A25 Pizzeria
A25 Pizzeria – Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Shujinko – Flinders Street, Melbourne
The 24/7 ramen chain Shujinko has been rapidly expanding and is up to their third store when we were asked to visit, of course we couldn’t say no. Located on Flinders St and opposite Flinders Street station, it is in a very busy spot but that means there’s plenty of foot traffic hence a lot of business. Inside isn’t the biggest eatery but it was very cosy and the staff are superbly friendly.
Restaurant Igni, Geelong
I’m a big fan of Regional Victoria’s dining scene with their fresh local produce and great community vibe. When I heard about Restaurant Igni, I knew I had to make a booking a check them out. For an 8 course degustation for $150 per head, it’s still quite affordable compared to those in Melbourne with a price tag of +$200 per head. There’s plenty of parking on the main street so that’s not a problem at all. Moving along, it’s a very discrete restaurant and when you get inside there are only 10 or so tables thats spaced very far apart so you’re not bumping elbows with the next table. The atmosphere is very casual and friendly yet the staff are very professional. They’ll ask for your dietary requirements including what your likes and dislikes are so they can be sure to cater for you. It was already a good start to our lunch!
Blackwork, Croydon
Since having moved to Croydon I haven’t really checked out the local scene so when Mr D suggested to have a brunch date, I surely had to agree. Wondering around, we decided to check out Blackwork. Blackwork looks like it could be a cafe in the city with it’s chic interior, Proud Mary coffee and uber cool menu. There’s ample of parking across the road and it does get quite busy on a weekend so make sure you get in early.
Arco Restaurant, Dandenong South
Since I’ve started work at Dandenong South I’ve been hearing about Arco for a nice place to check out for lunch / dinner. So you can imagine my excitement when we were going to have a work lunch there! Inside it was pretty fancyyyy for an industrial area in the ‘burbs and the staff were super duper friendly. So we all rattled our order to the staff and waited for the food.
Now, I’m all for food coming out together BUT a 40 minute wait for our food to come out when it wasn’t super busy was unacceptable. I tried to brush that aside and tried to enjoy my calamari salad. Unfortunately, it was super salty and quite oily and I was quite disappointed. The salad? It was just rocket and cabbage.
Calamari Salad (entree)
Riverview Cafe & Wine Bar, Warburton
A day out in Warburton to visit the Redwood Forest, we definitely had to stop by to check out the food scene. It was smack bang lunch time and everywhere on the main street was so busy. Luckily for us Riverview Cafe & Wine Bar had a table so we were going to get our tummies filled!
First up, the seafood chowder. The serving was very generous and was filled with clams and fish with pieces of parmesan and bacon. It was very filling and was quite salty which was disappointing.
Seafood Chowder
Rustica – Melbourne Central, Melbourne
Rustica has always been on my list but I’ve never managed to make it to Hawthorn or Fitzroy, BUT it has now opened in Melbourne Central so, of course we made our way there. Yep, it was smack bang in the shopping centre and there was an indoor and an ‘outside’ area. We plopped our butts in the ‘outside’ area and it was set up so well that we forgot that we were in a shopping centre.
PRODUCTS REVIEW: Cookie Cake by Sassi Co
Howdy Foodlings,
Have you ever heard of cookie cakes? Well, let me introduce you to Sassi Co who specialises in boxed goodies which includes donuts, cookie cakes and heaps of sweets for all occasions from birthdays to anniversaries. How do we even receive it – you ask? Good thing they deliver and it’s free if the order is above $90. Now, back to the cookie cake. It comes in a pizza-like box and you can smell the baked goodies wafting out of the box…mmmm cookies…
Izakaya Kuuraku, Melbourne
Mr D and I absolutely adore Japanese cuisine, we can’t get enough of it. We’ve been eyeing Izakaya Kuuraku but never had the chance to try it, until now…BOOM! Walking in, it felt more like a bar with seats – music pumping and heaps of people having after work drinkies. We were lucky enough to check out the omakase menu which means you leave it up to the chef to decide what you’re going to get. We tucked in and let our tummies enjoy the food.
Benny Burger, Melbourne
When I heard that Shannon Bennett opened up an ethical burger place, Benny Burger, I made sure I had to stop by for a visit. We dropped by the Collins Street eatery and it was small but the staff were super duper friendly. They took time in explaining the menu, what we would like and where everything came from. First impressions – loving it! We went to order at the counter and waited for our number to be called.