Event: White Night Melbourne 2014

White Night is upon us once again! Make sure you head down to the city tonight for light projections, performances and free art exhibitions...activities will take place all around the city, particularly at Federation square, Flinders Street and Southbank. This year Metro has even organised public transport for the masses

Many of Melbourne's art institutions, including ACMI (The Australian Centre for the Moving Image) and the NGV (The National Gallery of Victoria) will be open for 24 hours, so you'll be able to pop in to watch free films and visit free exhibitions. More information can be found at the official White Night website. Have a look at some of last year's festivities...

Rice Workshop

Address: 238 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic, 3000
Phone: (03) 9650 6663
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiceWorkshop
Website: http://riceworkshop.com.au/

Due to one of my weekly volunteer activities, I've always walked up Chinatown and passed Rice Workshop. As I'd been curious about it for a long time, I went to try it out this week. Rice Workshop is probably best described as quick-eat Japanese restaurant with a self-serve component; you select a dish, it gets served to you, then you pick out the sides you want to eat it with. On my first visit, I tried the Ontama beef with a side of potato salad. 

The potato salad was pretty much mashed potato with little vegetable pieces in it. It was quite Japanese styled - slightly more tart and less creamy than traditional mash. I felt pretty neutral about it - it wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best mash I'd ever had. The Ontama Beef bowl, on the otherhand was good value for money and quite tasty too. The beef was thinly-sliced and served with a delicious sauce. There was also a perfect little soft boiled egg with the dish (the Malaysian in me really enjoys a good soft boiled egg), which added a nice runny yolk to the rice.

On my next visit, I tried the Chicken Karaage with spicey mayo. The fried chicken was crispy and the mayo, a tart and spicey affair. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoyed the Chicken Karaage at Shuyun.

I also tried the desserts...the tiramisu mochi and the green tea soft serve ice-cream. The mochi was devoured before I remembered to take a photo, but it didn't have too much going for it. The bean paste filling was nice and creamy, but the mochi shell was hard and stale - rather disappointing given that mochi is pretty much the softest dessert you can get! I did, however, like the green tea soft serve...for $2, you can get a generous hit of matcha. A nice little dessert for the end of summer.

Rice workshop has a pretty little dining space for you to finish your meal in. There's even an upstairs area if you prefer your privacy. And it's complete with interesting lights in almost every corner...

The restaurant also provides the quintessential Melbourne alleyway experience - if you enter through their side entrance, you can see some pretty graffti decorating their walls. Just what every Melbourne-based quick-eatery should have :)

In conclusion, Rice Workshop is a great place for you to eat if you're on the run - it's cheap and easy with a comfortable space to dine in...it's also pretty central in the CBD (right at the start of Chinatown from Swanston Street), so you won't have a hard time finding it. Service is pretty quick and quite friendly (the waitress even told me that she liked my t-shirt). In terms of food, I'd recommend the Ontama beef and the green tea ice-cream, but not the mochi (even though I liked the filling. No one should have to eat hard mochi). All in all, the meals were filling and pleasant.

Ratings

Service: 9/10
Ambience: 8/10
Food: 15/20

Is it worth visiting? Yes, if you're in search of a quick bite or a casual, Asian eatery.
Price range: $ (You're looking at $7-$10 a bowl and about $2 for sides)

The Brunswick Mess Hall

Address: 400 Sydney Road, Brunswick, Vic, 3056
Phone: (03) 9388 0297
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBrunswickMessHall
Website: http://www.thebrunswickmesshall.com.au/

To say bye to one of my close buddies moving to Canberra, I visited The Brunswick Mess Hall for a group dinner. For some weird reason, I'd always walked past this joint in Brunswick and thought it was more of a formal function space than a casual restaurant or bar. But I'm glad my friend suggested The Brunswick Mess Hall because it was a really nice venue with flavoursome Asian cuisine!

Between the six or so of us, we shared a couple of dishes. My favourite of the night was the Szechuan Pepper Squid. The squid pieces were lightly battered and fried, so it was crunchy and there was more squid than batter to enjoy. I didn't actually taste too much pepper, let alone that of the Sze-chuan variety (the real hot stuff), but I liked it better that way as I could eat it with lime and sweet chilli sauce instead. The little bed of salad was delicious with its mint, onion and lime juice combination...spicy, sweet and sour....

I also put down the order for some Yakatori sticks. They came quickly enough and looked great on the plate...

But they were a little too salty for my liking. It was nice chicken, though it would have done better with a little less sauce. We also tried the Pad Thai, both vegatarian and non-vegetarian. (I feel like there was a photo... but I don't know where. I'll upload if found). Both were quite hot, so I'd recommend it only if you enjoy spicy food. I feel like it differed a lot from my favourite type of Pad Thai, but it was still quite tasty with lots of beanshoots.

During the night, we found it a tad bit difficult to catch the attention of the bar staff to which we were suppose to hand in our order (self-tick order sheet system)...But it was a busy, busy Friday night and the staff were really attentive and nice when they had the time. Also, our cocktails came out reasonably quickly. I ordered a 'Tromba Cooler' from the menu mainly because I saw the words 'pandan vanilla syrup' and the Malaysian in me got really excited...

I liked the Tromba Cooler because you could really smell and taste the Pandan Vanilla syrup. So it felt like a pandan chiffon cake had been pleasantly blended into my drink. On the flip side, I couldn't really taste any pineapple. Still, it was a pleasant, tropical cocktail and I enjoyed the pandan too much to have any real complaints.

A few nights later, when I found myself in the same area, I wondered in to try the other cocktail that I had been eying over: The Sakura Fizz. It was a pretty little thing and was quite fragrant due to the rose and honey elements. If egg white sounds odd as an ingredient, have no fear! It does nothing to the taste. You only get the tequila and fruitiness of all it all - a good drink for summer, particularly if you enjoy sour flavours. The second visit was on a Wednesday night and there were far fewer people. The staff were even more attentive and friendly on that day and the speed of service improved dramatically.

The venue itself was something to enjoy with its creeping vines, animal projections and dangling lights. There was a DJ on the Friday night spinning tracks at the back, but you could enjoy a more intimate conversation up front, in one of the comfortable little rooms...

All in all, The Brunswick Mess Hall was great fun....colourful, vibrant and messy in a good way. This applied also to the food and drinks. I enjoyed the cocktails, with their inclusion of fun Eastern elements and patterned straws. I also thought the food menu offered a good selection of old favourites. While I wouldn't call it the best Asian food I've tasted, nor the most creative, I will say that they offer flavoursome, crowd-pleasing dishes....so I'd recommend The Brunswick Mess Hall for functions or big dinners, where there's a lotta crowd-pleasing and entertaining to be done!

Ratings

Service: 8/10
Ambience: 9/10
Food: 15/20

Is it worth visiting? Sure, it's a cool, vibrant space with flavoursome old favourites.
Price range: $$$ (You're looking at $12-$28 per dish)

Event: Japanese Summer Festival

Well, long break again since my last food adventure...but this time it was spent exploring Thailand (which you can read about under 'travels' on that side ->). But I'm back in Melbourne now to enjoy the rest of the Summer (and the hot weather which I thought I had avoided!)

What's on in Melbourne, you ask? I happened to wonder into a one day Japanese Summer Festival today which was hosted in, and around, Federation Square. The Japanese Summer Festival showcased national costumes and performances, as well as a number of traditional and commercial food stalls.

The stall run by The Little Red Pocket Cocktail Bar caught my eye because it's Chinese New Year (Happy year of the horse! Or if you can read some Chinese: 新年快乐, 龙马精神!) and people get red pockets during that time, so I thought it was a play on that. 

It turns out that The Little Red Pocket Cocktail Bar is a well known venue that was voted into the World's top 100 best bars! As the Japanese Summer Festival was set in a public space, The Little Red Pocket Cocktail Bar didn't serve any alcoholic drinks. Instead, they offered some pretty looking mocktails. Even though I'd just finished an iced green tea latte (creamy condense milk with a good mix of matcha), I was tempted by the Virgin Lychee....so I bought it (to keep fully hyrated in the outdoor heat, you see.)

I liked the Virgin Lychee mocktail, even though it seemed like a simply drink. It was slightly sweet, quite fruity and very very cool - a great combination to address the thirst brought on from 40 degree heat. The mint and lemon helped to add extra flavours and make it more refreshing, as well as more presentable.

I'd like to go to the actual venue someday. But for the moment, I'd say the drinks were refreshing and fun. The service was very fast and efficient at the stall, though too busy to really assess.

Did anyone else visit the Japanese Summer Festival? Or have you been to The Little Red Pocket Cocktail bar before...and did you enjoy your experience there?

Axil Coffee Roasters

Address: 322 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, Vic
Phone: (03) 9819 0091
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/axilcoffee

I brunched at Axil Coffee Roasters on both New Year's day with my little sister, A, and on my birthday. I usually find myself re-visiting a place because I can never make up my mind about what I want...and while my eyes get greedy, I can't stomache two meals at once....so a second trip is usually on the cards if my first experience was reasonably good. But onto the actual cafe...

Axil Coffee Roasters sits on Burwood Road, just round the corner from Glenferrie station. It's easy to find and definately easy to get to. On my first visit, I was suprised to see that the cafe was so spacious. I guess I'm just so use to the little joints in the city where you have to cram up close to neighbouring tables. But it was nice to have some breathing room here. I also really liked the plants and the lights in the cafe. The staff serving us were really nice and friendly, espeically the girl who asked how my New Years was. They seemed geniuninely happy despite having to pull a 7am New Year's day shift.

But onto the food - What did we eat? I knew I wanted the corn and haloumi fritters as soon as I saw the menu. (I'm currently going through a haloumi stage, you see.) I'd also seen the dish on Urbanspoon before, so I knew it was one of the more popular plates at Axil. It arrived, after a short wait, in a wonderful pyramid of colour. The egg was poached perfectly, with delicious golden yolk that flowed onto my avacado.The fritters were crisp, warm and full of sweet, sweet corn, but I found it a little bit disappointing in the haloumi department - I couldn't really distinguish the haloumi in the fritters, except that it was crumbly the way haloumi is as a cheese. I loved the tangy, spicy salsa and avacado, but wasn't so sure about the spinach. I think salmon might have gone better with the dish, especially with the salsa. Nonethless, it was a very satisfactory first brunch of the year.

My sister, A, went for the NY Big Breakfast. I confess to not remembering much about her dish, I didn't end up taking a photo either because she was really hungry, so I didn't want her to wait for me to examine it in my foodie way. But I did try a little bit of her mushrooms, toast and relish and they were lovely and flavoursome.

My second visit was on my birthday. My friend and I were in the neighbourhood, so we decided to go for a sweet, late breakfast. We was met with friendly staff again. It was much quieter on this visit as it was a Monday afternoon so we could pick our own seats. I ordered a sweet dish this time: Red velvet pancakes with black seasame ice-cream, raspberries and cream cheese ganache.

I loved the black seasame ice-cream, raspberries and cream cheese ganache. The tartness of the raspberries really balanced out the sweetness of the dish. The red velvet pancakes were interesting - they were quite rich though. I thought they had a strong 'chocolate or cocoa' taste rather than than a 'red velvet cake' taste. I also thought the pancakes were crumblier than what I'm use to. But I liked the beautiful colours on the plate. If you have a sweet tooth, this is an original dessert dish worth trying out.

I didn't end up trying a coffee here, the the first time or the second. I'm not too fond of coffee in hot whether...but I did try a chai latte. It wasn't very sweet, but was very creamy which I liked. However, it wasn't very chai-flavoured and spicy either. Probably better to go with the coffee. If you are really keen on the bean, Axil does have a lovely coffee store component which you can brouse on the way out.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience. The ambience and service was really good at Axil. The brunch dishes were enjoyable, but could be even better with some tweaking. They are also a little pricey for the quantity given. It is however a nice space to meet up with someone for a chat, or to bring a book and read at...

Ratings

Service: 8.5/10
Ambience: 9/10
Food: 14/20

Is it worth visiting? If you're in the neighbourhood, Axil serves nice breakfasts and is preeetty spacious.
Price range: $$ (You're looking at about $16 per dish)

The Brûlée Cart

Address: N/A
Phone: 0402 381 939
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBruleeCart

I love the recent food truck craze going on in Melbourne - it means that your favourite foods travel to you. No more laborious searching. It also means that your favourite foods acquire creative, quirky flavour transformations as food truck owners experiment with the items they specialise in. This applies particularly to crémé brûlée...

The Brûlée Cart travels around Melbourne bringing crémé brûlée to the people. But not just the traditional kind...these guys have whipped up delicious flavour combinations to make you drool: Lavender & Honey, Dark chocolate & Peppermint, Cherry Ripe... I always feel like trying everything offered on the menu and it takes me a loooong time to come to a decision...but I've been lucky enough to visit The Brûlée Cart with friends and we usually try a few different brûlées between us. 

I've only ever caught the Brulee Cart at Federation Square (a convienent place for me as I'm around that way a lot). They're often there for The Flavour exchange, a quarterly wine-tasting/ food event held in The Atrium of Federation Sqaure. In our excitement, my friend and I tried both the combinations on offer which were French vanilla with strawberries and Ginger dark chocolate.

French vanilla was lovely. It was rich, but not over-powering; sweet, but not sickening and it went well with the strawberries which were a bit tart.

Next was the Ginger dark chocolate. I was surprised by this flavour- it was spicey in a gingerbready way; aromatic, pleasant and it gave the dark chocolate flavour a kick. I had expected this to be an 'acquired taste' for those prefered their desserts tasting different (i.e. bitter or hot) - but that wasn't the case at all! It was a chocolate concoction that reminded me of nutella, ginger biscuits and chocolate pudding combined into one.

On another visit, my friend and I shared a Salted caramel and popcorn brûlée. It's been my favourite flavour so far...though I'm probably biased as I pretty much always opt for salted caramel when given a choice. The saltiness in the dessert was subtle, but it brought out a lovely sweetness in the custard. When topped with caramel-coated popcorn, what was not to love?

If you're looking to satisfy your sweeth tooth, I would recommend The Brûlée Cart. Finding this little food truck is quite easy. Just follow The Brûlée Cart on Facebook :) They generally post their schedules via status updates. You'll spot their distinctive blue trailer easily enough...or just follow the scent of caramelised sugar wafting in the air...

Ratings

Service: 9/10
Ambience: N/A
Food: 19/20

Is it worth visiting? Of course it is!
Price range: $ (You're looking at $8 per cup)

Hello!

First blog post, yea! Hi! I'm Jen, an avid eater and traveller. I've been thinking about starting a food and travel blog for a long time, but sometimes I find the more you think about doing something, the more you tend to leave it for later...so I've decided to stop thinking and start doing...

I like to write and take photos...especially photos of my food (Yep, I'm that annoying friend) and of the places I visit. I'm not a fancy critic or anything - This little project is just for fun. With this space, I hope to collect all the beautiful things I experience and share them with you, so that hopefully you'll be able to go experience them too.

I'll be blogging about Melbourne, Australia, because that's where I'm based and because it's a great city!

Flinders Street station where I get off for work 

But whenever I embark on a new adventure I'll take you along too...Aside from discovering the cool places in my home city, I'll be heading to Thailand and Malaysia in 2014. I'll also be backtracking through my recent travels as well. I've been lucky enough to travel through Asia and Europe over the past few years, so I'll be writing about these places too. This year's adventures have included:

China

The view from the rooftop of Bar Rouge

Taiwan

The National palace museum in Taiwan

Malaysia

The fruit plantations at Cameron Highlands

And what about the food? Don't worry, there will be plenty of food posts and pictures, like these ones...

Key lime pie from Sweet Mother's kitchen in Wellington, New Zealand

Delicious mixed platter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

And there will be many, many more international (food) photos to come....but for now I'm going to start with home. I have a backlog of Melbourne photos that desperately need to be updated and a list of places I'd love to talk about... hope you'll continue to join me as I learn to operate my blog and search for brunch, lunch, dinner and dessert :)