Animal Orchestra (Revisit), Melbourne

Breakfast anyone?

How about some lovely fresh, warm scones... and a hot cup of aromatic cappuccino to start off your day? mmmmm..

Animal Orchestra has always been a memorable place for us since our first year in Melbourne. aww. ='). And each time I go back, I still point out the table we first sat at that cold winter morning in 2009..

Enough reminiscing! This morning before heading off to STUDY STUDY & STUDY.. a good hearty breakfast was in need! Light and fluffy, I was fully contented. But, just slightly disappointed that they weren't served with the usual strawberry jam that I love.

Give their baked eggs and pizzas a try while you're there =) The pumpkin pizza was simply beautiful.

ps. check out our first visit here!

163, Grattan Street,
Carlton 3053
(03) 9349 4944

Seasons Provedore (Dessert), Carlton

After 25 years, Oprah's last show finally aired on Channel 10. It was inspirational and it felt like we were graduating from the Oprah academy of life lessons.

After her final bow and good-bye, we were hungry! .. for cakes. Who knew watching Oprah could be so draining! So we headed of to Lygon Street and wandered around, looking for something that would satisfy our cravings. And so.. we ended up in Seasons Provedore, again.

Orange Clementine

Orange cake with white chocolate shavings and a citrus glaze

First bite, and it blew our tastebuds! It was incredibly moist with a beautiful orange flavour! The white chocolate added a subtle sweetness to the cake while the citrus-y flavour was maintained by the shiny glaze.

Late night cake cravings? Go and get their cakes!

Thank you Oprah!

Ps. check out our first visit here!

199 Lygon St, Carlton,
3053
(03) 9347 3585

Crystal Jade, Melbourne CBD

After a series of midnight cravings for dim sum, we finally decided to head to Crystal Jade along Chinatown the next day. When we first saw Crystal Jade, we got excited thinking that this was the same Crystal Jade we love in Singapore and Malaysia!! But we found out that they were only using the same name..

12pm, we were hungry for dim sum! So we sat while trolleys of steamed and fried dim sums stopped by our table for us to choose.

Shao Long Bao (Minced pork and broth dumpling)

A big big disappointment. It was like a big slap across your face! The most important part of shao long bao is, of course, the soup. There was NONE!
Overall, it doesn't even resemble a shao long bao.

Har Gao (Prawn dumpling)
The skin wasn’t too thick, chewy or doughy (which is a good start) but the prawn filling was a bit of a let down. It wasn’t as ‘crunchy’ as I hoped and it was lacking the prawn flavour!

Top: Ham Sui Kok (Deep fried glutinous dumplings filled with savoury pork)
One of the best 'skin' ever. Maybe just a bit too oily?
 Bottom: Sesame Ball

Deep-fried sesame balls with red bean paste filling
They were generous with the filling but the sesame balls were lacking the crunch that all deep-fried food should have!

Deep-fried salt and pepper calamari
Probably the best dish we had? There was a subtle saltiness and it wasn’t as oily as the deep-fried calamari you get in other places.

Lau Sa Bao (Salted egg custard buns)

Yes! The filling was hot and ‘flowy’! It definitely met the first criteria for a good Lau Sa Bao. Now, for the taste test. In a good Lau Sa Bao, there must be a balance with the saltiness from the salted egg and sweetness from the custard. Verdict? There wasn’t any sweetness  in the filling.

We’ll definitely check out the steamed buns in Nam Loong to see if it’s any better!

Overall, the food was mediocre. Not memorable but not forgettable (except the horrible shao long bao!).


154 Little Bourke St
Melbourne, 3000

(03) 9639 2633

Laksa King, Flemington

On a cold Friday night, what could more satisfying than a hearty Malaysian meal :) . A little reminder of home sweet home.. The nicely decorated Laksa King was packed with customers and a long waiting list. Luckily, we managed to a get a place.

*sorry for the poor quality of pictures. I was so hungry! haha. 

Vegetarian Curry Laksa

Famous for their curry laksas, I was not disappointed. The laksa was fairly mild and the eggplant was especially good. It's worth a try. 

Pork spare ribs

Mmmm. Very satisfying. The meat was just nice (not too dry).

Char Kuey Teow

 I was very impressed with this dish. It was authentic and fresh from a hot, oily wok. Just the kind we get from hawker stalls back home =) .

Buddha's Delight: Assortment of vegetables and mushrooms covered
with a thin layer of beancurd skin.

 This vegetable dish had a strong bamboo shoot smell and taste. I particularly liked the beancurd skin. 

Ice Kachang

One of my favourite Malaysian dessert! Shaved ice topped with peanuts and sweetened with palm sugar, rose syrup and condense milk. Beneath the mountain of sweetness: grass jelly, canned fruits, cendol and the most delightful part: RED BEAN =)

So, head off there to get a taste of Malaysian Chinese food! Prepared to be spoilt for choice...

Laksa King,

320 Racecourse Road, Flemington

(03) 9372 6383

Wonton House (Dessert), Melbourne CBD

After a hearty lunch, we were walking back when something caught our eyes! A picture of red bean pancakes plastered on the glass window of Wonton House!

We’ve eaten in Wonton House several times but why haven’t we seen it??!! So, we stomped in, sat down, ordered and waited.

After the longest 10 minutes of our dessert lives, it finally arrived!

It was hot and gooey. It was crispy and sweet. It was good.

Today, two customers left Wonton House happy and satisfied:)

181 Russell St
Melbourne, 3000

(03) 9662 9882

San Churro's Sacred Blend Coffee

Free coffee?? Sounds too good to be true right? Nope! Today, it is true. 

The Sacred Blend coffee is not only fairtrade, it's also organic! So, I did a little taste test with my usual coffee order, a cappuccino.

 The coffee was fairly mild and had a good balance between the bitterness and sweetness. It wasn't as fragrant as I'd like it to be but overall, it's a good cup of coffee.

And my cappuccino was topped with a sprinkle of good roughly chopped chocolate!

I would definitely recommend their coffee and head back for more!

Cacao Green (Waffles), Melbourne

Studying too much? Have a snack, dessert, meal or whatever you call it. After walking about, we finally settled for some waffles! We've tried the yogurt at Cacao Green before and it was good, so why not the waffles?

Waffles with blueberry compote, almonds and walnuts
(and condensed milk?)

The waffle was doughy, light and reminded us of A&W waffles from our childhood. However, the toppings were disappointing. The amount of nuts and compote given was pathetic. In fact, we couldn't even find a walnut on our waffle.
Overall, it was a disappointment and we had to order a cup of frozen yogurt after this to satisfy our sweet, dessert cravings.

ps. check out our first visit here!

285 Swanston Street,

Melbourne 3000.

Seven Seeds (2nd visit), Melbourne

It was rainy, cold and windy but NOTHING gets in the way of having breakfast at Seven Seeds. Things that make a gloomy day better: excellent coffee and amazing food.

French toast brioche with hazelnuts and blueberry mascarpone.

Is this breakfast or dessert? Hell ya, I will be walking through the hail and storm just to have this for breakfast! Everything was just right. The soft buttery brioche and the creamy-with-a-hint-of -sweetness mascarpone was just heavenly! To top it off, the hazelnuts added a crunchy texture to complete this dish. Yum.

Hot pressed sandwich : Seeded bread with grilled pumpkin, ricotta, spinach & (something else!)

I love love love hot pressed sandwich! The bread becomes hot and crunchy; the filling gets warm and creamy... The sesame seeds crust was the best part of the bread! And the ricotta & spinach combo reminds me so much of my favourite Greek dish, spanakopita!!

The food is amazing, the coffee is even better. Would go back again in a heartbeat :)

ps. check out my first visit there!

Seasons Provedore, Carlton

We were wet from the rain, cold from the wind and hungry for food. We needed to find a place asap and Seasons Provedore was there to offer us salvation.

New York Pancakes: Fluffy pancakes with maple syrup, butter and bacon

The pancakes were moist, fluffy and light. Definitely better than the pancakes you can get at Pancake Parlour! The combination of sweet and salty. A great way to start the day!

Scrambled eggs with spinach, smoked salmon and spanish onions served with sourdough

The scrambled eggs were creamy and generously cooked with pieces of smoked salmon. Not the best sourdough I've had but if you're looking for a simple and honest brunch, go for it.

We'll have to go back another day to have their macarons and cakes! soon...

Check out our recent visit for their cakes here!

199 Lygon St, Carlton,
3053
(03) 9347 3585

Bread & Butter (Melbourne CBD)

Almost a month ago, Bread and Butter opened and since then, we've entered the bakery a number of times for a few curious peeks. Finally, after being tired of walking around the store and coming out empty-handed, we decided to try it.

Red Bean Bread : Filled with sweetened red bean paste.

Surprisingly, there was a reasonable amount of red bean in the bread! Unlike the disappointing red bean bun from their rival, Breadtop, you actually taste red bean and not just the bread.
I love red bean.. so no harm thinking that there should be more filling right?

Chocolate coated doughnut filled with custard.

The bottom of the doughnut was crispy which went well with the moderately sweet custard. The chocolate however was over-powered but the oozing custard. Well, this was the biggest "bun" around so it wasn't too pricey for it's size.

Overall, their products are slightly more expensive compared to Breadtop but the quality definitely proves that they are worth your money. And amongst our many visit there we managed to sample their apple strudel and blueberry strudel. Verdict? Worth getting.

240 Swanston Street
Melbourne, 3000

(03) 9639 9494