Showing posts with label Australia - Melbourne - To Eat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia - Melbourne - To Eat. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Melbourne - To Eat 08Jan25 (Nico's Sandwich Deli, China Bar Docklands, Kumo Desserts Melbourne)

Melbourne - To Stay
Melbourne - To Do
Melbourne - To Eat

Melbourne - To Eat
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Nico's Sandwich Deli

Nico's Sandwich Deli in Melbourne is celebrated for its inventive, high-quality sandwiches blending Italian and Japanese flavors. Nico's sandwich deli was trending for their oxtail sandwiches but have since refreshed their menu. Literally a hole in the wall along a side ally. 
Ordered On:
08Jan24
Giardiniera - Roasted Peppers, pickled eggplant, Agrodolce, Fior di Latte, Salsa, pickled onion, rocket on Ciabatta.
AUD18.50
*Very filling. Got a nice kick and strong bold favors. Only wished I'd knew before hand that it was a cold sandwich. They do have hot sandwiches on order as well *
Food 3.5/5
Service na
Ambience na
Value 3/5
It looks like a small portion but it's  very filling and a very well executed sandwich. Airy bread with simple but well balanced ingredients. If in the mood for good, unique fusion sandwiches give Nico's a try. A line quickly formed when Lunch time came around.

China Bar
(Docklands)
The google rating is much to be desired but no complaints at all for the value take away! Will go back and try something else again another time. Most of the poor reviews seem to be from customer service interactions.

Ordered On:
08Jan25
x3Roasts with rice. AUD19.90
Duck - To Standard
Crispy Pork - The skin could be crispier but for a simple take-away meal is good enough!
Roast Pork - Nice thick, juicy cuts of char siew. Not that dry and its a great accompaniment with the chili. 
Food 4/5
Ambience na
Service na
Value 4/5
(Did a take-away)
The rice is a little on the wet side but they made up for it with a hearty drizzle of roast drippings which coated the rice well. You can really enjoy the rice with the fragrance dripping on their own. Its further enhanced with the Chilli oil they provide. A great value joint for a taste of good roasts. Will come back to try their other offerings.

Kumo Desserts Melbourne 
(Recommended by Alan.H)


Ordered On
01Nov24
About 20AUD
Looking for fluffy pancakes like those in Japan? Would really recommend Kumo Desserts. This was really a treat. Soft, fluffy and very flavorful. An order would serve two just nice. 
Food 4/5
Service 3.5/5
Ambience 4/5
Value 3/5 
Lots of flavor combinations to choose from, would recommend to come here with another party for after meal desserts. Enjoy!
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Saturday, November 19, 2022

Melbourne - To Eat 19Nov22 (Operator 25)

Melbourne - To Stay
Melbourne - To Do
Melbourne - To Eat

Melbourne - To Eat
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Operator 25
Unassuming exterior but they offered beautiful and creative flavor profiles on the inside.
 
Ordered On
19Nov22
Miso Pork Benedict AUD24
Pulled pork in red miso sauce on English muffins with poached eggs, green hollandaise and apple salad

*Amazing. The umami flavours just layered beautifully and were highlighted by the sweet sour accents of the apple salad (Could have used more of this). A very well executed and pretty dish. A must order!*

Soft Shell Crab Omelette AUD26
Open omelete with fried soft shell crab, Balado chilli relish, multigrain toast and herb oil.

*Though this came recommended by the staff along with the Mino Porl Benedict, it was a miss. Its nice but nothing special. Needed a little salt. The Balado chilli was nice, but its just chilli relish with plain eggs. A missed opportunity in my opinion.*

Hojicha Latte & White Chocolate Matcha Latte

*Both were good. The hojicha felt a little more watered down compared to the Matcha Latte which I felt they used the good Matcha powder to give that stronger, distinct flavor.*

Total Fed 2 at 35AUD/Pax

Food 3.5/5 (Ave out) The miso pork was  4.5
Service 3.5/5
Ambience 3.5/5
Value 3.5/5
We had a hit and a miss this time round. However as the other dishes flew by, they were very tempting. This is especially so with the beautiful, purple Ube Hotcakes which felt like a modern interpretation of Filipino halo halo dessert. Must come to try that next time.
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Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Melbourne - To Eat 28April22 (Vietnamese Pho at Tan Thanh Loi , LUNE Croissanterie)

Melbourne - To Stay
 Melbourne - To Do
 Melbourne - To Eat
Melbourne - To Eat
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Tan Thanh Loi 
 Vietnamese Pho
Recommended by Eileen.T
and also one of the top Pho places in Melbourne. 
 
Ordered On:
27April22
14AUD Lemon Grass Pork with Broken Rice

*The broken rice gives a nice fried rice/clay pot flavor and purely textural feel to the dish. The lemon grass pork is sweet and succulent. It came as one of the must order dishes and I absolutely agree. Sweet on sweet dipping sauce is fantastic with the simple fare.*

*The most tender beef had! The soup broth is a little on the sweet side personally but everything else was incredible. Loads of vegetables as expected and serving sizes were HUGE!*
Total about AUD45
Food 4/5
Ambience 3.5/5 4/5 if you're going old school authentic.
Service 3.5/5
Value 4.5/5
*By Aussie standards, food portions are huge and can feed one very well or shared between two for a med-light meal*
Lived up to the hype, value and really excellent Pho. Its the quality of produce here in Australia that supersedes even original Vietnam Phos.

The most tender serving of Beef in Pho had. These two orders are a must! The place would give popular Pho joint, Pho Tan Hoa in SFO a run for its money for sure.
LUNE Croissanterie
Recommended by Alan.H and E.T
 
There are two location to this place. One in the heart of town but the one we visited was in Fitzroy which was nearer to the Melbourne Museum and had a larger seating space. (Though we had it took go)

Lune is insanely popular and reportedly the best croissants in the world! We arrived at about 9am and Cruffins were completely sold out! (Doors open 7.30/8am) You might be interested in Hardware Societe, MEL to get cruffins or Mr Holmes Bake house in SFO for this amazing treat! Mr Holmies has a daily cruffin countdown timer on their website to each day's unique flavor.

Ordered On:
30thApril22
Lemon Shaker
AUD13.50
May special - twice baked croissant filled with lemon almond frangipane and lemon curd and topped with slivered almonds and torched Italian meringue.
 
*This was over the moon amazing. Ignoring the price, that candied lemon and curd was perfectly balanced. Not overly sweet and the refreshing lemony accents shown through. A sinful pleasure!*
2 Croissant AUD6.20
1 Ham&Gruyere AUD9.70
Hot Chocolate and Latte
Total about 60AUD
Food 4.5/5
Service na
Ambience na
Value 3/5
This was a treat for sure. Almost equivalent to a full priced meal for the family but flavor wise its incomparable. There's something distinctively different about the flakiness of the croissants prepared over three days. A nice, crispy shell exterior that snaps off as you bite into it. Is the priced justified?

A little on the indulgence side but will still recommend to others to try for sure!
 
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Saturday, January 13, 2018

Melbourne - To Eat 13Jan2018(ABBA Contribution by Panda Teo Hardware Societe)

Melbourne - To Stay
 Melbourne - To Do
 Melbourne - To Eat
Melbourne - To Eat
(Recommendations for the new year 03Jan 2016)
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Contributed by Panda Teo
 Hardware societe
@120 Hardware St
600m/8min walk 
 - rustic chic bfst/brunch place (closes at3 pm)

A phenomenal recommendation that am only able to try 2years later! Why not sooner! Hardware societe serves all day breakfast brunch fare and opens from 7.30/8am-3pm!
Be prepared for a queue unless you get there really early or towards the end.

We arrived at 1250pm and its about a 20min wait still. Mind you that this was a Saturday. It maybe better on weekdays. 
Ordered On:
 13Jan2018
Their House Special. Lamb and leak sausages AUD20ish
*A beautiful presentation. I think its pea tendrils with a light vinaigrette dressing at the top which brights up the whole dish. The lamb leak sausages went well with the lightly pan fried chicken drum-let. The fresh pesto really shown through and was great with the large white beans. The poached eggs were runny in the center. A great dish!*
Lobster Egg Benedict 29AUD
*The charcoal buns are light and crispy. The Eggs Benedict done to text book perfection, but the absolute star is the lobster which are succulent and have the light salt taste of the sea. Definitely one of the better, if not best lobster egg Benedict had thus far.*
Passion Fruit Cruffin about AUD6
*Not visiting San Francisco soon to try out amazing bake house Mr Holme's Baker? There's Cruffins served here! They had a chocolate filled one and a passion fruit one which we went for. Amazing smooth and flavorful filling, with a nice crispy exterior. Memories of Mr Holme's Bake House just came rushing back. As to which was better, its really hard to separate the two but the filling flavor of the day at Mr Home's Baker was superior that day. Save the cruffin for the perfect end to a great meal!* 
 Total AUD59. Fed 2
Food: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5
Value: 3.5/5
A definite must return for a solid breakfast/brunch. Though it maybe a bit steep-ish in price, it doesn't loose out in quality. Especially for the Lobster and Cruffin, in particular those two items matches or even beats out some all time favorites from San Francisco. Perfect all day! It probably edges out Mama's On Washington by way of its presentation, and unique variety of dishes.
*Some of the other food orders at other people's table which looked just as good. To the left is the french toast with caramelized banana and to the right, the vegetarian option of mushroom and toast with roasted almonds.*
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Monday, September 18, 2017

Melbourne - To Eat (18Sept2017 ABBA Contribution Derrick Cheong Block M)

Melbourne - To Stay
Melbourne - To Do
Melbourne - To Eat
Melbourne - To Eat

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Block M
recommend by Derrick Cheong
Block M offers up great Indonesian eats at very affordable rates. The sweet black sauce is an absolute must and drizzled over the warm rice is fantastic, a great recommendation by Derrick Cheong (original posting listed below.)

The joint is really quite small but arrival on a weekday at 1330hrs, seating wasn't an issue at all, but others have advice otherwise. 
Ordered On:
03Oct2017
Grill Lamb Rib Combo 12AUD
+3AUD top up comes with Egg,
Drink and a chicken/oxtail soup


*With a three heart rating who can go wrong with this order? Indonesian style BBQ flavors with quality Australian lamb. What's even better is that the soft cartilage at the ends which are to die for! A worth while order which at 12AUD is honestly a steal. The add ons although very reasonable is a bit of toss up. The soup that comes with isn't much to scream about and the main already comes with a soup (Hence the double soup pictured). Both of which are a little on the salty side. Their Chili gets the Indonesian quality assurance!*
Mixed Grill platter 7AUD
*Don't even bother. Stick to the mains. Nothing to scream about*
Indonesian Fried Rice
 Fed 2 at 36AUD Total
Block M is a relatively small sized diner offering really good value eats. Beef ribs was sold out when we arrived and the cook time was relatively fast actually for the lamb.

Portions are huge here from what we saw. The fried cat fish looked popular as did the classic Ayam (Chicken) Bakar dishes. A great recommendation by Derrick Cheong and a must go for city eats. Another Asian recommended on a previous trip, which, like Block M, offers great value and Asian eat is GJ Grill (Offering authentic, amazing Philippine pork roasts!)
- Derrick Cheong Contribution-
"Probably one of the best kept secret in Melbourne. Blok M along little Burke street serves authentic Indonesian food at very reasonable price.

For price range between $A10 - 18, you can get grilled whole chicken thigh, beef ribs, lamb ribs or one whole fish!, that comes with oxtail soup and rice served with sambal Balachan.
Portion is bigger compare to what I had in Jakarta perhaps because its in Australia. Taste wise, I ordered the lamb ribs and it's perfectly chargrilled and tender. Let go some of those sweet black sauce over your plain rain, couple with its sambal, super yummy!! Try not to go during lunch or dinner time cause this place is packed. Water provided.

Btw, apologies to all my Muslim colleagues, your secret is out, but good thing must share mah. Lolx" - Derrick Cheong
Tips: the grill beef ribs and lamb ribs takes about 20mins so do order something else if you are hungry.
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