Ice cream

Two Brothers

558 Mitcham Road, Mitcham 8838 8145

Breakfast tortilla

Ando’s baked beans

Pina colada pancakes

Thoughts:

Breakfast tortilla – pulled pork and beans in soft mini gluten free tortillas topped with a poached egg, a tiny amount of avocado salsa, chilli oil and mint. This was my first time eating a gluten free tortilla and I must say that I am not a big fan. Although they were soft, they still tasted dry and not quite right = Not bad

Ando’s baked beans – baked beans with goats cheese, baby herb mix and a poached egg served with multigrain bread = Not bad

Pina colada pancakes – light, fluffy coconut pancakes served with a deliciously tart yet sweet lemon and lime curd, grilled pineapple, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, coconut flakes and macadamia nuts = Good

Overall:

A bright welcoming atmosphere, friendly service, delicious pancakes. Note that this place is closed on Sundays.

HD Cafe Bar and Grille

19 Royton Street, Burwood East 9886 8258

Filet mignon

Chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream

Thoughts:

Filet mignon – chargrilled eye fillet (that was cooked precisely as desired) served with scallops, king prawns, buttery mashed potato, steamed vegetables and a cream sauce. I was actually surprised at how good this dish was = Good

Soufflé – well cooked with lots of solid chocolate bits in it. Not sure if this was intentional or not, but it gave the dessert an extra chocolate kick = Not bad

Overall:

A little hidden restaurant just off Burwood Highway that serves an array of different dishes (Greek, Italian, Modern Australian). It is a family owned place with the husband as the chef, the wife front of house and serving, and the kids serving/milling around. The service was good but I’m not sure if it would have been the same if it had been a busy evening. Atmosphere was not so great, the place just didn’t feel very comfortable to me. Having said that, I would probably come back here again as the food was considerably tasty.

Acland St Cantina

2 Acland St, St Kilda 9536 1175

Salted caramel ice cream churros tacos

Triple chocolate & chilli trifle with passionfruit

Thoughts:

Churros tacos – I initially thought that this was going to be a mix between a churro and a taco but it turned out to be churros dough that had been piped out into a round flat shape. As it turned out the combination of warm cinnamon churros, cold salted caramel ice cream and crunchy praline, drizzled with dulce de leche sauce was just terrific = Excellent

Trifle – comprised of a passionfruit jelly-like layer, a chocolate mousse layer, a more dense chocolate layer, a scoop of some sort of sorbet (i couldn’t tell what is was because my tastebuds were overwhelmed by all of the chocolate!) and shaved white chocolate on top. There was no taste of chilli at all though. Maybe they forgot to add it? Nonetheless, a rich creation that I would recommend for any chocolate lover = Good

Overall:

I have walked past this place so many times never realising that there was a restaurant here. So we were given the choice of either dining in the brightly coloured retro front area or the dark modern candle lit back area. We decided on the back area as that was where the crowd was at, including the DJ who was happily doing his thing in a dim corner. Service was good but the noise level here was considerably loud so this is not the place to go to for a quiet catch up. Dessert wise, this place was absolutely delectable.

Albert St Food and Wine

382 Sydney Rd, Brunswick 8354 6600

Crisp pork cheek, scallop, quince, pickled cucumber

Foie gras parfait, toasted brioche, peach & ginger chutney

Chicken, truffle butter, jerusalem artichoke puree

Yellow Fin tuna, white ratatouille, green olive & almond pistou

Valrhona chocolate tart, ‘Poire Belle Hélène’

Meyer Lemon Tart

Thoughts:

Pork cheek and scallop – the pork was melt-in-your-mouth delicious while the scallop was well cooked but didn’t quite stand out. The serving size of this dish was quite small = Good

Foie gras parfait – large serving size of standard parfait and okay brioche = Not bad

Chicken – one of the specials, tender chicken that was very well flavoured = Good

Yellow fin tuna – I was a bit disappointed with this dish. The tuna was bland while the ratatouille and pistou were uninspiring = Not bad

Chocolate tart – the sweet Poire Belle Hélène (poached pear) and the not overly creamy vanilla bean ice cream were the perfect accompaniments to the intense chocolate tart = Good

Lemon tart – Highly delectable with an amazing balance between sweet and sour = Excellent

Overall:

The real reason why I came here was for Phillipa Sibley’s lemon tart, and my high expectations of it were definitely fulfilled. Everything else I sampled was good but not amazing . Thus I say come to this place for the dessert.