Desserts/Ice Cream

Little Rogue

Pandan Coconut Crepe Cake

I love crepes and I love cake so unsurprisingly I found this fusion to be AMAZING. The soft paper thin crepes were fantastic, and the combination of pandan and coconut is always a winner.

= ★★★★★

Salted Caramel Cookie Sandwich

Quality chocolate cookies with a deliciously smooth salted caramel filling.

= ★★★★

Overall:

Located down a small cobbled laneway, this tiny unassuming cafe offered some pretty terrific desserts that included Butterbing cookie sandwiches, Mille & B crepe cakes and Kwak scrolls. The staff were friendly, the decor funky and earthy, and atmosphere very laid back. A must visit for anyone with a sweet tooth.

Little Rogue

12 Drewery Lane, Melbourne

0433 739 148

High Tea

Every now and then I get a hankering for high tea. I love how fancy everything is, from the elegant set up to the finger sandwiches to the tasteful little desserts. Oh and let’s not forget about the tea. Unfortunately most places charge an exorbitant amount for high tea so I figured why not host my own high tea party instead.

My sandwiches included:

– smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese

– grilled capsicum and hummus

– cheddar cheese and tomato

– egg and mayonnaise

Top Tier: Classic vanilla cupcakes

Middle Tier: Chocolate brownies, Anzac slice, Lemon tarts, Button cookies

Bottom Tier: Classic scones, Mini quiches, Cheese and spinach triangles

Overall:

Preparing for this was fun and easy. Everything was homemade except for the quiches, the triangles, and the lemon tarts (which I put together using store bought tart shells and lemon curd from a jar). My guests were super impressed and we all ate until we could no longer move. (I kept refilling the tiers and eventually gave everyone some food to take home as there was so much leftover). This was definitely a great experience and is something anyone can do.

Mork Chocolate Brew House

Peanut Brittle Brownie Ball

Tremendously rich and decadent, with a fudge-like centre and a sweet crunchy exterior.

★★★☆☆

Original Dark Hot Chocolate (70% cacao)

Quality cocoa powder, thin slightly powdery drink.

★★☆☆☆

Layered Chocolate (chilled chocolate, warm orange zest and vanilla bean custard)

The chilled chocolate tasted like regular chocolate milk however the custard was simply amazing. Not only was it delicious but it was also light and airy which meant that it was able to sit on top of the chocolate layer. We were told not to mix the chocolate and custard together but to drink it as it was, allowing the chocolate to carry through the custard with each sip.

★★★★☆

Overall:

Expect to find quality chocolate drinks and rich desserts at this popular little place. We were told that the wait for a table was 40 minutes so decided to get takeaways instead (because who in their right mind would wait that long for a hot chocolate?) We were told that the Chocolate Soda, A Chocolate Bar and the Campfire Chocolate were not available as takeaways which was a shame because I really wanted to try the Campfire Chocolate as it is served with actual smoke. Service was friendly however due to the limited seating and pricey menu items, I won’t be in a rush to come back here any time soon. I’d rather buy some Mörk chocolate powder and enjoy it at home.

Mork Chocolate Brew House

150 Errol St, North Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9328 1386

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Chez Dré

Duck Sandwich – confit pulled duck, onion jam, red cabbage, grated apple, truffle mayonnaise and panini

A delicious combination of ingredients (including a considerable amount of duck) sandwiched between crispy panini bread. Seriously one of the best sandwiches that I’ve had in a long time.

★★★★★

Salmon Rillettes – beetroot relish, caperberries, poached eggs, beetroot crisps and toasted sourdough

Perfectly poached eggs, tasty salmon, piquant beetroot, briny caperberries.

★★★★☆

Prana Chai – masala blend with honey, black ceylon tea, spices and ginger

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

It’s been a few years since I last visited Chez Dré and my only regret from this visit was being too full to fit in any of their amazing desserts. I have to get an eclair the next time I come here! And a cheesecake…and a tart…possibly a macaron. Either way I must come back soon.

Chez Dré

Rear of 285-287 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9690 2688

http://www.chezdre.com.au/

Flavours of Asia Market Festival – 28 February 2015

I was recently lucky enough to be invited to a sneak preview for the Flavours of Asia Market Festival that is part of the 2015 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes Day. The Flavours of Asia Market Festival is one of the first events on the 2015 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival calendar and will feature a range of delicacies from across the continent, cooking demonstrations and live entertainment. The festival is designed to bring together an array of authentic Asian street food with dishes starting from $5. Expect to find delicious menu items from Hammer & Tong, Hoy Pinoy, Wonderbao, Overdosa, Lankan Tucker, Uncle, Gogi and Eat the Chicken.

What: Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes Day – Flavours of Asia Market Festival

When: Saturday 28 February 2015

Time: 12:00pm – 6:00pm

Where: Caulfield Racecourse, Station Street, Caulfield

Cost: Adult $20, Concession $10, Children Under 14 Free (includes admission to the racecourse and the Flavours of Asia Market Festival.)

Tickets available via: mrc.racing.com

Now onto the menu preview. So when we first arrived we had the opportunity to sample the Flavours of Asia Market Festival’s feature cocktail ‘The Market Mule With A Kick’ which was a fusion of vodka, dry ginger ale, lime and chilli. I was a little apprehensive about the chilli at first but it actually gave this refreshing cocktail a nice gentle heat. It was seriously good. So before I knew it I had polished off my cocktail and I had forgotten to take a photo of it. Whoops. Here’s a picture of a lady dancing instead.

Wonderbao’s Pork Bao

Fluffy steamed buns filled with sweet tender pork

★★★☆☆

Hoy Pinoy’s Lechon Kwali (slow braised and crispy fried pork belly with buco, chilli and yemma sauce)

Absolutely incredible! Delicious sauce, super crispy crackling and pork that simply melts in your mouth.

★★★★☆

Hammer & Tong’s Red and Black rice salad (pomegranate, broad beans, peas, mint & grapefruit mignonette)

A light rice salad with a lot of flavour and texture.

★★★☆☆

Marinated barbecued skewers cooking over a customary BBQ from Hoy Pinoy. Candied meat. Mmmmmm. Notice that the skewers are delightfully sizeable!

Inihaw na Baboy (pork belly skewers in banana ketchup glaze)

★★★☆☆

Inihaw na Manok (chicken skewers in traditional soy glaze)

★★★★☆

Wonderbao’s ‘Roast Pork Belly Gua Bao’ with cucumber, pickled carrots, daikon & hoisin sauce and ‘Fried Silky Tofu Gua Bao’ with pickled mustard, coriander and crushed peanuts.

★★★☆☆

We also had the opportunity to see the making of Hammer & Tong’s famous Soft Shell Crab Burgers .

It isn’t surprising that up to 1000 soft shell crab burgers are sold during a night at Queen Victoria’s Wednesday Night Market!

Soft Shell Crab Burger (brioche bun, sriracha mayo, sesame seed slaw, soft shell crab, spring onion and coriander)

The perfect soft shell crab burger.

★★★★★

Wonderbao’s Ice cream Gua Bao (golden fried bao dusted with sugar and filled with sesame seed ice cream, caramel and nuts)

★★★☆☆

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Melbourne Racing Club

Hammer & Tong

Rear 412 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, VIC

(03) 9041 6033

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Hoy Pinoy

Location varies, Melbourne, VIC

Wonderbao

4/19-37 A’Beckett St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9654 7887

Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato

I love the theatrics involved with liquid nitrogen gelato. No matter how many times I see it, I still find it incredibly cool. (haha get it?) Once liquid nitrogen is added to a gelato mix, freezing occurs almost instantly resulting in tiny ice crystals and gelato that is deliciously smooth and creamy.

Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato offer eight different flavours at any one time, with flavours changing every 2-3 weeks.

After Ate

(milk chocolate gelato infused with peppermint oil and churned with crunchy brownie chunks, topped with fresh vanilla cream)

I was hooked after the first bite! Incredibly smooth and chocolatey with a hint of fresh peppermint.

★★★★☆

W.I.T.S

(watermelon iced tea sorbet made from fresh watermelons, limes, mint leaves and brewed tea)

Fruity and extremely refreshing.

★★★★☆

Lazy Dinner

(sage, burnt butter and caramel gelato, topped with sticky caramel sauce)

Sweet and buttery with a subtle aroma of sage. However after a little while this flavour became too rich and heavy for me.

★★☆☆☆

Pink Flamingo

(peach and rose moscato sorbet, topped with rosewater coconut cream)

Amazing sorbet! But the combination of peach and rose moscato with the coconut cream was a bit odd for my liking.

★★★☆☆

Cold Pressed Juice (rock melon, mango, granny smith, royal gala)

Juices here are pressed in store daily with seasonal fruits so flavours are constantly changing. Cold pressed juice apparently retains more flavour, nutrients and enzymes compared to traditional juice. In any case the juice I sampled was very fresh and very tasty.

★★★★☆

Cold Brewed Coffee

Containing up to 67% less acidity than hot brewed coffee, cold brewed coffee is naturally sweeter, more intense and has less of a bitter aftertaste.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Located down a small CBD laneway, Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato is without a doubt a place worth visiting. A lot of testing, tasting and sourcing of quality ingredients is involved with every gelato flavour produced here. It was obvious to me that owners Jesse and Wei Ming are extremely passionate about their jobs. In fact Jesse informed me that he wanted every single person leaving the place to feel happier compared to when they walked in. And this is easily the case considering how amazing their gelato/juice/coffee is and how friendly the staff are. I really liked the space and the layout of this place as it felt like a nice spacious cafe that you could sit down and relax in. What I also liked about this place is how the team here are environmentally conscious and only use reusable bottles for their beverages. (Bottles can also be purchased if you really like them). Note that fresh pastries will soon be available here so that is something to look out for.

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato.

Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato

377 Little Bourke St, Melbourne , VIC

(03) 9078 0784

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A La Folie

Raspberry vanilla macaron

Praline petits choux, Rose delight macaron, White peach and blood peach petits choux, Salted caramel macaron

Chai latte & Soy latte

Overall:

A delightful French patisserie that specialises in macarons and petits choux. The macarons were good however the petits choux were simply marvellous. Light and delicate choux pastry filled with delicious crème patissière and topped with a colourful fondant. My favourite was the praline petits choux. Unfortunately the drinks we had were very watery so I suggest that you stick to the pastries. Definitely try one of their petits choux the next time you are on Chapel St.

A La Folie 2

A La Folie

589 Chapel St, South Yarra, VIC

(03) 9827 3337

http://www.alafolie.com.au/

*Disclaimer: I was invited as a guest of A La Folie.

Olympic Doughnuts

51 Irving St, Footscray 9689 4819

The hot jam doughnuts at Olympic Doughnuts are seriously INCREDIBLE! Each freshly fried doughnut is filled with marvellously sweet jam (from the iconic dolphin jam dispenser) and is coated with sugar right before your eyes as soon as you order them. Biting into one of these doughnuts was simply amazing! The outside was perfectly crispy and sugary while the inside was deliciously soft and light, with a hidden explosion of delicious jam. These were so addictive and are a bargain at only 80 cents each!

I’m having a Homer Simpson drooling moment thinking about these right now. Mmm…doughnuts.

Waffle On

Shop 9, Degraves St Melbourne 0401 408 168

Canadienne Waffle

Overall:

I had a massive waffle craving the other day so headed to Waffle On to grab one of their delicious waffles. The light crispy Canadienne waffle was served with cold vanilla ice cream, maple syrup and icing sugar. Service was quick but seating very limited (there are only two). We also noticed that the baguettes were very popular here. Something for me to try next time.

Chocolate Mill

5451 Midland Hwy, Mount Franklin 5476 4208

Chocolate counter

Milk Hot Chocolate

Ice Chocolate

Thoughts:

Milk Hot Chocolate – although you cannot tell by simply looking at the contents of this egg shaped mug, this is in fact some of the BEST hot chocolate that I have ever tasted. Made with delicious Belgian Callebaut chocolate, this particular blend is smooth, rich and not overly sweet = Excellent

Ice Chocolate – rich and refreshing, with a generous amount of vanilla ice cream = Good

Overall:

What I like about this place is that all of their chocolate contains no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. They even have chocolate that is vegan, coeliac and diabetic friendly. All of their products are made and sold on site and there is a viewing window that allows you to see what goes on behind the scenes. What I do not like about this place is that they do not offer tap water (as tank water is used here), and that the cafe area can sometimes be uncomfortable (draughty in winter and sweltering in summer). Nevertheless, the quality of the chocolate here is amazing and it is definitely worth stopping by.