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.

Am I tempting you?

Each time I'm faced with a stressful assignment, I get deliriously hungry. Not only do I get hungry but I tend to crave the most specific things... And for close to two weeks, I've been craving cupcakes. But oh no, not just any cupcake. I wanted cupcakes from Cupcake Central.

When it comes to cupcakes, I usually never am a fan of icing. Similarly, I'm also picky when it comes to the texture of the cupcake itself. I've had cupcakes that are overly eggy, too moist, contain too many bubbles, too hard or just plain awful. This however, tops it all. It has rekindled my romance for cupcakes.

Cupcake Central has made a name for itself for the quality and taste of their cupcakes. Not only are they delicious, but they have somehow managed to perfect the art of making icing that makes it impossible for a person with the most sweet-less tooth to resist. I'm not a fan of icing, but theirs isn't too sweet or creamy, and has the perfect consistency and thickness that makes it so delicious to eat and bite into. Its just the right amount of sweet and goes so so well with the cake itself.

So, considering that I happened to walk past one of their stores today, I seized the opportunity and purchased a box of four for my friends and I. I was so excited too because they just recently launched their "spring collection" flavours, and I had been dying to try some of them. Thankfully the flavours that I was interested in was on sale today :)

Butter Popcorn

Breakfast Champ

Tiramisu

Peanut Brittle

These flavours are new and among the few from their Spring Collection :) I've only ever tried the Salted Caramel and Devil's Food Chocolate, two of their constant flavours that are available for sale everyday. Cupcake Central has a fixed timetable in their store that shows customers the cupcakes that are available for each day of the week. They have a fixed set of cupcakes that are sold everyday and these include Red Velvet, Salted Caramel, Cookies and Cream and Devil's Food Chocolate. Their seasonal flavours on the other hand are each given specific days to be available on display and sold. Personally, I think this is brilliant because it definitely saves on their cost price when it comes to baking these cupcakes. I also find that it keeps me on my toes to keep coming back on the different days to try all the seasonal flavours!

However, as all good things, the downside of these cupcakes is that they come at quite a price. Each cupcake costs AUD$4 per piece. I won't say they aren't worth the price if you include the beautiful packaging that comes with it, but it's definitely not a price that will make me come back for more everyday. Which I suppose actually works out to be a good thing because otherwise that'd be nothing but detrimental to my health.

My rating though? 56 Salted Caramel Cupcakes / 45 Salted Caramel Cupcakes. Definitely worth it. My tummy is always happy and swimming in delicious cupcake goodness once I've done the dirty deed :)

Any guesses as to which cupcake I saved for myself?
Xx.

I'm on a roll with my breakfasts

Yet another breakfast post from me today! Although this time round I decided to indulge in something slightly more sinful...

Did you guess it right? :) There was some leftover buttermilk in the fridge I wanted to clear before expiry so I decided to whip up some blueberry buttermilk pancakes for myself!

Look at all that syrup

Have I tempted you? Here's what you'll need (I basically got the recipe off the buttermilk carton so I don't take ownership for this recipe):

• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp margarine (I used butter instead)
• 1 cup blueberries
• Maple Syrup / Topping of your choice

It took me around 30 minutes to do altogether and I managed to get 6 pancakes out of the entire batter. The number of servings really depends on how much of the batter you choose to use for each pancake. I used about 1/3 cups worth of batter for each and I found them to be the perfect size :)

I'm so happy now that I've started off the day right! My body is fuelled with energy to last the first half of the day at least :) Hope you're having a lovely morning! 

Xx.

My morning affair

Sunrise is getting earlier here down under, and that only means good news for me! I wake up just before the crack of dawn, and am usually always on time to see the sunrise from my place :) I do enjoy my mornings a lot, it gives me a lot of time to relax, reflect as well as go through my bloglovin feed. 

As you may know by now, breakfasts are important to me. As a student, there are days where I have lessons in the late evening, a timing that is too awkward for lunch yet ends only close to dinner. As such, on days like these I like to whip up a good breakfast that is filling enough to last me till dinner at least!

This morning, I decided to whip out my packet of oats that's been lying around for quite a while. This was my first time experimenting with oats, I never really did fancy it before because I felt the taste got too boring after a while. This time though, I have to say it was anything but boring. It was extremely delicious and yummy, and I only boiled 1/3 cup of oats as instructed but was already so full halfway! Although I think the amount of water I drank whilst eating had a large part to play for that... So for those of you who are interested, here's what you'll need:

• 1/3 cup of oats
• 3/4 cup of water/milk (I used Almond Milk)
• Raisins/Cranberries/Sultanas (I added them into the pot as the oats was boiling)
• Chia Seeds
• Cinnamon Ground
• Bananas
• Brown Sugar

There you go! So simple and easy to do :) My tummy is happy and I can start on work now!

Xx.

Baking Love

One thing I miss the most about home is my kitchen. Fine, it isn't exactly mine (i.e. family kitchen) but I certainly like to call it mine when I'm busy flurrying about doing my stuff :) I'm not complaining about the kitchen here in Oz though, but I'm sure a baker / cook would agree with me that you're not really "in the zone" as you should be when you're in an unfamiliar environment. 

Baking has to be my favourite pastime of all time. I would choose baking over cooking any day. There's a certain satisfaction in seeing and hearing people say they enjoy what you've baked. It's also extremely satisfying once you see your concoction looking good in the oven. Oh and have I mentioned the heavenly smell of your kitchen once you're done? Vanilla essence all over the place. Ahh :)

So... a few months ago I took the opportunity to bake once I was back at home. Eid was also approaching, and given that this would be the first in two years since I've celebrated it at home, I was excited to bake my favourite treats for the family! I should also mention that my parents bought an electric mixer for me as a surprise. It was definitely genuine, but I'd like to think that it was done to get me cracking in the kitchen ;)

Kueh Makmur

The first recipe on my to-do list was Kueh Makmur. This is basically a biscuit with peanut filling on the inside. I found the recipe off Pinterest, and it wouldn't have been possible to complete it within the three hours I took without the help of my cousins. I love this kueh because of the saltiness that comes with it due to the peanut. If done well, the biscuit comes out soft and crunchy and melts instantly once you put it in your mouth. Glad to say that the recipe I followed was amazing because my kueh turned out perfect. Not too sure how much I ended up eating at the end :P

Kek Surabaya

This cake is my all time favourite! I like a lot of cakes, but this one tops it all. I used my grandmother's secret recipe for this one and I'd like to think that it turned out just the way I hoped it would :) I still need to work on my presentation, but I realised that it turned out as such because I cut the cake up before storing it in the fridge for a few hours. It's layered with strawberry jam, but you may choose to layer it with any jam you fancy! The recipe is really versatile in that sense. I'm hoping to try using green tea / earl grey / chocolate in future!! Can't wait to experiment with those :) 

Pineapple Tarts a.k.a Kueh Tart

Finally, the kueh that highlights / welcomes Eid: The classic Pineapple Tart. As biased as this may sound, but I assure you that there is no other Pineapple Tart out there that I have come across that beats those baked by my grandmother. Her tarts are perfection. The pineapple filling is just the right amount of sweet, and complements very well with the biscuit that's just the right amount of salty. The biscuit isn't very thick, and goes very well with the amount of filling placed inside. This treat by far is the hardest to do. It's not something that can be done within one day! The pineapple filling can take up to three hours to make. Again, this would have been impossible to accomplish within the three hours that I took without the help of my dad who patiently placed the filling inside the biscuit for me. 

Ahh I'm salivating just by looking at these pictures :( Most of the treats baked for Eid originate from the Straits / Indonesia (please correct me if I'm wrong), hence the names. These treats are loved across cultures as well and are often seen in Chinese homes during Chinese New Year Celebrations. 

Can't wait to be back in my kitchen!! 

xx.

Breakfast for champions!

As a teenager, I was very much privileged to have my parents provide breakfast for me each morning for school.  I may not have consciously realised it, but breakfast really did help me to concentrate in school. I simply cannot stress how important breakfast is to start off the day. 

However, it wasn't until I started living alone that I realised that apart from having something to eat in the morning, what you ate was important as well. It's important that you have something that's filling enough to satisfy your stomach, but vital that it contains nutrients to supplement you for the rest of the day. I've learnt that if you pack your breakfast with the proper ingredients, it's enough to sustain you till dinner :) 

So I thought I'd share with you one of my favourite breakfast to-gos. It's extremely easy and doesn't take more than five minutes to do. Here's what you'll need:

1. Muesli 
2. Yogurt of your choice (I don't fancy Greek yogurt, so I used blackberry flavoured ones)
3. Bananas
4. Strawberries
5. Blueberries
6. Chia Seeds

I start out by pouring in muesli before layering it with yogurt. I've used these fruits, but feel free to add in what you fancy! :) I'm also obsessed with chia seeds, they just about go with anything! You may add nuts and other seeds as well.

Once that's all done, viola! You have breakfast thats enough to last you till lunch at least.

I love this because it's so easy to do. It also helps to decorate it nicely, it makes the meal taste 10x better! Is it just me, or does anyone else look forward to what they're about to eat for breakfast the night before? I actually go to great efforts to plan my morning meal as early as 3pm the day before. 

Yum! Looking forward to experimenting with more recipes. I just love walking through the aisles in the supermarket and picking out anything that would look aesthetically pleasing in my meals. 

Till next time, 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.