Duchess of Spotswood & Jock's Ice Cream

The Duchess -- A quaint, tiny cafe in a quiet, little neighbourhood...

The Duchess of Spotswood!

A place that can easily be so unassuming from the outside to the casual walker by... With a setting so casual and inviting that you feel like you're eating from someone's home or backyard... And food so incredible that has me thinking about for months since my visit... Ahhhh, The Duchess... Why are you so good to me? An unforgettable meal that I've been earnestly waiting to blog about for the longest time...

I still remember that it was on Good Friday when we came. The sun was out and everyone was well rested from a morning of sleeping in. With just a few text messages sent out, it took less than 15 minutes for the 5 of us decide to head to The Duchess for an impromptu lunch that Friday morning. And I'm glad we did. I couldn't have picked a better place to go or with a better group of friends to spend the precious public holiday...

We headed to the back where we there was a larger seating area and we could enjoy the sun a little bit more... It was great. Humble little backyard, fitted with tables and chairs and a tree in the middle for some shade.

Latte

Some of us decided to order a nice cuppa to kickstart our meal; where the house blend of the day was Market Lane Coffee.

Soy Piccolo Latte

While one of us thought it was better to go with something a little more refreshing... I don't disagree.

Duchess of Pork -- $18.50

(Crispy pig's jowl with fried eggs, rich truffle sauce and sourdough toast)

A dish that jumped out of the menu to me and I knew then and there that it was a dish I HAD to try. And by golly was this flippin' delicious or what!

The pork was heavily seasoned, almost like spam but tasted much fresher and not processed. The yolks were so fresh and rich (in a good way) that you could tell they used only the best of the best. Oh and the truffle sauce... Rich, reduced and full of flavour to bind everything together. Wonderful.

Love the deep, intense colour of the yolk

I try to cut a little bit of everything to fit in each bite. Never mind that the yolks are lusciously oozing all over the plate. It's messy, but delicious. Honestly, a smashing dish to me from start to finish. Safe to say that both my friend, Sarah, and I enjoyed this dish very much.

The perfect bite!

Not to mention, the sourdough here was really one of the BEST I've ever had. No kidding. It was absolutely PERFECT. Firm but not too chewy, with a perfect crunch from the crust and a subtle flavour from the sourdough. DIVINE. I am seriously going to order an extra slice of sourdough next time I'm here.

To really enjoy this dish, you need to slather a generous amount of butter, then top with some of the pork, egg yolk and truffle before taking a big bite of the crunchy toast.

Hot dang this was seriously lip-smackingly good!! Can't tell you how much I loved it.

Special of the Day: Fish Cakes

My friend Devon ordered this dish and it was GOOD!! So fresh, crunchy and delicious. I loved the light, creamy potato in the cake more than the fish itself and the sauce was heavenly. Though, I'm still not sure why they called this the "Gentleman's Main". Beats me.

Steak 'n Chips -- $24.00

(200g dry aged rump with green salad and hand cut chips)

Ann's steak was cooked extremely well. Though, I think I would've preferred a bit more char around the edges. Still, this was pretty darn good! The seriously chunky fries were great. Crisp and naturally sweet from the potatoes. But my favourite part was actually the salad. Just look how pretty that is. Mmmmm.... With a light, clean dressing and fresh crunchy peas -- just yum!

Blow Your Own Trumpet -- $21.00

(Confit Trumpeter with spicy lamb sausage and poached egg)

The bit that I stole from Kel's plate was really satisfying, especially with the sauce. I think it's quite a good dish to order too, seeing as there were many other elements on the plate. But, I only tried the sausage and really liked it.

Overall, I must say that I really, really enjoyed my meal at The Duchess. And I haven't felt this strongly about a cafe/lunch place in a long time! There was great variety in the menu and every dish that came out of the kitchen was SO delicious. I especially enjoyed my Duchess of Pork dish and would happily recommend it to anyone who's thinking of visiting The Duchess for the first time. It was great. The portions were also JUST nice. Not too much, not too little and great value for money.

Now, I'm thinking that I HAVE to come back asap to try their breakfast and dinner menu. If it's anything like our lunch which was nothing short of faaan-friggin-tastic, I'm sure I'd enjoy the other menus just as much too. Will be back......!!

Right after our meal at The Duchess, we decided that we'd stop by Jock's for some ice-cream on our way home. What a brilliant idea! This was my first time here, so I was excited.

And just as I was walking out of the shop with my ice-cream, I was really shocked to bump into the friendly, familiar faces of Bryan and Jo. Wuaaaahhhh...! What a coincidence! Guess we all had the right idea of grabbing some ice-cream in the hot, sunny weather!

Obamarama & Zabaglione

Finally tried the famous Obamarama, which is basically a Peanut Butter & Jelly ice-cream. Great!! The flavours were really unmistakable and how can you ever go wrong with PB&J, you tell me. I've always enjoyed the eggnog-like taste of the Zabaglione so naturally I liked this flavour too. My alcoholic ice-cream flavour of choice.

Really liked Jock's and thought it was honestly the perfect way to end an incredible and relaxed meal with friends on a public holiday. Cherishing the company of awesome people while basking in the warm weather over delicious food. What more could you ask for in Life? An unforgettable day it was, indeed =)

Donwoori, West Melbourne

It's not news to people that I love Korean food, in general. Though, I've always had this Love/Hate relationship with Korean BBQ. I LOVE BBQ-ed meat for all its fatty, charred, tender goodness. But gawd, do I hate smelling like a chimney. Ohhhh, the things we put ourselves through for the love of food.

There are a number of places that Melburnians would go in the CBD for Korean BBQ. But, I'm sure most would agree that the easiest thing to do is to go to the row of shops on Victoria Street (directly in front of Victoria Market) where you have 4 different Korean BBQ joints all lined up together, ever so conveniently.

This time, I decided to check out Donwoori for the first time (after realising my usual haunt of Woo Ga hasn't been as good the past few times I've been there).

Complimentary banchan

Before, one of the main reasons why I LOVED Woo Ga was because I felt like they served one of the best Kimchis in Melb. Really. I love it so much that I would always ask for extra serves. But, I must say that the Kimchi here was just as good!

Not too spicy, slightly sweet and most of all, still CRUNCHY to bite. Try etttt... The pickled cucumbers and onions with soy was a nice complement to the meal too.

Kimchi Jjigae

Very nice!!! Good depth of flavour and nice balance between pork broth and tomato base. Loved every sip

Loved the fatty pork in the soup... Wee-hee~

Spring onion salad with gochujang

Always my favourite salad to go with Korean BBQ. Slightly sour and refreshing.

Seafood Spring Onion Pancake

Pancake was not bad. Flour was slightly chewy but I liked it. Not as much seafood as you would get in other places but I can never say no to these babies.

Now, on to the grilled meats...

Ox Tongue

Top side beef

Marinated Flank Beef

Top grade beef rib

SUPER tough, for some reason. I am quite sensitive to tough meat and found the one here as well as Woo Ga just the same.

I think when it comes to beef ribs, it's better to have the marinated version to break the meat down a little and make it more tender.

Overall, BBQ was quite good (apart from the beef rib) and so was the soup and pancake we had. BUT, there is another place that I love going to more for Korean BBQ. Best thing about this place, though, was that it was really cheap! We spent $19/person (for 4 of us). We weren't super full, but it was just nice.

So far, I've only eaten at 3 out of the 4 Korean restaurants along the strip, but must honestly say that as of now: Donwoori > Woo Ga >>> Hallah.

Again, I'm referring to BBQ meat, not the cooked dishes. Though, this might change in the future. Who knows, Woo Ga might find their mojo and reclaim the top spot once again (in the Victoria St Korean Restaurant category).

BUT, all of it still doesn't beat Madang in Sydney. I didn't get a chance to blog about it, but it was SERIOUSLY good. Recently, my friend Adrian mentioned that he went to a newly opened Madang in Melbourne and I'm not sure if it's in any way affiliated to the Sydney one but I'm really keen to try!!

Hope you're all doing awesomely swell, wherever you are. Happy eating!! =)

The Premises, Kensington

Hey guys,

How are we doing? Just wanted to apologise and also thank you guys for bearing with me while I was on my mini-hiatus due to exams. And for that, I will be updating this blog more regularly than ever (at least for the next month) and you can expect a fresh new post every few days. I hope you stay tuned...! =)

As some of you may know (from Twitter), I'm now back at my hometown of Kota Kinabalu (in Borneo, Malaysia) for a month. Before I came back, people have been asking me why I'm back in KK again so soon. Especially cause they know I always travel as much as possible with friends during holidays and only come back for Chinese New Year.

Well, the reason for that is just so I can really spend a good amount of time with my family as I'll be graduating and starting work full time next year. Once that happens, I'll be limited to annual leave and won't be able to spend as much time with them like I can now as a student. Guess this is probably the last time that I can do just that. Also, I've really missed playing with my little baby nephew so I'm extremely glad I'm back to see the bub! So here I am, back again, and soaking up as much of the family and food lovin' as I can ;)

ANY-HOO, back to the post. Last year, my friend J and I found ourselves here at The Premises after our initial plan to try out Auction Rooms flopped (as the lines were crazy on a Saturday and it happened to be raining too lol).

So here's a recap of our meal that day...

Soy Piccolo

Soy Piccolo... My dead set coffee of choice for about 2 years now. So much so that I now find normal lattes too weak or diluted now haha.

Anyway, this was good. Pretty decent latte art for a soy (which tends to curdle), let alone a piccolo. But more than that, it had the full body flvaour that I enjoy in coffees.

Hot Salt Beef Roll -- $13.50

(with provolone cheese, hot English mustard and pickled red cabbage)

I liked this. Tasted just like corned beef but with the texture of pulled pork that we're used to. Another good thing was that the whole thing was warm. Bread, beef and all. That aside, the hot English mustard was such a joy because it contrasted everything really well.

Couldn't really taste the red cabbage in comparison to the salted beef and mustard but it did take the appearance to a striking new level. Really generous and meaty dish so was quite full from just eating half. Luckily we shared this between the both of us, haha.

French Toasted Brioche -- $14.50

(with a baked apple, sultana and cinnamon compote & vanilla bean creme anglaise)

BEST thing about this was the custard... Myyyy ohhhhh myyyy... I couldn't stop drowning my toast in it and it's great to see/taste the little specks of vanilla pods in it too. Mmm...

Everything else was alright. But personally, I like my French toasts quite plain and simple. Usually with just poached pears, drizzled with some maple syrup and that's it. But these baked apples are a good substitute for that.

Aren't the classic, old school, rustic "classroom style" tables by the window just awesome? Loved it

To cap it off, the food was alright, not bad. It was nice splitting half a savoury and half a sweet dish between two people. Did it "jump out" enough to make a strong enough impression that will make this place particularly come to mind when someone is asking me to suggest a place for brunch? Not exactly.

But, the overall experience was still pleasant so I wouldn't mind coming back here again with friends who'd like to try =)

Hope you're all doing well and I'll see you guys in a few days with a fresh new blog post! I've got a whole bunch of awesome stuff lined up that I can't wait to share...! =D

Reading Room Cafe, Footscray

Reading Room Cafe... Not your usual "uni cafe", no!

Honestly, I don't know what I like more. The fact that Reading Room Cafe is a uni cafe, or that for 8 weeks, they're donating a fraction of their proceeds to charity. Having been involved with Engineers Without Borders for a good part of my uni life, I think I'd go with the latter because community development is something that I have always fully supported.

After hearing so much about this new Pop Up Charity event at a uni cafe for few weeks now, I'm so glad I finally went last Saturday! The weather was perfect, we had a nice big group (with 8 of us + 1 toddler), so off to Footscray we went...

We felt almost just as good and comfortable sitting inside as we would if we sat outside. Just because all four walls was almost completely made of glass with lots and lots of light coming in. I like it.

Can't believe everything was prepared from this tiny little kitchen! #impressed

Good stuff.

A very "Zumbo" looking barrista, kidding... ;p He made great coffee, though!

HAVE to come back to try their cold drip coffee, looked AMAZING!

Soy Piccolo

AWESOME coffee! The milk was just the right consistency and it still had the fullness and creaminess I enjoy (which can be quite hard for soy milk). The Chompy blend by Sensory Lab I had was delicious. Definitely having the Chompy again next time I'm here.

Latte

How pretty is the coffee art? Nice touch that definitely puts people in a better mood... =)

The BFG -- $14.50

Brioche French toast with a generous serve of crispy bacon, candied walnuts and maple syrup

Really good! The candied nuts were great. I was expecting candied bacon too but glad they didn't do that. It was regular bacon but neither salty nor candied, so the BFG was quite a perfectly balanced sweet (from the nuts and syrup) and savoury dish on its own! So much so that it was hard for me to classify it as sweet or savoury... Really interesting, I like it! The thick brioche was soaked all the way through and moist, which made it soft to eat too.

Definitely one of their most famous item in the menu =)

Fritter's Lane -- $14.50

Sweet corn, pumpkin and coriander fritters, poached eggs, avocado, tomato chutney

Only had a small taste of this but the chutney was delish! Full of spices and flavour. I liked the creaminess the pumpkin gave to the fritters. Another specialty of the cafe.

Crackle & Pop -- $16.50

Roasted pork belly, apple and zuchini remoulade, coriander, chilli jam and toasted flatbread

LOVED THIS!!! My favourite dish of the day, actually. First, I really liked how they served it with flatbread instead of baguette because I find the latter tough to eat, more often than not. The pork belly that day was fantastic as well. Meat was so moist and the crackling was thick and crunchy (but not hard), just the way I like it. MMMmmmMMMmmm...

DELICIOUS chilli jam and flatbread!

Another closer look at the pork belleh... Yeahhh~

Also, all the condiments went REALLY well together. The chilli jam was amazing, sweet and punching in flavour. The remoulade was SO good too. Now, imagine... Pork belly, chilli jam, remoulade and flatbread... All in one bite. Killer combo and so delicious. YUMMM...!!

Step 1: Slather some chilli jam on flatbread

Step 2: Top generously with remoulade

Step 3: Grab chunky piece of pork belleh and ENJOY!!

Repeat Steps 1 - 3 to your heart's content

Patas Bravas -- $7.00

Light spiced fried potato with garlic aioli

Man... I cannot begin to describe to you how cute it was when my friend's toddler got so excited as soon as the Patas Bravas hit the table. Murmuring words of excitement, clapping and all... Who doesn't love fried potato? WHO?! Let's just say that "the young one" and "once young"enjoyed this all the same... =]

Overall, I think the owners, Eleena and Michael, did everything right when it came to setting up this Pop Up For Charity Cafe. From getting the right chef, to designing the right menu and even marketing it to the right people (influential bloggers et. al). But, credit where credit is due because they did do a great job in every aspect. Well, I'm saying this based on my experience anyway. It is for that reason that every single table (both indoors and out) were completely occupied by the time we finished our meal. It's always even better too when the owners are such friendly and approachable people, which they are.

To cap it off, the food was generous and it was tasty. Coffee was really good too. And how many times have you come across a place that serves both good food and coffee these days? Plus, I feel like I've only just scratched the surface because there's SO much more food I want to try from their menu and those on display. Had my eyes set on some delectable goodies on my way out. Anyway, I'm definitely coming back to Reading Room Cafe very soon and I do hope that they continue their weekend menu even after the Charity event is over (which I'm sure they will, given the amazing response).

So why not you join me and eat for a good cause? There's about 3 more weeks (I believe?) to give back to the community so do try it soon! Peace! =)