Sydney weekend in May 1 - Lunch at Izakaya Yebisu

Izakaya Yebisu
10/501 George Street, Sydney

I managed to do that thing again last weekend, while we were in Sydney, where we ate at so many places that I simply got overwhelmed by the amount of blog posts I had to write. The end result is that I procrastinate and put it off and end up writing nothing. This weekend, I'm forcing myself to do some reviews before I forget everything and make it harder on myself.

Melb in May 6 - Brunch at Auction Rooms

Auction Rooms - Revisit
http://www.auctionroomscafe.com.au/

This post starts along the same vein of my rambling here where I talk about how impressive it is the number of Melbourne restaurants I've managed to cover in just a few trips. Most of these are around the CBD so imagine my surprise in seeing that I got taken to one in North Melbourne that I've already tried before.

Marc's friend Bakon who lives in Melbourne claimed that brunch was his favourite meal of the day. Happily, it's also mine. I was looking forward to see which venue he was taking us to. When we pulled up at the worn brick building, I got a distinct feeling that I'd seen it before. Lo and behold, it was where Mochi took Nina and myself during my 2012 Melbourne trip as our last meal before coming home. Coincidentally, this would again be my last meal before boarding the plane back to Brisbane.

Melb in May 5 - Dinner at Guhng

Guhng (the palace) Korean Restaurant
http://www.guhngkorean.com/

Now that I've developed a full-fledged Korean food addiction, I couldn't last a whole weekend without the stuff while I was in Melbourne. Marc's friend organised a group dinner for us and some other friends at Guhng for Saturday night.

Our table was for 8pm at night, which is a late dinner for me so even though I had been literally eating all day (here and here), I was ready for lots of meat by dinnertime. One of my best mates Howl met up with us beforehand and we had a couple of sneaky glasses of red before braving the Melbourne cold and walking to the restaurant.

Melb in May 4 - Lunch at The Hardware Societe

The Hardware Societe
118-120 Hardware Street, Melbourne CBD

My highschool friend TRex made the bold move to relocate her life to Melbourne. It was a big change but I don't think it was a high risk decision for her because this girl has Melbourne tattooed on her soul. I knew even before she officially changed addresses that she would suit the city like a duck to water. Everything that Melbourne is known for: culture, music, food and style, are just part of who she is. Needless to say, when we decided to meet up for lunch in her new hometown, I was keen to hear her recommendations.

I had heard of most cafes that TRex listed for us to try but I chose Hardware Societe because I have a slight personal vendetta with it. I once tried to go there (can't recall exactly which trip) but I literally just could not find the place. I have since mentioned this fact to other non-locals who have tried to eat there and they had the same issues. This time, TRex met me at DeGraves Place and we walked there together so I was in safe hands.

Melb in May 3 - Breakfast at Bowery to Williamsburg

Bowery to Williamsburg
16 Oliver Lane, Melbourne CBD

You would think that a big, satisfying dinner would leave me unenthused about breakfast the next day. I had a lovely, filling seafood meal at Claypots on Friday night and woke up starving on Saturday morning. If ever there was evidence that eating big quantities of food makes you want to eat more all the time, this would be it. I was so hungry that my persistent nagging forced Marc out of bed and out for breakfast with me, even though this is something he hates to do.

By the time Marc was finally ready to leave, I had already researched and mapped out the best and closest destination that would be open at the time. I chose Bowery to Williamsburg because it was a convenient stroll from our hotel. The cafe is located in a tiny alley called Oliver Lane, which is literally blink-and-you-miss-it. Typical Melbourne laneway culture.

Melb in May 2 - Dinner at Claypots

Claypots Seafood and Wine
213 Barkly Street, St Kilda

There is no one I trust more to give me a good restaurant recommendation than Mochi. Even though she hasn't lived in Brisbane for 2+ years now, I'll sometimes still take her word on where to go for breakfast or Asian cuisine. As my dining sista-from-anotha-mista, we have very similar taste and preferences in food. Whenever I visit Mochi's new home turf, Melbourne, I know that she'll have something good in store for us.

I act like a pure tourist when I leave Brisbane and as such, I've only stayed within Melbourne city. As far as I knew, the CBD WAS Melbourne and as built up and extensive as it is compared to Brisbane, I knew that it would have much more to offer. Mochi drove us out to St Kilda, an inner city suburb she described to us as the Melbourne equivalent of West End in Brisbane. The drive was longer than I expected, which highlights just how much geographically larger Melbourne city is than Brisbane city.

Melb in May 1 - Spicy Fish Restaurant Revisited

Spicy Fish Restaurant
209 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD

For someone who hasn't been to Melbourne THAT many times in her adult life, I sure get a lot of deja vu when I walk past the restaurants. Could it be that I'm such a glutton I've fitted into 3-4 trips what most people can't consume in their whole lifetimes? Whatever the case may be, I met up with Marc for lunch in Chinatown and walked past at least two restaurants that I pointed out as "I've eaten here before". Finally, I spotted Spicy Fish Restaurant and long story short, I had a dream about spicy fish literally the night before so it was exactly what I was in the mood for and we went in. It looked instantly familiar to me and when I did a quick search on my own blog, it was revealed that I had eaten there before (previous post here). Hungry Kittens might be useful for you readers in determining which restaurants to go to but it's also my own little memory bank for places I've been in the past.

This will be a short post because as soon as I realised it wasn't new, I didn't do my usual comprehensive set of photo snaps. I debated with myself whether to write another post at all but in the end decided to do so because the last one was from 2011 and also, I didn't get spicy fish that time. Actually eating the spicy fish at Spicy Fish Restaurant is important enough to write about.

Melbourne in May

The city of food and friends...

My lack of travelling this year is driving me nuts! I can't be the only who uses holidays as milestones for the year. How many of you guys keep telling yourselves "Only 3 months until Africa" (for example) to bait your soul after a long, tedious week? Having something to look forward to makes the bad parts of life bearable.

Because Marc and I are planning a big trip next year (not quite as big as 3 months in Europe but still big), we are making sacrifices this year to save, save, save. It all got so boring for me that I desperately searched for some interstate CPD courses I could do as an excuse for some 'light' travelling. A couple of my closest friends (shoutout to Howl and Mochi xoxo) have fled to Melbourne so that's where I aimed to go. Luckily I found something interesting that spanned across 2 days and thus, gave me a reason to book a long weekend away.

Birthday Weekend in Sydney Day 3 - Lunch at The Bunker

The Bunker
399 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst

On the last day of our recent trip in Sydney, Marc and I visited a dear friend of his in Darlinghurst. We popped into a local cafe there to catch up and feed/water ourselves. The name 'The Bunker' niggled at me for some time before I realized that there's a cafe in Brisbane called Bunker. I suppose with the limitations of imagination and likely words, there's bound to be some overlap for venue titles throughout the country.

The Bunker is a little cafe with a few long tables inside and some smaller tables outside. Marc and I started off sitting outside with a couple of coffees, waiting for the others to arrive. The day was sunny and hot, which is lovely if you're out on the beach but not so great if you're sitting without shade as your neck gets progressively crispier. Luckily, after some time, a table inside freed up and we eagerly migrated into the shade.

Birthday Weekend in Sydney Day 2 - Dessert at N2 Gelato

N2 Extreme Gelato
43/1 Dixon Street, Sydney CBD, NSW

I discovered something that I should've known all along. Like money, massages, jewellery and all those other things that you can't have TOO MUCH OF, gelato is something that I can eat indefinitely. Well, maybe until I explode.

After a supposed 'gelato fix' from Gelato Messina that sorted me out for barely one day, I was ready for MORE. Mochi had spoken of a gelato store that was very experimental and sciency. At first, I wasn't sold but we went there anyway and boy am I glad we did.

Birthday Weekend in Sydney Day 2 - Dinner at Home Thai

Home Thai Restaurant
http://sussex.homethai.com.au/

Saturday night was the crest of my birthday weekend in Sydney and I maintain even now that one of my favorite presents was getting to see my dearest Mochi! She and David had flown in from Melbourne so we were effectively 'meeting in the middle', geographically. Ya gotta love planes and how easy they make it to stay in touch with interstate buddies.

I love that even though Mochi's moved to Melb, her knowledge of the best eating spots transcends beyond her new home town. Heck, even when she comes back to Brisbane, she seems more clued in than me. Sydney was a no-brainer. Marc's lazy and I've fallen way behind the ball with knowing what's good so we left it all in Mochi's capable hands.

Birthday Weekend in Sydney Day 2 - Lunch at The Australian

The Australian Hotel
http://www.australianheritagehotel.com/content/eat

Marc took me to Toronga Zoo for my birthday and we had a wild (intended pun) time strolling along, snapping photos of animals and observing their odd behaviors. It's great on a day that I'm reminded I'm getting older (birthdays are no longer as innocent to me as they used to be) to feel like a child again, excited and rediculously energetic.

By the time we finished, our scones from The Tea Cosy had digested and we were starving. Walking and animal-spotting seems to be a high kJ-consumption activity! We were very keen to get back on a ferry for lunch.

Birthday Weekend in Sydney Day 2 - Breakfast at The Tea Cosy

The Tea Cosy Irish Tea Room
http://www.irishdesign.com.au/g/4145/the-tea-cosy---tea-room.html

It's awesome when stars align and things work out. I got really silly by the end of Friday night and was jumping up and down proclaiming that I 'must' have scones for breakfast the next day. I have a special relationship with scones. When I used to bake frequently, variety scones would pop up every second day. I love scones. When going to high tea, scones are my favorite tier. Forget fancy shmancy miniature tarts and macarons, give me a well made scone and plenty of cream and jam any day.

I was thrilled... THRILLED... to see that there was a tea shop in Sydney that was renouned for scones. In fact, they had a scone clock out the front indicating when the last batch was made. In this fashion, you were almost garunteed to have a freshly baked scone no matter when you sat down to order. Furthermore, we had plans to go to Toronga Zoo that day and The Tea Cosy was conveniently located at the Northern end of Sydney CBD. As I say, stars aligned.

Birthday Weekend in Sydney Day 1 - Dessert at Gelato Messina

Gelato Messina, Surry Hills
389 Crown Street, Surry Hills

I first saw mention of Gelato Messina on Sydney Urbanspoon. The Darlinghurst store was consistently in the Talk of The Town list. I then proceeded to forget all about it until I read a review on the Virgin Airlines inflight magazine. Apparently it claims the title of "Best Gelato in Australia" as voted by the Good Food Guide. I've mentioned in the past that if I could sustain myself on one type of food, ice-cream would be it (either that or bread). "Best Gelato" was not something I was likely to pass up.

The Surry Hills store of Gelato Messina was located near Il Baretto, where we had dinner on the Friday night. I think I may have subconsciously chosen Il Baretto because of its proximity to the gelato store. We can all see where my priorities lie.

Birthday Weekend in Sydney Day 1 - Dinner at Il Baretto

Il Baretto
http://www.ilbarettosydney.com/

It is absolutely typical of me to stretch my birthday out for as long as possible to maximize benefits/excuses. As well as a preluding one-week buffer of "Oh, it's my birthday, I can eat what I want" and a celebratory party with friends one whole month after the actual date, I gave myself a 3 day long weekend in Sydney crammed full of food excursions.

Melbourne in May 5 - Breakfast at Auction Rooms

Auction Rooms Cafe
http://www.auctionroomscafe.com.au/

On our last day in Melbourne, we could have either slept in and gone straight to the airport or wake up early and have breakfast somewhere on the way. Of course we chose to get breakfast.

Mochi had shown us 2 cafe options the night before and being lazy and indecisive, Nina and I  gave her the 'surprise us' routine. At 7:30am sharp, she picked us up from the city and off we went to our unknown destination.

Melbourne in May 4 - Dinner at Vegie Bar

Vegie Bar
http://www.vegiebar.com.au/

Something strange happened to me on the Sunday we were in Melbourne. After a ginormous meal from Vue De Monde, we went back to the hotel and napped. I woke up STARVING. What the heck? Did the food evaporate from my stomach? I WISH it were that easy. Who knows. Maybe my appetite just grew 10 fold. In any case, it was 8pm and I was growling for food.

Mochi arrived at our hotel with a short list of possible options. There had been talk of going to Chin Chin but the no reservation policy made things inconvenient. We called anyway and were told there was roughly an hour long wait for a table. Uh, no thanks. I'm not sure I'd wait an hour for a table on a normal day and especially not when I have a dire hunger situation happening.

Melbourne in May 3 - Lunch at Vue De Monde

Vue De Monde
http://www.vuedemonde.com.au/

This is the post I've been looking forward to the most, yet also dreading slightly. I have more photos from my meal at Vue De Monde than any other restaurant that I've been to. The reason for this is that our experience was about so much more than the food.

The moment we set foot on the 55th floor,  we felt like we were in another world. There are many photo repeats of the same dishes because I wanted to show the process and how they evolved.

Time to start from the beginning...

Melbourne in May 2 - Cockails and Tapas at The Long Room

The Long Room
http://www.thelongroom.com.au/

Mochi was our perfect Melbourne host, painstakingly planning our itinerary and arranging our shopping and dining trip. Our Saturday night was a large group event, starting with a late dinner in the form of tapas from The Long Room, followed by more cocktails (we ended up heading to 1806 for that).

A few of us were a bit hesitant about The Long Room as we headed down. It was located downstairs and had a nightclub feel to it. The cuisine was confusing, with a sushi bar immediately visible on the right and Spanish tapas items on the menu. It was East and West, not quite mixing into fusion cuisine, but rather, random dishes of both made available in one place.

Melbourne in May 1 - Chef Lagenda for Lunch

Chef Lagenda
http://cheflagenda.com.au/

I have seemingly gone straight from my Singaporean and Malaysian posts to Melbourne (there are several Melbourne restaurant posts to come), with a pitstop at De Vietnamien. If you think I've been busy, I've probably been even busier than you think. Truth is, my Sydney trip (Marque and Subsolo) came before Melbourne but I got those posts out of the way first.

These days, I seem to be spending an awful amount of time in airports. I booked Melbourne to take advantage of the QLD Labor Day long weekend and my friend Nina decided she could make it too. We were on different flights there but managed to score the same flight back. I usually transit through quite smoothly (although I do get selected for 'random' explosive checks and bag searches more than seems reasonable for a 'random procedure') but my flight to Melbourne wasn't so.

After an initial 30min delay, I boarded the plane (around when it was originally scheduled for take off). All the passengers all got comfortable in their seats and waited. And waited. After another 30min or so, we were instructed to disembark the plane. I had my earphones half in so I'm not sure exactly why - something about an unscheduled maintenance. The result was, I had to get my hand luggage again, get off the plane, walk to a different terminal, wait for a new plane and repeat the procedure.