Brunch Adventures: Three Bags Full

Brunch is undeniably my favourite meal of the day. Late enough for a sleep in, early enough so you have time to do other stuff after that, and then you get hungry again just as dinner time rolls around. How awesome is that? Plus, Melbourne has so many terrific brunch/coffee places to offer.

And therefore, I have decided to start a Brunch Adventures series! Fulfilling that typical Asian stereotype: taking pictures of my food and posting it online and telling people about it (even though they possibly dont even care) but I cant help it, I love food so much I just have to share it. (the pictures I mean, not the actual food itself... although you're always welcome to share my food! At your own risk...  No I'm kidding. No not really. No really I'm kidding. :p


Three Bags Full


I didnt actually see a sign for this place, then again Im not exactly the most observant person around, so if youre not paying attention, you just might walk past and miss this place! In a brick building that looks a little boring from the outside, it sure is pretty on the inside! I mean, theyve got plants greeting you as you enter the doorway. Thats a big tick if you ask me.

The place is much bigger than I had expected, definitely bigger than most café's I've been to. But out of the two times I've came here, they were PACKED out and I had to wait 15-20 mins for a table. But that's probably because I go on Sundays after church, when lots of people from church are there too. Not helping that church ends around lunchtime (but its a Sunday! Where do all these people come from?!)

Anyway, it was surely worth the wait!

Mushroom and Lentil Ragu with Poached Eggs and Feta.

Wild mushroom soup has always been one of my favourites, and I just can't seem to find ANYONE selling them here in Melbourne. They rarely even have it in those instant soup cans/packets! (WHYYYYYYYYYYY) So the only way I can satisfy my mushroom soup craving is either making my own (which I havent exactly got around to doing) or to overdose on the Wild Mushroom Soup at Delicious when I go back to KL so I get sick of it for the next couple of months.

So yes, you can imagine my excitement when I saw this on the specials menu! I was initially worried that it was going to taste a little bit like dhall because of the lentils, but I could taste was mushroom, mushroom, and mushroom (oh yes) which was brilliant. Super chunky and full of mushroom flavour (if you haven't got that point already), and the feta made it extra creamy as well! I think they added a few drops of lemon oil or something, because occasionally I would taste something sour. Which was terrific, otherwise the whole thing would be a bit too rich so that little bit of acidity really helped lift the dish (note how I'm using MasterChef language here, evidently I watch too much of that series) 

But no really, this dish was amazing. Except maaaybe for the poached eggs? I wasn't too sure about that. I mean I love poached eggs, but poached eggs and mushroom soup seemed a little bit weird to me. Then again, in normal cases we'd have mushrooms with poached eggs on toast, so I guess its the same set of flavours, but somehow... I don't know. It did help to make the dish more filling though. It was weird for me but not like it was a total mismatch, so I'm not complaining. I'm too in love with the mushroom ragu.

Unfortunately this was on the specials menu which means they don't have it everyday! I don't even know when they'll have it again. But oh well, what can I do.

Try something else on the menu. :p

But to be honest, everything else on the menu seemed... normal. As in nothing really stood out. Then again, I don't dismiss the possibility of them making brilliant blow-me-away Eggs on Toast! I will have to test that out sometime in the future.

"Clever Coffee Press" (or something along the lines of "clever")
Filtered coffee - I cant remember which country these beans were from.
clearly I need to start paying more attention.

My awesome buddy Elton has graciously offered me "coffee appreciation tutorials" which I have gladly accepted, of course! So far we've been having filtered coffee, and I must say I really like it! But Cafe Lattes have been my only source of milk so far (I hate milk), so if I start drinking filtered coffee... I better figure out something else.

I like how you can really taste certain flavours in the coffee, instead of just full on bitterness. According to descriptions on the board, they use words like "raspberry", "butterscotch", "cherry","orange", "floral notes" etc for each type of coffee bean, which all sound really exciting because well.. it sounds like dessert. HAHA. Floral, raspberry tasting coffee? Just the concept of it excites me. Which is probably why I'm so determined to learn how to actually TASTE these notes they describe. So far all I can distinguish is acidity and maybe a little but of sweetness, and even then I cant compare them unless I have them side by side. Well, its a start! 

So lets see if my coffee appreciation skills improve with time (fingers crossed).

If you've been to Three Bags Full, let me know what you liked/didnt like about it (comment below)! or what I should order the next time I go there and they don't have the awesome Mushroom Ragu (which they probably won't).

Till next time! x

Three Bags Full

60 Nicholson St,

Abbotsford, VIC 3067

03-94212732

You can get there by taking tram 109 towards Box Hill,

 or tram 48 towards North Balwyn