Eat. @ Lights in the Attic

38 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East 3123 ph (03) 9813 5042

Bubs and I ventured down to Lights in the Attic on one of our brunch roulette adventures.  Like a lot of new cafes in the area, it's on the ground floor of a new small apartment complex.  I've always wondered what it's like to live above a cafe, would the fragrance of coffee and breakfast wake you everyday, or would you get sick of the smell?

Anyway, Lights in the Attic is bright and cheery, and we were quickly seated when we arrived.  I really liked the pendant lights in the over the counter, and also over the bar seats.

I ordered a mocha ($3.8) which utilises Atomica beans.  It was sweet, dark and rich.

I pretty much chose to come here because of the amazing photos of the Birds Nest ($18) I had seen on instagram, so ordering was easy!  This was a scotch eggs with potato chips nest and kransky chilli beans base, and grated parmesan cheese on top.  The beans were delicious and the nest was of course an absolute hit with Bubs, but somehow I didn't love the coating on the scotch eggs as I found it quite sour.  After chatting with the staff who spoke with the chef, I was told that it had vegemite in the mix and bingo!  Not being a fan of vegemite that might explain why I didn't really like it.  The eggs themselves were quite nice though.  

There were lots of interesting menu items I'd like to return to try and hopefully I'll get a chance to pop back again soon!

Eat. @ Hash Specialty Coffee and Roasters

113 Hardware Street, Melbourne CBD ph (03) 8529 0284

Brunch roulette this week landed us at Hash Specialty Coffee Roasters, as I had to pop into the CBD to pick up something.  It's a newly opened cafe right across from The Hardware Societe.

The staff were friendly and accommodating with Bubs and we were quickly seated.  Their standard water is actually carbonated, and whilst Bubs was fascinated with its presentation in a beaker, he's not a fan of fizzy drinks and the staff were very thoughtful and offered him some good old H2O right off the bat. (Sorry, cricket reference, Hubby has been watching the Ashes!)

We ordered the HASH hot chocolate ($6) which is their signature "hot chocolate wonder", made with Mork Dark Chocolate and served with fairy floss.  It's presented in a beaker with a mountain of fairy floss in the cup.

Pouring the hot chocolate onto the fairy floss rapidly shrinks it into the cup.  Bubs was absolutely fascinated with the whole thing!  By the time the beaker was empty I had a cup of thick hot chocolate which was absolutely delicious.  I had worried it was going to be way too sweet even for me who is an absolute sweet tooth, but it was actually really lovely, sweet obviously, but also smooth and silky in texture and a deep chocolate taste that comes from top quality cocoa.

Bubs and I shared the Leek and Cheddar Croquettes ($19.5), which was served with cauliflower puree, ham hock, cavallo nero, and a tuneric poached egg.  The croquettes were fabulous, super crunchy coating embracing a soft mashy centre with delicate leek flavour and stringy cheese.  Bubs is a hash/croquette/rosti connossieur and he gave it a big thumbs up!  The rest of the dish was also really well put together, the cauliflower puree was really tasty and the cavallo nero had a slight tang and the ham hock were appropriately smokey.  The poached egg was also nice but I'm not if the tumeric made a lot of difference taste-wise but the yellow did give the food pictures a nice pop in colour!

We came early on a weekday so there were no queues.  I can't wait to bring the whole family back to try the other dishes on the menu, and the older two will no doubt be just as impressed with the fun hot chocolate.

Eat. @ Waffee (Emporium)

Lower Ground, 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD ph (03) 8609 8185

For a sweet treat, Waffee in the basement of the Emporium is a favourite of ours.  Waffee = waffles + coffee of course.

Their waffles are sweet and crispy, and even Bubs is pretty good at holding onto one and munching on it as we wander around the Emporium without getting too sticky. 

We've always gone for the sweet waffles, either in its original flavour ($2.8), or with chocolate glaze ($3.3), which is obviously a tasty but much messier affair for my kids!  I often get a pack of 6 to take away, and they can be kept for 3 days and heated up in your toaster.

Eat. @ The Honey Thief Bakery

140 Canterbury Rd, Blackburn ph (03) 9878 5984

The Honey Thief is a great little bakery out in the Eastern suburbs, near where I work.  So I didn't need a lot of convincing to pop over and try their baked goodies during one of my rare lunch breaks when I get the opportunity to leave the building!

Sitting in the midst of the Blackburn South strip mall, The Honey Thief boasts a bigger than average repertoir of goodies than the usual suburban bakeries.  Lots of enticing tarts, pastries, doughnuts, as well as coffee and lunch items like bagels and pies.

I've been multiple times but each time had been for grab-and-go due to the crazy amount of work at the moment.  Each time I've had a croissant ($4) on the run.  It's lovely and flakey, although I've found there are days when they are more flakey and others when they are more dense.  Still a pretty good croissant!

Then there are the doughnuts ($4)!!!  Salted caramel, nutella, and a lemon one (not pictured) all hit the spot.  The dough is soft and not too heavy, but filled with delicious decadence!

Their danishes are pretty decent too, although again there are days that I find they can be a bit more dense than I like.

I can tell you, the days I bring back a box of goodies like this I am a super popular Mum!

The Honey Thief Bakery also has a great range of breads baked daily including spelt and pumpkin.  It's so great to see great food moving to the masses in the (slightly more) outer suburbs as opposed to the inner city crowd!  More please!

Eat. @ Adeney Milkbar Cafe

70 Adeney Avenue, Kew ph (03) 9817 3993

My friend Helen did our post grad training together and we caught up over lunch at Adeney Milkbar Cafe one Sunday.  Her hubby had been here before but it was a first for both of us.

As you can guess Adeney used to be a milk bar and it's been converted to a cute little local cafe.  It does still have the drinks and ice-cream coolers so it is still a milk bar!  Across the road is a park and there are tables out front which is great when there's good weather and a good spot for human and fur kids. 

My mocha ($4.2) was plenty decent with Industry Beans.  

I ordered The Salmon Bagel ($10) which had salmon, cream cheese, chives, cucumbers and rocket on a toasted bagel.  I was too busy chatting with Helen and totally missed that there were rocket on this (I hate it with a passion!)  so I removed all the rocket and the bagel was totally awesome after that. 

Helen had the smashed avocado ($14) which had avocado, feta, mint and lemon on toasted multigrain.  It looked pretty decent and she quite enjoyed it.   

As we were paying I spied there display of sweet goodies at the front and of course honed in on the doughnuts which are from Doughboys Doughnuts.  Helen bought a muffin for her Hubby at his request.

I took home an earl grey which was really delicious (well, the 1/5 that I got of it!)

Adeney Milk Bar is a nice little corner cafe which has quite good coffees and is a popular spot for the locals.  Wish my local milk bar was like this...... nope it still just sells cigarettes and fried dim sims.

Eat. @ The Tea Salon

Emporium Level 2, 297 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD ph (03) 8609 8188

For a fancier treat we had afternoon high tea at The Tea Salon a while ago.  (actually quite a while ago now!)  I went with my 2 older ones so it was a lovely girls' afternoon out!  It was a real treat for us to sit down and have some high tea together.  Macaron Monster loves sweets and they have both inherited my love of high tea!  We ordered the Children's high tea ($19.9) which really is one of the cheaper ones around.  It's served as chicken and mayo sandwiches, choice of one of their many different types of scones mini rose pannacotta topped with pink fairy floss, some fruit and a choice of drink.

The scones come in lots of flavours, and they chose a plain one with jam and cream and a chocolate one, that came with more chocolate to spread on!

The kids had some lovely and light lemon tea.

I had a pot of lovely english breakfast tea ($5.95) and also a couple of scones.  It was a very cute and special experience for the kids to have a sit down proper high tea and it was really enjoyable.

Whilst we did not find the treats at The Tea Salon to be memorably impressive,  the treats were nice and the kids really enjoyed the experience.  It's a nice spot for a treat during a shopping trip, and there's often a line of tired shoppers out lining up to do so!