Brunches lately

Here's a shot at wrapping up my brunches in Melbourne lately.

We were introduced by the lovely H&H to South Yarra's charming little cafe Two Birds One Stone, which has become a regular brunch go-to of late.. So far the best rueben sandwich I've tasted is here, and pictured above is their house-smoked salmon with corn fritters and Doben's eggs benedict with extra bacon and beans. 

I finally got to try the signature (breakfast) dish Shakshuka of Melbourne institution, Cumulus Inc. Delicious indeed.

As well as their well known freshly baked lemon curd madeleines.

House smoked salmon with corn fritters and banana bread at Friends of Mine in Richmond.

H&H introduced us to another fantastic brunch spot: Top Paddock in Richmond. I tried their ricotta hot cakes that was almost too beautiful to eat. Lucky the taste lived up to its good looks. 

We ate loads of broken rice with grilled pork at Tan Thanh Loi. 

And quite possibly one of the best sandwiches (bánh mì) in the world found in the most unexpected location in Footscray from Nhu Ngoc Bakery.

After back tracking all of my brunch highlights, I realise that H&H introduced us to every place I've noted here, except Cumulus Inc. Thanks H&H for making sure I am well fed! 

To see more of my recent face gorging, see my Foodspotting account here.

Consuming Food Love re-cap

To wrap up the last year of eating and potting along in life, here are just a few of my many delicious encounters.

At home, I cooked many new things, especially during heavy study periods to escape the insanity that assignment work and exam preparation brings.

I was given some home-grown white / yellow peppers from my mum's friend so I had a go at making töltött paprika. 

Fresh peppers

Stuffed peppers

Töltött paprika

I came across "ube" flavour liquid in Braybook which is very hard to find here in Australia. "Ube" is a type of purple yam that is commonly used in ice cream flavouring, cakes and other sweet dishes in The Philippines. 

Ube flavour

When I visit The Phillippines I love to eat everything that is ube flavour, especially the ice cream, so I did a cheat version by just adding the flavour to a plain vanilla ice cream.

My cheat version ube ice cream! (I think I was a little excited!)

And for most Filipinos the obvious answer to an ube ice cream is halo-halo which translates to "mix mix". Halo-halo is a shaved ice dessert which is topped with various toppings, generally including ice cream (ube flavour), coloured nata de coco (coconut gel), leche flan (creme caramel), coloured kaong (palm seed), sweet beans and many other endless options. 

My version of halo-halo with ube ice cream, leche flan, nata, jackfruit and kaong.

Shaved ice desserts are very popular throughout South East Asia with the Malaysian version ais kacang, Indonesia's version es campur and Vietnam's 3 colour dessert / drink.

As for eating out we devoured some of the delicious offerings at Dead Man Espresso..

Dead man espresso - http://www.deadmanespresso.com.au/

Our absolute favourite place for a soul soothing bowl of Pho at I Love Pho 264 in Richmond..

Small beef pho

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1640956/restaurant/Melbourne/I-Love-Pho-264-Richmond

And celebrated another year of life at the flawless Kenzan (inside Sofitel).

Kenzan Sushi and Sashimi Set (medium)

Kenzan Tatsuta Age, Tempura Vegetables and Prawn and Shiitake Tempura.

http://www.kenzan.com.au/

This was the fourth time I have visited Kenzan and every time the food and service is consistently at a very high standard. I am always astounded at the impeccable freshness and preparation of their sashimi and the lightness of their tempura. Will definitely be back for more. 

However, I have vowed to not eat any Japanese food until October, which is when Doben and I are heading off to Tokyo! 

With a decent tax return, a very determined saver, a Jetstar sale (which coincidentally fell on the time that I will complete my degree) and off we are to the land of raw fish, perfection deep frying, sake, magnificent landscapes and all things that make Japan such a mysterious and intriguing north-east corner of Asia. 

I am absolutely beside myself with excitement and really hope that I don't burn all my friend's and colleague's ears off about the every-single-detail of plans in the upcoming months (apologies in advance!).

Short Visit to Mildura

Over my short visit to Mildura we decided to have a light lunch at Stefano's Cafe Bakery. I didn't have enough free time to go have dinner at his restaurant, will try and make some time next trip back. 

Overall I would say we had a pleasant lunch. The service definitely needs a total overhaul, but wasn't so bad that we left disgruntled. Let's just say I'll be heading back when I return to Mildura in a few weeks to see what they have for lunch! 

Doben chose a better dish than mine as always - Moroccan lamb with couscous - an absolute delight at every mouthful. I really loved the combination of the couscous, with the braised lamb, the yoghurt and tart tomato chutney. Would go back to eat this, but their menu changes daily!

My slightly average stuffed fritto misto of eggplant and red capsicum, still with a lot of flavour, but probably could have been better if it was freshly cooked..

I made some Sarma for my Tata's 80th Birthday. Whole sauerkrauts are difficult to buy in Mildura (let alone anywhere?) unless you have some stored in your garage, so instead I just par-boiled the whole cabbage leaves so the leaves could be rolled. Obviously the sour taste of the sauerkrauts was absent but I was pleased with the result. My filling included a mix a veal and pork mince, garlic, onion, parsley, paprika, rice and egg.

Final product - Nana and Tata were very pleased :) 

And here are some green beans that my mum's friend had picked the same day we cooked them. From plant to mouth in less than 5 hours - that's what it's all about.

Carlton Espresso

The long awaited reopening of Carlton Espresso was revealed this week, finally (thank god).

Being the favourite cafe of my Doben and I for many years, it has been a LONG wait for perfectly made lattes, prosciutto and fontina foccacias and pancetta and egg paninis, which we always looked forward to on a day off together. We had replaced our coffee fix at Seven Seeds, and despite their passion for serving one of the best coffees in town, our hearts were still longing for Espresso's coffee and foccacias.

I must admit, I was quite scared of Tony Nicolini's decision to expand his what seemed, a perfect sized cafe prior to the renovations, but thankfully what seemed to be impossible to improve, just got better. Other than the increased noise levels in the busy lunch period, many pleasant improvements have been made. The renovations included the expansion of the whole next door shop, now including a small kitchen downstairs, a courtyard at the back and about double the amount of seating. There is a new to-order menu including many pasta dishes such as "bimbo lasange - bambino lasange", daily zuppa, antipasti and of course our favourite; foccacias.

Opening hours have been extended:

Before: 7am- 5pm 7days.

Now: 7am - 9-930pm 7days.

Another unbelievable discovery was the decrease in price of foccacias... Before all foccaccias were priced between $8.9 - 13.9, which I was more than willing to pay. As for now, ALL foccacias are only $8.90- 9.9. Hello delicious bargain!

(please excuse my new level of SH quality shots taken on my phone)

I got my usual (and greatly missed) San Daniele prosciutto with fontina & rocket focaccia and my Doben got a new addition Capocollo with provolone, green sicilian olives & rocket - delish! 

So many delicious additions to the menu but not enough days off to go..

I am very impressed with the new renovations, Tony seems to be leading the way in a new Italian cafe experience. Unfortunately, I was too scared of looking like a total groupie and take shots of the new interior, I'll just have to suggest you go have a look for yourself (or wait until I have the courage to take a photo)!

Carlton Espresso

326 Lygon St, Carlton

Seven Seeds,

114 Berkeley St, Carlton

www.sevenseeds.com.au