Brunch Adventures: Tom Phat

When I first came here with my mom and brother I was absolutely in love with this place! I was told that this was a "Malaysian Fusion" place, and so I expected Malaysian people running the place, and was slightly surprised when I saw Caucasian waiters! I suppose my brother was just slightly misinformed, and consequently I was misinformed too.... 

It definitely is fusion but hardly Malaysian :p More Vietnamese and Thai influences. At my first visit here I had this amazing roti + thai beef salad thing, which sounds a little weird (roti plus salad? In fact when I ordered it, it was under the heading of "Roti and Salads" but somehow I interpreted it as being "All roti dishes and salad dishes are listed here" instead of "All these salads are served with roti") but I loved it! Super tangy and the roti was soft and chewy (the way it should be! not crispy like how some people seem to like it, especially here in Melbourne. Roti tisu is crispy, yes. Roti canai crispy on the outside, yes. Roti canai crispy inside and out?? no. just, no.)

But that was almost 2 years ago...

And so much to my disappointment, by the time I came back, they've changed their menu :(

You know that reeeeally lousy feeling when you've set your taste buds on something and then you cant eat it because the restaurant is closed or its sold out or something horrible like that? Or maybe thats just me...

Roti Omelette with Tomato Salsa, Bacon, Chives.
 I wanted more meat so I had a side of grilled pork chop.

I really wanted roti. And from the list of roti+salads they used to have, the new menu only has one roti dish! (for lunch/brekkie anyway, not sure about dinner). I suppose its kind of like roti telur, but instead of the telur being in the roti, this roti is in the telur. Personally I thought it was'nt seasoned enough. But I have a feeling thats more of my own problem than theirs. Somehow to me if something isn't spicy, its borderline tasteless. Had to add salt and chilli sauce... But after I did that, cant fault the dish! Plus it satisfied my roti cravings so I'm not complaining.

Yellow curry with Hanoi Baguette

Meitze's dish. I thought those were carrots. But they're sweet potatoes! An interesting twist to the usual curry chicken and potatoes, I suppose? Super fragrant and flavoursome! Well spiced, (could this be my bias-ness to the spice? hmmm) and the bread dipped in curry sauce is just ... yum. Salivating just thinking about it.

Conclusion: Not very impressed with my roti dish, but the curry dish gives me hope. Maybe one day I'll come back to give this place another go and try other things :)

Meitzes totally sinful chocolate coated reese sandwiched in a double stuffed oreo 

Needless to say, its going to take me 500 days of exercise before I burn off all those calories... yup.

Not gonna happen.

side note: maybe I should start rating my dishes out of 10? hmm.

Tom Phat

184 Sydney Road

Brunswick VIC 3056

03-93812374

Brunch Adventures: Lot 6

I cant believe it took me 1 year of being a lost Foundation Studies student roaming around uni + 1.5 years of being a Melbourne Uni student to finally give this place a try. This entire time I've been hiding in Union House eating the same old same old (Honey chicken with rice), and missing out on life. (Okay not really).

So, Lot 6. AstroTurf and the constant crowd should've given me a hint that this place was gonna be good. 

All the nice sunlight, pretty wooden benches and steel tables, reasonable prices, good selection of yummy food and pastries, perfect location (right next to my favourite building in uni).. Lot 6 has officially become my current favourite place for catch-ups in between classes. Like seriously, how could you top that. I think for a period of time I came here almost twice a week.

Scrambled eggs with pumpkin, feta, and spinach on toast.

 Looks pretty mehhhh on the place but tastes great! Eggs were nice and fluffy, and the contrast between the saltiness of the feta and sweetness of the pumpkin was so yum. Personally I find it pretty hard to cook (and even more so, cut) pumpkin. Its so hard to get it to soften! But then again maybe thats just me. The pumpkin was creamy and smooth and the cheese was all melty and just, yum.

side note: is it just me or does this picture of the scrambled eggs look blurry? But if you enlarge it its clear. Weird. I always thought it would  be the other way round.

Spanish baked beans with chorizo, feta and a poached egg

 The beans weren't as well cooked as I had hoped, it was still a little chewy and hard. But I guess that means it didnt come from a can? Super filling dish, I had this for breakfast and I didnt eat anything else for the rest of the day until dinnertime. Which is, a rare occasion for me (who constantly and I mean CONSTANTLY snacks in between classes).

Lemongrass and ginger tea

Must try! Their Dark Hot Chocolate is my favourite beverage though.

Photo by Shini.

Sense my excitement.

Everything  looks really simply presented but for the very reasonable price I'm not going to complain about the lack of unnecessary leaves and drops of oil around my plate. They were even giving out free beverages the other day while we were there, SCORE!

Thank God for all these lovely cafe's in Melbourne. I would have no idea where to go for brunch if I was in Malaysia. Then again, in Malaysia I'd be busy stuffing my face with Char Kuey Teow and Claypot Loh See Fun with a nice cup of Teh O Ais Limau to be thinking of Ham and Cheese Croissants and fancy coffee.

Till next time! x

Lot 6 

located next to the Eastern Resource Centre (ERC)

Melbourne University

Sweet tooth.

Or is it sour? Nobody says "sour tooth". But sour desserts are amazing. Even though my brother disagrees.

I have made it a personal goal to try every lemon tart available (unless I am absolutely convinced that it is hopeless) until I find the best one, and LO AND BEHOLD, I HAVE FOUND IT.

Ive been craving this so badly I have decided to dedicate a post to it.

Say hello to the awesomest lemon tart ever.

(If you know of a better place, TELL ME PLEASE.)

Babkas lemon tart served with clotted cream

I have yet to try the food from this cafe, but really, the lemon tart alone is good enough to make me want to go back again and again. The texture of the filling is alot more soft and curd-y than most of the ones I've tried, which are usually abit stiff and slightly dry (if you get what I mean). On its own, the tart is already great, but it really does pack a lemony punch so it might be too sour for some. So even if youre on some kind of diet, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you have it with the cream! With the cream, its like an orchestra in perfect harmony in your mouth, the amazingly creamy texture of the lemon curd+cream enveloping your tongue, the cream cuts the acidity of the lemon, the lemon cuts the richness of the cream.... 

I could go on forever.

I'm not even kidding when I say I have to hold myself back from breaking out in a joyful song or getting up and doing a little dance when I eat this.

Babka Bakery Cafe

358 Brunswick St

Fitzroy, VIC 3065

03-94160091

Brunch Adventures: Dead Man Espresso

"I hear the angels talking, talking talking, now I'm a dead man walking, walking, walking"

Can't help but have this song ring in my head the every time I (or anyone else) say Dead Man Walking... oops I mean espresso.

Herb and potato rosti with poached egg, avocado and smoked salmon

Potato rosti is probably one of my favourite brunch food item, right up there with perfectly poached eggs (I don't even mind if they cheat by using poaching bags I just want my eggs). One of my favourite cafe's does an AMAZING rosti, but recently they've changed it to some sort of fried mash potato patty thing and I am utterly depressed. So I was super happy with this rosti! Crispy and delicious (and possibly not very healthy, but lets not think about that). Simple but delicious! Though I probably should have ordered another poached egg because I'm not much of a fan of dry food, and in my honest opinion I could've done without the salmon.

Didn't try these next ones but here are pictures anyway.

Debs and Debs dishes (Because Jon had scrambled eggs. Boring.)

Smoky beans in tomato sugo with paprika oil and Pyegana Cheddar crumble with toast

BLT - pork belly and spinach puree on brioche with side of gazpacho

What on earth is a gazpacho. The waiter explained but I wasn't paying attention. Absent-minded as always. But from the bits and pieces of the conversation I could gather, its some sort of tomato sauce/soup thingy. Apparently its delicious!

Magic?

 Recently introduced to ... magic coffee? No, you will not get super powers or excrete golden eggs after you drink it, but it refers to the way they extract the shot/the part of the shot that they use (something like that. Debs explained this to me but once again, I cant remember details). What I can remember is, it doesn't contain the part of the coffee that would taste bitter (hoorah!).

edit:  Magic - double ristretto with milk. without the bitter end of the coffee and most of the caffiene. 
(thanks debs) So to me it tastes a little bit lighter and the taste is clearer. But then again my coffee taste buds aren't exactly very developed yet so I could be very wrong.

Side note: I just read an article about caffeine addiction. Apparently it takes 7 days to get addicted to caffeine. I have yet to find out if these effects are reversible. 

So now thanks to my new found interest in coffee, I'm ruining my teeth AND destroying my brain. Perfect.

Dead Man Espresso

35 Market Street

Melbourne

03-96862255

Bashful Giraffes

Hello Mr  Green Giraffe, nice to meet you too
Wearing: Victoria Dove Top

Favourite Item of the day! Such a cute print.

Behold: the awkward arm...
Wearing: Damsel Dress

A lovely oatmeal colour, with a high enough neckline and just a small cut out at the back so as to not look inappropriate. 

Probably the best berry cheesecake Ive had.
I tried not to ruin the aesthetics of the cake while taking the photos. But after about 2 minutes I dug in...
Wearing: Chelsea Baby Pink Dress

The softest shade of chalky pink. Perfect for lazy -to-dress-up days where you still want to look presentable.

 All photos by Ethel, from www.lovesherelle.com

(PS: spot the BW2012 necklace!)

I am honoured to have been asked  by Sher and Ethel, the darling girls of Love, Sherelle to help out with their photoshoot! It was a lot of fun despite not quite being able to figure out where to put my arm without it being awkward (as you might be able to tell from the photos...)

All items are lovingly handpicked, of fantastic quality and best of all - reasonably priced (and you can trust me when I say that)! Nothing Sher and Ethel wouldn't wear/buy themselves :)

I will forever be amazed at people who successfully start and run their own business/label/some form of career at such a young age. Makes me think about what I'm going to do with my life. Although it may not sound as noble as "finding a cure for cancer", food tester/critic is still my dream job. (dont judge me)


Till next time! x