Sofi's Lounge

Sofi's Lounge

25 Collins Street, Melbourne

(Ph) 9653 7744

After our deliciously memorable High Tea at Langham a year ago (which I didn't blog about as I hadn't started blogging back then yet), P and I had been meaning to try another High Tea in Melbourne =) Since Sofitel is part of the Accor Hotels, we decided to come try their high tea as I have an Advantage Plus card, and make use of the 50% off discount =)

They do a buffet style high tea on weekends ($69pp) , and on weekdays just a 3 tiered stand and teas ($45pp). About once a month they have a theme on the weekends. Like during July - September, they were doing a French Napoleon theme, inspired by the the Napoleon Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, and prior to that they were doing an Egyptian theme, inspired by the Tutankhamen Exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. Unfortunately, they were booked out for the Napoleon weekends so P and I just went to the normal weekend buffet high tea. They said the food is pretty much the same, it's just that they have people dressed in Napoleon wear and some Napoleon decorations on the table. Still it would have been a nice experience =(

They run the buffet from 2:30pm till about 5pm. We had a very light breakfast that morning and saved lots of room for high tea goodness =) The high tea is at the lounge area on the ground floor, quite a nice area with comfy lounge chairs, a grand piano behind us, and a window view overlooking the Sofitel courtyard.

The first thing they brought us was a glass of sparkling wine =) I don't think the sparkling wine was unlimited as we didn't see anyone have another glass after the initial, but not like P and I like wine much anyway.

In the centre of the room is the dessert table w00t! And to the back wall is the savoury table with the crepe/pikelette station.

Look at all the beautiful delicate cakes <3

And the chocolate fountain!

The savoury selection up the back - the hot foods...

..And the finger sandwiches

We started with the hot foods, they only have 3 choices.  The Chicken pie was surprisingly the most delicious thing at the buffet! Creamy chicken and mushroom "filling" in to the Chinese tea cup, topped with a very puffed pastry =) The Mushroom quiche square was quite tasty too though there was more pastry than filling. The Shepherd's pie was a bit disappointing though, too salty and the potato topping was very dry. They have different warm savouries all the time so just hope you get some delicious ones when you're there =)

Next I tried all the finger sandwiches - these are the same all the time.
Roast beef and horseradish
Cucumber, cream cheese and chives
Free range crushed egg mayonnaise and cress
Artisan smoked leg ham with dijon mustard
Tasmanian smoked salmon with black pepper and lemon

To be honest, these finger sandwiches were the most disappointing of the whole buffet. None of the fillings were particularly "wow", and they don't even have a chicken + mayo one! *shock horror* that's the best finger sandwich filling of all time =( Some of the bread was a bit stale and some still had bits of crust on it, and the wrap was hard, like they've all been made hours (or even a day) in advance - if I pay this much money, I expect fresh sandwiches =(

P had ordered his Jing English Breakfast - a fantastic breakfast tea, assam tea is low-grown and holds a reputation as the strongest full-bodied tea to be found, perfect for those who love a strong and malty cup of tea, with or without milk pretty much since we sat down, but it took them a while to bring it out. Just tastes like a normal tea but yay for sugar cubes! =P

The teapot doesn't really match the tea set but anyway =P

Next we decided to go for the crepe/pikelettes station, the chef makes heaps of crepes/pikelettes and stacks them at the side so they're not really "made to order" but are still warm. He dips the crepes in the caramel sauce and you add your own toppings of berries or orange compote.

The pikelettes were super fluffy and soft, and delicious with the compotes <3 The crepe would have been nicer if it was thin and crunchy though, but the caramel was good =)

Next we tried the scones - plain or fruit, served with King Island pure cream, strawberry preserve and homemade fruit curd (lemon). I've never had scones with fruit curd before, but it was super delicious with the lemon curd! Too bad the scones were a bit dense, weren't warm and were getting a bit hard though =/

Dessert table time! Of course had to play with the chocolate fondue first =) Dipping my strawberry in the fountain =P There were also rockmelons, pineapples, turkish delights and marshmallows for you to dip, but we weren't a fan of this chocolate and preferred to eat the fruit by itself =P

Cakes! <3 P and I got a piece of each cake and had it together, there was no way we could have eaten one of everything each =P and lucky we did, because some of them weren't that tasty =/ The creme brulee on the spoon was good. The profiterole swan looks pretty cool, but taste-wise, nothing too special. Likewise with the strawberry tart, just a strawberry tart. The chocolate tart was very rich, and would have been very delicious, if we weren't so full already, too dense and rich for us by this stage =P

The second plate was so so. A banana cake, a carrot cake, a lemon custard, an opera cake, and not-sure-what-its-called-but-like-a-rum-baba cake. The banana cake and the carrot cakes were quite moist, but tastes like home cakes. The lemon custard was quite smooth, the rum cake was a bit too alcoholy for my liking. 

Opera cake is normally my favourite cake, but this one wasn't that fantastic. It had all the layers and everything, but the chocolate was really dark, and overpowered the coffee flavour =(

The last cake we tried was a surprisingly refreshing and tasty one - a coconut and lime slice. The coconut bit was really creamy so we couldn't fit anymore in after a taste lol.

We were soo stuffed by now, all we wanted was some herbal tea to wash it all down. We asked the waiter what teas they had, and he started listing them, then said he'll bring the menu for us instead =P There were soo many teas to choose from! We decided to get the 

Jade Sword Green Tea - grown in misty mountains in China's Jiande green tea terroir. Jade sword is a bright and fresh tea from Fengwukou Village Garden

and the

Silver Needle - Silver needle white tea is the most famous white tea in the world. From Tai Mu mountain garden, our silver needle is sweet, mellow and low in caffeine. Ideal for drinking on long, lingering afternoons, or well into the night

While we were waiting for our teas, they brought out a new dessert! A rhubarb and pistachio trifle - we're not fans of rhubarb but the jelly was quite good though not sure if the flavour goes well with pistachio =P

Our teas arrived with some Chinese teacups =)

Not sure if it lives up to the description but both were quite light and refreshing, a great way to end the afternoon tea =)

Quite an enjoyable afternoon with the pianist at the grand piano the whole time =)

Food~
6/10 - would have expected better quality food at a 5 star hotel, major disappointment at the sandwiches! and the cold scones =(

Service~
4/5 - quite good service, very attentive with our empty plates, though would be nice if they brought our teas out quicker =P

Atmosphere~
4.5/5 - very relaxing atmosphere, and comfy lounge chairs =)

Not sure if we would have come here if not for the 50% off though...

C.
xo

Mad Mex

Mad Mex

Southern Cross Station

(actually many locations around Melbourne now..)

Suddenly so many Mexican restaurants popping up in Melbourne, I still haven't managed to make myself line up for Mamasitas yet, but we recently went to Taco Bill which really whet my appetite for more Mexican food =)

Mad Mex is a fast-foodish chain store started in Sydney, but now there are a few opened up in Melbourne. There's one opened up at Southern Cross Station now and there's an Entertainment buy-1-get-1-free voucher so we thought we'd give it a go.

P said it feels kinda like Subway, which I kinda agree, you choose your base "bread", choose your filling and choose your sauces (aka salsas). 

I went for some Nachos - tortilla chips with melted queso cheese w/ black beans, sour cream, jalapenos & choice of filling $10.90. And for the filling I got the Pork (carnitas) - slow roasted, shredded, traditional style w/ garlic, onion, lime & cumin. After so many years still reminiscing the delicious pulled pork from New York =) The waiter made this straight in front of us - awesome 'cause we were starving!

Doesn't look that appetizing but surprisingly was delicious! The pork was so soft and juicy and was very refreshing with the lettuce and tomato. I'm not usually a fan of black beans but they went well with the pork =) If only they gave us some guacamole too - I thought nachos automatically come with guacamole =(

P got the Grande Melt - toasted flour tortilla, a quesadilla with the works, rolled like a burrito and toasted $10.90. For the filling he chose Chicken (pollo) - freshly grilled, seasoned w/ our chipotle adobo marinade (chemical free)

They give us a number plate and bring this out to us in only about 5 minutes - good to know they make it straight away for you =P it comes wrapped up in al-foil and P automatically rips it open.  Who's to know you're actually meant to just open it on one side and eat it while still in the al-foil so the juices don't leak out the bottom - there were actually instructions on how to eat burritos on the serviettes here which we didn't read until we got our hands drenched in burrito sauce haha =P

Lots of filling! Chicken and lots of cheeeeeese =D Too bad the juices made the tortilla soft and soggy instead of crispy =( How are you meant to eat it so it stays crispy hmm?

Food~
6/10 - quite good! I'd recommend the nachos or at least try some of their homemade tortilla chips =) Treating it as fast food, it's definitely is quite high on ratings!

Service~
1/5 - it is fast food so can't expect much service, but they could have at least cleaned the table properly for us when we asked them to..

Atmosphere~
2/5 - they need more tables here! Though the Melbourne Central store is nicer with it's own private eating area as opposed to be part of the big food court =)

C.
xo

Monga Sweet Cafe

Monga Sweet Cafe

Level 1, 217 Russel St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9654 4885

After the greasiness and spiciness of Crazy Wings, we wanted some sweet refreshing drink to wash it all down. Walked past Monga Sweet Cafe and decided to try it out =) I had heard about it in Boxhill, and how it serves genuine Asian, especially Hong Kong, desserts and Tea Cafe foods. There are actually quite a few Asian dessert places popping up in the CBD, like Dessert Story (2 stores in the CBD now!).

You go up the stairs to the cafe, the first floor looks like a typical modern cafe, with some sofas for you to relax on as well. Unfortunately the first floor was full on this night, so they asked us to go upstairs. There's a sign saying "1970s Hong Kong Style Venue Upstairs" and wow! It really feels like you're transformed back to olden day Hong Kong! It's quite dark there, with many square tables of 4, looks kinda like a mahjong den =P

And there was a genuine Bus Stop sign right next to our table!

You can come here and play games (cards, chess etc) - but you do have to rent it. And there's a room with dart machines in it too! Though that doesn't feel very Honky lol =P

We were going to go for a set - drink + pineapple bun, but then E wanted to try the following 2 desserts so we decided to not get a drink and just go for the 2 desserts =P

First was the Deep Fried Sweet Potato w/ Golden Syrup $4.50

We weren't going to go for something deep fried after the greasy chicken wings, but we're both suckers for sweet potato =P surprisingly wasn't too greasy and was very crunchy, though there was more batter than sweet potato lol. If only they were a bit more generous with the golden syrup =P

My favourite Honky dessert - Hawker's Waffles  (Peanut butter & condensed milk) $7.00

Doesn't look as appealing with the waffle drenched in peanut butter and condensed milk but the taste is what matters more! deliciousness <3 Crunchy waffles with a watered down peanut butter and condensed milk mixture - whoever thought of this mixture is a genius =)

This is the original one from the most famous place in Hong Kong <3

LOVE <3

Food~

7/10 - quite good, definitely feel like I've been transported back to Hong Kong =) whenever I feel slightly homesick will definitely come here! Wanna try some of the other savoury Tea Cafe foods too =)

Service~

4/5 - since we were one of the only 2 tables upstairs, the single waiter (I actually think he was the manager as he was in a suit!) was very prompt with our orders and bringing us water and everything =)

Atmosphere~

3/5 - bit too dark for my liking but love the Honky decor!

Will definitely be back =)

C.
xo

Crazy Wings

Crazy Wings

177 Russell St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9663 6555

E and I had been meaning to try out Crazy Wings for a while, and finally, we decided to go and kill our taste buds. We had heard the Crazy Wings are ridiculously hot, the hottest thing ever, and neither of us are particularly good at chilli but thought we'd give it a go =P

The restaurant is a small dimly lit place with 2 chefs grilling off skewers in the open barbeque kitchen. Service is not fantastic here, the waiter put 2 cups and a tray between us, still dripping wet with water. And a pile of serviettes - little did we know we'd be using the whole pile from crying and snotting and wiping the chilli powder off our skewers =P

Ordering is quite simple here, you tick how many of each type of skewers you want - their specialty is chicken wings, but they have lots of different meats and seafood skewers, as well as offal and vegetable skewers. Most skewers range from $2 to $3, but some vegetable skewers are more expensive up to $5. There is also fried rice and other dishes but we decided to just stick with the skewers. They have special buy-1-get-1-free wings everyday - on this night it was the Lobster flavoured wings so we got 2 lots of them =) we also got a honey spicy wing, and the much dreaded Crazy Wing. Thought we should get some meat skewers to try (lamb, and chicken soft bone) and some vegetable skewers (eggplant and enoki mushroom wrapped with tofu). We had also ordered a honey BBQ mantou (steam bun) but they didn't see the tick next to it and we forgot about it until we left boo =(

First came the non-crazy wings - both the lobster wings and honey spicy wings were very tasty. Strong BBQ flavour, with some mild Sichuan pepper flavouring. The lobster wings didn't taste of lobster at all but definitely well worth the $1 per skewer (half price) =)

The best skewer though was the lamb meat - soft juicy and tender BBQ meat. The chicken soft bone was quite good too, chewy crunchiness. After a while, all the skewers tasted the same of the subtle Sichuan pepper flavour though, washed down with litres of water =P

Finally, the much anticipated Crazy Wing came to our table. We were quite worried, tables around us had 2L of milk or 2L bottles of Sprite to wash it down, and all looked like they were in pain. I took one wing off the skewer and just touched my lips with it. Initially nothing happened, but after a few seconds, my mouth was roaring with fire. I could not believe how ridiculously spicy that tiny touch could have been - even after gulping down litres of water my mouth was still on fire. I tried to just eat the meat inside and not touch the spicy skin but that was still unbearable. I don't know how anyone could enjoy this torture =/ Apparently they use Habanero chilli on these, which is one of the spiciest chilli peppers. They are rated 100,000 - 350,000 on the Scoville scale, meaning the chilli chemical stimulant needs to be diluted at least 100,000 times before it is undetectable *shivers*

Our mouths were still on fire that when the vegetables came, everything tasted the same spiciness so couldn't really enjoy them. I brushed the chilli powder off the eggplant and the tofu wrapped enoki mushrooms but still had to gulp down cups of water. We totally should have bought some milk tea or something - they sell cartons of milk tea or cans of herbal tea here which would have helped =P

After my first visit here, P brought various different friends here and dared them to try and finish a Crazy Wing. He himself couldn't do it though =P The first friend, A, nearly died after a bite. The 2nd friend, M, managed to eat one but was in much pain after it all. And the last friend, J, managed to eat the whole skewer of Crazy Wings, 2 WHOLE wings! =O we were in awe and shock! He went red and said he felt like he burnt his whole digestive tract - really don't think this is healthy for you =P

Food~
5/10 - is alright, the lamb skewers are the best, and don't order the Crazy Wings unless you want to torture yourself =P

Atmosphere~
2/5 - felt quite dirty in there but you don't come in here for the atmosphere

Service~
2/5 - poor but that was expected

Come here only if you want a chilli challenge!

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 =) 

Culumus Inc

Cumulus Inc

45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

(Ph) 9650 1445

I had read a lot of good reviews about Cumulus Inc so thought I should bring my friends here for lunch. We came on a weekday, and lucky, we got a table pretty instantly. Since we were a group of 5, they sat us at this random corner half booth table where 3 of us sat on the semicircle booth, and the other 2 sat on chairs outside. One side of the booth didn't have a cushion so P had to sit on this hard wooden seat =/ pretty strange table. The restaurant is quite small but the open kitchen is in view from our table which was nice.

The waiter told us all their dishes are for sharing, and suggested us to get a few starters, and 2 mains to share but we weren't that hungry so just got one main instead.

They started us off with a mini pan of breads, there was a sour dough and a grain bread. Lucky they kept refilling our bread otherwise we would have starved since the dishes weren't that big =/

We got a few Charcuterie (cured meats) since it seems to be one of their specialities. Pheasant terrine, pickled rhubarb $17

What does pheasant meat taste like? This kinda tasted like spam lol =P was quite tasty though and lucky we got our plate of bread to go with it 'cause 4 tiny pieces of toast is not enough! We actually thought the pickled rhubarb was the pickled ginger you eat with sushi normally =P

The waiter suggested the Wagyu bresaola (40g) with truffle cream & artichoke $19

40g of wagyu is really not much, but this was really delicious with the truffle cream (not that we can taste it is truffle =P) and the chips.

P thought it would be cool to eat elk - one of the largest species of deer in the world so we got the Red elk and rocket salad with cider vinaigrette, candied walnuts $10 The waiter said they were out of rocket and were going to give us cos lettuce instead which we said was alright.

We searched the whole salad for any trace of meat or elk and found nothing. We asked the waiter where the deer meat was and she's like "Wah?" and we said "The elk?". The waiter said red elk is actually the red rocket-like lettuce in the salad omgosh =__________= I just searched "red elk" on Google and there was nothing about the lettuce, all about the deer, until I searched "red elk lettuce" so obviously it's not very common =/ What a disappointment. At least the walnuts were crunchy and honeyed.

Since this was a French restaurant, I decided to get the Fois gras parfait with toasted brioche $17

It's like a pate, and surprisingly went very well with the sultanas. The brioche was delicious, slightly sweet but very fluffy. The parfait is very rich and creamy so need lots of bread to go with it, and lucky our bread plate kept getting refilled =P

The one main dish we got was the Fried soft shell crab, kimchi, lettuce & kewpie $19 which was recommended by the waiter.

You eat it like a wrap, putting some crab in a piece of lettuce, with some kimchi or kewpie sauce. The kimchi was definitely not kimchi, wasn't even spicy at all, and actually was a bit strange with the kewpie - kewpie was delicious with the crab though. The soft shell crab was deliciously fried, few meaty bits and many crunchy legs to go around =)

Food~
6/10 - food was pretty tasty but very small portions and not worth the money =(

Service~
4/5 - quite good, very diligent in their bread refilling =P

Atmosphere~
3/5 - open bright restaurant with high ceilings and open kitchen, too bad we got the random corner table =P

C.
xo