Wombat Hill House

Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, Daylesford 4373 0099

Wombat smoothie

Herb and goat cheese tart with salad and relish

Cottage pie with salad and chutney

Thoughts:

Wombat smoothie – refreshing mix of blueberries, Jonesy’s milk, yoghurt and honey = Not bad

Herb and goat cheese tart – small servings of an okay tart = Not bad

Cottage pie – small servings = Not bad

Overall:

This large open cafe has a great relaxed feel. You can choose to sit amongst a charming vegetable garden out the back or at the cheerful side courtyard or perhaps inside where everything is neat and homely. It’s a shame that the food here is mediocre and rather expensive considering the serving sizes. Note that this place is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Lake House

4 King St, Daylesford 5348 3329

Olive crisps, churros and olive aioli

Tuna sashimi, sea lettuce, buckwheat, avocado, bonito aioli, nori, mojama

Freshly baked grain roll, flaxseed crisps, white bread rolls

Eel, pancetta, beets

Mt Mercer pork, fermented pickles

XO braised pastured beef, grilled bug

Brioche french toast, Holy Goat cheese, poached pear

Lollipop

(lemon curd covered with Italian meringue)

Chocolate mousse, raspberry sorbet, fresh raspberries

White chocolate and cranberry squares with almond biscuits

Overall:

A trip to Daylesford is never complete for me unless I dine at this outstanding restaurant. Situated upon Lake Daylesford, this place offers impressive views of both the lake and of surrounding wildlife (which includes a local kookaburra family who fly in everyday to be fed). The decor here is absolutely beautiful and service is very professional. The menus are altered twice each season to ensure the usage of the best available produce. We chose to get the Summer Tasting Degustation and found every single dish to be superb with all the fresh ingredients and amazing flavours. Definitely worth a visit the next time you are in Daylesford!

Small Victories

617 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North 9347 4064

Baked Eggs

(creamed corn, streak bacon, lardo soldier, thyme salt)

Poached eggs on toast, house smoked salmon, soused cucumber, pickled onion, heirloom radish, braised mustard seed and roe

Thoughts:

Baked Eggs – also from the Herald Sun’s list of Melbourne’s 25 best breakfasts. Simply marvellous = Excellent

Poached eggs with salmon – colourful with a generous serving of salmon = Not bad

Overall:

Small simple place, slow service, fantastic Baked Eggs.

Palms Restaurant

213-215 Blackburn Rd, Mount Waverley 9803 9668

Cheese roti

Paneer Masala Thosai

Chappathi and Thosai

Garlic Naan, Paneer Naan, Aloo Paratha

Beef masala curry

Thoughts:

Cheese roti – simple and scrumptious = Good

Paneer Masala Thosai – savoury pancake with a paneer, potato masala and vegetable filling = Good

Chappathi and Thosai – two chappathi, one plain thosai, one delicious vegetable curry, sambar, chutney and vadai (an interesting savoury doughnut made from ground lentils) = Good

Garlic Naan = Not bad

Paneer Naan = Good

Aloo Paratha – wholemeal bread stuffed with spicy potatoes and peas = Not bad

Beef masala curry – tender pieces of beef cooked with capsicum, onion, tomato, ginger and spices, topped with coriander = Not bad

Overall:

Four different types of cuisine are offered at this restaurant: Malaysian, Chinese, South Indian and North Indian. Once you have perused through the extensive menu, you head up to either the Chinese/Malaysian ordering station at one end of the room, or to the North Indian/South Indian ordering station at the other end of the room to place your order (Make sure to remember your table number, as the food is served to your table when it is ready). This place is set out like a food court in terms of appearance but don’t let that fool you. The service is good but more importantly the food is delightful and is great value for money.

Bistro Goemon

281 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick 9523 9900

Frozen umeshu (plum wine)

Sweet corn kara-age

Spicy pork salad

Satsuma-age

Seared scallops with mountain vegetables

Assorted sashimi

Thoughts:

Sweet corn kara-age – lightly fried sweetcorn, sprinkled with seaweed salt. As the corn had been fried, it was chewy instead of juicy = Not bad

Spicy pork salad – sliced pork mixed with shredded vegetables and a Japanese chili soy dressing. A light refreshing salad = Good

Satsuma-age – fried fish cakes mixed with edamame and octopus = Not bad

Scallops – tasty scallops that were lightly seared and nicely flavoured with Japanese seven spice = Good

Assorted sashimi – chef’s choice of 10 pieces of fresh sashimi, served with an assortment of seaweed = Good

Overall:

Good service, a comfortable atmosphere, quality Japanese fusion (which comes as no surprise as the the owner and head chef of this place used to work at Nobu and Akachochin)

Cutler & Co.

55-57 Gertrude St, Fitzroy 9419 4888

Seaweed and tapioca cracker with eggplant puree and black sesame

Rye toast with crème fraîche, smoked trout and Avruga cavier

Kingfish sashimi, green strawberries, sorrel and apple

Peas, baby zucchini, toasted seeds, onion and bergamot

WA marron, buttermilk potato, fermented carrot and Espelette

Smoked duck breast, boudin noir, beetroot and sour cherry

Wood grilled beef rib, kohlrabi and sesame

Cream, watermelon and lychee granita

Earl grey ice cream, chocolate, cherries and brandy jelly

Overall:

I was very excited to finally try out this place as I am a fan of chef Andrew McConnell having previously dined at his other restaurants Cumulus Inc. and Golden Fields, and absolutely loving the food. Located in an old metal works factory, this restaurant occupies a large interesting space filled with stripped back brick walls, high ceilings, exotic ferns and warm wooden tones. We decided to get the degustation menu (which changes quite often) and were quite impressed with the food served. The only problem with having really delicious degustation food is that before you know it, your plate is empty and you are left wanting more! This is definitely a place that I would visit again.

Coco Lounge

93 Kingsway, Glen Waverley 9560 9705

South Carolina tacos

Falafel burger

Seafood spaghetti

Thoughts:

South Carolina tacos – 2 soft shell tacos with dry shredded pork shoulder, spicy BBQ sauce and plenty of coleslaw = Not bad

Falafel burger – warm brioche bun with an extremely thick home made falafel patty, caramelised onion, tasty cheese, beetroot, tomato, lettuce and chilli aioli. A really filling burger = Not bad

Seafood spaghetti – pan seared prawns and scallops with preserved lemon oil and lots of baby peas = Not bad

Overall:

I have been to this place numerous times and have always found the food at dinner to be nicely presented but merely average tasting, whereas the food served at breakfast is quite good. The service is friendly and the atmosphere is casual. There is also an upstairs lounge bar which opens every evening from 5pm until late. Note that this place is in the Entertainment Book.

Mr Burger

364 Chapel Street, South Yarra

Mr Burger

(beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mustard, mayonnaise and tomato sauce)

Overall:

Big juicy mouthwatering burgers that really hit the spot. The beef patty was cooked to perfection, the tangy pickle balanced out the sweetness of the brioche bun, and with every bite delicious melted cheese would escape from the burger. The menu here is simple with only 3 burgers on offer (Mr Burger, Mr Meat and Mr Veg), as well as chips (seasoned with chicken salt, soft and fluffy on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside) and drinks.

Bowery to Williamsburg

16 Oliver Lane, Melbourne 9077 0162

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Pastrami Hash

Thoughts:

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate – a terrific blend of peanut butter and chocolate. It even comes with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup! = Good

Pastrami Hash – 2 poached eggs with sweet potato, pastrami, corn and red pepper hash and wholemeal bread = Not Bad

Overall:

Tucked away in a small cobblestone lane, this place serves up American inspired food that ranges from bagels to mac and cheese. This place is quite small so seating can be an issue during busy periods. The breakfast menu comes on a postcard so you can imagine that the options here are quite limited. Service was average as was the food. If I ever decide to come here again, I think it’ll just be for drinks. Note that this place is cash only.

The Best Vanilla Slice

It all started with the fact that I had never been to “that place in Sorrento” that makes the famous Sorrento vanilla slice. After a quick Google search I discovered that the place was called Just Fine Food. So one sunny afternoon I took a little road trip down to Sorrento to see what all the fuss was about.

Just Fine Food

23 Ocean Rd, Sorrento 5984 4666

There was an ample amount of creamy yet lumpy vanilla custard that was mildly sweet. Although I found the pastry to be quite thin and ordinary, I did like the layer of jam that came at the bottom of the slice.

I finished off this vanilla slice thinking to myself that like the name of the place, it was just fine. It got me thinking that there had to be places that were closer to home that made fantastic vanilla slice. So I decided to go to Aviv Cakes and Bagels, as a friend of mine had once told me that the vanilla slice there was simply amazing.

Aviv Cakes and Bagels

412 Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick 9528 6627

The vanilla custard was smooth and moderately sweet, while the pastry was delicious: thick, crispy and almost biscuit-like. As a whole, I really enjoyed the sweet to creamy ratio of this particular vanilla slice.

I also had to make a stop at The French Lettuce as they have this sign in front of the place:

The French Lettuce Patisserie and Bakery

237 Nicholson St, Carlton 9347 7311

The mildly sweet custard filling was light and extremely creamy, while the pastry was thick, flaky and buttery. The vanilla slice here also came with a side of strawberry jam which was perfect for breaking up the creaminess and for providing some contrasting flavour.

I also attempted to make my very own vanilla slice. I found this recipe from Best Recipes except instead of making up the icing, I dusted my vanilla slice with icing sugar.

Notice how yellow my custard filling turned out? That’s because I added less cream than what the recipe required (not intentionally, but because I was out of cream and couldn’t be bothered going out to buy more). Also, notice all the little lumps in the filling? Turns out that you should probably sift the custard powder before you mix it with everything otherwise you will end up with lumps that are impossible to get rid of!

Overall:

This was a fun little quest and in the end the best vanilla slice for me personally was from Aviv Cakes and Bagels. The pastry was fantastic and the filling was very scrumptious as it had the perfect balance between creamy and sweet.