Revisiting Mrs Parma

One weekend, we decided to have a walk about the CBD area.  And the first thing we did when we arrived, was to have a nice cup of cappuccino at Brother Baba Budan.

I still find this to be the best cappuccino ever in Melbourne.

After walking about, shopping around, it was time to lunch.  We had first considered Chin Chin, but on second thought found that rather expensive.....and decided to leave that for another day, and went to one of our favourite spot - Mrs Parma.

I decided to try their parma of the day, which was Smoked mozzarella and jalapeño.  It was superb!  I had always avoided jalapeño in any of my food, since my tolerance to hot food was not that great.  But this day, I found that I loved this parma!!  The chicken was moist, the cheese was melted just right, and the jalapeño was hot but not too much and it just totally made me want to stand up and dance!!

Every time we went to Mrs Parma, we were always so full after the parma and just couldn't have anything anymore.  But this time, we decided to save up some stomach space by not finishing the parma and take it home as lunch for another day, so that we can share the sticky date pudding.  Ever since my sister introduced me to this lovely dessert, we have been trying it at various space.  So, when we saw on Mrs Parma's menu that they have this dessert, naturally, we wanted to try.  And so we did this time.  The pudding was very moist and nice, we was a plus.  However the sauce was not what we thought it should be like.  It was overly sugar milky like, but absolutely lacked the butterscotch taste that is required.  Umm, a bit of a disappointment...  Guess we'll just stick to parma when it comes to Mrs Parma.

Sensory Lab

On the same day me and mum went to have pork ribs, we also went to Sensory Lab for a coffee break once we met up with my sister.

We have walked passed this place many many times, but never stopped here for coffee.  One reason was we always loved BBB, and it is more or less our standard coffee place whenever we go out to the city.  Another reason is that this place always seems to be so full and busy.

This day, we decided to try this place out, since we planned to do some shopping around David Jones and Myer and didn't want to keep walking back and forth, and also, my sister wanted to have a danish and we saw that they had this nice looking blueberry danish on display.  So here we are, a Blueberry Danish.  The danish itself was quite nice.  The pastry was crispy and the blueberry was nice too, not too sweet, just right.  However, I did find it interesting(?) that the waitress only gave us a knife with the danish, when I see that right opposite us, the couple that had a cupcake and something else, each had a little fork with their cakes...

Since it was so busy there, we didn't want to spend time looking at the menu, so we just picked the safest option of coffee for us, three cappuccino.  It was not bad coffee, but still, it was no match for BBB.  Maybe we should just go back to BBB next time...

The Meat & Wine Co

One fine Saturday, I took mum out to The Meat & Wine Co for lunch.

We were quite early that day, basically went in right after it opened, so it was quite empty as expected.  But there were already two pairs of people there.  Wow, and I thought we were early walking in before 12pm.

We were seated on the far side of the restaurant, where the beads were.  I just could't resist taking a photo of the beads decor. ^_^

Since we were also going to have dinner out at a Chinese restaurant that day, we decided to go light for lunch and just share one full rack pork ribs between the two of us.  So once we ordered, we were supplied with usual tools for having ribs - paper aprons and a small bowl of water for washing our fingers.

Ah! Here comes our pork ribs.  God I love this.  I must say that it was a little difficult or next to impossible to eat this and show good table manners at the same time, but really, when you see this in front of you, you'd just through all thinking of table manners away.

The ribs was absolutely delicious.  The glaze was tasty, the meat was moist.  Oh and those chips.  I love those chips.  Nice and crispy, and well seasoned.  Gotta love this place just for this dish.

Movida Next Door

I have heard of a lot of things about the Movida series of bars and restaurants, but never had the chance of going to any one of them.  Last Saturday, finding Hardware Societe already pack full, and didn't want to wait, we decided to wait a little longer for Movida Next Door to open and dine there.

Knowing that this is a place that will be packed soon after it opens, we decided to more or less wait outside its door for it to open at 12pm.  Looking into the alley way, between Movida Next Door and Movida Bar De Tapas Y Vino, there are around 8-9 people waiting around for both to open.  So I guess we made to right move to be there early to make sure we do get seats.

More or less right at 12pm, we walked into the place and were greeted and lead to the seats facing Flinders street in the corner.  After briefly looking at the menu, the waitress came by, and introduced us to the lists of specials from for today.

There were so many options!  And she speaks so fast that after she finished, I can only remember those few ones that I thought we might order...

Rather than just having water, I decided to go for something different, and went for the Grapefruit drink  the waitress suggested.  It was not too sweet and very grapefruit-y.  It's a shame that the photo didn't do the drink justice.  It was actually a very beautiful pink colour.  But because the lighting wasn't quite good, it came out quite light and dull in the photo... Oh well.

This is the complimentary bread that was served after we ordered our meal.  To my surprise, it came out with olive oil rather than butter.  Well, Spanish place, I suppose.  It was a nice way to start a meal, since we were so hungry by that time.

The first of our tapas to come was the Croqueta - Fried Croqueta of Wild Mushrooms.  This, is ABSOLUTELY the highlight of the meal.  I so wish I had order more of this.  One each was definitely not enough...

It was so crisp on the outside and so smooth and rich of mushroom flavour on the inside.  Ah, I can still taste of the flavour even at this moment.  The mushroom filling inside was just, so smooth and creamy and... just amazing!

Then there was the Bomba - Chorizo-Filled Catalan Potato Bomb with a Spicy Sauce.  This came out so cute, with its round shape and the blob of sauce on top.

Basically, it was a potato ball with a bit of mashed chorizo in the center with a bit of spicy sauce.  I must admit that when it came, I had already forgotten that it's filling was chorizo and did wonder what the filling was.  Like the Croqueta, it was very crispy on the outside and the potato and chorizo mash is absolutely lovely on the inside.  And the sauce!  I made sure I use the fork to scrape every bit of it and ate it all.

Interestingly, it seems everyone that came to the place will either order at least one of those, or both.  I guess this must be the most popular dish of the place.

The next to come was Pollo - Chicken Skewer Grilled on Charcoal.  This came as a bit of a disappointment.  Taste-wise it wasn't bad, but the meat was too dry.  We were glad that we only ordered one rather than one each.

Then came the special, Gamba, which are pan-fried(?) Tiger Prawn with some kind of aioli...I really don't remember.  The menu was actually for three prawns only, but the waiter, seeing that we have two person sharing the meal, suggested that we can increase it to four prawns so that we can have two each.  The aioli sauce was very creamy but seems to lack a bit of bang to it.  The prawns also feels like they lacked a bit of salt.  But it did taste fresh and it was nice.

The other plate we ordered from the special menu was the Pato, which was a confit duck leg with some sauce with some vegetable...again, I really don't remember what it was exactly.  The duck leg was very nice, with crispy skin, and very tender meat that is literally off the bone.  The sauce, although I don't remember what it was, had a bit of a plum taste to it, kind of sweet, but not overpowering.  It was a very nice compliment to the duck meat.

Last to come was the dessert.  I was torn between this, or Churros Con Chocolate - which is Spanish Doughnuts with Rich Drinking Chocolate.  I was SO tempted to order the Churros, but thought that it might be too much with the rich chocolate.  So instead, I chose something lighter, the Blood Orange Sorbet.  I forgot what exactly it was called, I think it was something like Sorbet Sanguine.  Basically it was Blood orange sorbet, with Orange gel, mandarin, and Almond crumble.  As I imagined, it was a very light dessert, a very good finish to the meal.  The sorbet have a blood orange taste to it, but not too sweet or overpowering.  And oh I loved that almond crumble.

Overall, it was a satisfying meal.  I think I will come back for more, especially the Croqueta and the Bomba.  But one thing to keep in mind.  Better to come early than late.  Movida opens on Saturday at 12pm, and it was already packed full by 12.30pm...

Oh I love Pork Ribs

This week's weekend lunch place is The Meat & Wine Co.  My plan was to not eat too much main meal, and go for the grand dessert.

I wasn't going to get an entree at first, but then, I always love a good Beef Carpaccio, so, couldn't resist.   The beef was very tender and nice, but both me and mum thinks that perhaps that should be a bit more sauce and lemon juice.

For main, we had the full rack Pork Ribs, one of mum's favourite.  I wasn't going to eat much, since I was preparing for dessert, and I always kind of thought it's too much effort to eat ribs.  Not a lot of meat, but you get your hands all dirty.  But since I wasn't going to order a main for myself, I tried a bit. After all, I can't really just have dessert.  BUT!  I now realise how wrong I had been.  IT IS FANTASTIC!  I absolutely fell in love with the Pork Ribs!  Ah, how stupid have I been all these years... And as always, the chips are the best.

Here comes the "main" of the meal, the dessert.  The Grand Finale, which consists of a vanilla creme brûlée, a chocolate and pistachio fondante with vanilla ice-cream, a caramel and chocolate tart, and a white chocolate panna cotta.  Grand, isn't it?

As a side note, I also order a mocktail, called Evergreen.  I didn't go for a cocktail, since I had to drive.

Taste kind of refreshing, but a bit sweet, and definitely too much ice.......

La Petite Creperie

Last week on Postcards, they showed us the french crepe stand on Swanston Street.  Today, I went to check it out.

I ordered a Salted Caramel and Almond crepe.  The crepe was very thin, but the salted caramel can probably do with a bit more salt, but otherwise it's not bad.  May go and try something else next time.

Korean BBQ

In search for a new Korean BBQ place, yesterday me and mum went to White Tomato on Bourke Street to see how it is.

The first thing that I noticed is the unique look of the vacuum thing.

These are the kimchi, salad and sauces that came with the order.

We ordered a serve of marinated beef, and chilli pork belly.

This is how it looks when it's on the BBQ.  The vacuum is placed so low that it is quite hard to put the meat on.  The fire wasn't too hot, so it didn't burn the meat too quick, so that was good.

We also ordered the Mixed Seafood Pancake, but forgot to take a photo before we started eating...too hungry.

Overall, not too bad, but not too good as well.  We probably need to continue with our search for a good Korean BBQ restaurant.

Best Macaron in Melbourne

Dessert for the day - Macarons from Le Belle Miette.

Since I'm the only one eating it, I bought six.

Two salted caramel, which is my absolute favourite.  Two lemon, and two mango and coconut.

God I absolutely love the salted caramel.  I don't think I have had better salted caramel anything than this here.

Face on the coffee

A while back when I bought a new handbag, the salesperson told me that there was a coffee place in the city where they draw a face on your coffee instead of the usual leaf, heart shape.  So, I looked it up on the internet, and found the place - Manchester Press.

This is the outside of the place.  It's on a small side alley...no wonder I never spotted the place before...

And this, is the face.  It kind of looks like a man with a hat on, with big round eyes, and a long chin.  Kind of cute, isn't it?

A taste of Mexico

I took mum to Mamasita for lunch today.

This is the first time we have real (I think?) Mexican food.  The place wasn't very big, but was absolutely crowded.  It opens at 12pm, but when we arrived at around 12.15pm, it was already more than two-third full.... Next time remember to be REALLY on time and wait for it to open...

When we looked at the menu, we had no idea what we should get.  

We have no idea what they are, or what the sizes are like.  We basically knew nothing.  Luckily the staffs are very helpful, explained the menu to us, and even suggested on how many things we should get.  

On each table, there are two types of chilli sauce.

We didn't end up trying any of them.  After all, I am not that good with chilli sauce...

As a starter, we had Elotes callejeros, as suggested by the waiter.  On the menu, the explanation was, "Street Style" chargrilled corn, queso, chipotle mayo & lime.  

This was absolutely delicious!  The corn with the mayo sauce, the cheese on top, and the spice!  Oh! Delicious!  It was a very lovely start to the meal.  No wonder nearly everyone orders the corn.  

Then we had the Tostaditas de Cangrejo, meaning Crab meat, avocado, cucumber, tamarind mayo & habenero on fried tortillas.    

This was also very good.  The chilli taste didn't come at first, but after a bit, I could feel it heating up.  Not extremely, but a ting on the tongue.  Nice.  

The next to come was the Tacos.  At first we weren't going to get these.  But when I asked the waiter if he thinks what we ordered will be enough, he suggested that we should get a Tacos each.  So, we did.

The one in front is the Tacos de Camarones, which is Marinated prawns, red chilli & chipotle almond salsa.  The other one is the Tacos de Pescado - Grilled fish, lime, achiote paste, red onion salsa & chipotle mayo.  The Tacos also came with a small Salsa.  

The waiter told us that we were suppose to put this in the Tacos and eat it together.  Since the Tacos weren't that big, so we didn't share and just had one each.  I had the prawn, and mum had the fish.  This was also very tasty.  The Tacos itself was very good, the salsa was full of taste as well.  

Then it was the Torta y Quesadillas de Cordero - Braised lamb, queso criollo, mint & jalapeño herb sauce.   

This, was probably the let down of the meal.  The grilled tortillas was a bit hard.  Taste-wise though, it was good.  But I guess I prefer the soft Tacos more.  

The last to come was, of course, the dessert.  I had the Helado de maiz, which was just a sweetcorn ice cream cone, caramel, popcorn.   

It was nice ice-cream, but I probably won't have it next time.  After all, $6 was a bit expensive for a one scoop cone...

I really liked this place, and I look forward to going there again.  But maybe next time, we should go earlier, like, wait for it to open, so that we can sit at a table, and not at counter seats...

Best Parma in Melbourne

Yesterday I once again went to my favourite parma place in Melbourne, Mrs Parma.  Only to my slight disappointment, i found that they have changed their menu slightly... No more Swiss parma.....

Oh well, I like other parmas anyway.  So, I chose the Bolognese.  Mum, as usual, went for something simple and safe, chose Mushroom.

Ah, I love my parma.