Review | Truman Café

Recently I went for a quick coffee with friends from work to a super cute little place in Albert Park – Truman Café. I wasn’t going to write anything up about this outing, but the décor of the café was so adorable, I just had to!

There was a very cutesy antique vibe – with a dash of op shop ‘chic’ too. There was a real comfortable feeling in this café – it was just like having a cuppa at my grand-ma’s house. The mismatched crockery added to this vibe. It was so fun to look at each item – each saucer, teaspoon and plate we had was unique! So lovely!

The service was fantastic! The staff were so friendly and warm. 

My hot chocolate was deee-licious! The texture of the froth was so velvety and it was at the perfect drinking temperature.

I think I will have to pop by Albert Park on a nice sunny weekend for a walk around the lake and another visit to Trueman’s.

Review | The Mexican House

We decided to go to The Mexican House in Berwick very spontaneously, since we had heard it was quite nice.  After an easy drive down the freeway, we arrived at the restaurant and were greeted and sat at a nice little table. The first thing I noticed was how LOUD it was in there! The décor was quite loud also - the walls were painted in different colours. The actual building looked like a house that had been re-purposed into a restaurant, which was a little strange. 
While we looked over the menus we were given a small bowl of corn chips and salsa, which I thought was very nice. I have to say, throughout the night, the service was always very friendly and efficient - we never really had to wait for very long, or struggle to catch their attention.

Complimentary corn chips and salsa

We ordered a margarita each - I got the Mango & Peach flavoured one, and E ordered the Melon one. For dinner I ordered the Beef Quesadilla, since I have always wanted to try a quesadilla, and E ordered the Chicken Burrito and added some extra sour cream.Our drinks came out pretty much straight away - and boy, was that Melon one green! A little too green for our liking, if you know what I mean.. It looked so fake! Both drinks were very strong in alcohol, and I really could not taste any mango or peach flavours in mine - or anything apart from a bit of lemon and the alcohol.

Melon & Mango and Peach Margaritas - $11.00 each

Our meals came our surprisingly quickly - especially for Mexican! My first impression of the dishes was just how much guacamole and sour cream was plopped on top of them - too much!! I tried a piece of beef straight away and was so disappointed to find that it was so so dry and chewy! While the guacamole does not look very nice - it tasted alright - it had a nice texture, but could have has some more onion or lemon in it as it was a bit bland.

The rice was nice, but could have been cooked for just a few minutes more. While the top of the quesadilla tortilla was crisp, the bottom was so goopy and soft! By the time I was around half way through my meal it was such a mess - there was sour cream everywhere - and the quesadilla was so mushy I could barely tell the difference between what I was eating. I really did not enjoy much of this dish - all of the meat had been overcooked - it was stringy and dry and chewy, and very unpleasant. This was the first time in a long time that I have not finished my meal at a restaurant - and tonight it was for two factors - it was unbelievably rich and filling - and such a large serve!! And also the taste was not very nice at all - the flavour of the sauce was way too concentrated. This dish made me really wonder what the food was like in Mexico - it must be so far from this!!

'Quesadilla Delight - Beef' $22.90

E also did not finish his meal - which is a big surprise! I tasted a bit of his, and agreed with his thoughts that the sauce was way too rich - he felt sick half way through. Luckily there was only a very thin drizzling of this, otherwise it may have ruined his meal. While the chicken was not quite as dry as my beef, it was still a bit dry, and not tender and tasty. His burrito also became a gooey mess. The only part that I really liked from his plate was the refried beans or 'frijoles' and they were probably from a can. 

'Burrito Pollo' with extra Sour Cream - $22.90

If you want good Mexican food - I would recommend not eating here. All the way throughout dinner I was surprised to catch myself thinking that the Mexican food takeaway chain 'Salsa's' was so much better than my experience at this restaurant.

At least the drive to Berwick was pleasant!

Review | Mecca Bah

On a chilly Melbourne evening, E and I headed out to the Docklands for a nice dinner. Since it was a bit later than usual (9pm!) we hadn’t made any reservations anywhere, but decided to simply wander to wherever our hunger took us.
We walked past every restaurant there, and finally ended up at Mecca Bah. We walked into the warm restaurant and were greeted with smiles and we were happily seated at a table by the window.

I loved the décor inside the restaurant, it really set the mood. We decided to order a few of the Mezze dishes and a Turkish Pizza to share. After asking a few questions to the helpful waitress, we ordered a serve of the Pan fried Haloumi, the Kataifi wrapped Middle Eastern cheeses and the Moroccan spiced calamari. Out of the pizzas, we decided on the Spit roasted lamb, rocket, yoghurt & sumac.

All three Mezze dishes arrived quite quickly and we were so excited to dig into them – they all looked great. The calamari was served with some Lebanese cucumber and mint. There was a very light batter on the pieces of calamari – it had a really interesting flavour! Even though it was quite a warm and spiced flavour, it was never overpowering, and combined with the fresh cucumber and zingy lemon juice, it was just so tasty! The calamari was cooked really well – it was very tender and a delight to eat.

The Haloumi was our second favourite of the Mezze dishes. It was served with a pomegranate molasses which was delicious. The combination of the sweetness of the molasses with the salty sharpness of the haloumi was perfect. I also really liked that it was served with some alfalfa since I hadn’t eaten this in a really long time! I would definitely recommend this dish.

In my previous review I mentioned two different types of ‘food heaven’ – well, prepare to meet a third! I shall call it Kataifi Heaven. Kataifi wrapped Middle Eastern cheeses. These were probably the most amazing, delicious thing that I have ever tasted. Ever. Really. The slight crunch of the delicate pastry, the sweet, mellow flavour of the cheese filling, and the most amazing honey you may ever taste. All combined in a delicious little parcel. This dish has the perfect combination of textures and flavours. When I tasted these, there was no talking. I closed my eyes to take in all the flavours, and all of the perfection. When I say “I definitely recommend these”, it is much much more than a simple recommendation. Please, do yourself a favour – taste these.

A little while after our Mezze dishes had been cleared, the pizza was delivered to our table. Yum! This was so tasty! The pizza dough was so nice – lots of places these days serve up dry pizza dough, but this one was great. The spit roasted lamb was so tasty – it was also very tender. I really didn’t want this pizza to end.

Feeling up for dessert, we ordered the Sticky date & banana pudding. A few minutes later, we were digging into it. It was so moist! The combination of date and banana with the vanilla ice cream was stellar, and we were delighted to find some honey around the plate – a delicious extra touch! 

I am so sure we will be back soon to try out the rest of the menu at Mecca Bah. I was very impressed at the reasonable prices of all the meals, considering what a great location the restaurant is in. Next time I think we will try a Pide.. and of course, more Kataifi heaven!

Review | Richmond Hill Café & Larder

Brunch. Arguably Melbourne's favourite meal. There are so many different places where you can enjoy a lazy weekend brunch and Richmond Hill Café & Larder is definitely one of the best!

I went out with a group of friends to celebrate the sunshine on Saturday morning, and we had each set our hearts upon trying the most glorious pancakes in the city. RHCL can get quite busy on the weekends, so after putting our name down with the 'Maitre D' we were very happy to get called back and shown to our table within 20 minutes.

After a quick perusal of the menu, we all ordered a serve of the Buttermilk Pancakes, and a few Hot Chocolates to warm us up. We also ordered a served of the famous RHCL grilled Cheesy Toast, as we wanted to find our why it was so popular.

The café was buzzing with activity - and I peered with intrigue at the Cheese Room, or 'Fromagerie' at the other side of the restaurant, making a mental note to come back here to have a good look at their selection.Even though they were quite busy, our drinks came out rather promptly - and boy, was my Hot Chocolate delicious! It was served in a nice big cup, and it the flavour of chocolate was so perfect, I felt like I wanted to dive right into it!! I am quite sure that RHCL must be using real melted chocolate instead of a sweetened powder or syrup to make their Hot Chocolates - this one small factor makes all the difference. The texture and temperature of the milk was also so comforting - this Hot Chocolate is most definitely recommended.

Our meals came out soon after, and everything looked delicious. We quickly divided up the Cheesy Toast and found out what was so great about it - it is simply, Cheesy Perfection. Or Cheese Heaven. Wow. Please try this toast!! Although it was addictively amazing, I would recommend sharing one serve between a few friends as it is quite rich. While the flavour of the cheese was fairly sharp, it had so much buttery cheesy goodness in it, which when combined with the crisp texture of the toast, was equal to the aforementioned Cheese Heaven.

Moving on to our pancakes brought me even more happiness. They were caramelised banana & pecan nut praline pancakes, and were served with a honeycomb pastry cream, with Canadian maple syrup. Where do I begin! These pancakes were like no other pancake I had ever tasted. Their consistency was fairly thick and cake-like while still remaining fluffy. The taste of the caramelised bananas with the nuttiness from the pecans made me want to start singing.

After a few bites of just pancake, I added some of the honeycomb pastry cream, which is served with chunks of real honeycomb, and I realised that this flavour combination was not just an accident. The banana, pecans and honeycomb all together were just heaven. Pancake Heaven this time. I finished my pancakes in silence, taking my time to close my eyes and appreciate the flavours. When I came down to my last bite, I was overcome with sadness, as I did not want the Pancake Heaven to end. Who would've thought a simple serve of pancakes could create such emotion? I really believe that everyone needs to taste these pancakes.

The staff at RHCL provided lovely service, and I definitely do not have any complaints to make. I would highly recommend breakfast or brunch here, and I can't wait to return to check out the Cheese Room (and the rest of the menu... or the pancakes again!)

Review | Dragon Boat (Express)

I have been to Dragon Boat and Dragon Boat express a few times since Knox is quite local to me. Today E and I decided to have a quick bite to eat for lunch after seeing a movie, and he picked Dragon Boat Express.

The space in the 'Express' side of the restaurant is quite small, but they do have a few tables outside under cover as well. The main difference between the regular side of the restaurant and the 'Express' side is the speed of service (hence the name) as well as it being generally much cheaper as well - two pros in my book! It's great for a quick low-key meal, whilst for a more proper outing I would suggest the main restaurant.

When we walked in we were greeted by a waiter and promptly seated at the last available table. This waiter had served us once before and I remembered how nice and super efficient he had been - the service was even better today :) He is so friendly!

For lunch Dragon Boat Express offer a $10.80 menu with a good selection of dishes with rice or noodles, and some soups as well.We always like to have a bit of a snoop at what the other tables are eating and E's eyes fell upon the Lemon Chicken with Fried Rice, which was a part of the cheaper lunch menu. It looked delicious! We decided to order that and two smaller meals to share. We love duck - so we ordered a serving of the Peking Duck Pancakes, and a serve of the Roast Pork Belly.
The Peking Duck Pancakes came out so quickly, and the waiter said he told them to make it quickly because we looked hungry! Definitely true! I got a bit too excited and took a bit out of my pancake before even taking a photo, so please excuse the little bite missing in the image below :P These were pretty tasty - although the duck was a teeny little bit dry (compared to the heavenly Mabrown duck), the sauce was absolutely delicious. I made sure to scoop up any extra drops of the sauce that were on the plate! The pancakes had some spring onion and cucumber I think, which were very refreshing and are always a great combination. E noted that there was some ginger-esque flavours that gave a nice zing to the whole thing. We would definitely order this again!

Next up was the pork belly. First up - this sauce was also delicious! YUM! It was nice and sweet and also had a great zing to it, and was great with the pork. The parts of the pork that didn't have much fat on them were a bit dry, but the skin was so crunchy and crispy. The pieces of pork that did have some fat on them were so yummy - we cleaned this up pretty quickly, but I'm not sure whether I would order it again.

Our Lemon Chicken dish came out next, and boy was that sauce yellow! I'm not really sure what they do to make it that colour, but it was very lemony and tasty and went really well with both the chicken and the fried rice. The fried rice was very nice - what you would expect from a fried rice really.. you can't really go wrong these days can you? The chicken was so so moist and tender. We really enjoyed this dish! Love the taste of the lemon with the chicken and rice :)

 
Dragon Boat is in such a good location - close to the cinemas and other 'attractions' at Knox City. I  know we will be back soon enough :)


Let me know how you enjoy Dragon Boat below!

Review | T.G.I Friday's (Forest Hill)

I visited T.G.I’s after going to see a movie since it was so close to the cinema. E and I had been there once before and quite enjoyed it. E was set upon ordering the chicken BLT sandwich which he had been dreaming about all week, and I decided to have the Mushroom Onion Swiss Burger.

The meals came out not too much later and we were both excited to get straight into them. Unfortunately as I sampled some chips, they were not hot enough and a bit stale – as if they had been left out in the kitchen for a while. This made me really sad since I had been looking forward to the chips all day!

When I eat a burger at a restaurant I go about it a bit weirdly – if there is something on the top bun, such as cheese or mayonnaise, I will eat that first. Then I will go through and eat the rest of the burger (meat and filling) with a knife and fork, and by the time I get to the bottom bun, I am usually too full to finish it.

The mayonnaise on the top bun at T.G.I’s was delicious, but as I was eating it I noticed my lack of mushrooms – there was probably about 7 small slices of mushroom. I thought that was probably not enough since it was a mushroom burger! When I started to eat the mushrooms and the rest of the filling – cheese and meat, I discovered that they too were not hot enough. I really could not be bothered sending it back so I stuck with my burger. It tasted nice nonetheless, and I loved the caramelised onions – they were so so sweet and delicious but again, there could have been more with those too.

E’s chicken BLT sandwich looked really tasty. I tasted a little bite of it and boy – the batter on the chicken was so yum, and with the combination of the mayonnaise and tomato it was perfect. I noted that he did not really have a good amount of bacon on his meal, but he didn’t mention that to me. I also tasted one of his chips and they were a bit hotter than mine had been, so he must have gotten a fresh batch!

During our meal our waitress kindly offered us free refills of our drinks, which was nice!

Trying to get the attention of a staff member at the end of our meal to ask for the bill was a bit of a challenge, but we got there in the end.

All in all, I was a little bit disappointed with my meal, and I was surprised about this since I had previously enjoyed T.G.I’s. If I do end up going back here, it would probably only be out of convenience after or before a movie.. but I may consider going to Nando’s instead.

Review | Coco Lounge

I caught up with a friend for a late morning coffee in Glen Waverley, and we both decided to head into Coco Lounge this time. I am quite familiar with most places in the Kingsway strip, and I have become accustomed to receiving great food, drink and service from Coco's.

We both felt like a small bite to eat, and we both also thought the Grilled Muffins with egg, bacon, cheese and tomato chutney sounded nice. The waiter explained that they were like an english muffin sandwich (like the McMuffins at Maccas.. but better!), and we both ordered a serve. He very kindly suggested that it would be cheaper for us to split a double serve!

For drinks we ordered the Peppermint Crisp hot chocolates - these came rather promptly after we had ordered. I was impressed at the speed of service of the drinks since the young lady who was the barista looked very busy! I must comment on the texture of the froth, since it was absolutely perfect.. divine! If the barista has a fringe and long ponytail when you are at Coco's you know you will definitely be receiving a top notch coffee (or hot chocolate)!

If you like peppermint, try this drink. It was so comforting and delicious.

Our muffins came out not much longer. The tomato chutney had a yummy spicy yet sweet taste, and the egg and bacon were cooked very well. I really enjoyed this, and it was just the right amount of food for what I felt like. I would definitely order this again, however my only slightly negative comment is that the muffins were perhaps a little bit dry. (This didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the dish - just more of a side note really!)

Overall, I have always been a fan of Coco Lounge, and this time, my experience was as pleasant as always.