Aye, aye, Captains of Industry!

In my opinion, good cafés around the city are the ones hidden in little laneways. I've passed by this café before when heading to Little Mule the other time, and I've read about it too.

Captains of Industry
Level 1, 2 Somerset Pl, Melbourne VIC
03 9670 4405
http://captainsofindustry.com.au/
Mon - Sun, 9am - 5pm, Tues - Sun, 24 hours advance booking required for bistro dining.

This café is more than just a café: it's a barbershop, a tailor, a shoemaker, and it's a bistro as well. I like how some of the cafés in Melbourne have other elements to their store.

The deco around the area was really old school. A few of the tables had these little old school, grandma's era sewing machines, and there was a really antique looking piano in the far corner too. 

Quite honestly, it felt as if I stepped into the 1940s/50s when i stepped into the café. The vibe, the deco, and even the staff donned haircuts worthy of the era. I kid you not. There was one customer who had his hair cut there, and it looked pretty good. 

(I think his name is) Matt, with the menu board he brought over to our table. The staff there were really friendly, and I think Matt over here was a really good marketer. He made us feel like ordering everything on the menu!

Soy latté and strong latté, $3.50.

The coffee was pretty average. The crema on the coffee was completely wiped clean off the glasses, and according to Jason, that means the beans weren't as fresh. I honestly thought it tasted pretty okay, and that the milk was frothed pretty well. Guess that's the difference between one who knows about coffee and another who doesn't.

Pork belly with red cabbage and apple, $19.

When Matt described the dish, Jason was pretty sold. But when the dish was placed on the table, we were both so shocked at how small the portion of pork was. It was about 2.5x2.5 inches. The crackling on top was slightly chewy, and the slaw was rather average. We were pretty disappointed, to be honest.

Steak sandwich with aged cheddar, onion jam, tomato and lettuce, $14.

In contrast, I really, really liked the sandwich. The bread was excellently toasted and it was amazingly crunchy. There was a good portion of steak that was cooked well too. The onion jam, tomato and the cheddar really complimented the sandwich.

Look at all that cologne and shoe polish by the counter! Gosh. It's such a man's shop. 

Overall, we both had pretty mixed feelings about the place. On one hand, the sandwich was a real bang for your buck but on the other, the pork was a real disappointment. I guess this shows that cafés with really good food can have their little hiccups too.

Food: 7

Coffee: 6

Ambience: 7.5

Value: 7

Staff: 8

I'm starting work at Virgin Active's V-Café on Tuesday. Yay to familiarity!
may.

Breakfast Thieves Stole my Soft Boiled Egg Virginity.

Joshep joined Jason and I for brunch on probably one of the hottest days so far this year. I've heard a lot of good things about this place: It's all over instagram, and all the food blogs that I follow, and I had pretty high expectations.

Breakfast Thieves

Shop 1, 420 Gore Street, Fitzroy VIC
03 9416 4884http://www.breakfastthieves.com.au/
[ tram 86, stop 20 (Rose St (Keele St)/Smith St) ]
Tues - Fri, 7am - 4pm, Sat - Sun, 8am - 4pm

The place was a really short walk away from the tram stop. I think Google maps gave us the wrong directions: according to the map, we were meant to turn left at Rose St/Gore St, but the café was immediately to the right of the intersection. *shrugs.

Of course, brunch on Saturday mid-mornings usually go hand in hand with filled up cafés and waiting lists. We were on the waiting list and it took about 10 minutes before we were seated. 

I was in a bit of a hurry for an appointment (we were already late with the tram delay and the seating delay) so i didn't get any pictures or the treats available, or even a name card. Boo :( The staff members were friendly and cheery as your usual brunch spot café staff would be.

The café was cosy and the area was spacious. What I really didn't fancy was the way the tables were arranged: big tables where more than one group of customers would dine with another. It's not bad; in fact, it's good for big groups but perhaps I wasn't in the mood to listen to other people's conversations that morning. 

Strong latté, $3.80. 

Beans were from STREAT. It was really good, though Jason has had so much of STREAT's coffee over the exam period (from the STREAT stall in Melbourne Central) that he was really used to the taste.

Charlie's Honest Squeezed Orange Juice, $3.90, Double espresso, $3.50

I didn't feel like having a coffee that morning, so I had orange juice. Joshep had a double espresso and a couple of orange juices to aid his hangover. Tsk tsk. In my opinion, I think Charlie's juices are always pretty good, but just a tad overpriced. 

The Legend, $18 - Spicy baked eggs with Spanish chorizo, roasted mushroom, green peas, spiced tomato ragout and goat's feta with herbed garlic toast.

Both Joshep and Jason ordered the very popular baked eggs dish. I tried a bit of the chorizo and the roasted mushrooms, and it tasted pretty good. They were both really impressed with it, so I'm guessing that's more than enough proof that it's good. Joshep really liked the herb garlic toast, 'It's real garlic!'. It was quite a big dishful of baked eggs too. Jason's only qualm was that it was a little oily.

The Breakfast Chain, $17.50 - Honey baked apple sultana with hazelnut crumble, granola and fruit yoghurt, soft boiled eggs and cheesie toastie soldiers.

The hazelnut crumble was AMAZING. I'm a sucker for any kind of crumble, and this just hit the spot. the apples were soft and juicy and the sultanas were plump. Both Jason and Joshep tried it and they liked it too. The granola and fruit yoghurt was nothing much to shout about, but I did like the fruity bits on top.

/ mini story /

Now, anyone who knows me well enough would know that it's nearly impossible to get me to eat any kind of eggs with runny yolk. It's been a psychological problem that I've had since I was really young, and I've never tried it and I've never intended to. I couldn't even eat a minorly undercooked omelette, or look at runny yolk.

I really have no idea why I decided to go ahead with the soft boiled eggs when they said they couldn't scramble em. Perhaps it's seeing all the people around me enjoying their poached eggs brunch after brunch after brunch, and the feeling of missing out when i come across breakfast items I couldn't order because of the poached eggs.

/ end story /

It really wasn't as bad as I expected. I had no problems putting it into my mouth or stomaching it as I normally would have. It's highly unlikely that I'll have runny yolk eggs it on it's own, but if it's served with excellent cheesie toastie soldiers like that, I think I'll be pretty okay.

We don't look THAT alike.. do we? 

Amen!

Food: 9

Coffee: 7

Ambience: 8

Value: 7

Staff: 7

might've snatched up a second part-time job for the day time! fingers crossed.

may.

I'm going nuts for Purple Peanuts.

Jason works all the way on the other side of the city, so I decided to try out lunch at a place I've been meaning to go to for ages, which was just a street away from where he works.

Purple Peanuts Japanese Café
620 Collins St Melbourne VIC 
03 9620 9548 
[ tram 48/109/112, stop 1 (Collins St/Spencer St) ] 

Funnily enough, the name didn't even click when I mentioned it to him. He actually comes here nearly every lunch hour. Tsk, how he failed to mention a good place to eat to me, I have no idea!

First thing I noticed was the deco all around. The place had so many posters of The Beatles (+100 points right there!), and you might notice that the Maneki-Neko (the cats with the waving paw) are have their make-up done like KISS. 

I'm guessing the owner of the place is a fan of UK's psychedelic music groups and rock..

I like that they had that huge as monster sitting on top of their refrigerator, watching over the unknowing customers as they dine.

The actually make their own chocolates here. How cool is that? They've got stuff like green tea brownies (sold out both times when I was there), panna cotta, and other little sweet treats. 

More sweet treats over their sushi display (which I failed to take a good picture of). I had a sample of their yuzu cake, and I really liked it! What I'm really keen on trying is their ume and raspberry marshmallows though. Maybe another day.

Another item that's pretty popular there is the vegie onigiri. If it's anything like the tuna one I had, it's basically vegie, rice, and it's deep fried. O.o

Their menu was, obviously, Japanese, of which some items had small twists to it, like the Prawn Burger. Loved that they used brown paper and marker pens. Gave the place a slightly rustic touch.

Okay so I've described a little too much about the place, but I really like this café!

Daigo's homemade miso soup, $2.90 (Regular)/ $4.50 (Large),

or add a Regular to (some of) the mains for $2.

I don't know who Daigo is, but I want to give him a big, big hug. This is, hands down, the best miso soup I've ever had in my life, and maybe because I've been having instant miso all this while. It wasn't overpoweringly salty, and it didn't make me feel like I was on the verge of dying from dehydration after.

Chicken curry, $9.20.

I tried some of what Jason ordered and I liked it. The curry wasn't very intense, and that means that it didn't taste artificial at all. The chicken is flame grilled, juicy, and just yummy. 

Gammodoki Prawn Burger, $9.50.

It wasn't a typical burger; it wasn't even circular shaped! But this is easily my favourite burger in Melbourne. Sure, the patty is made of tofu and some people may not dig that (Minn, I'm looking at you), but I definitely did. The teriyaki sauce in the burger was what made it amazing. 

I went back the next day for dinner. I really do like this place.. I rarely go back to the same place twice if i can help it.

Tuna onigiri, $4. 

Jason sneakily ordered this cause he knew I really wanted to try it. I liked it: really crispy on the outside and not too gooey or chewy on it inside. It tasted really good too, but because it was basically rice, and deep fried, it's highly unlikely that I'll order it again unless I'm really craving for it. 

Kakuni pork with rice, $9.50.

The pork was slow cooked and braised. How awesome does that sound? The pork was really tender and it tore up really easily in my mouth. And, of course, it didn't have that smelly porky taste at all! The korean chilli that came with it was something really different.

Beef curry soba, $9.00.

I honestly did not see that this was supposed to be a soupy dish on the menu. How blind am I?

Definitely no regrets though. It was really good. The soba was really yummy and the soup was so different: Japanese curry, but not as thick yet it wasn't diluted. And the best part was, it isn't your typical spicy curry (the type that'll make you sweat and have a tummy ache after). I drank the soup till the bowl was dry.

Mango panna cotta, $5.

Their homemade panna cottas weren't really panna cottas in my opinion, more like pudding. It was well made: soft, silky and not too sweet, but among all the things I've tried there, this is probably the only thing I had there that didn't blow my mind. 

I should also add that as far as Asian take-out-like places go, the staff there were really friendly. I think I spoke to the owner, who tried to convince me to convert to Nikon. NEVERRRRRRRR!

This really is a pretty place with good food. I'd definitely come back, especially since Jason is working a stone's throw away from the place. 

Food: 9

Coffee: N/A

Ambience: 7.5

Value: 9

Staff: 7.5

I tried playing around with Wordpress earlier, and I've concluded that I'll probably never switch over. It's just too complicated! Too many settings to meddle with, and I can't even customize my layout without needing to pay for it. *crinkles nose and eyebrows. I'll stick to Blogger, but it's highly likely that I'll change the URL soon. 'may-niac' is just too annoying to explain to people :(

really, call me out if you need someone to accompany you. i'm really bored at home all the time now.

may.

Healthy vs Unhealthy Brunch at The Mess Hall

So the holidays began last Friday for me. By the second day, I was bored out of my mind. Thank god for people like Demie who has time to have brunch with me =s.

The Mess Hall
51, Bourke St, Melbourne VIC

03 9654 6800
http://www.themesshallmelbourne.com/
Mon-Fri- 7.30am-late, Sat-Sun, 8am - late

Decided to go somewhere near the gym on Bourke St. I know eating right before a workout isn't the best thing to do, but it was motivation to choose my food carefully. And besides, there isn't much jumping around in RPM (spin) anyway.

It's a short walk up from Exhibition St, just a few minutes walk away from Virgin Active. It's a little hard to spot, their sign is really high up. Or maybe I'm just short.

The front part of the café/restaurant was more spacious than your average café, and slightly dimly lit. It was really cosy, and it just gave off a very chilled aura.

Jason, Demie and I were shown to the back portion of the café, where it was brightly lit because of the stairwell (yay for natural lighting for photos!), right next to the kitchen.

The Mess Hall serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm not too sure if their breakfast is all-day or not though. Damn, forgot to ask. The items on the menu were pretty reasonably priced, which is a sight for a sore wallet's eyes (like mine).

Say hi to the chef and the sous chef!

Generally, they serve Italian food for lunch and dinner, but their breakfast menu had what you'd typically have in a Melbournian café's menu.

Jason's strong latté, $3.80 and my soy latté, $4.30.

To be very honest, I didn't like the coffee. It was very well made, that's for sure: the milk was frothed perfectly and it was the right heat. What I didn't like was the blend they used. Jason described it as a very, very chocolatey taste, but it didn't taste at all like chocolate to me!

Poached asparagus with scrambled eggs and shaves parmigianno, $12.50.

Funnily enough, I somehow confused parmigianno and proscuitto. My own mistake, but I stayed true to my promise to myself: keep the portion small. 

The asparagus was surprisingly cooked really well: it was soft but it still maintained it's integrity, and seasoned well too. I love my scrambled eggs and this time was no exception. It was fluffy and had just the right amount of seasoning. I'm really picky with how well my food's seasoned.

Corn fritters with avocado, cherry tomatoes, cream cheese and dill, $13.50, with bacon,  +$3.

Demie's brunch choice was very pleasing to the eyes. So colourful! Loved it. She gave me one corn fritter cause she was so sure she wouldn't be able to finish it, And it was good. The fritters weren't overpowered with doughy flour, but there was a very strong peppery taste to it that some people might not like. There was also a bit of what we reckoned was pumpkin at the bottom, which too had a strong peppery taste.

I've gotta be one of the few people in the world who doesn't like bacon. It looked good though.

Hollandaise with poached eggs, ham, spinach, and dukkah on a sweet bun, $16.50.

The poached egg was slightly overcooked, but it still had a lot of the watery yolk thing going on. Jason really liked it and that it was a lot more filling that it really looks. The ham was tasty and not too salty, and the spinach was cooked really well. What he was really happy with was that he was finally able to try hollandaise (yes, we both have never tried hollandaise).

I hope you enjoyed your day out with your boy today, Demie! Brunch again soon for you to spill. =p

Food: 8

Coffee: 7.5 (how it was made), 3 (for the blend. I really didn't like it! =/)

Ambience: 8

Value: 7

Staff: 6

I'm not used to being on my own during the day. I've got so much free time now that Iryan, Adam and Zack, typically the people I hang out with the most, are back home in M'sia, and Jason's started work again. Thank god my cousin Jacq and sister Dr. Ping are coming on two separate occasions to visit me.

It's great to be back. I've got so many places to blog about!

may.