The Indian Foodies! 160907

Food and Fun!

Food. The Universal Integrator..

This issue reflects just how 'cosmo' we've become as a city (melbourne city lah..). That day, 160709 Luke had just won first in Melbourne Uni Badminton Competition (Open). So I borrowed his trophy as my.. props hehe..

'I'm a Winnah!'

'We all are!'

The Real Winner and his ardent fans..

Next, we headed down to Malabar hut on Sydney road. The journey took about 20min but it was freezing ccc-cold!

We finally arrived!

Malabar Hut

Brunswick, Vic
868 Sydney Road
03 93834200
lesyin@yahoo.com

Lot's on the menu were 'Coming Soon' cuz they were flying chefs down from India. The food was very good! and Very Authentic! They also had Singapore favourites like... Tissue prata and Roti Bomb!!! How's that? Hopefully I can do a more serious foody write up on this place another day..

For now, I give it:

JJ Rating: 4/5

Great tasting food! I love all the food and yes.. its even cheaper than Singaporean Indian restaurants.

Next was chilling out at Brunetti..

Everyone wants a piece of our budding badminton star!

And our guest star.. Rajeev!

Milk 'Moustaches'

'Join Me?'

Sadly, VJ couldn't make it as she wasn't feeling well.. So Rajeev got her a nice 'cure' from Brunetti's

So sweet right? *gushes*

Hehe.. When Luke makes it big, we're all gonna be rich!

(I have so many photos of him for sale now.. *sniggers*)

Jasmine's Bday Series 1: Nando's and Brunetti's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASMINE!

Our Dearest 'Ah Ma'

We had planned this (in secret) all along! To surprise Jasmine the weekend before her actual birthday. Our friend, Luke even had to miss his badminton training just for this special event! Jasmine and Hao Na had clinic practice till 5.30pm that day, so they met up with us at Melbourne Central, Nando's.

Nando's

MELBOURNE CENTRAL

309 Melbourne Central,

Melbourne 3000

03 9654 9888

A pleasantly surprised Jasmine upon receiving her special Bday Card:

She was happy.. until...

...she opened the card..

It reads.. HAPPY B'day AH MA!!!

Next was her pressie presentation ceremony:

We gave her her all time favourite 'Ah Ma' bag (bottom left) and 'Ah Ma' Scarf...

...complete with 'Ah Ma' Undergarments (Granny Panties)! *Eeew!*

Next, we proceeded with the feast after much (delaying and) fanfare..

This was what we ate:

Nando's Chicken with medium spicyness and low spicyness, fries and chicken Ribs!

JJ Rating: 3/5 - food was quite alright! The spices they use are damn 'shiok'. Real Peri-Peri Peppers. Medium is just right (maybe too spicy for some girls). I loved the fries! When you order 'Ribs', don't expect pork ribs, it's a chicken shop. Expect tiny bite-sized chicken ribs, rather unique! Service could be better though..

BRUNETTI

Brunetti City Square Café - Gelateria - Creperia
214 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000

This was where we went after meeting up with my uncle at Crown Casino. That's where I received my belated bday pressies! From Crown, we took a nice stroll down to Flinders where we dropped by at Brunetti! This Brunetti has much lesser selection of cakes and tarts and lacks the cosy atmosphere of the Lygon Branch, but it's a nice place to celebrate.. under the stars!

Looks a little like a Glasshouse..

We asked for a B'day Candle..

That's a huge candle!

A sample of what we ate:

We had to pose quickly for these photos! The sparkler was dying down fast!

After sending Xiao Luke off, we headed home.. Time for fun with Ah Ma new clothes!

Surprisingly, the Granny's looked quite good on us!

Singaporean Optometric Gathering (8,9,10th Grad Batch) - THE HIDDEN FOODIE ISSUE!

Ying Thai 2
110 Lygon St
Carlton 3053 VIC
Phone: (03) 9639 1697

This is one of the very rare occasions where we get to meet up like that. Lenny, my senior (Jasmine's batch: 2004 Graduation Batch, 8th Optometry Batch) Singapore Poly Optometry Course, happened to be in town that day (flew down from Queensland) , so we decided to have a mini gathering! Dion (same batch as Jasmine and Lenny) planned everything so we simply tagged along lah..

Instead of harping on the nitty gritty of our gathering, I shall skip straight to what matters.. The FOOD!

This place has been highly recommended by Aussie locals (thanks mates!) and I know why.. As the name suggests.. It serves delicious thai cuisine in a strangely nursery like setting..

The Main Entrance:

They offer Al-fresco style dining too:

So colouful! :

Kids in background playing Singapore Kampong games?

Hao Na and Rachel.

Hao Na and Cutie-Cutie.

HaoNa, Rachel and Carolyn.

(Kids playing Gasing (Gah-Seng) in background!)

Handsome fella in middle is Dion.

I admit, I don't exactly look my best here.

Did I mention he was an Air Force Officer?

Notice the warm and cosy home-like setting..

From Left: Jasmine, Dion, Lenny

They even have authentic Chang (Elephant, in Thai) Plates.

Alright that's all folks. This is not a true foodie issue.. simply because I forgot to take pics of what we ate.. But the Green Curry was absolutely FANTASTIC! I have no idea where they got the ingredients from, it tastes really good, by Australia standards.

Further down the street..

Il Dolce Freddo

Ph: (03) 9639 3344; 116 Lygon St, CARLTON 3053

Gelati Time!! It has always been standard practice amongst foodies to have lunch at Ying Thai2 followed by ice-cream at Il Dolce Freddo..

Look at the winter crowd..

Business is brisk here! They even offer *gasps* DURIAN ICE CREAM!!!

I had the Ferrero Roche Ice cream, it was very awesome. The sell ice-cream exactly the same was as Tom's Palette (Shaw Towers, Singapore), choose a cup size, cone or waffle. And any 2 ice-cream.

'La Fruita Passione'

Port Melbourne and Brunetti (Fri Night, 240807)

PORT MELBOURNE

-sorry, no nice pics of the sea.. it was too dark!

Rex Hunt's D'Lish Fish
Seafood

105 Beach StPort Melbourne 3207

Melway Map Ref: 57 A3

Right after clinic on Fri, we zipped down to Collins Street and transferred to Tram Service 109 all the way to the LAST STOP, before alighting at Port Melbourne. Initially, I anticipated the place to be like our Clarke Quay however, it was rather.. peaceful and serene. It was definitely too cold to sit outdoors by the sea so we sat indoors instead.

Look how happy everyone is (as seen above)... EXCEPT ME:

Boohoo.. I was feeling low that day because of Dr Trung.

Hehe.. My own fault though.

Anyway, we purchased the FisherMan's Basket for AUD34.90.. meant for 4.

But 5 of us had difficulty finishing it! (we added a fish though).

If you're there by yourself, you can get a single fish n chip set for AUD6.90 - first sauce free (subsequently AUD1.30/sauce). I recommend their home made tartare and sweet chillie sauce.

Ambience was fine, much like a fast food restaurant. They had Al-fresco facilities but did not turn on the outdoor heaters. Food was quite good. The place reminded me of Fin (Singapore, Marina Square). Definitely great value for money.

JJ Rating: 3/5 - worth a try lah..!

BRUNETTI

Faraday Street194 - 204 Faraday Street

Carlton Vic 3053Australia

Sunday - Thursday (6am - 11pm)Friday - Saturday (6am - Midnight)

I've heard so much about this place! All the buzz and hype surrounding this cafe has caused reverberations to places as far as... Singapore! (it was featured on a Channel 8 Variety programme) - can someone please add a comment to tell me what show it was?

If you're walking there along Lygon Street, just take a short turn around the corner of Lygon Court..

There you have it.. (*drum rolls in background*)..

WELCOME TO BRUNETTI.

Look at the immense crowd!

Just like our Singaporean Donut craze!
(please ignore Smiley Face girl. I took 3 shots and of all the 3 girls, only Yiwen repeatedly appeared de-focused- Argh!)

Above: Cake selection area. Below: Coffee/Beverage selection area:

Sorry girls.. they ran out of chocolates:

Just Kidding!

Finally! The food has arrived:

Clockwise from left: Mudcake, Choc Oblivion (Choc Souffle w Ice-cream) and Ricotta Nutella.

A cake costs about 5 bucks.. same as the drinks. Pretty reasonably priced!

We also ordered drinks: 1x Iced Choc, Limonata(bottled lemonade) and Strawberry Milkshake. All not photographed individually though.. DOH!

Happy Times @ Brunetti =)

JJ Rating: 5/5 - A definite MUST TRY!

Ok, I have decided.. It was a tough choice but I have made up my mind. Just that day I was wondering if Max or KOKO black is better... well... stop squabbling you two.. make way for Brunetti. The best mix of cakes, drinks and chocolates!

Current ranking purely in terms of food+drinks/taste:

Rank: 1)Brunetti 2)KOKO Black 3)Max Brenners

Sorry Max.. I still love you!

You're still the BEST in Singapore!!!!

( still prefer Singapore's Max's as compared to here. Why don't they serve Maragnan here anyway?)