Food adventures in Melbourne and wherever the tummy goes
Hidden away on Little Lonsdale Street sits a little Japanese restaurant with no obvious signs that it’s a restaurant that specialises in Japanese Pork with their signature Tonkatsu which is deep-fried pork-loin covered in panko. So, if you’re feeling like pork or want to have good pork, this is the place you definitely want to be at. It’s very cosy inside and only has one chef which means it’s intimate guys! All the staff are friendly and you get service with a smile.
Tahina Bar in Northcote has been around for about 3 years now and they’ve opened up another one on Brunswick Street in busy Fitzroy. Tahina serves up Israeli vegetarian street food along with superfood smoothies and wholesome ingredients. From the outside it looks teeny tiny but when you walk out to the back, there’s quite a large courtyard so don’t get fooled like me!
After a day at ACMI and stuffing our faces with dumplings, we needed a coffee hit because, well, that’s what you do in Melbourne. Since we were shopping at Melbourne Central, we stopped by Billy’s Central in the middle of the walkway. There’s also an actual eatery on the side so head into there if you wanted some sustenance.
When I had a taste of South American food, I knew that I had to check out the Argentinian restaurant San Telmo. Seeing as we would be having steak, I definitely hit up a steak loving friend and dropped by on a Wednesday night. We made a booking online and depending on what day you go, you may need to put in your credit card details to secure your booking. Oh, it does get busy so do make sure you make a booking. Now, back to the restaurant, located in an alleyway and opposite to a car park (park there for convenience guys!), you won’t miss the restaurant due to its big sign in front.
Pizza, everyone loves a good ol’ wood fired pizza and what’s even better? When you get 2 hours of all you can eat pizza for only $20 pp. Remember that this is only on a Thursday and be sure to make a booking because it does get busy. Oh for those big drinkers, if you pay $35, not only will you get all you can eat pizzas but you can also get all you can drink beer as well (put your eating pants on yo!). Anywho, inside was bustling and full of laughter. The lovely staff showed us to our table outside and it wasn’t too cold since there’s heaters out there.
Since becoming a local in the outer eastern suburbs, I have been slack on checking out the local brunch places. So when the girlies came down for a hike and needed to refuel, I suggested Mad Ram Cafe since I’ve been seeing good things on the good ol’ instagram. Located in a strip of shops, there’s plenty of parking so don’t fret.
I’m a huge fan of Shannon Bennett so Piggery Cafe has always been on my list for a while. Finally having a chance to go on a hike with Ms Traveller, I suggested Piggery Cafe to refuel. Oh just an FYI, we couldn’t get reception up here so download your maps offline in case your GPS cuts off like ours did (we managed to find our way though). Anywho, there’s ample parking spots and we arrived on a chilly Sunday morning and as you reach the cafe, there’s a map to show whats around (we tried looking for the emus but they must be on vacay now). There are piggies here so definitely go say hey to them! Finally reaching the cafe, we found a huge queue. Since we opted for either inside or outside so we could get food in our bellies quicker and that definitely paid off. Within 5 minutes, we got a table outside next to the heater (SCORE!).
Jacques Reymond has always been on my to do list but unfortunately, I never had a chance to. So, I decided to check out his gastropub instead, L’Hotel Gitan located in Prahan. I made a reservation on a Saturday night with Mr D and Miss Pear and boy, does this place get busy! There’s heaps of parking in the front so another thing to not worry about. Anywho, walking in we were greeted by friendly staff and was shown to our table.
The parentals have never been to Mork Chocolate brew house (neither have I) so I suggested we go and check it out. It’s a very small brew house and very limited seatings so unfortunately they don’t do bookings either which is a shame. So first in best dressed boys and girlies.
Auction Rooms has been around for yonks and it’s got a pretty well known reputation for it’s brunch and coffees. So I went and took mumsy bear and daddy bear for some brunching. It was mother’s day so it was super duper busy but we got there real early and only had to wait 20 mins before we got a seat. If you come by on a Sunday, there’s ample of free parking so even though you can’t get there easily by public transport, you don’t have to stress about parking. Anywho, once we got to our table, I got the barista breakfast for the parentals because they wanted to try a mixture of coffees and that included a short black, flat white and filtered coffee. We loved every single one and it was great value.
Barista Breakfast – $10
Shorty, flat white & filter
