Food Adventure Friday

Two days ago, pw and I met up with Cliff after what felt like ages and we decided to go on a brunch adventure :) Also, I am well aware that the title of the post doesn't correspond to the actual day we visited the establishment. Still, humour me please :P 

A technique my friends and I have established when it comes to exploring brunch places around the city is through instagram. Whilst we used to find urbanspoon/zomato highly useful in the past, we also realised that the ratings given by users there don't necessarily highlight our personal experiences. Also, it's a lot more fun to explore food and places through instagram, very often I find that a lot of underrated places can be located through the app. 

We decided to visit Pillar of Salt, a brunch establishment located along Church Street in Richmond. To be fair, we've heard of this place before but never had the opportunity to visit as it's quite a journey from the city. We tend to choose places within the CBD because it saves time and we don't necessarily have to spend extra commuting there by public transport. Since we were on our one-week easter holiday we didn't mind spending time journeying out to the suburb :)

As always, I started out with my usual order of a mocha. A quick question: am I considered a coffee-lover if the only coffee I actually enjoy drinking is mocha? It's 80% chocolate isn't it haha.

The main reason pw and I wanted to go to Pillar of Salt was really because we saw some splendid photos on instagram of their buttermilk pancakes. Now if there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I absolutely love pancakes. Even if I were craving something savoury, should it be my first visit to a particular establishment and I see pancakes/hotcakes/_cakes in the menu I am defo going to order it. Needless to say, once the dish was served I was not disappointed at all.

Look at that presentation!

Presentation wise, this dish was so instagram worthy. Pw and I both ordered the pancakes and we most probably spent around five minutes just marvelling at its beauty. I was actually really sad I had to destroy it because that would ruin everything. I actually love desserts (eating + baking) because the end product is always so pretty and it's a beautiful art form in itself.

Taste-test: it received our seal of approval. It was light and fluffy, and the flavours were very well captured by the sweetness of the jam and the strawberries. Oddly enough, it's not as sweet as it looks! Which is great, because you don't get sick of it too quickly. Pw doesn't usually ever finish her meals, but she finished up 90% of this dish, so I think you get the idea over how nice it was portioned. This dish cost AUD14 for three stacks of pancakes. I think its reasonable given the portion. It's also fairly cheaper than other brunch places we've been to.

Burger stack

Cliff on the other hand was ravenous that day so he decided to order something savoury instead. He ordered this burger stack which he wiped clean. I can't comment much on this dish because I never tried it, but he did say it was really nice and I think the clean plate at the end is testament to how much he enjoyed it.

Overall, Pillar of Salt was definitely worth travelling all the way to. You may proceed there via tram 78 but we took the train towards east richmond from flinder street station instead. It's only two stops from flinders st station, and about a five minute walk away from there.

xx.

Spring Break is here!!

One disadvantage of living at the other end of the globe is that the season is never in sync with more than half of the universe. Whilst other countries are experiencing fall, it's spring here down under! :) Spring's my second favourite season after fall. Main reason being the lack of cold weather. As much as I love the Sun, I love the cold a lot more. It makes more sense to be able to layer yourself up as much as possible when you're cold than ripping your skin off when you're ridiculously hot. Though I'm not complaining because I'm currently living in a season when I get to enjoy the best of both worlds :)

House Smoked Salmon, Blood Orange & Avocado

What better way to kickstart my spring break than through a good visit to a lovely brunch spot? My friends & I headed over to The Grain Store for brunch a few days ago. I have been dying to visit this place. I've heard nothing but positive reviews about the food and the ambience and am so glad I finally had the opportunity to do so :) I do love brunch so much because not only do I get to eat delicious food, but it's such a perfect reason and excuse to meet up with friends to catch up.

I have to apologise because the dessert was the highlight of this visit and quite honestly the main reason why I'd go back (this isn't to say that the main course wasn't ridiculously delicious either!). These cookies here were absolutely delicious. They top the scale of what is a perfect chocolate chip cookie.

The cookies at The Grain Store are baked on the spot so they were served to us freshly baked! These are honestly the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had before me at a restaurant. They were soft, chewy, warm and oozing with chocolatey goodness. Dip those bad boys into the milk and what you have a cookie that literally melts in your mouth the moment you put it in. I absolutely love this and recommend everyone try it if you visit!!

The Grain Store

517 Flinders Lane

Melbourne VIC 3000

Overall my rating for the restaurant is 15/10. Firstly, the service was excellent. The staff were so friendly and helpful when taking our orders and asking if everything was alright. They were also attentive to the replacement of the water jug each time it was empty (and highly quick too). I find that some restaurants fail to replace the water jug unless we ask them to. Secondly, the ambience was so romantic. It was decorated so beautifully and the atmosphere felt so classy for a restaurant like that. When we visited there were quite a few office-workers dining in. I guess this is expected considering that it's located in the heart of the business district. Third, you're advised to make a booking prior to your visit (although you are allowed to walk in, but getting a seat would then be up to your luck that day) so this increases the positive experience during your visit. There's no need to queue because you know for sure that a table has been reserved for you. The only minus point for the restaurant would be the price. It's rated two dollar signs on urban spoon, and I would like to say that I paid around AUD$19 for my main course and the cookies cost us AUD$10. Taking the entire experience into consideration, I have to conclude that it was totally worth it. 

Yum yum, I'm hoping to visit again very soon. Would like some of those cookies now...

Ahh I'm so glad spring is here! It's only one week but this break is very much appreciated. I'm hoping to get as much rest as possible this week although I do have a ton of things to revise. I realised that my life is so mundane consisting of nothing other than school that brunch trips are honestly the only things I actually look forward to. Oopsie.

Here is a photo of us enjoying a $2 matcha soft-serve. Have I mentioned my obsession with matcha? Matcha soft-serve for $2? Take my money, I'll come everyday if I can. 

To all my fellow Australian readers, have a happy spring break! :) Always so thankful to be given the opportunity to study and live in this beautiful country :)

Till next time, xx.

Friday Brunchin'

My friends and I had a day off from Uni yesterday, so we decided to head out and spend the day together. It's not very often the three of us are ever simultaneously freed from assignments at the same time, so we seized the opportunity when we found out we were free. 

The restaurant featured in today's post is: 

Duke's Coffee Roasters

169 Chapel St

Windsor VIC 3181

Mocha as usual :)

I can't remember what I ordered unfortunately, but I do know that it was the most delicious plate of greens ever served before me. There was kale, broccoli, middle-eastern seasoning and I added salmon to complete the meal. Needless to say I wiped my plate clean.

I really wish I knew how to recreate this meal at home. I'd be sure to make it everyday. *hungry*

It was a splendid day yesterday although it was slightly chilly. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through Chapel Street and window shopped for the most part. 

I'm glad I had the day off yesterday, I started my weekend back doing work. But I shan't bore you with that. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend & rest ahead! :)

Xx.

Sunday Brunches

Each time someone asks me what I love about Melbourne, it's impossible that the word "brunch" doesn't turn up. In fact, I'd like to think that Melburnians know how to appreciate a good hearty brunch! There are tons of brunch spots located around Melbourne, and I only wish I had the ability to drive myself around to visit the brunch spots located further out from the city. That, and maybe a never ending supply of money to finance my expenditure on all the delicious food!!

I love the weekends, but I especially love them during the transition from winter to spring :) The weather is just about to reach a lovely temperature with just the right amount of sun and wind, and the sight of families walking around the city just brings a lot of warmth in my heart :)

It's not very often I get to roam around the city in such beautiful weather. I wish I had more opportunities to do so, but work beckons each time mother nature decides to shower us with love.

Fortunately for me, today was an exception. I headed out with a few girlfriends to a brunch spot called 'The Kettle Black'. If there's one brunch spot I've always wanted to try, it'd be 'Top Paddock'. I've so often seen friends share pictures of their ricotta pancakes and it's made me crave for them so so much. The Kettle Black is the sister store of Top Paddock, and the menu is rather similar although my friends praised it for a better ambience.

We arrived the store at 2pm, and had to wait in line for about twenty to thirty minutes for our turn. It's not uncommon to be in the waiting line when it comes to brunches in Melbourne. Rather, our waiting time isn't considered very long as compared to other brunch spots I've been to before. It tends to get really crowded between 12pm to 2pm, as most people are out at that time for lunch. Also, most cafes close at about 3pm. 

Mocha that I ordered - as usual. 

I headed there with a strong determination to purchase and try my long awaited ricotta pancakes. Alas, upon my arrival I realised that there were simply too many mouth-watering options to choose from!! I simply couldn't decide. 

King Island Crayfish in an Ash Roll with native coastal spinach, lime and yuzu mayonnaise

I ended up purchasing the King Island Crayfish because I heard that it was a popular dish. This is the first time I've had crayfish in a burger form, and I have to say it was delicious. The crayfish was really tender and complimented well with the spinach and the sour taste from the yuzu mayo. I certainly don't regret purchasing this, my tummy was very well satisfied after this meal :) 

Here were the meals my friends ordered:

Hotcakes with house-made ricotta, blueberries, pure maple, double berries and seed

Chili scrambled eggs with air-dried flinders island wallaby, feta and leaves

Robbins Island Wagyu Skirt Steak with house-made mustard, seasonal fruit relish and leaves on the kettle black bun

I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone who passes by Melbourne. The ambience was lovely and it was such a cozy little house that was decorated really nicely :) 

I apologise if the pictures aren't very great / lack of pictures, I'm still pretty new to blogging and it took a lot of effort to remember to have these photos taken! 

I've also just ordered for a replacement battery charger for my camera, so hooray for that!! Better quality photos in future hopefully :) There are so many things I'm dying to share and upload but I can't seem to achieve the same effect I'm after with the iPhone camera. So excited to have my camera ready to snap away! Hee :)

Till next time, xx.