Breakfast @ Auction Rooms

Looks might be deceiving

http://www.auctionroomscafe.com.au/

103-107 Errol Street, North Melbourne

Open Tues - Sun, 7am (8am weekends) - 4pm

Tel: 9326 7749

Auction room has been voted as one of the best cafe in Melbourne. They are famous for their coffee and they have a special counter with a barrista that serve their specialty coffee for all coffee lovers. I love food and I love coffee even more. Despite how busy this place is and how long I have to wait, I marched to Auction room to try out their food and coffee.

As Madison saying goes,

" Awesome breakfast will brighten up your day, and with a combination of a good cup of coffee, you will feel like paradise."



I went to Auction room on fine Saturday morning/afternoon, it was packed, I have to wait for 20 minutes to get a table. The customer service was alright, I heard rumours about their customer service, therefore, I did not expect much from them. Well, as I expected, their customer service on that day confirmed the rumours. (Unlike their neighbour, Fandango- my current favourite place, the customer service there is awesome. A friendly smile will really brighten up your morning). The floor staff looks so gloomy on a Saturday afternoon.

I ordered a cup of mocha. Well, it taste like a normal cup of mocha. It is not bad, but it did not make me jump up and down. It is really very normal standard cup of mocha that is not going to give you "paradise". (Unlike the one I had in Hardware Societe, just thinking about it makes me happy, they melted chocolate in the coffee tasted so good. It is like the combination of good and evil, the sweetness of the chocolate and the bitterness of the coffee, it explodes in your mouth)

I ordered the eggplant dish. It is like a grilled eggplant with chickpeas in tomato relish and topped with some "Kapai Puku".
Well, it really taste like how it looks. There is a lack of texture in this dish. It will be better if they could add a toast in it to contrast the texture. It leaves you feeling something is lacking and it is a really simple dish. If you asked me will I order this again. NNNNOOOOOO... not in a million years. Looks like ratatouille(Australia style). 

My husband ordered the duck eggs which he said it is alright. It really looks like fancy sausages on eggs with toast. It looks really simple and it taste like what it looks like. "Simple"
Nothing much can be commented on this as how hard is it to cook sausage and eggs with bread, even a 5 years old can do this. We saw this in Junior Masterchef, didnt we?











My friends, Cinvin ordered a chicken wrap and Tim ordered a pork dish. Cinvin dish looks like a normal chicken wrap that can be bought over the counter, nothing spectacular, not even worth to be post on a picture cause really, it just looks like a wrap from Mcdonalds cafe.
Poor Tim, he is a well built man and about 6 feet tall, ordered some pork dish. Well, we did read some blogs before ordering, and they did warn him about the portion. It was so small and I think he has to drive-thru Mcdonalds later to fill his stomach. Not just about the portion, but that dish look and taste weird too.

All in all, despite this cafe being well-known famous, my personal opinion and experience, I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. To be honest, I don't think I will be visiting this cafe again.Unless, it is by force.  Melbourne has tonnes of good brekkie places, why torture your wallet and your tummy on things that aren't worth it. But, dont get me wrong, the food is edible and the coffee is "averagely" good. It just that I personally think that it is not worth the money. Chinese doesn't mind spending, but it has to be worth spending.

 BREAKFAST @ FANDANGO

http://fandangocafe.com.au/fandango/fandango.html 

Address
97 Errol Street, North Melbourne, VIC 3051
Telephone
03 9329 0693

Monday - Saturday  7:30am - 3pm

Sunday 9am - 2pm

I have heard about this place from my friends about how fabulous this place is. I finally manage to try this breakfast place yesterday, and I never looked back since then. It is the best breakfast joint I have eaten so far. I would rank this place above Tom Phat (http://www.tomphat.com.au/) to be my favourite breakfast place. (Btw, their roti omellete is my favourite - It is awesome too!!!) In my opinion, I prefer Fandango coffee to Tom Phat. Even though, their coffee art is not the best, but they taste good. Sometimes, we can't judge a book by its cover.



Vanilla pancakes with bacon

I ordered the vanila pancakes with bacon. The pancakes were served with fresh strawberries, raspberries, strawberry and plum jam (I think it is plum), instead of fresh cream, it is serve with honey cream cheese with sprinkle of icing sugar. I ordered add-ons with bacon. They serve with maple syrup on the side too.

It is the best pancake I ever taken in Melbourne. The pancake is so soft and fluffy. It just melt in your mouth. The best thing is when you combined the ham with the honey cream cheese and the strawberry jam on the pancake and fit all these into your mouth. The combination of the sweet and savoury flavour just exploded in your mouth.

I have compliment on the home made strawberry and plum jam. I am very particular about jam and this jam is one of the best I tasted so far. I like the way they kept some of the big chunk plum slice in the jam and it added extra texture to it. 

I would say, in my humble opinion, the chef really knows how to cook good food. This is a winning breakfast dish with good pancake and awesome jam. 



My partner ordered the beetroot eggs. It is toasted breads serve with 2 poached eggs, spinach, and the beetroot sauce. It is one of the popular selection in the menu.The beetroot eggs are awesome. It is not as good as my pancakes but it is a good dish. I would definitely recommend this dish for those who doesn't have sweet tooth. 

All in all, these are the two selection that is highly recommended by a lot of other bloggers and I definitely will recommend these two selections to all the first timer who is visiting this Fandango.

GETTING READY FOR THE SNOW

 

This winter is far worst than the last winter in Melbourne, it is freezing cold and I have to wear gloves almost eveyday to keep my hands warm. I kept 3 pairs of gloves in my bag for different circumstances.

 

 The fingerless gloves

 This type of gloves is good for indoor. I normally use this gloves when I am in my office or at home so that I can work and keep my fingers warm. Also, this is great when I am using my Android phone.

 

I also kept another pair of fingerless gloves, with sleeves, with me in case I am wearing short sleeves shirt. This will keep me warm throughtout the day.

These fingerless gloves are really good when you need to work as the tips of your fingers are expose.

However, one bad thing about fingerless gloves is that when you go outdoor, your fingertips will be freezing.

Therefore, I brought a third pair with me in case I am going outdoor. But, I find it very dificult when I am answering my phone. I have to remove my gloves to answer the phone. 

This amazing new invention has saved my life, the Amazing Winter Touch Screen Gloves, as the conductive material is woven onto tips of the fingers, it allows me to use touchscreen devices while keeping my hands warm. Therefore, when I am up at Mt. Buller, I will not be scared that my hands will get frozen. This pair of gloves looks awesome and it only cost me AUD7.00 from Catch of the day. What a bargain!

i Spicy - The Authentic and Exotic Taste of Thailand
http://ispicy.com.au/index.html

Last weekend my husband and I went to try this Thai restaurant in Richmond, i Spicy. We walked in without expecting a lot from the restaurant as we just want to fill our tummy before going to Ikea which is just around the corner. We were greeted by a pretty young Thai waitress and she ascorted us to our table. The restaurant looks chic, with cute grafitti of their signature dishes. It looks different from the other Thai restaurants, this restaurant has a cheeky side.     
The restaurant has 2 menus, lunch and dinner. But, I think it is because we arrived at about 3pm, the waitress gave us both menus. The menu is different from the other typical Thai restaurant menu. Some of the food they offered reminded me of the Thai restaurants I had in Penang, Malaysia. (eg: Deep fried Kang kung with Spicy sauce). I had search high and low in Melbourne for this dish, and finally I found it here. I was impressed!

Chu- Chee prawns in young coconut
Creamy red curry paste with green bean, lemongrass, garlic, kaffir leaf and prawn placed inside the young coconut.

This is the winner! The curry was smooth and sweet, the sweetness of the coconut juice goes so well with the curry.Wow! It was like a curry smoothie. Thinking of it makes my mouth water.
 

Tom Yum (Prawn) Most famous traditional Thai soup cooked with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, coriander roots, flavored with fish sauce, lemon juice and chili.

Well, the tom yum is good. But, I wouldnt say it is great. But definitely better than Ying Thai (@ Laigon)   

Well, rice is a must for Asian especially when we are eating Asian food. ( Rice for Asian is like bread for Caucasian ) We ordered cocout rice to go with our delicious curry. Both of them compliment each other so well, they are like an old married couple. The coconut fragrant from both entites just burst out like I am tasting a real coconut. It tasted so fresh and the curry does not feel thick/creamy at all. It is just perfecto... light and smooth.  

BBQ Stuffed Calamari Marinated minced chicken, stuffed in calamari grilled served with ispicy lemon sauce

One word to describe this, YUM!!!!
The calamari, (fresh and bouncy), stuffed with the marinated minced chicken and a quick dap on the sweet chilli sauce, the flavours just burst in my mouth. WOW!!! This is awesome!!!

How we long for a big jug of  Thai Ice Milk Tea (Home Made Drinks). The milk tea tasted great and they did not stinnged on the milk at all. The milk tea tasted great.

MY OVERALL EXPERIENCE:
I would say, this is a place I will definitely recommend to my friends and families. Love it!

Chinese Laundry

Shoe Style: Hotline
Description: Achieve feminine elegance in the Chinese Laundry Hotline shoes. Team them with a flowing pleated dress and an envelope clutch for a special occasion. For a party appropriate look pair the Chinese Laundry Hotline shoes with a batwing blouse, bodycon skirt and statement bib necklace.

I bought this gorgeous pair from Iconic (http://www.theiconic.com.au/). The retail price is AUD74.95 and I received AUD25 discount from the original price. It was quite a bargain! I ordered it on Wednesday night and I received it yesterday.  I have to comment Iconic is a pretty good e-shop. Good service and value for money. The shoes's quality is good, not like some websites where the shoes looks top notch and when you received it, it looks cheap anf tacky. Will definitely shop @ Iconic again!!! 

Love this pair of shoes. It is a combination of ribbon and sparkles!

De Bortoli Wines

The vineyard scenery is breathtaking. This place speaks of serenity.

Restaurant Locale

The name Locale reflects not only the De Bortoli family's Italian heritage but also the restaurant's philosophy of sourcing the best local.

    Jien Loong and I went to De Bortolli last Saturday, 16 June 2012, and dine at Restaurant Locale. It is a beautiful restaurant and the seats arrangement are just rught, not too crowded. I always prefer a restaurant where you can have your own private space. (Enough space so that the table next to you can't eavesdrop on yout conversation). The menu looks lovely, I like the vibrant colour (red), it kind of open up my appetite. 

While waiting for our food, we are being served with the home made bread. The olive bread was delicious.

 The waitress paired a white, la boheme – act three pinot gris & friends, with my entree (primi), local flathead fritti with garlic aioli & baby fennel salad.

 

Then, I move on to my main(secondi),

15 hour slow cooked beef with wild pine mushrooms, farro & pinenut gremolata. The main was paired with the De Bortoli Shiraz.

 We ordered a side (contorni e verdure) to share, Italian fried potatoes with garden rosemary & garlic.It was as good as it looks.

 

For dessert, I ordered affogato con zeppole - vanilla gelato & italian doughnuts served with de bortoli black noble. The black noble fits perfectly with the vanilla gelato. Tghe black Noble deserves to be awarded the gold medal.  

Just arrived... Love my new boots. Just in time for this cold merciless weather in Melbourne

Food Sketches: FOOD SKETCH #39: Dim Sum Chicken Feet

Food Sketches: FOOD SKETCH #39: Dim Sum Chicken Feet: Chicken feet in black bean sauce. A classic dim sum dish, not for the faint of heart. At Grand Restaurant in Flushing, Queens.

LOVE THIS MESSAGE!!!!
I really want to share this message with everyone.
I had wasted a lot of time trying to find myself.
Why search for something that has already past?
Instead, follow your heart, redefine yourself, and be the person that you want to be today.
Stop looking at yesterday as yesterday has already past.
We can't change our past but we can define our future.

This is my cute little 7 months old baby gurl, Mallow, and her bestie, Redbull.