's meant to be slightly hollow inside so when you bite into it it's mainly crunch, but it was more like little balls of cake =( They didn't have the batter consistency quite right but I guess it was better than nothing given I haven't had it in a while!

Food~
5/10 - egg waffle was slightly disappointing, maybe next time I'll try their macaroons and cakes in their dessert cabinet =)

Atmosphere~
3/5 - small cosy cafe

Service~
3/5 - not bad for an Asian eatery, but it is new so you'd expect that =P

C.
xo