lb (pound) Cafe, Chapel St Melbourne

Many many years ago we were those people who got a booking at Flower Drum, and flew from Sydney to Melbourne for a brief 2 night stay with the sole purpose of eating there in its prime. It was amazing. We still to this day talk about the peking duck, quail san choi bow, caramel apples, waiters in their bow ties and of course being lucky enough to tour the kitchen - all those wok burners, oh my! and the smell of the peking ovens in action, just amazing and unforgettable. That was of course many years before our blogging started, so you'll just have to take our word for it!;)

After that amazing dinner, we woke up a little late. We had plans of having breakfast at Pearl, so hitched a tram over that side of town worked out what station to get off and we were there. The place was full of staff, but not a single customer in site. Oh no, was it that awkward in-between-breakfast-and-lunch-time?! We poke our head in the door and a very nice staff member came to greet us. They were booked out for a private function, so there went out brunch plans! He must have seen our dismay, and instructed us the little staff favorite just up the road for awesome coffee and a great breakfast selection. We followed his directions, make a slight detour down Oxford lane and find ourselves at Pound, or Lb as you will see on the widow. All these years back we had a great experience, and on this trip our first morning was to be spent wandering down Chapel St. so Lb for breakfast was a given.

As we are staying at the gorgeous Cullen hotel in Prahan, Lb is closer than we think. Before we can decide whether it's Chap-pel or Sha-pel St we see the familiar glass windows.



We were so in need of our caffeine kick that it was absorbed within seconds of hitting the table. Now, just think of this place as the sort of awesome breakfasts you would like to make at home everyday, but likely won't. The produce is fresh & the combinations classic. Smashed avocado, fresh tomato & goats cheese on toast - yup, that's me!



Kim has a heartier option of chorizo panini with rocket. Oh, the little touches like adding the greens AFTER the panini is toasted - that S*+# is always appreciated!



If you are in Melbourne, or more importantly down the Chapel St end of town, Lb is a perfect morning start or midday break.


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Lb
Shop 5, 566 Chapel Street
South Yarra Melbourne 3141
T: +61 (0)3 9826 1114

Open: Monday to Saturday 7:00am~3:00pm, Sunday 8:00am~3:00 pm

Cafe Giulia

Late breakfasting is not just a privilege its a right, I'm so glad Steph from Cafe Giulia sees eye to eye on this, and provides delicious breakfasts through out the day. One of our favourite haunts during the time we lived in Chippendale we thought we'd swing back by and see if the girl still kicks. Parked on the corner of Abercrombie and Meagher St's inside a centry old butchers Giulia is jumping. Inside the open kitchen run down one half of the cafe as you sit your a hairs breath from the preperation of your food. A huge blackboard strung up above it all gives you the run down, from coffee and fresh made juices (me likes the apple pear beetroot & ginger) through a plethora of breakfast ideas to sandwichs, burgers, soups, stews and pastas.

Today sees me lining up on the scrambled eggs with haloumi, mint, tomato and lamb kefte, it's like a big ol mess of egg scrambled up with all sorts of goodies inside, I love the pockets of haloumi, salty and melty, but not. This with the well seasoned kefte and the two door stops of toast and I'm set for the day.



The poached eggs with avo, bacon, mushrooms and roast tomato that fronts up to Kat is the breakfast of champions, generous servings of everything and everything well cooked.



The vibe here is always cool, and theres not a single sideways glance if you want breakfast at two in the afternoon with out taking your sunglasses off. What more could you want?

Cafe Giulia
92 Abercrombie St
Chippendale
Ph: 9698 4424
Fax: 02 9698 1415

Hours
Tue to Fri 6.30am to 4pm
Sat & Sun 8am to 3pm
Closed Mondays and long weekends.

Uliveto Cafe, Sydney

Ah, Sydney does do a cafe very well.  As we were both sitting in Uliveto browsing the menu with the sun pelting down into the courtyard and plenty of beautiful people sipping their lattes and reading the paper I realise this is one thing I miss about Sydney.  Kim and I both living in this neighborhood when we were in Sydney, and working above at Hugo's Lounge (when it was still a restaurant) Uliveto was a regular stop of ours.



It's nice to see some of the classics are still featured on the menu.  But the space has expanded!  They've done a great job at keeping the cafe feel with the courtyard, but there's a nice little indoor space and a much bigger kitchen.  We both spot Walter hanging around and talking to regulars, but also see him jump into the kitchen when they're getting slammed and pump out some dishes, before getting right back to chatting away.



Our drinks arrive promptly.  I have a delicious carrot, apple and ginger juice.  Freshly squeezed and oh-so vibrant.  Kim has a mango smoothie, full of ripe fruit and not too sweet.



I order a bowl of Austrian salad.  There's a few plump tomato chunks and a mountain of grated carrot heavily dressed (I guess that was the Austrian part?) with some mixed greens sitting on top.



To accompany this I choose a mini-roll.  It arrives on a little crispy sourdough bun (definitely from Infinity) and there's rocket, prosciutto, roasted corn relish, dried tomato and goats cheese.  I'm very happy!



Kim has a panini that has great thick slices of lamb sausage, some grilled zucchini, sweet onion relish, rocket and lashings of dijon mustard.  The bread is a big fluffy Turkish fella and the generous fillings make this an all round good sanga.



As we're paying, a jar of Dutch Speculaas draws me in.  



I often enjoyed Specalaas as a kid, with the whole Dutch family and all, so can't resist 2 to-go.  We don't even make it to the end of Bayswater Rd before we're both munching away at this heavily cinnamon spiced, crumbly, sweet goodness.  



Uliveto Cafe
33 Bayswater Rd
Kings Cross, Sydney

Dennis the pig

We were very excited when Dennis moved into the Powderlife cafe.  You may remember Dennis from here.  He shares the same passion for nose-to-tail eating and local gathering that we do. The beginning of this winter season was still all new for us, and we were both so excited when Dennis asked if we would like the pleasure of taking one of his little piggys. I think he had 9 in total. We didn't do so this season, we just didn't have the time needed to dedicate to all that sausage and salami making. We did though get to try 'Dennis the pig' on several occasions. The first being a wonderful grilled pork at powderlife cafe.

It was a big chunk of pig, with a nice layer of fat.  It was grilled to golden perfection and served on a big mound of mashed potato with a farm-grown organic roma tomato and jalapeno salsa. To the side, a bowl of nicely dressed mixed salad leaves.



This was to be the first of many visits to the powderlife cafe .....

Sipping latte's in Tokyu

We're winding our way up through the escalotors of Tokyu Department store, Sapporo. We're on the lookout for relaxation massage on the 10th floor (my neck is killing me) but we don't make it past the 4th floor. There's a sign at the turn for the 5th floor draging us both in ...... It's that of a delicious looking chocolate pudding, with a pumpkin cream centre. Even though my neck is quite sore, we're both immediately dragged towards Cafe la Mille.



It's full! We don't mind waiting a few minutes and just scope around. Kim does however notice that there are no other males within the cafe. It does definately seem to be a shopping lady's pitt stop (mind you, we late noticed Tokyu department store is mainly for older women). Nevermind, we head on in. We order one of the chocolate pumpkin pudding. It was slightly warm, rich dense pudding revealing a creamy and sweet pumpkin filling.



We also have a piece of chestnut cake. Delicious and fluffy, with layers of sponge and chestnut cream and a few toasted walnuts on top.



We both try a Hokkaido milk coffee, which is a mild roast latte topped with hot, creamy, delicious Hokkaido milk.



As we depart, we know we may be joining the latte sipping lady's on the 4th floor again soon ........

Bagus Cafe, Kutchan

Kutchan is a little haven of all things food .... Well, perhaps so when you're living in Hirafu, anyway. There's quite a varied array of food to be had, and it's our mission to try it all!

After a recommendation from Y & A from work we headed in. It's true Japanese style, the way it's in a rather large almost office-like building. The building doesn't look much from the street, it's only thanks to the neon lighted sign out the front that we eventually find it.



When you arrive, open the door, it just leads to a long white sterile corridor ....



Then venture down the corridor and right at the back on the right hand side is a little doorway with the words "Bagus Cafe".



We walk on in, it's surprisingly full... and feels like you could be in a little warung in Bali. It's decked out with batik, bottles of Indonesian and Thai beer and the type of music that could drift you away to Dreamland Beach .... We are led around to a table and stunned to see Y & A eating there. They were there just 2 nights ago, so it must be good! (That, and in Autumn most things in Kutchan close around 8, Bagus is open much later)



The menu is a combination of Indonesian, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and many other South East Asian offerings. We start with an order of spicy beef fresh spring rolls. The beef is spicy and full of flavour, wrapped in a rice paper casing with crisp lettuce and vermicelli noodles. To the side is a lightly spiced vinegar dipping sauce and a pile of wafer thin fried potatoes. A very nice start to the evening.



Next is a Thai style salad of vermicelli, pork and prawn. It has a nice pungent dressing with a little kick of chilli. There's crisp lettuce, mitzuna, red onion, chilli, peanuts and generous juicy chunks of prawn and pork throughout.



Then comes out a terracotta soup pot, sitting over a burning fire. This is their tom yum. It does smell good! We leave it to simmer for a few minutes ....



It's not got the hot we expect, but maybe we've spent too much time in Thailand. (Japanese are crazy for their wasabi, but they're not big on chilli-hot) but the flavours are still there. The sour is added from a bottle of Thai vinegar that's bought out with the soup.



We finish with a big stone bowl of Korean seasoned rice, braised pork & beansprouts. The pork belly has been braised for hours, and is deliciously tender. The seasoned rice starts to crisp on the bottom of the stone pot, and this stirred through gives each bit a nice texture. The wok-fried beansprouts and little bit of mitzuna balancing it out nicely.



It's all delicious, and we've been able to take a little trip around South East Asia by only travelling about 10km from home.



Bagus Cafe
North 2, West 1
Kutchan-Cho
Tel: 0136 23 1118
Open 6pm-11pm