A day at Westfield Doncaster

One lovely Sunday, me and my sister decided to go to Westfield Doncaster for some shopping.  But knowing how crowded the food court would be at lunch time, we decided to first have some lunch.

When we got to the food court area, we noticed that Schnitz was now opened, and so we decided to give that a try to see how that's like.  After going through the very much confusing menu, we decided to go with the simplest, Schnitzel and Chips.  Since the server was so nice and keep suggesting we should have a sauce to go with it, we got the Sweet Chilli Mayo sauce as well.  So, how was it?  Well, it was, umm, nice.  But not great.  The schnitzel was real chicken meat, not those schnitzel that you normally get at food court, so that was a good thing.  But it just wasn't special.  The chips were nice, but again, just nothing amazing about it.  I had better else where.  The sweet chilli mayo sauce was just too sweet, not really worth it.

We also got a Pork Curry rice from Hanaichi to share.  We had already had this many times and had liked it every single time.  True, it was not the best Curry Katsu, but for what it's worth, it's a good enough meal.  One reasonable sized fried pork, lots and lots of nice curry sauce, and loads of rice.  For a food court meal, it was real good value.

After completing our shopping, we decided to have some afternoon tea at Koko Black.  At first, we were just going to get coffee and hot chocolate, but once I saw the menu, I just couldn't stop myself and ordered the Belgian Spoil... As usual, it was absolutely delicious, every aspect of it.  Heavenly.  There's just no other word.

And as usual, I just couldn't stop myself when I see desserts and sweets, so I also ordered a Soy Hot Chocolate, and my sister had a cappuccino.  The soy chocolate was actually quite nice, not as rich as the normal hot chocolate, but I guess that's just right for me that day.  I might have this again next time.

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...

Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio

Last weekend, while lunching at South Yarra, I went down to Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio to get some cakes.  

When we got there, it was quite full of people, which was never the case when we previously went there.  

When we looked a little closer... Surprise! Surprise!  Hey! Aren't those two girls there from MasterChef??  Kylie and Julia, I think.  Apparently they were, well, doing something there.  Kylie seems to be talking to people around, offering tasting ice-creams, which unfortunately, I didn't get to taste.  And Julia, seems to be making some desserts in the kitchen area.  But there were so many people there, we decided we didn't want to stay long to see what they're doing, so we picked our cake, and left.  

This is the Smoked white choc, coffee, aniseed, lemon cake.  

As always, it came with a sheet of paper with the description of each part of the cake.  To tell the truth, I have always loved B&P's cake, but this one, I did find it, well, good, but not that good.  Maybe it's the sour components of the cake too overpowering for me, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as I did with the previous cakes I had there.  

This is the Salted Caramel & Chocolate Eclair.  

I really liked this Eclair, but with the salted caramel cream filling inside, it was actually quite filling, especially when you try to finish it all by yourself.  Also, I did found that the salted caramel cream filling seems to be too buttery in taste.  The butter taste kind of overwhelmed the whole cream filling...

I have always wanted to try this meringue thing they put on a stack on the counter, and this time, I decided I am going to try it.  This is called the Strawberry cloud.  The outside is crispy and the inside is kind of chewy.  It's a bit sugary, so a bit sweet if you eat it alone, but if you have it with coffee or tea, it's actually quite a good match.  

Chez Olivier

This saturday, we went to a French restaurant in Prahran for our weekly lunch, and to celebrate my sister's birthday, which, was back in May...

Chez Olivier is very closed to the Prahran market, only a few minutes walk.  It's a nice little cozy restaurant.

The decorations are simple, but with a french touch.  The waiters also all spoke with a french accent, which was interesting.  I think we even overheard them speaking in french amongst themselves.

The complimentary bread was very nice, had a crisp outside with a very soft center.  The butter was a bit hard and difficult to spread, but otherwise tasted very good.  And the sea salt that came with the bread add a very nice touch as well.

For entree, I had the Seafood Bisque Soup.  It was very thick and creamy, and full of seafood flavour.  This is the first time I had bisque soup, and sure this won't be the last time if this is what bisque taste like.  Pity that we had already finished the bread, or else I would definitely have used the bread to soak up every little last drop of the soup.  The soup also came with one mussel and one large prawn.  The mussel was quite small, but the prawn was large and cooked perfectly.  Cooked, but still very juicy.  Loved that prawn.

My mum and my sister both had Soup a l'oignon aka Onion Soup.  I had a little taste from my sister's soup, and it was quite nice, but a little to the sweet side.  It's still very good, but I have had better else where.

After the three serve of the entree came out, the waiter then bought us something we didn't order.  He explained to us that because the cheese souffle that my dad had ordered will take a little longer (which was only another five minutes), they are giving us this little dish for free.  I forgot what exactly this dish was, but I think it was sardine on red capsicum with a piece of biscuit on the bottom, and some greens on the side.  It was fresh and simple.

Dad chose the Entree of the Day, which was a Goat Milk Cheese Souffle with Pumpkin coulis and greens on the side.  OMG!  This was MAGNIFICENT!  It was very cheesy but without the goat milk taste that I dislike.  And sooooo soft, fluffy and light.  Absolutely what souffle should be like.  ARGH! I should have had this!!  I should have had BOTH!

For main, I chose the Boudin Blanc - Chicken Sausage with caramelised apple and creamy mash potato.  I had always wanted to try boudin blanc, but never had the chance.  The dish didn't disappoint. The boudin blanc was very moist and soft, unlike normal sausage.  It's a little like those japanese fish sausages I had when I was small, only more moist and even softer.  The mash, oh the mash.  It was so soft, so creamy!  I always love a good mash, and I love this mash.

Dad picked the Main of the Day, which was braised lamb with vegies and creamy mash potato and bread.  I didn't taste this dish, but it did look very good.

Mum had the Brochette de Boeuf Grille - Grilled beef skewer with pomme frites and Salads.  I tried a piece of the beef, and it was quite nice, but I suppose, not really special.  And it did seems that, although the overall serving was not small, it would have been better if there were more meat.

My sister had the Salmon of the day, which was seared salmon with capsicum on a skewer with Cauliflower coulis.  I tried a bit of the salmon, and it tasted very nice.  But the highlight of the dish was definitely the cauliflower coulis.  It was very creamy and tasteful.

For dessert, dad once again picked the Dessert of the Day, which was poached pear in chilli red wine sauce.  It looked very amazing, but the pear seems to be not poached enough.  It wasn't as soft as I would like it to be.

I have never had poached meringue before, and this Ill Flottante definitely made me want to have it again.  The meringue was light and fluffy, absolutely amazing  And the sauce, the vanilla custard sauce was such a perfect match to the poached meringue.  Not too sweet, but just right, and not overpowering.

Overall, it's a very nice restaurant that I would go back to.  We had the set course lunch and the price and serving size was a good match.  Not extraly expensive, but definitely enough to make you full.

However though, next time we go there, we must remember to have tap water rather than mineral water...  We did realise that we do need to pay for the mineral water, but no idea it was $11 for a bottle...and we had two...  And probably we would do fine without having extra sides as well, since the set lunch is already quite enough.

Cacao Macaron

From reading foodie blogs, I heard that the macarons from Cacao is just as good as those from Le Belle Miette, and the price are around the same.  So, since I was in the CBD area on Saturday, I decided to give it a try for a change.  

Shown in the photo above are, from left to right, Peanut butter and Chocolate, New York Cheesecake, Cookie n Cream, and Passion Fruit.  

The second box, which has two macaron in it, are Creme Caramel and Salted Caramel.  

I had great expectation for the Cookie n Cream flavour, since I always loved Cookie n Cream ice-cream, but to my disappointment, I found that while it is nice, it really did lacked a bit of a "wow" to it.  You can taste cream, but not really any cookie flavour.  The Passion Fruit was, well, passion fruit.  Nice flavour, big sour bang, but I guess it's not a very unique flavour.  New York Cheesecake! Wow!  That really did taste like a piece of rare cheese cake.  Nice and creamy.  I really did enjoy this one.  The Creme Caramel, umm, I don't really remember what it tasted like, other than it wasn't bad... However I must note that this particular one, was obviously smaller than all the other macaroons......bad quality control??  The Salted Caramel, was nice, but in my opinion, not as good as the one from Le Belle Miette.  I think it's not "salty" enough.  

HOWEVER, the absolute highlight, is definitely the Peanut Butter and Chocolate.  It tasted like, well, peanut butter and chocolate, but when it mixes together, it reminds me of a drink back from Hong Kong that I hadn't drank for many many years......ah, brings back good memories.  

So, taste-wise, I agree that it does taste quite good and is of the same kind of quality as Le Belle Miette.  But I personally like Le Belle Miette more, but I will definitely come back for more Peanut Butter and Chocolate and New York Cheesecake.  

Afternoon tea @ Koko Black

After shopping around at Chadstone, we decided to have afternoon tea at Koko Black.

This winter, they have this Chocolate Choux Pastry as the special.

It's a chocolate choux pastry with raspberry.

This is how it looks when you cut it up.  It has custard and some raspberry coulis inside.  I really liked it.  But god it's expensive.  $5.50 for one.

This is the Chocolate Florentines.  It basically a chocolate disc with almond, pistachio, and dried raspberry.

And since I was getting hot after shopping around, I decided to have the iced chocolate, which I kind of regretted afterward... It's not that it's not good.  It was very very delicious.  But it was so rich and so big that I was so full after finishing it...I could barely walk...

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.

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.

Sweets I ate recently

This is the White Chocolate Cheese cake from Le petit gateau on Lt Collins Street.  Absolutely beautiful.

These are macarons from Lindt Cafe shop.  They're not bad, but I personally think the macarons of La Belle Miette on Hardware Lane is better, especially the Salted Caramel. Yum.

This is the fresh cream cake from Bread Kingdom @ The Glen.  It's not top top quality stuff, but it's much cheaper than the top quality stuff, and it's nice enough.