The Pour Kids

It's rare I get a visit from Jar Jar in my city; normally l see her in sunny Brissy or we meet in the middle (aka: Sydney). I hardly get to see her in Melbourne so since she was in town I had to take her out for brunch. Together with KT we set out to Malvern where we paid Pour Kid a visit. l really wanted to take Jar Jar to one of the more iconic Melbourne brunch spots but none of us where keen on the idea of waiting 30+ minutes for a table. Pour Kids is off Glenferrie Rd in Malvern so it served the purpose of the cool, hip, local brunch spot typical of the Melbourne brunch scene. We got a seat immediately, so that was a relief.

Once seated our drink orders were taken. KT and Jar Jar got a soy latte, I opted for a juice (orange, grapefruit and apple). Coffee was smooth but the beans were more on the light side.

For the main affair Jar Jar got the Smash & Grab. This is a classic smashed avocado, poached egg and feta on sour dough toast - Pour Kids added roasted tomatoes to it and finished it with a balsamic reduction. This is a prime example of 'an oldie, but a goodie'. I especially liked how the feta was finely crumbled which ensured the feta didn't overpower the entire dish.

KT went with Stacks On. This was a big pile of chorizo sausage layered on hash brown and guacamole. There was sour cream and roast corn relish on the side. I would say this dish is suited to a hungry person, or someone who really likes meaty and heavy dishes. I had half of it with KT,  and found it really heavy and struggled to finish my half. The taste was rich and was just too heavy for the first meal of the day. I think that my recent commencement of clean eating contributed somewhat as to why I was struggling to finish it.

l went with "We Need To Talk About Kevin (Bacon)". This was a goat curd folded egg with a thick slice of maple glazed bacon and pickled apple on sour dough. This one is definitely for the bacon lover. The maple glazed bacon was sweet and salty as it should be. Again it was very heavy, and split it in half with KT. After all the food, I felt I need to come back on a day where I am famished; I liked what I tasted but I just couldn't finish it.

Overall 15/20 This is a great local cafe with a good range on the menu and great service (and you will definately feel stuffed!) Lucky for me it's close to home, so I can come back to try more of the menu.

Mustafa Gemuse Kebap

Welcome to the Germany edition of Missy Ness! Over the next few weeks l will be showing you some of the food adventures l had in Europe.

When in Berlin one must try a doner kebab. Besides all the great sausages, schnitzels, pretzels and apple strudel, Berlin has a lot of kebab stores. It's a quick feed for those in a hurry. Since I was only here for a few days and didn't want to waste my calories and meals on something that was touristy, I did my research (and with a bit of luck we also drove pass this place and noticed the line) and found Mustafa's. Since Germany doesn't have Zomato, I relied on yelp and Tripadvisor. Lucky for me, they made it easy and both pointed towards Mustafa's as one of the most popular and highly rated.

It's a tiny store located on a main road with lots of cars driving by although you won't miss it as at any one time there is always a line there. Research tells me the standard wait is 45 minutes however when I went with FU, AA and D we waited 1 hour and 15 min and that was going there on a Monday at 3pm.

Axil Coffee Roasters

Axil is located on Burwood Road in Hawthorn (near the corner of Glenferrie Road).  It's one of those gems l discovered when I was working in the area. In a big warehouse conversion space, it's got that cool, hip vibe. This place is bursting with people every time I visit, so don't be too surprised if you need to wait 15 minutes or so for a table.

D and I came here for a quick bite for our usual brunch routine on the weekend. We had our drinks order taken as soon we an sat down. To change things up a little and an attempt to be more healthy, D opted for water and l got fresh orange juice.

For the main show, D got the potato hash. This came with a big Portobello mushroom, poached egg, truffle sauce, crispy fried parmesan wafer and finished with porcini salt. This is the perfect dish for any mushroom lover; the truffle aroma is intense and paired with the poached egg over the potato hash it created the balance of hearty and potato goodness.

I went with the red velvet pancakes. The fluffy pancakes came surrounded by cream cheese ganache, raspberries and a big scoop of black sesame ice cream. This was a good change up from the usual brunch hotcake/pancake option of chocolate or berry assortment. l particularly like the black sesame ice cream, it wasn't too sweet and played off the red velvet flavors nicely.

Overall 16/20 this is one of my favorite places to visit in the area. It has great food, service and atmosphere. Although I didn't review it this time, l highly recommend their coffee and tomato cheese toasties.

Home Thai

I was so happy to find out that Jarjar was in Sydney the same time as me for a project. It meant I got to pig out with her again! Since it was her birthday recently, it was more the reason to celebrate. There was 3 of us for dinner (Jarajar, SJ and me) so Thai felt the most appropriate to share, nibble and have a few giggles.

We went to the Home Thai on Sussex Street on a Monday night and lucky for us, the wait wasn't that awful.

Faced with a menu full of choice, the other 2 left the ordering to me and I gladly accepted the challenge. I am someone who hate leaving a restaurant not feeling full, so anybody who ever dines with me, will know to except a food baby at the end of their meal.

To start I ordered the seafood tom yum, it was a fairly cold day, warm soup was a great way to start. This was more on the spicy side, I loved it and could take the heat fine but I could see SJ struggling with the heat. The soup has a generous amount of prawns, mushroom and corriander.

Next was the soft shell crab mango salad. This came with a generous amount of soft shell crab, green mango, coriander, onion, shallots, kaffier leaves and chilli jam. The soft shell crab was deep fried and tasted great alone, l would have happily eaten the crab alone, it didn't really need the salad.

For mains we got the green curry with chicken. Strong coconut milk flavours came through, apple eggplant, chilli and basil leaves were also in the curry to enhance the curry.

To go with the green curry we also ordered some coconut rice. This also went nicely the stir fried broccoli with crispy pork. Normally the crispy pork would not be served on the side but they were accommodating since jaryar is vegetarian. This is one of my favourite dishes to order whenever we go to a Thai restaurant. Home Thai does it well With the pork being crispybut not dry. The oyster sauce is sweet but not too overpowering.

Pad thai is always a favourite, so we couldn't pass it up. Thin flat rice noodles with chicken and the usual goodies. I liked the side of nuts but didn't' feel the same away about the sugar. l found that the padthai already had enough taste and did't need anymore.

For dessert we really wanted the mango sticky rice but it was sold out. Instead we got the deep fried bread sticks, served with pandan coconut jam. It was a very heavy dessert. l reccomend you share this one.

The other dessert we got was the egg custard with sticky rice. The egg custard sat on top of the pandan scented sticky rice and finished with condense milk. It's very typical thai flavours, a bit on the heavy side but still a good sweetness to end the meal.

Overall 16.5/20 It's home-y Thai food that hits the spot. The menu has heaps of options, all the classics are there along with plenty of other new things to try.

Hash Coffee Speciality

Most weekends I like to look for K (my fav brunch buddy) especially when I find new and interesting cafes. My trip to Hash was no different. So K, R, D and I set out to the city to try this new place. Located on Hardware Lane, its one of the signature Melbourne styled "side lane" cafes. It's a quiet and raw atmosphere.

I actually came here for the hot chocolate. So once we sat down, we got straight to business and ordered our drinks. K and I both got the hot chocolate, R and  D got their usual latte. The latte was smooth and milk was just the right temperature.

The hot chocolate here comes with turkish fairy floss and  you pour the the liquid chocolate into the fairy floss. The chocolate is very rich and the fairy floss was more a novelty and didn't add much sweetness. I would suggest when pouring the hot mork chocolate into the cup, you aim for the centre, otherwise as the rairy floss melts, it might get a tad messy. If you are one who doesn't favour decantdent, rich chocolate then pace yourself through this one. The chocolate is intense and hits you with a punch.

R and D voth got scallops , chrizo egg combo. This was a simple spread of seared scallops, fried egg, chirizo and fried egg. I found it interesting to see scallopsmon a breakfast menu. I liked the taste combination, but it was  a little on the small side. The boys were still a bit peckish afterwards.

K and I got 2 sweet things to share as we had difficulty deciding (as usual).  First one was the rice pudding. This was done in  brulee style, with torched sugar on top to give it the hard, crystalized, sweet top. The rice pudding underneath came with poached pear and pistachio. I found the rice pudding to be quite aromatic from the cardamom and quite enjoyable. I found the burlee top to be too sweet for my liking but K happily inhaled all of it for me.

Our other dish was the banana pecan loaf. I am a big fan of banana bread/loaf combinations at breakfast (sorry waistline) so when l saw this on the menu there was no question that we were going to order it. The banana loaf here is served with macadamias, milk crumbs, blueberries and burnt honey mascarpone white chocolate custard. The loot war soft in the centre with a crispy top, just the way l like it. There was a lot of flowers on the plate, l would have preferred more berries over flowers, but l must say, the flowers do make the presentation a lot more prettier. 

Overall 15/20 I liked the creativity in the menu, the food and drinks were decent. I would visit again if I am nearby.

Tall Timber

On the rare bright sunny weekend in Melbourne. D and I ventured out to Prahan. I had been long wanting to try Tall Timber, with the beautiful weather, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Located on the corner of Commercial road and Perth street, it was a quint little cafe that was bursting with people. We got there around 1pm and waited 20 minutes to get a table. I didn't mind, as I got to enjoy some sun in the process.

D and got our drinks while we decided on what to eat. D got his usual latte while I went for a fresher option,  orange juice. D coffee was smooth and good balance in aromas.

For the main show, D got the beetroot  cured ocean trout . This came with a smashed peas, radish, beetroot, poached egg, black tahini and croutons. A bit different from the usual breakfast affair of 'bacon and eggs', in a good way. The ocean trout was a winner, the beetroot juices seeped into the fish well and all the other elements on the plate provided a wholesome feeling and satisfying breakfast.

I wasn't as heathy as D,  I opted for banana, pistachio loaf. This was served with espresso mascarpone, fresh figs, berries and maple syrup. The crispy top of the loaf and fluffy centre got me hooked. Love how it wasn't too sweet, the espresso mascarpone give it the creamy hit and the fruits provided a good balance. I really enjoyed this dish.

Overall 17.5/20 its one that I will definitely visit again. The food was great, ambience was on key and great selection on the menu.