Recently I was fortunate enough to be invited by Hiro to try Eis' crispy chicken wrap and grilled eggplant. Prior to Hiro's email, I had heard about EIS from the ET book but that was about it. So this gave me the perfect excuse to try it.
Located in Albert Park it's a close neighbour of Andrew's Hamburgers, where it's a small residential shopping area. It's a small, cosy local Japanese restaurant. Unlike most other Japanese restaurants who either go down the path of fusion of traditional, Eis offers both to accommodate what it's guest may feel like for the day.
We decided, just chicken wrap and grilled eggplant wasn't going to be enough for us, so we decided to go all out and have a proper dinner.
To start I got the special which was a grilled oyster with yuzu miso paste. This reminded me of a Japanese oyster kilpatrick. I really enjoyed it, I could easily eat a dozen of these.
Also got the seared wagyu tataki with roasted garlic (also a special of the night). Loved the thin slices of beef and the tataki flavours infused with robust garlic hits.
Then there was the gyoza. It sat on the traditional side of the menu but to met it was more a modern twist to the classic gyoza I know of. It was deep fried and served with sweet chilli sauce and salad. The gyoza skin was very crispy but I still have a soft spot for the traditional way.
Next was the crispy chicken roll. This was like a cross between a peking duck pancake and a rice paper roll. The crispy chicken and sweet soy combo worked well but the wrap was a bit small.
Final tapas we got was the grilled eggplant. Nasu dengaku is one of favourite dishes to order when I go to a Japanese restaurant. Eis did theirs with plenty of miso paste and grilled the eggplant to a soft silky texture.
For mains, D and I decided on the curry udon and sashimi platter. I've never had a curry udon before so I wasn't sure what to expect. However I was very glad I got it. The curry sauce was served in a heavy soup consistency and it went beautifully with the soft, silken udon. Hiro noticed that we were sharing and was thoughtful enough to halve it in 2 bowls for us. This was definitely my favourite dish of the night.
The other main was the sashimi, good assortment. I was really happy to see scallops on the plate too. Not many places offer scallop on their sashimi platter but it's one of the most tasty seafood to eat fresh.
Hiro was nice enough to spoil us with dessert as well. Green tea ice cream served with red bean paste and almond. It was a great way to end the meal.
Overall 16/20 I like their offering of tapas. I really loved their oysters, curry udon and grilled eggplants. The choice of both traditional and fusion is creative and it's a place I will go back to again with friends
Do you like pastries? Because I do? In fact I love baked goods; bread, cakes, muffins, scones. If it can be found in a bakery or a patisserie, chances are I will like eating it. So when D told me about this amazing little store in Elwood that opens for only 3 days a week and people line up for it, from 6am in the morning I was intrigued.
Lune is located is a quiet suburb area of Elwood. It's by sis/bro team Kate and Cam. Kate had extensive experience under her belt prior opening this little quaint shop with her brother. If you haven't read the newspaper articles, you might be wondering why line at up 6am and not go later? Well, Lune only bakes a limited amount of pastries each day. Tickets go out around 6.30am and the first 30 people in line will get a choice of everything on offer for the day and the subsequent numbers, less as the number goes up.
I actually made 2 visits to Lune, the first time was a Sunday. I got there at 6.20am on a Sunday morning and we were number 72. By the time it reached us, there was still pastries but only plain croissants were left. We left with only 6 plain croissants (6 is the limit per person).
Even though I didn't get any flavoured croissants I was not disheartened. 2 weeks later I went again but this time I went with Miss P. We got there at 6 this time was number 32 and 33. This time round we had almost the choice of everything. The Danish and ham cheese croissant was sold out by the time it got to us. This was a tad disappointing because all morning while waiting in line, Miss P kept saying how badly she wanted that one.
For my 6 I got 1 plain, 2 cruffins, 1 twice baked, 1 rosewater, pistachio chocolate and 1 choc almond.
The cruffin flavours were tiramisu and peanut butter and jam. The cruffin was fluffy and the mascapone was piped into the centre of the cruffin evenly and a hint of coffee. It was buttery, creamy, sweet, and just so damn good.
The PBJ cruffin was Miss P's favourite. A good ratio of peanut butter to jam to highlight the salty and the sweet.
I actually wanted a pain au chocolat but when I heard what was in it, I changed my mind in a heartbeat. The rosewater gave it that beautiful fragrant and the pistachio that nutty goodness. Loved it
Choc almond croissant also came with a hint of orange frangipane. Fluffy like the rest and the perfect amount of buttery goodness.
The twice baked coconut pandan was my favourite out of everything I tried. The top was covered in crunchy almond flakes and filling was stuffed with coconut and pandan granache. I loved how the pandan ganache wasn't too sweet and didn't take away from the actual pastry and the butter taste still had a gentle linger.
If all you can get it plain, I would still take it. These babies were airy and fluffy. I got 6 the first time and stuffed 2 with cheese and ham when I got home. I ate it plain, I ate it with jam. Mum ate one and also agreed it was one of the best croissants she's tasted.
Over 18.5/20 this place kicks ass in terms of it's produce. Is it worth waking up that early for? Hell yea! However still wish she will make more, so I can buy more and get more sleep.
MissyNess was lucky enough to be invited by PappaRich to have private dining session with Masterchef season 1 runner up Poh. She is my mum and my all time favourite Masterchef. Mum ecstatic when she found out. Poh is the very first ambassador for Papparich Australia so it was a real privilege to be there. I have a Malaysian mummy so she had always loved the idea of someone taking Malaysian cooking to the next level and showing the world how delicious it is, like how she showed my sister and I, as we grew up.
When we sat down, I started with my favourite soy milk with grass jelly and mum got her kopi o.
Papparich spoiled us and gave us an array of things to feast on. I got the fish fillet noodle soup. This was delicious milky like soup base with many pieces of deep fried fish fillet. Great alternative if you feel like something not so coconutty.
Mum got her favourite curry laksa. This had the signature creamy laksa soup base loaded with lots of ingredients. Can't go wrong with this one.
There was also the wat tan hor. Very similar to a sa hor fen, with heaps of egg gravy and goes perfectly with green chilli.
We were also give satays and rotis to try. The satay chicken was served with a peanut sauce that was just right. Not too spicy.
Roti kaya is a favourite of mine. Fluffy warm roti bread and coconut jam.
Roti planta, buttery roti bread served with curry sauce, sambal and dahl.
Towards the end there was also dumplings too. Just in case we weren't full enough, there was prawn dumplings and vegetarian foo jook rolls.
As we were all entering our food comas, Poh was such a darling and signed all our aprons and made sure she got a photo with everyone.
Not long after, mum and I followed her into the shopping centre where I got to stand behind the stage for her cooking demonstration.
Thank you Papparich for inviting us to this great event.
This is one of those places I love going to but don't go as much as I like to. Most people think of sweets when they hear Chez Dre but they offer more than that. They have a great selection for brunch with heaps of savory options too.
When D and I went for brunch, we picked out 2 savory options as we knew, we were going to take some cakes home after.
D got the duck sandwich. This was pulled duck with red cabbage, onion jam, apple and truffle mayo on a panini. Won't lie, it was really the truffle mayo that attracted us to this dish. D and I both love our truffles so when truffle is an option on the menu, we would gravitate towards that option. This proved to be a good choice too, the duck was beautifully confit and the crunch of the cabbage with the sweetness of the apple, made it a very filling meal but not to the point you feel disgusting. It was one of those great sandwiches, that you want more of.
I got the baked eggs. I always have great difficulty deciding what to get for brunch, I love my savory and my sweet. This time, savory won, because I knew I had to take a cake (or 2) home. The baked eggs came with eggplant, chorizo, onion and zucchini served with toasted baguette. This was one of those hearty winter morning meals. The warm eggs came with a kick from the chorizo, the egg was just runny enough and there was plenty happening with intense flavours off all the ingredients.
I've been here quite a few times but still struggle when it comes to cakes. They have a great selection but the problem is.... they all look so enticing. After much pondering I finally decided on the lychee dome and strawberry, vanilla fraisier.
The lychee dome had lychee mousse, lime curd, raspberry jelly and finished with coconut. This was a light and fluffy dessert, great for people who don't want something heavy.
The strawberry and vanilla fraisier was more on the cake side. It had multiple layers consisting of orange, vanilla, basil olive oil biscuit and strawberry jam. I love the different components and the texture that came with each mouthful.
Overall 17.5/20 this is one of my favourite brunch places in Melbourne, I love the diversity they offer from sweet, savory to coffee. Definitely a brunch institution in Melbourne.
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.
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.
