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The Kettle Black

22:17 | Labels: , , , , , , ,

I really should start blogging again and keep it up this time. So I am back with a post on one of the newly opened cafes here, at South Melbourne to be exact. I was excited to try it out when I found out that those responsible for setting up this cafe are part of the Top Paddock and Two Birds One Stone group! It has a very laidback feel despite the more impressive sounding menu. I liked that they have bigger tables to cater to bigger groups as well. Their waiters and waitresses are really friendly with excellent service. Decisions were made, orders were taken and the wait for the food was short.

So feast your eyes on what I tried:

The weather was lovely so we chose the outdoor setting with the spacious round table!


Seasonal Local Mushrooms: There were both cooked and raw mushrooms to give this dish added texture and flavour. It was served on toast with fragrant chestnut powder and fresh curd. S added bacon and scrambled eggs to accompany her dish. Their bacon was delish! Thick cut and smokey with the fatty bits in it that most cafes are removing from their menu, which I personally find is a shame.

 Robbins Island Wagyu Skirt Steak on The Kettle Black Bun with housemade mustard, seasonal fruit relish and vege. This is a heavier meal for those who are looking for something meaty and filling. The buns combined with the steak was pretty good. The steak's texture could be improved on though.
 Fresh Kingfish with potato crisps, tomato, avocado and salad: The Kingfish was truly fresh and sweet with the flakes falling apart in your mouth. This matched with the potato crisps and avocado made for a great combination.


Chilli Scrambled Eggs with air-dried Flinders Island Wallaby (yeah you read that right, wallaby!) topped with Feta Cheese and Salad. Personally, I love my scrambled eggs to be slightly runnier so I found the ones served here to be a tad overcooked. Do not worry about the Chilli part as it was not spicy at all. The most/only interesting part of the dish that I was looking forward to was the wallaby! It was really tender and juicy but the smell was a bit too strong for me.

If you feel like the Scrambled Eggs will not be enough, add on their juicy bacon to go with it!

Housemade coconut yoghurt with Gluten Free Grains, seeds and nuts:  Now, for those looking for something sweeter, lighter and healthier, I recommend this! It is so refreshing and tasty, it just wakes you up and makes you happier! In the middle, there are Toorak Station prickly pear, rhubarb and fruits. Citrus powder and flowers finishes off the plating.

Housemade Ricotta Hotcakes: I was saving my favourite for the last! We have been back here twice and their hotcakes never fails. Blueberries, Maple, Double Cream and seeds joins the hotcake. If you love maple syrup, requests for more! It is a really good meal to start you day with especially during winter as it comes steaming hot for you to dig in. The outsides were cooked to perfection, crunchy and fragrant, and the insides fluffy and warm. When the double cream melts into it, it was heavenly! Will definitely be back for more hotcakes!

Overall, I was pretty disappointed. Yes some of the dishes like the yoghurt and hotcakes were lovely, but I had expected more after falling for Two Birds One Stone. 

The price ranges from $7.50 (toasts) to $23 (meatier dishes).


The cafe is convenient to get to as it is only a short walk from Domain Interchange, down Albert Road. You will be able to spot them first from their coffee cart stationed outside the cafe with the friendly barista for takeaway coffees.




The Kettle Black is located @
50 Albert Road
South Melbourne
VIC 3205

May you find as much joy in food as I do,
foodbabydreams

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Brunch AND Lunch @ Hardware Societe

06:53 | Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

SUNDAY BRUNCH
N and I had brunch at the Hardware Societe on Sunday. I love the quaint French-themed ambience. It's a lovely place to go to for a brunch date or with a couple of friends. We reached around noon, gave our name and was told by the friendly waitress that the wait would be roughly 1/2hour. Expect to wait on the weekends as it's a pretty popular brunch spot. The weekdays are less busy but they will still have a full house.

Upon being seated (we were offered their outdoor setting), we ordered our coffee. N had a flat white and I a mocha. The next thing was to decide what to eat as most dishes on their menu sounded delicious! I settled for the Croque Madame and N had the scrambled eggs with chorizo.



Their mocha is really good for chocolate lovers who want a shot of coffee in their hot chocolate. After pouring the rich hot chocolate into the cup to mix with the espresso shot, there will be another 3/4 cup of hot chocolate left over for you to enjoy after your caffeine fix :D


 This was N's scrambled eggs with chorizo. It came with a simple sandwich that had some greens and roasted capsicum in it to balance the eggs out. The eggs were rich and creamy and the chorizo had a spicy tang to it so I would not recommend it to those who are sensitive to spicy food.


My very filling Croque Madame, which was a ham hock sandwich with Gruyere cheese topped with a fried egg accompanied with a side of potato and leek salad. It was delectable! The bread itself made me want to have more, so good! The bread balanced out the saltiness of the ham hock and cheese.

It'll be tough for me for when we go back for brunch again to decide between trying something new or going back to either one of the above.


THURSDAY LUNCH
Few days later, N wanted to try out the lunch offered at Hardware Societe so we came back sooner than expected. This time, we did not need to queue. We arrived at 2pm and were promptly seated, indoors this time. A slight change in ambience was nice. Once again I had the mocha (best thing ever for a chocolate lover who wants some caffeine in the system) and N had the flat white. The lunch menu sounded just as good as the brunch had.





 N ended up with their Wagyu Beef Cap with romesco sauce (made of almonds), roast onion, heirloom carrots and finished with a dark sherry glaze. The beef was done medium rare and was yummy. The glaze really did a good job on the beef and made me ask for another slice because it gave off an aromatic fragrance as you chew it. The sauce was too nutty for my liking since I'm more of a pumpkin or potato mash with beef kinda girl.


I had the Duck Confit with goat's chevre & shallot tart, beetroot remoulade and orange jus. My only complaint would be the duck being a tad too dry. The beetroot remoulade was paired well with the duck but the tart was even better. The cheesy tart tasted heavenly when eaten with the duck *drools




The Hardware Societe is located @
118-120 Hardware St 
Melbourne, VIC 3000

Opening hours: 7.30-3pm
Price range: $15-25

 May you find as much joy in food as I do,
foodbabydreams

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First Official Post, mini hometown tribute

23:22 | Labels: , , , , ,

Hello there! This will be my first official post to kickstart this food blog. I have been asked time and time again by family members and friends to start a food blog since I am such a food enthusiast. I literally light up when you talk to me or ask me about food. I think discovering good food and sharing it with family and friends is my greatest passion in life (sadly, musical instruments or dancing and the likes of it does not make me go as crazy as food does). 

This blog was created last year but I have been putting it off until now. Firstly, I have yet to get the layout and those coding thingamajigs right because I have an embarrassing lack of knowledge for this sort of thing, so please bear with me as I slowly get it right. Secondly, I have been pondering about what would make THE perfect first post. You know, to set the standard and to captivate the readers.
But Jarratt advised me to 'just be yourself'. So this will be me, imperfections and all devoting my passion for food on this blog. 

By the way, I am currently studying in Melbourne so my blog will be a mix of food you can find here, food in Singapore(when I'm back in Singapore), Malaysia (when I'm back in Malacca) and whatever food I encounter when I go on holidays. 

So, for the first post, I have decided to go back to my roots and honour the food I grew up eating, grew up loving and appreciating. The food that I can only have whenever I fly back. Makes me appreciate it even more :') Below, are some of my favourite food you can only find in Malacca. Yes, other countries might serve it but the indisputable original taste and recipes are located in Malacca (this is my blog, my opinion. But feel free to suggest places you think might be better). 



The above photo with the angry bird fish cake (how cute is that! keeping up with the trend while preserving the traditional recipes) is called Satay Celup, Celup means to dip. Growing up, this meal was a special treat because it is heaty (the sauce is peanut base), so we will look forward to it. 
The place I always go to is called Ban Lee Siang @ Ong Kim Wee cause I live pretty nearby and it is less crowded compared to  the other super famous one, Capitol Satay (this is the standard one that Singaporeans go to cause it is highly publicized. You get to choose from a huge variety of skewered ingredients such as mushrooms, ladies fingers, pig's ear (for the more adventurous, it's pretty good), sausages, you tiao (chinese doughnut) and so much more. Then you cook in the boiling pot of rich peanut sauce and enjoy! Go check it out, I know many people who have yet to discover the joys that Satay Celup brings to your tastebuds :)

 Okay, this one can be found all over Malaysia. COCONUT SHAKE! This one can be found in the Klebang area and it's best friend is the nasi lemak that they have there too. The price is extremely extremely reasonable and the taste is so so good for street food. It is heaven on earth especially on those mega sunny days.


One of the snacks I cannot live without. Malacca's putu piring because I'm not a fan of the ones made in Singapore. This one can be found @ Jalan Tengkera. Thank god it's near my house so I can have it whenever I want! The price has been increasing over the years due to it's popularity and the economy. But no matter the price, I will still go back for it because it is worth it. Coconut shavings and gula melaka goodness, how can I resist? HOW?! (sweet tooth talking)

 This my friends, is Ice Kacang (yes,most of you know already). Jeta Grove @ Melaka Raya serves THE best ice kacang amongst other food. Another treat on super sunny days, Jeta Grove serves Durian ice kacang for the durian lovers. They offer durian chendol too. PLUS they'll do double shot durian if one shot of durian on your dessert is not enough. It's one of the places I go to once or twice a week for food and dessert. The picture below is Denise's special aka Ice Kacang Kosong. Kosong means empty so it's just shaved ice with syrup, gula melaka and evaporate milk. Why? Cause sometimes (most of the time) I'm not a fan of the ingredients that goes into it but I love the liquidy toppings so I usually just order my special. teehee. 


The food in this photo can all be found at Jeta Grove. They serve Nyonya food like (clockwise from top left) Laksa, Mee Rebus, Chendol and Tau Kuah. Their Mee Siam is good too. I always have to decide between Mee Rebus, Mee Siam or their fried beehoon or mee (for the more health conscious dieting girls, you can ask for less noodle and more tauge/beansprouts, super yummy). Usually I will end up ordering two of the three options and force someone to share with me. heehee. Sorry for the collage as I did not have the foresight at the time to keep the original photos due to limited memory space.


So this is the end of my First Official Post. Haha so exciting I hope it is not too wordy but since it's the first post, please understand. Future posts will be location specific and will be less wordy. Sorry if it feels amateurish, am still working on it and I hope to mature with this blog.

May you find as much joy in food as I do,
thefoodbabydreams

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