Disclaimer: I'm not a food connoisseur nor a food blogger, so opinions and views are entirely our own and restricted only to the dishes we ordered. It's best to compare other reviews for a better picture.
Bali Bagus
85 Franklin StreetVIC 3000
Links: Facebook page | Urbanspoon
We wanted to try out Captain Melville's across from Bali Bagus but apparently the kitchen wasn't ready to serve. It was 12.15pm when we inquired, so it caught us by surprised when we were given the option to wait (30 minutes until they were ready to serve) or go some place else.
Saturday 7th September 2013.
It was empty when we arrived for lunch that weekend. The crowd slowly trickled in while we were midway through our lunch.
Browsing through the menu, there were plenty of dishes priced around AUD$10 and below. It was easy to see why this place was clearly a favourite among students or anyone looking for cheap eats.
I ordered the Ayam Penyet (AUD$8.00) and I loved the sambal!
How do I make such delicious sambal? I really must put this on my To Do Recipes!
It was spicy and I was perspiring after a while.
I think Wen Dee ordered the Fried Chicken with bumbu sauce (AUD$8.20) which looked tantalising enough for me.
She said it was OK, not too bad.
Kelvin's Balinese Fried Rice (AUD$8.80) was a good sized portion for two person sharing, if you're on a diet. ;)
It had enough 'wok hei' so I liked it. We all thought it was not too bad.
YB opted for fish with bumbu sauce (AUD$12.80) which he said was just OK. The fish's tummy wasn't cleaned properly so the flesh at that area was a bit bitter.
Verdict: Can't complain for the price you pay. A good place to go if you have a budget and crave for Balinese food.
Anyway, right after our visit, I tried to locate a recipe for bali sauce (bumbu sauce) which looked like the ones we had but I'm still searching! I keep coming up with curry sauce recipes, which isn't what I'm looking for.
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Muleta's
422 Queen StreetVIC 3000
Links: Urbanspoon
Saturday, 28th September 2013.
Places serving good coffee is pretty easy to come across in Melbourne's CBD. Muleta's is located a stone's throw away from the Queen Victoria Market.
We had just finished our run along parts of the Melbourne Marathon route and was ravenous for lunch.
We were parked at Southbank and boy, it was a long walk to get here.
YB had the cappucino while I had a latte. It was perfect. My latte wasn't too milky with a good ratio of espresso and milk. (I mean, in comparison to some lousy ones I've had before.)
We ordered the Muleta's 'the lot' beef burger (AUD$13.50) which had a fried egg, relish, melted cheddar all on Turkish bread.
The bread was nice and soft. It made me realise why I enjoy burgers at joints which don't use boring burger buns to sandwich 'the lot'. I love fluffy bread buns!
Oh, the chips were pretty scrumptious, too!
Oh, the chips were pretty scrumptious, too!
We also ordered the Spanish breakfast tortilla (AUD$16.50) which had bacon, sausage, potato, eggs, goat's cheese and onions.
It was a big portion ... and not enough bread to go with it!
There was just so much I could eat.
There was just so much I could eat.
The burger was huge, probably due to the thick patty. Unfortunately, we found the beef patty to be on the dry side, which was a shame. I had to set it aside because it was really too dry to my liking. I don't enjoy chewing dry patties, sorry.
Verdict: Will probably go back there again for coffee and something without beef patties.
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Perk Up Espresso Bar
610 Collins Street
VIC
Links: Website | Urbanspoon
The weekend before the Melbourne Marathon started with a 20km run around Albert Park Lake and it was awesome! I had fun and felt confident that I was going to have a good run come Race Day.
We met up with YB's friends from brunch but our first choice, The Grain Store was packed to the brim and had a long queue.
We took a walk to Collins Street and settled for this cute little corner place. We were starving!
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| My flat white. |
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| YB's cappucino. |
R ordered the french toast with strawberries, which looked absolutely scrumptious. Made me think twice about my order, phhbbbt!
I think I ordered something with poached eggs and bacon. I like how it was served on two separate slices of bread, so I can save one half for YB and eat the other.
Except that on one piece was bacon, and ham was on the other.
YB ordered the Perkup Burger, not sure if it was a double or not. The patty wasn't dry (thank goodness) but it was a shame it was not satisfying enough without a side of fries. You'll have to order the fries as an extra, like at most burger places here in Melbourne. Sigh.
Verdict: Coffee was good, service was good. They also have a breakfast selection which is not provided on their website. Food portion may be considered a bit small and enough to satisfy the light eaters.
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Pho Hung Vuong 2
150 Victoria StreetRichmond, VIC 3121
Links: Urbanspoon
Sunday, 13th October 2013.
We made our way to Richmond after completing the Melbourne Marathon, looking out for this place as it came (highly) recommended. Hungry and tired, we hoped that the place would not disappoint.
It was packed when we arrived after 2pm. With a quick glance at the menu board on the wall, we decided to order 2 bowls of pho, one with cartilage and the other with ... I don't remember.
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| I love Thai basil! |
The Vietnamese coffee was good, not too sweet or too milky. It was priced at AUD$4.50, if I'm not mistaken.
Regular customers and reviews rave about how tasty their pho are. The beef is fresh and we love the generous serving of Thai basil (most places are quite stingy with theirs).
So, to our disappointment, we did not share the same view. There was definitely a hint of MSG in the broth. I'm not a pho pro, but from my regular cooking these days, I can tell whether a broth is artificially sweetened mainly by sugar and/or salt, or good and pure stock. (But I'm not a pro cook, too, so I could be wrong!)
Sigh.
Our quest for decent yummy pho continues.
Verdict: Not going back there again.
Other related posts:
Regular customers and reviews rave about how tasty their pho are. The beef is fresh and we love the generous serving of Thai basil (most places are quite stingy with theirs).
So, to our disappointment, we did not share the same view. There was definitely a hint of MSG in the broth. I'm not a pho pro, but from my regular cooking these days, I can tell whether a broth is artificially sweetened mainly by sugar and/or salt, or good and pure stock. (But I'm not a pro cook, too, so I could be wrong!)
Sigh.
Our quest for decent yummy pho continues.
Verdict: Not going back there again.
Other related posts:
Good gawd!
ReplyDeleteThat's a whole lot of makaning!
No wonder kena run marathons every week! ;)