Sardi

 On a lazy Sunday when D and I decided to  to brunch and got Miss P to come along with us too. Since Bear was back in Sydney, we got CB to come along as well. Sardi was the pick since it was kinda in a middle ground for us (well not really for me, but I really wanted to try it).

CB bought the pup along the lucky for us, the people at Sardi were nice enough to put a table outside so pup could come with us.

We were handed a menu with lots of choice, I would usually get a soy latte but I spotted matcha latte on the menu and just had to try that (CB was in the same boat), Miss P got the latte. Neither were mindblowing.

Miss P has previously been here with Bear and said great things about the fried chicken burger. Her and D both picked the chicken burger for this visit. The chicken burger came with cabbage slaw, pickles and a side of sweet potato chips. We agreed that the chicken burger was one of the best  chicken burgers we have tasted. The flakey batter on the tasty chicken breast and the slaw cut through the heaviness nicely. It got a bit messy to eat but it was so tasty, the mess was worth it.

CB had difficulty deciding but in the end she decided on the superfood breakfast bowl. This came with loaded with green goodness, asparagus, avocado, poached egg, almond dukkah and buckhinis. It was dressed with lemon and parsley. This had a fresh healthy taste but added crunch to it. Great for any friends who are health geeks, personally I think it needed some salmon or bacon...... mmmmm bacon.......

I was the definition of a pig, I ordered 2 things, mainly because when my first dish came out, it looked small and I had food envy looking at D and Miss P's burger. My first dish was the breaky board. I have recently taking a liking to ordering breaky boards, as they offer a variety for indecisive people like myself. Sardi's breaky board came with mini croissant with rhubarb jam, granola, corn fritter with smashed avocado. This was suppose to come with a coffee as well but I never got it and they charged for the other 3 coffees that we ordered. This was the most disappointing dish out of everything we ordered for the day. The croissant and corn fritters was quite ordinary. I asked for soy instead of full cream milk and it took them ages to get it for me. I had to remind them, and it came when I almost finished the whole dish.

The other dish I ordered was the wild mushroom ragout. This was a creamy mushroom served on sour dough with kale, parmesan and poached eggs. It really didn't need the poached eggs, on it's own it would have been enough, it was very filling and reminded me of a mushroom risotto for breakfast but instead of rice it was with bread. I found it very enjoyable.

Overall 15.5/20 With the exception of being charged for a coffee I never got, it was an overall good place to catch up with friends. most of the food was dished up nicely.

Baba Sus

Living in a new suburb gives me an excuse to look for new places to eat. So I got inquisitive and found Baba Sus. Located near Burwood station it was a close, new local cafe for me to try out.

After a whole morning of assembling furniture I gathered, K, R and D for a big brunch feast. We sat down and started with the drinks. Baba Sus offered green tea latte so K and I wasn't going to let that opportunity pass. It was not as strong as I would like it to be, but still enjoyable. There as strong evidence they used matcha powder and not green tea syrup like chain stores.


D and R got a their usual latte. Smooth notes but nothing outstanding.

When it came to ordering, R and I immediately knew we wanted to try the Hong Kong waffles. It's not easy to come across Hong Kong waffles in Australia and the novelty of it dressed up and served as breakfast. The green tea waffle was crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It came served with green tea ice cream, berry compote, vanilla custard and praline. I liked the novelty spin on a classic Hong Kong street snack to a breakfast dish. The elements worked well and I would happily have it again. I told mum about it and she went the following week and started to become a regular there too.

D got the waygu burger, it came with usual suspects of tomato, lettuce, onion jam, pickle, cheese, chilli mayo and served with a side of lime kaffir chips. The wagyu burger was tasty and cooked just right.

I was a bit of a glutton and I ordered a puffed rice granola for D and I to share. It came with coconut yogurt pana cotta (a current favorite of mine), poached nectarines, berries, almonds and other fresh fruit. It may sound basic but I loved this. The freshness along with the crunch and yogurt made it nice and balanced.

K got the corn and zucchini croquette. It came with cure salmon, poached eggs, beans and herb aioli. Nice and crisp on the outside and with the salmon, it was a breakfast I'll happily eat on a regular basis. Just wish there was more salmon on the plate.

Overall 16/20 I was happy with the menu variety and most were executed well. Only thing is the service was a tad slow. I told mummy about it and it has now become a regular brunch place of her. I won't complain, I'll gladly visit again.

Vue de Monde

Since Mario missed out on coming here for his b'day due to me being away for work and Bear has decided to pack his bags and head back to his hood, thought it was the perfect excuse to hit up Vue De Monde for a belated birthday and farewell. So the burger crew were all for a degustation at VDM with no hesitation.

As a bit of a background, VDM is one of the premier fine dining experiences in Melbourne and getting a booking can be a challenge at times. They only offer a degustation menu but they do have an option of a 5 or 10 course. Being the nature that we are, we opted for the 10 course.

First up was what they called snacks. It was an assortment of nibbles that started with a salt and vinegar crisp with macadamia puree. Quite interesting, I've never thought to eat my crisp this way, I can see why it was paired up with the sour and creaminess.

 Smoked eel, white chocolate with caviar. It looks like a toffee but as you bite into it, the smoke eel flavour comes through to offset the sweetness in the white chocolate shell.

BBQ lamb heart with pineapple and duck tongue with pepper. This was not something that I had expected in fine dining. Both were cooked in a way that when you taste it, it is not what you expect it to be. It tasted like refined BBQ meat and unless told, you won't think that it was a non traditional part of the animal.

Oysters were served with smoked salmon caviar. They oyster was fresh and creamy.

Salt cured wallaby was next. It was presented on a bed of Himalayan pink salt rock and rolled up with a drop of herb puree. This wild game was distinctive with it's strong flavours.

Last of the snacks was the garden greens with pine smoked salmon pearls. The micro vegetables with the intense burst of flavour from the salmon pearls was an interesting combination to highlight the complementing aspects of one from the other.

Next was the barramundi with potato, caviar and chicken puree. The fish was succulent and fresh, the light crumb crust was enough for a crunch but not enough to over power it. The quince sauce tied together beautifully.

Kangaroo smoked over Japanese oak. The game flavours were balanced out with the smoky scent and pepper. The pickled onions gave the tang to cut through the meatiness.

Blackmore waygu, bone marrow and salt bush.  Mmmmm succulent, tender wagyu, my only complaint was, I wanted more on the plate.

Next came the pallet cleanser. Wood  sorrel came out in a small bowl, then liquid nitrogen was poured over it and the table to snap freeze and dry it. We were then ask to pound it so it became a fine crumb. Once it was nice and fine, the waiter dished a scoop of cucumber sorbet. This was theatrical and very refreshing.

Butter and bread was served after the cleanser, you might be wondering why am I talking about bread here. Well, I'm more talking about the butter. The hand churned butter was amazingly soft and silky. It took the sourdough, to the fine dining level for bread.

Eggs and toast was next, it was duck egg yolk, truffle and pear. The yolk was oozing out from under the pear and the truffle provided that salty hit.

Marron, brown butter and lemon jelly. This was my favorite dish out of the 10 course. The delicate flavour of the marron was accentuated by the brown butter. Then finished with the lemon jelly it was a good way to round up the flavors with a strong citrus hit.

Ox tongue, beetroot bone marrow. This was served with a powdered creme fraiche, the texture came out looking dry but the moment it hit your mouth, it melted and it taste like creme fraiche that just came out of the fridge. The beetroot and ox tongue were combined and when eaten together with the creme fraiche it was a combination of meaty, creaminess and laced with beetroot.

Kingfish with deep fried kale and buttermilk, this was so pretty I didn't want to ruin the plate up. The crisp kale and kingfish taste great together. Kingfish is one of my favorite fish when it comes to seafood, this one was paired with the rocket oil, mild bitterness. I loved it.

Next was the start of the desserts and it was started with a pallet cleanser of butternut, sunflowers and passionfruit. The combination does not sound like a typical pallet cleanser, but it did the job with the sweetness in the passionfruit.

The goat's milk with fennel and blueberries was next. This came with a sugar crystal that you break. The texure was like a panna cotta cross a creme brulee but served cold with shards of sugar crystal.

Tonka bean souffle with smoked chocolate ice cream. I saw quite a few of these come out of the kitchen during the meal and I was really looking forward to it. Souffle is one of those things I really enjoy but too lazy to make myself. The souffle came served with the ice cream served on table and a spoonful shoved into the centre of the souffle. Personally, I preferred it on the side as the ice cream melted too quickly inside the souffle and it didn't give me a lot of time to finish it.

Next part was my favourite part of the dessert, we got an assortment of cheeses. Since there was 4 of us, we got a large selection to try. The waiter gave us a generous range of goat, cheddar, blue, soft, white wash. Then it was pair with a cracker or fruit crisp bread. We had so much fun tasting the range and moving from the mild side to the real stinky blue. My favorite was the truffle brie, highly recommend it.

Finally it was the last course and this was a petite 4, This included penny jellies made with whiskey, menthol ice cream, sea shell chocolate with pork crackling and lamington.

Since it was an event for both Mario and Bear, the staff at VDM helped us celebrate with a beautiful message.

The service was impeccable. They did everything within their power to make the experience unforgettable. We got a goodie bag to take home afterwards and also they offered to take photos for us to keep the memory after we went home. 

Overall 19/20 it was a fantastic experience. I can fully appreciate why it has the status of being Melbourne's finest. Some of the things that sounded ordinary on the menu but tasted superb or sounded oddly paired but turned out to be a brilliant idea.

Aqua S

After months of seeing this pop up on my Instagram, I finally got myself there to see what all the fuss is about. Prior visiting I had heard a range of opinions from "it's amazing" to "just a gimmick". I was keen to see myself and I was in the area so WTH, I gave it a go.

I got there at 12 and saw 3 girls playing around behind the counter. Besides the girls I also saw a fairy floss maker, popcorn maker and a huge tray of toasted marshmallows. The flavors of the moment were their famous sea salt, chocolate and pomegranate. I was really disappointed as I wanted to try their melon flavour but sadly that was weeks before I made my visit.

They offered a range of topping such as popcorn, fairy floss, popping candy and toasted marshmallow I settled for sea salt and pomegranate with fairy floss and popcorn. I didn't really know what to expect with sea salt soft-serve, it reminded me of dipping my fries in a soft serve at Macca's. It wasn't bad at all. The pomegranate was tangy and sweet. However to me the highlight was the fairy floss and how pretty it was.

I'm not sure it's a place I'll frequent but the fairy floss was fun and it's one of those dessert that make very pretty photos.

Overall 15/20 I would happy to  go back to try it again if a flavour of my interest pops up.

Combi

Combi has been a place I have wanted to visit for a long time. I have been working hard at staying active and eating well (except the times I'm eating burgers and ice cream) so when I saw they offered a range of vegan breakfast options and colourful smoothies, I was very keen to try. They are located in Elwood so it's not close or far for me, so it made a nice Sunday drive. I went there on 2 occasions as I couldn't fit in all the smoothies and bowls I wanted to try in one visit.

When I told D that we were going to a vegan, raw food brunch place he instantly scrunched up his nose but he was a good sport and gave into my nagging. To start off I got the green mylk (green tea latte) for us to share. This was made with almond milk, sweetened with honey and finished with a dash of cinnamon. Normally I am a big fan of green latte with soy, so I was slightly hesitant to try almond milk. The flavour was slightly nutty and surprisingly still had the same amount of creaminess. The matcha flavour was more on the light side but still strong enough for the aromas to come through.

I also got a smoothie, there was no way I could turn down that opportunity. I've seen many photos on instagram and they always look delicious and colourful. I didn't feel too adventurous so I just got the mango shack which was a mango, banana, mint, coconut flesh, camu camu, nut mylk with added protein. The smoothie was rich and filling. It had a full body mango and banana taste with the texture of coconut flesh blended in. I can now understand why people in Elwood go nuts over the smoothies here.

For our second visit I got the liquid passion. Normally I'm not a passionfruit fan but I was a sucker for the pretty colours and I love berries and mango. This was not as sweet as I had hoped it to be, more on the tangy side but it was very refreshing. Again it had protein powder, nut milk and coconut flesh so it was a heavy smoothie.

D for blue moon, which as the name suggest is a blueberry based smoothie. It had chia seed, banana, coconut flesh and protein powder. This was just as heavy but less tangy compared to the liquid passion. I quite liked this one and it Combi was closer, it is something I'll happily have for breakfast every morning.

Despite all the heavy smoothies, I still managed to get a bite in on both occasions. The acai bowl caught my eye. Acai bowls have been a new favorite breakfast of mine. I was sucked in by the super food promise but stayed because I liked the taste and found it a good alternative to bircher muesli on all my Sat brunch catch ups. Combi's acai bowl came with blueberries, banana, coconut flakes, apples strawberries, dates, buckinis and nut milk. It was like eating a smoothie in a bowl with lots of crunchy bits. Unlike other brunches, I walked out feeling full but not in the need for a nap.

D was overwhelmed by all the "healthy stuff" so he got the toasted sandwich with ham, cheese and tomato. It was served on seeded bread but it wasn't anything exciting.

Second visit we just got the granola to share, as we were in the area for Lune croissants so we didn't want to completely stuff ourselves. The granola was made of almond, walnut bits with honey and cinnamon. It was served with apple, banana, vanilla yogurt and coconut milk. I found it just right in terms of crunchiness balanced  with yoghurt and coconut milk. I would like more fruit but that's just more me, liking lots of fruit in my breakfast.

Overall 15.5/20 I was very impressed with their smoothie collection and found the acai bowl very enjoyable. I love the variety they offered for healthy alternatives. I don't think this place is for everybody but I certainly liked it and will come back.