Hardware Societe

Down a little laneway in Melbourne CBD, this little hidden gem of a cafe was a surprisingly delightful treat one Saturday morning. We ventured here after a Saturday morning dentist visit looking for a light and creative brunch meal. I had come once before during the weekday and though R would appreciate the mixed ambiance of modern/french/vintage and we are always suckers for a place that makes their own macaroons. 

I love the mismatched teacups and saucers that they serve their tea in and I deliberately ordered tea to experience the tea service. I especially love the little doughnut that they serve with every cuppa. I could eat a whole plate of those, but I guess the whole charm is that your taste buds are teased with that little burst of fried sugary dough and you don't have to feel guilty about indulging in a whole one. So you are left with room for another tasty treat. For breakfast I opted for the simple scrambled eggs which were perfect, creammy, not overdone or too runny. And R got the special duck omelet. I loved the simplicity, yet gourmet aspect of the whole meal, and of the place. We walked away with two of the macaroons, which we've rated the best in town so far. 

Its a tiny place, and increasing in popularity so be prepared to get cosy with the other patrons and maybe wait for a table. We sat outside, hanging out into the sidewalk, which isn't so picturesque (or tranquil), makes for a very urban experience, which isn't terrible. I would also say, its nice to stop into during the week for a quick gourmet bite, note - the menu is different on Saturdays. Not open on Sundays.

The Hardware Societe on Urbanspoon

Weekend antics

Man, Time is just flying by and it is already the middle of September. What have I been doing with myself. I keep myself pretty busy during the week with mundane household chores and the odd lazy hour splurge at my favorite cafe for a Chai (mostly just to get out of the freezing house). Now that the days are warming up, its nice to catch some real sunshine in the blooming neighborhood.

We had a visit from Lindy a few weekends back. It was nice to have some company. We took the opportunity to have a night on the town during Melbourne's Spring Fashion Week. First stop was a brief meal at a new favorite restaurant "Cookie" with friends. Very hip and trendy, right in downtown CBD. Again, its one of those places you need to book in advance (more than a day), but we did end up getting a table for a quick hour. Though we didn't get the chance to leisurely peruse the menu or eat a big meal, we sampled something small and promised to come back again. On recommendation from another food blog that had sparked my original interest in the place, I tried the betel leaves with some spicy chicken filling. Very tasty and the combination of tangy flavors really complemented each other. Its on my list of places to go again to really get the full experience. On this night, it was just nice to feel trendy for once. 

Then we caught a very strange launch party and showcase as part of Melbourne's Spring Fashion Week, and here we learned the true meaning of "low-brow". Poor Lindy, I think we've scarred her for life, with the cross-dressing/male models and their indecent exposure runway show, a wailing 80's band, outlandish low-brow fashions, and underground emo/hipster scene at the event. It was actually very hilarious. A little taste of some Melbourne culture. I'll post more pictures. 

Seven Seeds coffee

 Fabulous coffee just on the south side of Melbourne uni. I wandered over one day that I spent at the nossal institute and just had to return with Richard in tow. They roast the coffee on the premesis. Amazing aromas wafting around the warehouse structure. They do tastings on thursday mornings, only 8 ppl max, so you gotta book. The entrance is hidden, looks like just another warehouse on a street lined with them. But equipped with my handy iPhone google maps it was easy to find.

Good atmosphere, good food, though limited menu (no bacon ) it's an interesting menu nonetheless. We were seated pretty quickly, though it was hopping on a Saturday morning. Be prepared to get cost with other patrons if you get seated at the larger tables. Thumbs up from me. Too bad it's a bit too far. If I venture that way again I want to try the new "Pope Joan".

Date nights in chinatown: Hutong Dumpling Bar and Bubble Tea

Hutong Dumpling Bar                               Xiao Long Bao

Chili Wantons

These days we like to venture into the cbd to cheer ourselves up with tasty Asian treats - that I would never be able to make at home. We've found our favorite spots:

Hutong for Dumplings
a little Asian bakery on the corner of Swanston and Little Bourke St for Egg Custard Tarts (Richard's favorite)
and
InfoBooth for the best BUBBLE TEA

We finally we made it to Hutong Dumpling Bar a few weeks ago and we have since gone back a few times. It is absolutely the best for dumplings, specifically the Xiao Long Bao, which we often crave on a dreary, cold rainy day. These are steamed little dumpling sacs filled with a pork/ginger meatball and its delicious/piping hot broth. Dip it in soy + fresh ginger and it warms you to the core. Its like soup wrapped up in the delicate dumpling pastry. Its a bit tricky to eat, you need a few different utensils, chopsticks, soup spoon, dipping bowl. Take one bite, suck out a bit of the broth before eating the whole thing otherwise you'll end up with a scalded mouth as the broth explodes in your mouth all at once. And you have to eat them while they are fresh and hot. Don't eat too many or you will overdose on pork fat.

The chili wontons here are good as well. Wouldn't recommend the noodle soups though, the noodles are a bit like 50C ramen noodle packs. We've learned that we really only need the dumplings and then we make our way to the bakery for custard tarts (best when fresh out of the oven which we've only managed to get once) and then to InfoBooth for Bubble Tea. We eat our way through Chinatown in one night.




BUBBLE TEA! An amazing concept of tea with tapioca balls. It comes in many different flavors with a dollop of tapioca balls that make a warm milky tea so much more fun to drink. I like it because its Non-dairy and non-coffee. We found the best at this shop, its an Asian bookstore/coffee shop (tea shop rather) popular among the large Asian youth population that abounds in this city. I think its called InfoBooth, open late, just next door to Shanghai Village Dumpling. One step inside and you might as well be in Beijing (or hong kong as far as I can tell - Sorry). First time there, I just asked for "the good one" (milky and warm) which turns out to be oat milk fume tea with pearls. They use this cool machine to laminate a plastic film onto the top that securely seals the hot drink until it's punctured by the wide straw, wide enough to fit the tapioca pearls through. This drink is perfect in this cold miserable weather. Last Saturday, craving our cozy beverage, we were disappointed to find them out of the bubbles, so we ended up wandering around looking for another place. But InfoBooth is the best. And thats enough about Bubble tea.

Happy Chinese New Year - Bringing in the year of the Tiger

It was also Chinese new year over the weekend. We needed to get out of the house on Saturday so we decided to spend our going-out fund the night before Valentines on something I've been craving for a long time. I've actually been dying to try Hu Tong Dumpling bar that everyone has been raving about, but they were only offering a $100 pp special New Years Banquet which was a little too much for us. So we settled on a more budget option just for an experience, at a recommended place on Urbanspoon. Shanghai Village Dumpling in the middle of Chinatown.

The place is nothing special, a quick chinese food causal hangout offering gobs of the same ole dumplings any way you like - steamed, fried, soupy - at cheap prices. We were definitely not complaining, I was commenting on how the simple concept is not common in the States, and it should be. Its would be so easy and so cheap. (I'm sure there are places like this in the States and I have just been too sheltered until now. Tell me where they are.) Lots of people seem to frequent the place before a night out, which is a great idea. They also have main courses of popular chinese food, but I have never had success deciphering the menu - being accustomed to American version of Chinese. Never heard of a General Tsao here. I was hoping for Spicy chicken in a brown sauce and instead got fried, crunchy dry chicken and rice - (no sauce). Still good though. And we ended up with way too much dumpling in our faces so we took the rest home. Photos are post dive-in with a fucked camera phone (I couldn't figure out how to un-zoom the touch screen til later on in the night - Its a 3 finger tap guys).

Caught the dragon blessing all the restaurants along the street and got some video that I can upload later. Firecrackers, and parade. Far from a New Orleans Mardi Gras (Which I am sorely missing by the way), but we were entertained for the night.  

Mahjong for Dim Sum

Inspired by Urbanspoon reviews of Tasty Dim Sum joints in the City, I was craving little steaming dumplings of goodness. However, I wasn't prepared to travel all the way into the CBD from St. Kilda during rush hour to wait in line at the apparently popular HuTong Dumpling place that everyone is raving about. So that place remains on my wishlist. But to satisfy my craving in the short term we attempted the well-reviewed Mahjong Dim Sum Restaurant close by on Fitzroy Street. Only since coming to Australia did I come to understand the Dim Sum concept, though I am sure this simple idea of serving steamed/fried dumplings and wanton pockets filled with delightfully light Asian flavors is popular in the States as well and am surprised I haven't found good places there yet. Its on my To-Do List. I was pleased to find the Dim Sum subcategory in the Urbanspoon search options to easily filter through the masses of eateries in this city.

Once there, we dived into one of the preselected banquets which include steamed dumplings, peking duck, fillet steak, etc (The menu appears below) along with a few extra tastes. Let me just say that I love dumplings!, the way the secret steaming contents explode in your mouth with their subtle brothy flavors, though at this restaurant I found that I could not differentiate the fillings from one kind of dumpling to another and they soon became monotonous. I have a feeling that the dumplings and wantons are all filled with the same unexciting pork mixture. The fillet steak that followed was awesome and I am a big fan of the peking duck, lots of flavor and I wanted more. My biggest complaint however for Mahjong, was the slow service which, by the end of the meal, slowed down to non-existent. I think they forgot about us and we had to fetch our own bill to get the hell out of there. Rated fairly high, I was anticipating yummy goodness at this Dim Sum Restaurant, unfortunately I think my expectations were a little too high. Though I definitely won't give up on Dim Sum and look forward to my HuTong experience which I predict will come very soon.

Australia day

January 26th is the first holiday of the new year, some kind of national day that sparks the question "what does australia day stand for?" in local media. It is apparently surrounded by controversy as this is the anniversary date of the arrival of the first fleet into Sydney so many years ago. Fleet contained 11convict ships starting the British colonization of this island. Some call the day "invasion day". But regardless it does mark the beginning of what Australia has turned into today and despite all my grumblings and complaints about annoying australianisms this country is pretty darn well off and there is much potential to achieve so much for every ordinary citizen. Also a promise land for those escaping injustices and hardships elsewhere in the world. Anyhow it turns into another excuse for a barbecue and long holiday weekend.

We took the opportunity to go camping in this foreign land. Bear Gully towards Venus Bay and Wilsons Promenade. Got there late, missed out on getting a spot and set up camp in a "no-camping" zone until the morning when we were forced out by the ranger. A True Aussie bloke, Daryl, was kind enough to share his site with us. So we didn't have to move far and waste too much time. Went straight for the beach but not for long due to the chilly wind and flies. Not much of a swimming beach, rather a nice rugged setting good for exploring amongst the rocky shoreline and collecting shells. I found the tiniest perfect shells inspiring a crafty color palette in my future projects. Amidst the rugged lansdscape I'm afforded a glimpse of the unique native Australian animals: the wombat (much bigger than the cuddly  toys you can buy in the stores), possums, roos, koalas and the variety of bugs that may or may not be harmful. Seeing these I am reminded of all the dangerous creatures that inhabit this land and am amazed that the first colonists/invaders/convicts were able to progress to our current condition. Kudos to those ancestors.

Back in time to enjoy a lazy Australia day with a late breakfast at GALLEON CAFE just down the road. Apparently a St Kilda institution having good coffee and funky vibe. Yum! A stroll down Fitzroy street to the beach and a genuine australian burger complete with pineapple, fried egg, beetroot, and bacon from BURGER EDGE over in Brighton. Also very yum! A busy and far-reaching holiday weekend. Relaxed, explored, and ticked off a few gastronomic sites/subjects off my very long "to eat" list during my Inaugural Australia day experience. Happy Australia day!

I CARUSSI II

Pizza bar

The next stop on our foodie trail is just down the street in our St Kilda neighborhood. We've been eyeing the white tablecloths and Parisian chairs in this bustling establishment for a few months now and finally we go for a test. Lately We've been unwilling to go out and pay for pizza since Richard has been experimenting with his own pizza dough in the kitchen. But his attempts have been lackluster as of late and we were lazy after a weekend away camping (always tiring). Despite the crowd we quickly got a table outside on busy Barkly St. Not ideal but good enough. Casual setting. Limited but gourmet Italian wine list. We proceeded to gorge ourselves on the amazingly delicious artisan pizza. I went for a new flavor the Genovese while Ricardo went for a Quattro Formagio with added sorpressa. Each about 12 inches. They were gone by the time we left, which wasn't very long. We won't order our pizzas from anywhere else again and Richard got some new ideas for the homemade versions. A success just meters from our front door. A simplistic gourmet experience. Next time we know to make a reservation and will be ready to try out another new flavor until I am sure of my favorite. Though don't arrive hungry because the pizza making process can be slow, but I say its worth it. 

Friday night out at BOIRE, before Avatar

Friday night we did something interesting and actually went out on the town on a date, pre-planned with tickets and everything. Richard has been dying to see Avatar in 3D and the show has been sold out every week at the Imax, so I booked a week in advance and planned to catch a scrumptious dinner beforehand someplace new in the neighboring area. With our "Good Food Guide 2010" in hand we ventured out to Fitzroy (after spending two hours in front of the mirror wondering what to wear). After much deliberating we ended up at BOIRE, a little bohemian french-type bistro/wine-bar on the edge of Collingwood and Fitzroy that promised a new eating experience. No reservations are taken, apparently there is no phone, and no extensive menu to choose from. All options are listed daily on the wall - only French wines are served, 2 mains are offered in addition to a small selection of entrees and desserts. Prices were very reasonable (except for the $3 boiled egg entree) so Richard and I could easily afford a 3-course meal of rustic french fare for around $100 (including my 2 $12 glasses of red wine - we just bought a bottle of organic shiraz for the price of 1 glass of the french import). But I guess its all about the experience which was decidedly very tasty. Richard ordered mini cheese fingers followed by the free-range chicken main. I got the pate entree and a hearty Provencale Vegetable stew in Pistou sauce, very yum, to go along with my flowery/rosy pinot noir. We ended with delightfully authentic Profiteroles and a light rhubarb jelly. I loved how all the ingredients were carefully selected as free-range, organic, or from a specific region. The atmosphere was basic with few tables and the napkins dispensed from wall mounts, but also classy with vintage glass lamps hanging from the ceiling and simple/clean line furniture. I liked how the centre of the round tables could be removed to make space for a recessed wine bottle storage and cooler. Little touches make all the difference, we will definitely eat there again.


Avatar was awesome. Very visually stimulating. The 3D experience was intense. Story line very relevant to today's climate change issues and I'm a sucker for a happy ending. Total thumbs up from us. And a successful date night in our new city.