Somewhere over the river

[Ray’s Cafe, 332 Victoria street Brunswick 3056]

Well hellooooo!,

You’re probably wondering who the hell this is??!!! yes, its been way to long, and I’m just about ready to burst at my seams with breakfasty goodness. My apologies for my extreme case of “cbf”…

This second part of 2011 seems to have been a slippery little sucker and time has got the better of me.

However!!!, I shall break that cycle today whilst I “break my fast”… (wow, I am in Dad joke mood!) 😉

So!, shall we?

Let me introduce you to Ray’s cafe:

[image below is from: http://www.yourrestaurants.com.au/guide/?action=venue&venue_url=ray]

You could probably tell from my very “south of the river focus” blog entries that I reside on the south of the River – that being the Yarra River for those of you playing along across the states or oceans. And yes, I know all the culinary excitement is all very much happening in the Brunswick/Fitzroy neck of the woods, however by the time I get ready and get over to the “other side”, I’m so ravenously hungry I could’ve eaten my arm! (so to speak)

So, about 450 odd days ago (not kidding, apparently its been about that long since I wrote anything!!!), I ventured out far and beyond to the lands across the river to test how long I can travel for without breakfast. I’m not going to lie, I had a mini meal before I left incase I turned into some sort of monster on PT.

[image below is from: http://www.yourrestaurants.com.au/guide/?action=venue&venue_url=ray]

I had the French Toast w/ sweet Labna and maple syrup.

The service was lovely and friendly, well presented, and great price… however it just wasn’t amazing. In hindsight, it would have been great to have some sort of compote or fresh strawberries, even orange and cinnamon to play with on this dish.

Mr “All sorts of lovely” had Poached eggs (perfect) on toast with capsicum and dukkah playmates. This is really what I should’ve orderd – hello food envy! lol!

It was fresh, balanced and owners of two very perfect poached eggs!

As Ray’s source their produce from local middle eastern suppliers, every dish had a unique middle eastern flavour that only a cafe off Sydney road could have.

Ray’s cafe offered great value for money and is tucked away off the buzzing Sydney road in Brunswick.

It however failed to completely excite me based on my dish alone, and with that I can only conclude will have to try it again 🙂

Hope you’ve been good to your taste buds and tummies, and stay tuned for the next update of “My life as a food junkie” lol! 😀

. . .

Tastefully yours,

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Third time’s a charm

[St Edmonds, 154 Greville Street Prahran]

Just over a month ago I finally got to try some of St Edmond’s finest breakfast offerings, however I’m not going to lie… I did have a few sneaky peaks prior to this visit….

My first cheeky visit was a very chilli Wednesday eve for German “class” with my beautiful tutor (which reminds me to book in for another sesh soon!) & I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of “hustle and bustle” that goes part ‘n’ parcel with “newest kid in town”

On that occasion, I had the Calamari, and it was delicious! (but not enough) I had thought THEN the portions were quite small for this “working mans all day eatery”

Even the second little visit I had before the big “breaky date with the fellas” was a little (very teeny) disappointing… not as bad as going to SAT2, but it was still a very teeny let down.

The foundations were there though:

a) Great buzz in and out of the eatery.
b) Adorable staff that are well-informed with the menu and the design (a la Scanlan and Theodore, Projects of Imagination)
c) Pretty excellent atmosphere and design (They were playing they very beautiful self titled Bon Iver and that made everything dissolve away into a buttery dream…)

*In case things got a bit heated during your breakfasting…. 😉

 

Third times a charm as they say, and it was surely a charm…

Breakfast was with the “fellas” and it was a feeding frenzy on/off chapel street that morning!! We had just missed the ravenous queue that we successfully ignored as we feasted, none of us were willing to sacrifice a “slow breaky” experience for that fast crowd.. sorry!

Mr “wrapped to be back” and I ordered “Spanner Crab, Chilli omelette and Sesame crumble”:

It was delicious and crisp like a fresh winter’s morning:

Mr “I eat for two, but don’t look it” ordered the big breakfast with a perfectly poached pair of eggs:

Mr “good, thanks” ordered the scrambled egg and bacon (in a very teeny teeny) roll:

Someone once described Melbs to be like one big “small-town”… and I’d have to agree – I was discussing the very ups and some downs of St. Edmonds, and it wasn’t until I had spilled my guts to a particular waiter at my local lunching hole (aka urbanspoon’s “worst server ever” haha!! :)) he decided to advise of his connection to the all day eatery *insert embarrassment here*

Bother dinners were lovely, but not amazing…
Price vs Portion vs wait time was a little imbalanced, however not worth disregarding a repeat visit for.

Breakfast with the boys was a very excellent combination of Great food/friends/vibe.

The food was fast and delicious much like the waiting staff 😉

Don’t let my inconsistent experience deter you from trying the cutest little hangout south of the river. Much like any great eatery, the menu is ever evolving and they are amongst a handful of “new kids in town” so give ’em a chance and hit it up next time you’re in the Prahran area!! 🙂

Tastefully yours,

Solo Escorregadio

. . .

[RoseGPO Hotel, 1003 Point Nepean Rd Rosebud]

Open: All day, everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Phone: (+613) 5982 3200

&

[The Box Stallion, 64 Tubbarubba Rd Merricks North]

. . .

Solo escorregadio, slippery when wet in Portuguese!!

No, I’m not learning Portuguese, however it does dance very fresh in my mind as I had a just a little taster for it and enjoyed and introduction into the language.

This girls’ weekend was a spit, drizzle and downpour away from being a washout. Lucky no-one slipt… 😉

We had breaky altogether on the saturday morning before we parted ways into impossibly heavenly Hot Springs and the surrounding area.

There was an unspoken consensus to order death by hollandaise sauce… I hardly order Hollandaise sauce, as it’s always so dubious and can easily go wrong. However, we ordered, we drowned and most were very satisfied.

(#1 was repeated a few times 🙂 )

Death by Hollandaise #1 with ham

Death by Hollandaise #1, with smoked salmon

Scrambled eggs and bacon

I’ll be honest, there was a little too much inconsistency and “blase” waiting staff. We had dinner there the night before and the young waitress brought my Pinot Noir over…it was white. Upon asking if that was supposed to be Pinot Noir, and she slaughed and said “yes, ofcourse”

It was one of my more embarrassing moments to advise the young lady that Pinot Noir is red wine… awkward.

Having said that, the eggs were perfectly poached (mmm poached-poke-ooze heaven) but I would’ve gone without the overtaking lava of Hollandaise.

Next stop on Ladies weekend was the Peninsula Hotsprings…. wow!

Below is a picture from their website of how magical it is as the sun sets.

We were there during the lunch/late lunch and were lucky enough to soak in some sunshine at points and some drizzle in others, that was also truly beautiful.

We left all lovely and pruned and relaxed like you wont believe and floated all the way to The Cups Estate and experienced some very lucky sunshine (much like last week!) and got some supplies for the weekend. Just quietly, this winery has probably one of the most beautiful views (see below), however their website doesn’t even market this serenity and landscape… strange.

Anyway, it’s an intimate and gorgeous place for lunch, pit stop or some wine in the sun overlooking the beautiful property. Bit muddy when wet, so bring appropriate footwear. 

Saturday evening was interesting… it all got very interesting upon entering the mostly 17-year-old infested time warp that is The Conti” (The Continental Hotel, Sorrento)

. . .

[The Box Stallion, 64 Tubbarubba Rd Merricks North]

Sunday, we had some wine tastings and settled down for some lunch under the heater at The Box Stallion

There were a few functions on, so it was bustling with laughter and the waiting team darted in and around the smallest of the clients.

Something to remind me of my old home…

Probably the most crunchy and “so bad for you”chips I have ever eaten…. soooo good. exactly what we needed after the night of Ace of base and dirty RnB.

The beautifully presented trio of dips with yesterdays bread… yesterdays bread was a special touch. *insert blank face here*

Lil miss “eww” and I shared some Beetroot, candied walnuts and feta salad which was just the most excited textures and flavours to have dancing around in our mouths!

For main, I ordered the below.
What is it? Juicy succulent garlic and buttery prawns on a bed of “risotto”, or rather soggy rice with sad celery that clearly wanted to die in yesterdays soup… (sorry, it was a strange contrast of “amazing and fresh” and “amazingly dead…”)

Chicken saltimbocca:
One really enjoyed hers, and the two other ladies thought it was bland and dry and didn’t enjoy the Polenta. (Me however, being a polenta fiend thought it was lovely)

Now this was, in hindsight, what I should’ve ordered!
Perfectly cooked Salmon on a bed of fresh salad and Haloumi. 🙂

Dessert was melt-in-your-mouth moorish and delicious! (but didn’t quite want to get my gear off…)

Sticky date pudding playing in caramel sauce: (DROOL!!!) with a side of fresh cream…. droool again!

Chocolate cake with strawberry reduction:

Girls weekend was such a success and can not wait for the next one 🙂
Always lovely to share good food, moments and laughs with a bunch of great quality ladies who will support you on your best and worst day.

thank you ladies for a lovely weekend, til next time…

. . .

Tastefully yours,

Menus:

TWEET-a-licious!

. . .

[Yellow Bird, 122 Chapel Street Windsor]

There is just SO MUCH variety and choice on Chapel street and any time of the day for any of your food related needs!

Yellow bird exites me!! – birds do not!
I have an odd fear of birds, or rather the weird movements they make and the flapping of their wings.

One time, I woke up fresh as a daisy to the odd sound of the “trapped bird in my fireplace” sound.. YES that EXACT sound…. Lets just say it wasn’t one of my finest moments… 🙂

So, this is the shining beacon of scariness that I have to endure whilst breakying it up that day… ONLY for you Jessica Allergory! (and the awesome fritters!!!!)

Jess ordered a heart shaped love breaky, b/c she is just so in it right now 🙂

Green eggs and ham, yes m’am!

It was just a BIG plate of lovely – much like Miss Allergory. (you like that Jess???)

I ordered a big FAT plate of F*CKING amazing!

oh! and take a look at this “poached-poke-ooze”:

sooo good!

Crunchy, flavoursome fritters smothered in avocado and overflowing with delicious egg yoke!. This was also accompanied with a moorish dollop of sour cream and fresh tomato salsa. The combination of the gooey egg, creamy sour cream and nutty avocado married together with the crunchy and moist corn fritter is bloody awesome! The fresh tomato relish/salsa is fresh and is a nice break from the heavy flavours of the Sunday bliss.

Just posting this entry now is making me crave a nice dose of Yellow bird’s finest….

Totally tweetalicious!! 🙂

. . .

Tastefully yours,

“Poached-poke-ooze” (in that order)

. . .
[Whyte kaffe, 1122 Glen Huntly Road Glenhuntly 3163]

Tel: (03) 9569 2212

Outside we were in the middle of the full throttle Vietnam style torrential pour down! No joke, the weather was psychotic and raining without warning. Actually let me rephrase….. SH*T pouring down without notice.

Inside however, we were warm and toasty and surrounded by the aroma of coffee beans and eggs.

There was the light buzz of conversation, and was surpisingly busy for a friday morning.

Weekday breakies often attract the “ladies of leisure” or young mum types, however today there was a nice healthy mix of ‘cbf going to work on Friday’ folk.

This little cafe is a pretty much the only one of its kind Glenhuntly (that I’m aware of), and one of only a handful in the Carnegie/Ormond/Glenhuntly area.

Daniel ordered the most amazing looking portobello mushies with poached eggs – which was causing some food envy on my part!

Soooo exciting to see the perfection of the “poached-poke-ooze” shiver. Yes, it gives me a thrill to see the oozing golden lava flow over the meal.

Although the presentation was appealing, there is something about seeing Rocket on everything that urks me…. I think I’m pretty bored with the same green everywhere I go….I think I’m craving some ‘pushing of boundaries’ when it comes to leafy greens. (Portulaca would be not only visually playful but a varied addition to the breakfast flavour.)

I ordered corn fritters which originally came with bacon, but thought I might mix it up and alter to come with smoked salmon:

I added the salmon instead of bacon b/c I secretly think I was craving corn fritters from Yellow bird.

What I had failed to foresee was the intense Morrocon infusion of flavour in the fritters….and the Salmon didnt play well with that.
It in fact was really disappointing – but totally my bad. (sad face)

I ordered my usual soy chai, and ate away my troubles. At least I didn’t alter that order, and it was beautiful and creamy and sprinkled with cinnamon love dust!

As a result of my bad first experiene – totally my fault for changing a good menu, I think i’ll need to try it again.

For a “kaffe” trying to be a little different in a very “sameness” area, they were doing a good job, and wouldn’t hesitate going back for a second try.

. . .

Tastefully yours,

Polished it all off.

. . .

[Borsch Vodka and tears, 173 Chapel St Windsor]

tel: (03) 9530 2694

Boasting more than 50 different types of vodka, this Polish Vodka bar and restaurant offers the best of the southside of Chapel street in a perfectly polish themed destination.

Whether you are a vodka fan or not, I’m postive either one of the following will win you over: Vibe, knowledgable friendly staff and amazing food – the kind of food that would give your grandma a run for her money!

We tried some flavoured vodka, some clear vodka and some truly amazing homely food.

Ang ordered “beetroot soup”…. I was dubious about this as I’ve never heard of it before, and couldn’t get the taste of canned beetroot soaking through bread out of my mind.

We were in for a surprise!

First, the colour was amazing and vibrant, and the aroma of the soup was overpoweringly goooood!

Most importantly, the taste was amazing. It was light and full of beetroot flavour, but not in a canned way.

Laura ordered Goulash, which was again amazing…. moorish, and full of flavour.

And I ordered a Polish style gnocci in broth which was also out of this world.

We had polished it all off in true Polish style, and sat back to enjoy the warmth of the food and vodka as we caught up on each-others lives.

(Yes, I have a tendency to add ‘non breakfasty’ type entries… In my defence however, I really think breakfast can be enjoyed many ways including last night’s leftovers or a traditionally ‘lunch type’ food. Breakfast is what you make it. Technically the first meal of the day, and I would be more than happy to enjoy a warm hearty soup some melbourne mornings 🙂 )

. . .

Tastefully yours,

Clothing and Comestibles combined

. . .

[Captains of Industry, Level 1/2 Somerset place Melbourne]

Miss H and I only ducked in here for a moment as we waited on the oh so fashionable Mr Adam, and it is just one of those places where you get swept away into another world – old world glamour mixed with that little bit of ‘je nais se quoi’ that Melbourne laneways offer.

They offer ‘comestibles’, which is just a really special way of saying food, glorious food. 🙂

But it is just so fitting, as they do offer a very special service to gentlemen in the way of bespoke footwear and leather accessories and oh so sexy traditional mens haircutting (I dunno about you, but there is something very “oooOOOoooh” about traditional mens shaving accessories and the technique involved. It’s from a different world, an old world full of its own classic ups & downs.

But it’s not just for gentlemen, there is a little spot for everyone here.

We sat by the window and overlooked the very NEW world below, and fantasized about once upon a time ago…

The menu is seasonal, and therefore I’m not too sure if what we ordered is still there ( although they were just drinks)

I ordered a very refreshing and colourful strawberry and cinnamon sparkling cordial. WAWAWEEWA!!!! It was truly refreshing and I let out a big “ahhhh” after enjoying my first invigorating mouthful!… heaven was surely in my mouth!

See the bubbles of invigoration here: 🙂

Miss H had a tea which was just as delightful…and never ending it seemed 🙂

Whether is for comestibles, or bespoke tailoring or just people watching or after, Captains of Industry will very quickly become “captains of your heart”

. . .

Tastefully yours,