Cafe – ohdenny

South Society

October 14, 2017 Posted in Australian, Cafe, Food Reviews, Mount Waverley, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

South Society is an all-in-one cafe, bar and eatery, located close to Pinewood Shopping Centre in Mount Waverley. With the amount of new cafes coming up around town, it certainly stands out with its all day breakfast menu, and seasonal menu.

When we dined at South Society we ordered the maple bacon, with avocado and poached eggs. It’s certainly a lovely combination of the sweetness from the maple syrup, the richness from the bacon, creamy avocado and just right poached eggs.

Their Chilli scrambled eggs with goats cheese and olive crumb is an interesting combination. While not being a big fan of olives, it complements the soft and strong flavour of the goats cheese, and the subtle spiciness of the chillies. I wouldn’t say it was amazing by any means, but definitely something different.

Last words

And with the changing of the seasons comes new menu options. Their current menu still has their Smashed avo and bacon but made slightly differently, and their Chilli scramble turning into a Basil Pesto scrambled eggs which sounds like a winning combination. The menu at South Society has it all, baked eggs, burgers, wings, salads, and seafood. So one thing is for certain, is your spoilt for choice.

South Society
435-437 Blackburn Road
Mount Waverley VIC 3149

Manchester Press

May 12, 2017 Posted in American, Australian, Food, Food Reviews, Melbourne, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Manchester Press is one of the popular coffee and bagel eateries in Melbourne. Tucked away in one of Melbourne’s laneways, it has an extensive variety of bagel dishes. Their open bagels, an adaption of the typical open faced sandwiches, is also an interesting option for diners. While there are also several options for those not feeling like a bagel like salads and breakfast bowls.

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However, being an eatery known for its bagels you have to try it at least once. The Grilled Chorizo open bagel is served with melted cheese, tomato salsa and a side of pretzels and pickles. I loved the combination of the grilled chorizo with the fresh and tangy salsa, melted cheese and a bit dense bagel. The pretzels are a bit ??? but it adds to the kinda American charm and especially so with the pickle.

Last words

Manchester Press does bagels and it does them well.

Manchester Press
8 Rankins Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000

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Mr. Ed Cafe

May 5, 2017 Posted in Australian, Flemington, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Mr. Ed Cafe is located along the busy Racecourse Road in Flemington and minutes walk from Newmarket Station. While their offerings for breakfast and lunch may, on first glance, be your typical cafe dishes. On some of them, they do an interesting take on it. For example, their Smoked Salmon comes with sumac rolled eggs or their Baked Eggs comes with leek and chorizo ragu and Persian feta.

What Mr. Ed Cafe calls their ‘Horse’s Feed’ is like your big breakfast, served with poached eggs, taleggio croquette, chorizo, bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms. The poached eggs were cooked perfectly, with that golden oozy yolk. While I would have preferred the bacon to be more crispy, it was decent and not overcooked. The chorizo, however, was interestingly sliced horizontally and pan fried. Overall I’d say it’s a decently tasty dish.

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Their Baked Eggs as mentioned before is very interesting, it isn’t your typical tomato based Baked Eggs. Instead, it comes with flatbread and yoghurt, and has like curry or Indian spices with beans and chorizo, and of course eggs. The eggs were a bit over cooked and I found it to be quite rich. However, it’s quite tasty and especially so with the flatbread.

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In addition to their menu, they also have muffins, and croissants if you want something a bit smaller as a meal or as a snack.

Not only do they have a breakfast and lunch menu, but in the evenings Mr. Ed also has a dinner menu which is basically all burgers and sides, and offering wine and beer as well.

Last words

Mr. Ed Cafe serves tasty food and offers something different to the norm.

Mr. Ed Cafe

285 Racecourse Road
Flemington VIC 3031

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Cafe Rubix

June 3, 2016 Posted in Australian, Box Hill, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsCafe Rubix caught my eye with it’s bold typeface and black shopfront along Middleborough Road, Box Hill. On a Sunday, it’s bustling with people, chilling out and having their meals and coffees. It’s a cute little cafe and their menu offerings is similar to many other cafes around but of course it’s the taste that matters.

It took my a while to decide but I was dying for hash browns and so ordered the Hungry Badger, it also comes with two poached eggs, toast, chorizo, bacon, smash avocado and beetroot relish. The eggs were nice and gooey as it should be, and the sweet beetroot relish is an interesting addition which provides a bit of tartness to it too. The mashed avo was nicely seasoned, but the bacon and chorizo I found to be a tad overcooked and dry. The hash browns were lovely and crispy!

The coffee isn’t too bad too as well!

Last words

The food-wise it’s decent and service was so-so when I went. Still, I’d probably go back since I’m eyeing the corn fritters.

Cafe Rubix
519 Middleborough Rodd
Box Hill VIC 3128

Scarvelli Cafe

September 4, 2015 Posted in Australian, Balwyn, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Having been up and down Whitehorse Road nearly everyday for a few years now, I’m still finding new places to try. Scarvelli Cafe is one of the many cafes on this long stretch of road but is located further down from the main hub in Balwyn. Scarvelli prides itself on the Paddock to Plate philosophy, sourcing fresh, seasonal produce from the owner’s farm on the Bellarine Peninsula at Swan Bay for their dishes. This exciting concept, combined with Industry Beans coffee makes for a very appealing visit to Scarvelli.

Dined courtesy of Scarvelli Cafe

Their Tassie Salmon with cous cous, tomatoes and grapefruit makes for a very tasty meal. The salmon is cooked well, and the acidity from the grapefruit adds this beautiful freshness to the entire dish. The crispy salmon skin is also a winner.

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Probably the highlight for me was Scarvelli’s Braised Swan Bay Beef. The slow braised beef cheek has this amazing, bold beef flavour to it. The mushrooms, again, fragrant and complements the beef with the creamy parsnip puree.

The Chilli Eggs and Ham is an interesting breakfast dish with a crumbed potato, sauerkraut and ham croquette and smashed peas. The chilli dressing reminds me of a chilli jam with some sweetness to it. The peas lacked a bit of flavour too. I do applaud them for keeping their menu varied though.

Impressions

The braised beef dish along with their strong, Tanzanian coffee makes for a very delicious trip down to Balwyn. It’s also quite a popular breakfast, brunch spot so please do keep that in mind if wanting to make a visit there. I will definitely make plans to try their other dishes and of course, order another coffee to go with it.

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Scarvelli Cafe
143 Whitehorse Road
Balwyn VIC 3103

Platform 3

May 22, 2015 Posted in American, Australian, Box Hill, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, WesternLeave a comment

Finding a good cafe in Box Hill can be quite a challenge. You have the incredibly popular Red Cup Cafe towards the Middleborough Rd end of Whitehorse Rd but if you’ve read my review, you’ll know I was not overly impressed by it. Platform 3 complements the transport hub of central Box Hill, by stylising the place with some train station like aesthetics. What I like about Platform 3 is that although its located in the old Box Hill Central, it’s still far away enough from the bustling noises of the market and food court that you can relax in a quieter atmosphere with a coffee in hand.

Platform 3’s Corn Fritters were favourable in my ~~eyes~~ mouth. The corn flavour comes through the fritter quite well, it’s not dry and fried just enough. The addition of salmon and the poached eggs with hollandaise sauce give it that extra punch. I love a poached egg done well, and here it’s how you’d want it. Would definitely order again.

Platform 3’s Big Breakfast can certainly be for two, but for one on a healthy appetite this meal can go down well. Comes with bacon, spinach, tomatoes, sausages, mushrooms and your choice of how the eggs are cooked. It really has everything you’d want and cooked well too. Enough seasoning to go round, it’s happy days for me with this one.

Impressions

While I’m quite fond of their breakfast menu, I haven’t yet delved into their lunch menu. Platform 3 not only do breakfast and lunch but they also have a lively night scene, with a bar for the evenings and serving for dinner. I believe it’s the only bar in Box Hill so you may understand the exorbitant prices for some of their drinks. Though it may just be worth it.

Cocoa Patisserie

September 5, 2014 Posted in Desserts, European, Food Reviews, Kew, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

I first came across Cocoa Patisserie‘s cakes when we had the Hazelnut Mud Cake for one of my colleague’s birthdays. It has since become of my go to cakes for just about any occasion. Cocoa Patisserie is located on High Street, Kew and surprisingly it closes around 7pm on most nights which is great for after work if you just want to grab something. Cocoa not only serve cakes but pastries, coffees too (of course) but I haven’t yet had the pleasure to try. I’ve only tried their cakes, such as their Tiramisu and Pleasure Dome but their Hazelnut Mud Cake tops them all.

What I love about this cake is the layers, the ever so light chocolate mousse combined with the moist mud cake (gluten free apparently!) and topped with chopped roasted hazelnuts and toffee pieces that adds the much needed crunchiness. Decorated with ganache and dark and white chocolate.

I adore nuts in cakes, and especially with cakes that aren’t too rich or sweet. It adds everything that I would want in a cake; moist, light, crunchy and not too sweet. You really can’t ask for more.

Cocoa Patisserie
169 High St
Kew VIC 3101

Tapas Cafe – Torquay

May 23, 2014 Posted in Australian, Food Reviews, Mexican, Restaurant Reviews, TorquayLeave a comment

On my way back from a day trip to The Great Ocean Road and Otways, we wanted to stop by Torquay for lunch. Being later in the arvo, but still with plenty of people about, we came across Tapas Cafe. It’s a small-ish cafe but enticing nonetheless. Their menu is typical of many seaside cafes, but with a hint of Mexican cuisine on their menu.

Pictured above is their Sweet Chilli Fish with fresh salad and chips. Perfectly cooked fried fish with a sweet chilli sauce to match, it’s an interesting choice and it lets the fish flavour come through. The salad underdressed (not dressed at all) and with the fresh capsicum, I found it to be an odd addition as the salad was overall quite dry without any dressing. It may not be the best dish I’ve tasted, but definitely satisfactory.

The Quesadilla with corn and cheese and spicy guacamole and salad was great on the other hand. I loved the quesadilla with the melted cheese and corn, although quite thin it’s richness compensates for a filling meal. The guacamole I found lacked the avocado flavour but that may just be due to the avocados being more subtle in flavour. Tasty dish.

Impressions

Tapas Cafe doesn’t appear to be too well known in Torquay but I think it offers something a bit different to your standard cafes or fish and chip shops which is welcomed warmly in my book.

Tapas Cafe

9 Gilbert St
Torquay VIC 3228

Gourmet Girl

April 18, 2014 Posted in Australian, Blackburn, Food, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Gourmet Girl in Blackburn is a tiny little restaurant in Laburnum/Blackburn, situated close to Laburnum Train Station. Frequented by many of the locals, and it certainly piques my interest. Gourmet Girl by day serves your typical breakfast, brunch/lunch affair. Toasted sandwiches and Focaccias, salads, wraps, pies and pastries as well as a wide selection for breakfast such as pancakes, eggs, muffins, toast and of course your big breakfast. Variety is there and it’s certainly its strong suit and of course they serve your typical hot and cold beverages as well. By night they have a tapas menu with wine for an enjoyable evening out.

We ordered the Smoked Salmon topped with red onions, and served with scrambled egg with toast and a side of greens and tomatoes. It certainly looked inviting, the smoked salmon had a nice smokey flavour to the fish, but not over powering. The scrambled eggs however were on the bland side, and lacked any sort of pepper or salt seasoning. However, I guess the saltiness from the salmon is supposed to carry the dish so you are not overloaded with salt, but unfortunately the eggs did not have any richness to it, nor did it taste like eggs. It was honestly disappointing. The bread was also leaning on over toasted as well (the edges are slightly dark brown) and almost had a burnt taste to it. Care and attention to detail is key and it’s what made this a real letdown.

The “Canadian” Focaccia that we ordered was also a Smoked Salmon dish with cream cheese, capers, red onions, avocado spread and mayonnaise served with a lightly dressed garden salad. Again you can see it was burnt on several parts of the bread, definitely over toasted. The bottom of the Focaccia was also visibly dark brown unfortunately. Flavour wise (apart from the burnt-ness), was decent. Although, on this occasion too salty. The capers and smoked salmon add the saltiness but there is nothing there to really balance it as you also have the richness of the mayonnaise and cream cheese. The avocado attempts to provide a milder flavour to the dish but the avocados here also lack fragrance. The garden salad was basically a small pile of rocket and sliced cucumber with a huge chunk of grated carrot, with a generous drizzling of dressing. Presentation is not their strong suit. Again, I was not impressed with how this was served, lacking in any consideration and served blackened that definitely should not have gone out in any decent cafe.

Impressions

Gourmet Girl, leaves a bad taste both literally and metaphorically in my mouth. The customer service at Gourmet Girl was one of the bad experiences I’ve had to sit through. They forgot one of our orders (which was served to another table that came after us), which I admit can happen when its busy and I do understand. When we finally received our order after more than half an hour of waiting, what we received was above, a charred sandwich (as mentioned above). The kicker, no apologies made when they informed us of their mistake nor when actually providing the dish to us. They even asked if we would like to order drinks (to pay for) while we are forced to wait! Absolutely amazing.

I know this sounds like a rant, but good or even mediocre service can go a long way in providing a satisfactory dining experience. One poor (or many in this case) experience can ultimately damage any good will the place as brought with its dishes. Which unfortunately, in this situation it did not generate any.

To top everything off in our visit to Gourmet Girl, they misplaced our entire order when paying. So having to repeat ourselves of what we ordered, we were questioned on our one coffee. In which, the staff leaned over the counter to check the number of cups on our table. You know, that coffee we ordered while having to wait. That one. Served by three staff during our time there, none was positive and that’s not a good sign. Gourmet Girl certainly is a popular place but I’m unsure if its as a result of desperation for a decent coffee around these parts or if my situation was out of the ordinary.

Overall, I cannot overlook the poor service over the sub-standard food served. It would be dishonest of me to recommend this place to someone, but I do hope that if you do dine here that your experience is wonderful and pleasant and unlike mine. I do although prefer Red Cup Cafe which is minutes away by car over Gourmet Girl (both in service and quality of food).

Gourmet Girl
21 Salisbury Ave
Blackburn VIC 3130

Red Cup Cafe

January 24, 2014 Posted in Australian, Box Hill, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

If you’re ever travelling on Whitehorse Road in Box Hill, you may come across Red Cup Cafe, brimming with people on the weekends no matter how early or late there is certain to be filled with locals. Red Cup Cafe offers your typical dishes that you would find in any other cafe but it’s not what kind of food that matters, it’s the taste.

One of their offerings is the Baked Eggs with Chorizo, Tomatoes, Cheese and Spinach (shown above) and it’s an absolute stunner. The ~~dish~~ pan comes out straight from the oven with the cheese golden in colour. Mixed in with this is the spinach, tomatoes and the chorizos, served with a Spanish styled chilli sauce and toasted sourdough bread. The spiciness of the chorizo opens up the palette and complements everything extremely well and with just the right amount of sauce from the tomatoes at the bottom of the pan. Nothing to fault.

Their Ham and Tomato Sandwich with Mayonnaise isn’t quite the looker and nor is it anything special, unfortunately. I would say it needs sauce or dressing and although the mayonnaise is supposed to fill that role, I find the mayonnaise too overpowering and too rich to be consumed with the sandwich. Some may prefer the tomatoes still to be cold even after the sandwich is toasted but I’m not one of those people. It’s a decent dish but not one you would solely come back for.

Red Cup Cafe’s Steak Sandwich with chutney is also a slight disappointment. The centrepiece of the dish is supposed to be the steak and here the cut of meat chosen makes a poor filling for a sandwich. The reason being as the beef is extremely chewy, difficult to slice apart and lacks in any sort of seasoning whether that be pepper or salt. The chutney I find does not complement the sandwich at all, having a sweet and sour flavour to it that is jarring to the steak and salad within. A letdown of gargantuan proportions.

Customers coming to Red Cup Cafe wouldn’t come back if the coffee wasn’t any good and the coffee here is one of the better offerings I’ve found around these parts (Gourmet Girl’s coffee in Blackburn does not even come close) At Red Cup Cafe they offer a Seriously large cup, which is made for two or maybe one that desires a significant coffee hit.

Impressions

Red Cup is a bit of a mixed bag. Their Baked Eggs is probably one of the better versions I’ve come across and yet their sandwiches do not meet the same standard. Luckily the coffee is good or otherwise I wouldn’t give this place a second look.

Red Cup Cafe
1124 Whitehorse Rd
Box Hill VIC 3128