Melbourne Trip 2015 ( Way too much eating ;P)

This post is about my short 4 days 3 nights trip to Melbourne with my mom, sis and aunts :) All 5 of us went on a road trip, approximately 10+ hours of driving plus all the stops we made. It was really tiring but fun journey ^^

Melbourne Day 1

We left Sydney at around 11PM and we reached Melbourne the next day around noon. All of us were starving and because checked in time is 2PM, we decided to feed our tummy first and I can't wait to bring them to Kanpai! Kanpai is located in Chapel St - shopping, dining and entertainment precinct in Melbie.. 

They were just opened and so the place was still quite empty, otherwise, usually we had to queue for a table..

The only thing my friends & I usually ordered is the Teppanyaki. Their Teppan is pretty special in that they used Creamy garlic flavoured sauce for the meats and veggies which is so damn good!!
We ordered the Chicken & Beef Teppanyaki and also the Salmon Teppanyaki.
I highly recommend the Beef and Salmon. They have other selection as well suck as mixed meat and seafood.

Chicken & beef Teppan $18.50

Salmon Teppan $20.50

For the sake of variation, I ordered the Seafood Teriyaki $19 (top) and Chicken Yakiniku $17(Bottom). The teriyaki sauce is a bit sweet and the yakiniku got a slight spiciness to it. But if ask, I would definitely just order the Teppan ;p

First meal was a success.. The crowd was pleased and I was relieved as well cause I'm responsible for consumption planning for the trip ;P

It was raining heavily and so we dropped the elders to the hotel while my sis & I continue our culinary journey to visit one of the popular cafe - The Kettle Black in Albert Rd. It was not too far from the CBD and they got a lot of parking space available, but! it's only for 30mins and don't you think that u won't get booked just because the street looks pretty quite.

Yes I got the penalty T.T

Ok, let's move on from the sad part~!

Kettle Black from the outside look ordinary, it doesn't even have a visible sign for the place. But when upon entering, you were greeted by friendly faces and the interior was really sophisticated with very good lighting.

A communal table on one side of the area and the rest is regular table and they also have high chair seating near the Coffee Machine. They also served mouthwatering pastries near the checkout :)

Without further ado, we ordered two most prettiest dish I've seen with my own eyes!
Hotcakes with Ricotta, Blueberries, Pure maple, Double Cream and Seeds. The dish was too pretty to be eaten, literally! The hotcake was fluffy and the sweet sour punch from the strawberry and the crunchy texture from the seeds does this dish perfectly. I wish they serve larger portion on the double cream, cause it was bloody delish with the hotcakes!

Hotcakes $18

My new favorites here in Melbourne, back on the menu by popular demand.
Coconut set - Chia Seed, Fresh old Mango, Red Hill Strawberry, Blueberries, Coconut, maple, macadamia & Local Rose Petals. This is probably a lighter option on the menu but definitely a must try! No wonder they are back by demand cause I can't explain any further how good it taste.

Coconut Set $15

Despite the penalty, the sister and I was satisfied. One tick from our long wishlist to visit.

For Dinner, we went to Mekong cause my mom heard from her friends that the food is yummy there. I've been there once and I thought the foods are just okay/

The place were crowded and the walls surrounding the dining area are pictures of famous people that has visited the place from Bill Clinton to Jackie Chan! haha..
So the aunties got the Chicken Noodle Soup and Fish Ball Noodle Soup. My sis and I share the Vermicelli salad with Pork chop .. As per my memory, the foods were so so.

We ended up getting a yummy dessert to cover up the mediocre dinner ;P Visited Cupcake Central just before they close and we got the Green tea & Black Sesame mini Cupcake and the Apple Crumble cupcake :) If you know me and my sister well, u would've guess which one belongs to whom~ :P

Melbourne Day 2

Woke up super early and drove to Operator 25 located in Willis St near where we stayed. My sis knew the Barista who work there and I think the place is owned by Indonesian. So keen to try the place out! Ooh, that day we also meeting up with my sis Instagram friends Mr.D who were apparently in Melb for business trip ;)

As usual.. I love my Chai Latte in the morning ^.^

Chai Latte

Balinese Marinated Pork - On Quick Ink Brioche, Pickled Veggies, Coriander Labna, Poached eggs, Fried Shallot and Balinese Sambal. Dayumm good~! Never knew Indo-Western Concept can work this well.

$20

Mr.D got the Five Spiced Duck Leg - On Barley Puree, Pan Fried Asian Greens, Confit Shallot, Shitake Mushroom and Szechuan Jus. I took a bite and gosh the dug was perfectly cooked with some fats in it, it was soo juicy! The puree were just smooth and creamy!

$22

We decided to order a sweet dish to close up the meal. And so we ordered the Sweet Marty - Dr. Marty's Crumpet with Banana Butterscotch, Poached Corella pears, Berry Compote and hazelnut. Best Crumpet ands down and match perfectly with the banan butterscotch. The banana was so profound, I loved it! My sis can't get enough of the poached pear and I can't get enough of the sauce ;P

$16

Not long after we finished eating, we say our goodbyes with Mr.D and head straight back to the hotel cause the women has been waiting for us to go to QV Market.
On our way there, I saw this Borek Bakehouse place with so many people coming in and out with something that smells really good in their hand. So out of curiosity, as always, I went it and saw Borek for the first time ;P

Went out with Chicken and Lamb Borek each in our hands haha! It is similar to Pide in my opinion but thicker. I like the chicken better than the lamb. I was tempted also by their perfectly think gozleme but I know I will be eating some more during the day, so I hold myself down from getting everything haha!
Ps: I bought the Mini Borek which truly is not mini whatsoever! It's hugeeee ~~

Mini Borek 2 for $5

 And so finally, we arrived QV market. Walking around here and there. Mom and Aunties did their shopping while me and my sister went to Market Lane Coffee and the famous Strawberry Jam Donuits~!!

If Sydney got the Emperor's puff custard in Chinatown, Melbourne got their donuts! The queue was as long as the puff and tasted much better that the puff LOL. It's called ADK - American Doughnut Kitchen. The doughnuts were chewy, warm and the filling was generous and not too sweet.. My mom and aunties love them..

From the market, we decided to have a proper lunch in Menya. Another must VISIT eating spot when in Melbourne. Almost all the people I know, knew how amazing the Gyutan Don is. Too bad my mom doesn't eat beef that she couldn't try it but apparently the dish that she ordered was pretty delish as well.

This is what I'm talking about.. thinly sliced and perfectly seasoned Gyutan served on top of warm fluffy Japanese rice and a side of extra eggs and not to forget extra chilliesss ~~

Got the Gyoza as well for entree. Big dumplings filled with generous amount of pork mince and veggies.

Tried the Chicken Teriyaki Don, which is on par delicious. diced chicken with mixed veggies and vermicelli stirfry with the house special teriyaki sauce. It can literally feed 3 ladies nicely ;)

Stopped by to Hosier Lane for some shots before heading to brighton beach ^^

Arrived at Brighton beach around 4 PM and took a lot of photos with my sis while the other stayed in the car after 1 click because the wind was tooo strong. While my sis and I enjoyed the perks of a burst shot in my phone haha!

Dinner time comes and we went to Ma brown. A Malay-Chinese restaurant well-known for their Quail. I've pre-order the quail just in case they got super busy and run out of quails which happened many times apparently. I ordered 7 quails which means there are 14 pieces on the plate. At first, my aunt was scolding me cause I ordered too much. But she immediately kept quite after the first bite and even 14pcs were not enough to satisfy us! haha. But unfortunately, we didn't order more that night when we shudve........

Ma Brown is located in Belmore rd, Balwyn, which is quite far from the CBD and there are no public transport here as far as I know so better to drive. Even though they opened in the CBD recently, I still think I need to take the group here as it is the first restaurant and it usually is better.

Ordered Lemon Chicken and Tofu & Seafood hotpot on top of the Quails. The foods were okay for me. Just the quail was exceptional!

The Quail was deep fried and smothered in this spiced honey soy sauce which was finger-licking gooooodd! The meat are still juicy even though deep fried unlike several quail that I've tried back in Sydney. They should really open up in Sydney~!!

With so many eating and walking on the second day, we went back to the hotel early to get some rest before Mr.P called me and asked me out for dessert! How can I say no to thattttttt.. especially when he wanted to bring me to Stokers. The best crepes I've had many years ago when I visited Melb for the first time.

Apparently the owner has change and they are now re-located in South melbourne. The place is pretty small and homey. The pancake (Crepes) was still superb!

We ordered the Pancake Chips. The one and only pancake chips I know existed haha! It was crispy on the outside and chewy inside and u gotta choice of sauce. We ordered the Garlic parsley Mayo.

Small Pancake Chips $5.50

We also ordered the Chicken Mornay - Diced chicken breast in mornay sauce and covered with pancake as described, but it was no pancake. it was crepes to me hehe~

$15.90

For the sweet treat, we got the Merlot Pears - Poached Pear in merlot on pancakes and drizzled with Merlot Syrup. A must try dish here~!!

$16.90

 Got a pic with the very friendly owner himself :) Mr.P know him somehow.. haha..

Our tummy almost explode that night with that much amount of foods we consumed. But in the end, that what made me and my sis happy. Food~ haha. It was pretty late and our plan to wake up super early to visit Lune Croissant seems to be fading away..

Melbourne Day 3
On Our day 3 in melbounre, Mom wanted to see the snow and so the closest spot to see the snow is lake Mountain which is approximately 1.5hrs from the CBD,
But before we start our journey, we made a short stop to Shortstop in Sutherland st for coffee and their amazeballs doughnuts!

We almost got everything they have in store that day! they serve a variety of donuts from what they called Raised - Cruller - Filled - Cake.
Earl Grey Rose - Brown Sugar maple (my favourite!) - Rhubarb Cheesecake - Sticky Date Ginger - Australian honey & Seasalt -

We then start our journey to Lake Mountain. Halfway through, we made another stop at Oaks on Melba. A small family owned winery which serves some nibbles and coffee too. The people there were really friendly and we had a good short time relaxing in the cozy homey cafe.

We finally arrived in the Mountain. the snow was falling and all of us were so excited being there despite our unprepared clothing, our toes was frozen and our hair were wet but we enjoyed every moment there :)

We spent around 1 hr there and then we head back to Melbourne. Had dinner in Jinda Thai (Ferguson st, Abbotsford). From what I heard, the place was really famous and even my brother told me that almost every dish he ordered were yummy. I've tried to make a booking since my first day in Melb but apparently they are fully booked til sunday~ So that even triggers me to visit the place no matter what.

We arrived around 5:30pm, which is just nice before the dinner rush and the place was still pretty empty. We start with Moo Ping Sticky rice - Pork Skewer served with sticky rice and Home made nam Jim sauce. The pork was good!

Moo Ping $10.90

Then we move to the Chicken Green Curry which is not too much of a favourite because of the strong bamboo shoot fragrance in the soup.

$16.90

 As usual, at every new Thai place I visited, I need to try their Pad thai. Apparently they were pretty good. A bit more sweet than usual pad thai but I don't mind it. The noodle was cooked perfectly, it still a bit chewy which I like. But to compare with Chat thai, For me, chat thai is far way better ;p

$16.90

 We also got the Pineapple fried rice which is also okay. Very small in portion for the price.........

$16.90

My bro told me to get the soft shell crab cookd in somekind of curry sauce but there was no description about curry sauce or anything near in the menu, so we just got the Soft Shell Crab with Green Apple Salad

$17.90

Finallyy... dessert! Been dying to try their Crepe pancake or in Indo, we call them Mille Crepe. They have several type from Green tea, Taro, Pandan etc. We picked the Thai milk tea and the Pandan which was served with two scoops of vanilla Ice Cream.

The Thai Milk Tea was a tad sweet and the milk tea note is quite subtle.

The Pandan however, is another thing! It was daaaaaaammmnn gooodddd~ not too sweet and the pandan flavour was there. I really need this thing to be invented soon in Sydney!!

So the verdict.... It may not be up to the hype in my opinion. It may be just me, maybe I ordered the wrong dish, but I prefer Home Thai in every way :)
That pretty much ended our third day in Melbourne. No more food beyond this session. All of us were too tired from the mountain and we slept early.

Melbourne Day 4

Last dayyyy.. So sad! The weather hasn't been our friends while we're there and we hasn't got the chance to tick all the places we wanted to visit. So we definitely would be back. by we, I mean My sis and I haha~ We will be back for a real culinary trip,,

So on our last day, My sis and I went to Manchester Press for last cuppa coffee in Melb. but I ended up getting their Bagels too. Cause might as well right. When we arrived at the place, it was not opened yet but the queue has started~

I tried their Reuben Rachel - Smoked Pastrami, Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, Pickles and Thousand Island. Love it. Definitely need to come back to dine in properly!

I definitely lovveeee Melbourne. Even though not as much as I love Sydney ;P I can conclude that Sydney got better tasting Asian food but for brunch spot; donuts, bagels, hotcakes, Melbourne got it :)