parmesan

Bondi @2016

Poutine

(chips, bacon, cheese, gravy)

★★★★☆

Polenta Chips with Smoky Ranch Sauce

★★★★☆

Grilled Corn Cobs with Smoky Ranch Sauce and Parmesan

★★★☆☆

Southern Fried Chicken with Honey Butter, Sweet Potato Fries and Homemade Slaw

★★★☆☆

Mushroom Ragout

(wild mushrooms, potato mash, spinach, garlic, rosemary, thyme)

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Formerly known as Fat Rupert’s, Bondi @2026 is the kind of place you’d want to hang out at after a long day at work or a day at the beach. The vibe here is really laid-back and the food pretty terrific. And if you go between 4pm-7pm, beers and wines are only $5!

Bondi @2026

249 Bondi Rd, Bondi, NSW

0421 866 735

http://www.fatruperts.com.au/

Mountain of Bears

BBQ Pulled Pork Burger

(slow cooked pork shoulder served with lettuce, tomato, pickles, fried shallots and house made slaw with a side of grilled kipfler potatoes)

The pulled pork was juicy and well flavoured while the potatoes were a nice change from the usual side of chips that you get from everywhere these days.

★★★☆☆

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Valencian Paella

(clams, squid, chorizo, chicken and shrimp cooked with saffron infused rice served in a claypot, topped with parmesan and spring onion)

Bland but filling.

★★☆☆☆

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Berries For The Bears

(strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, milk, yogurt)

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Tucked away in a small arcade, Mountain of Bears is a place that offers friendly service, an inviting atmosphere and cleverly named menu items. Let’s avocuddle anyone?

Mountain of Bears

556 North Rd, Ormond, VIC

(03) 9578 9882

Lights in the Attic

Bird Nest

(scotch eggs on top of a potato nest, free range kransky chilli beans base and grated parmesan)

Very tasty and really filling!

★★★★☆

Wild Forest

(chilli scrambled egg, potato made mushrooms on top of toast with free-range bacon, pork floss and crackling)

The eggs were a bit bland, the crackling was tough and rigid, but the potato mushrooms were cute.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

After seeing so many photos of the Bird Nest on Instagram, I’m really glad that this dish turned out to be as tasty as it looks. In fact all the dishes here are well presented. This cafe is bright and airy, and the service friendly.

Lights in the Attic

38 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn, VIC

(03) 9813 5042

The Peddler Cafe

Campfire (Baked) Eggs

(chorizo, bacon, butter beans, chilli, parmesan, napoli)

★★☆☆☆

Roast Salmon and Quinoa Salad

(avocado, snow peas, rocket, saffron and elderflower vinaigrette)

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

A charming unpretentious cafe where the staff were lovely and provided great service. The menu was limited compared to many other cafes (which is perfectly fine), however the dishes we sampled were merely average which was a shame.

The Peddler Cafe

295b Springfield Rd, Nunawading, VIC

(03) 9877 4381

+39 Pizzeria

Toscana

(Italian tomato salsa, fior di latte, Italian Berkshire sausage, rocket, parmesan)

★★★☆☆

Capricciosa Italiana

(Italian tomato salsa, fior di latte, leg ham, olives, artichoke hearts, mushroom)

★★☆☆☆

Tartufata

(Cream of mushrooms, fior di latte, mushrooms, rocket, truffle oil, parmesan)

It’s been a long time since a pizza has made me go ‘wow’ but the flavours of this tartufata were incredible! If only the centre had been less soggy, this definitely would have been a 5 star pizza.

★★★★☆

Linguine All’Amalfitana

(Amalfi style pasta with prawns, cherry tomatoes, chilli, garlic and crayfish bisque)

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Deliciously light pizzas that have a fantastic thin base but tend to get soggy rather quickly in the centre. Even so, they still tasted amazing! Service was efficient and the ambience was bustling. I certainly recommend the pizzas here and will doubtlessly return for the Tartufata.

+39 Pizzeria

362 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9642 0440

http://www.plus39.com.au/