Eat. @ Rubiki

204 Warrandyte Rd, Ringwood (03) 9879 0869

I live and work in the Eastern suburbs, and I've always been jealous of everyone working in the CBD or in the Fitzroy and Collingwood area, who have not just a few, but an abundance of great coffee and lunch places to visit.  That's why I'm extra thankful for Rubiki, which is a wonderful find in the leafy part of Ringwood and a stone's throw away from my work.

The mocha has looked different on different visits, but the quality has been consistent, even with their take-aways, which Hubby is appreciative of when I bring him a coffee to work!

I tried the Herb Encrusted seared tuna with a nicoise salad ($21) for a light (and low carb!) brunch, and really enjoyed it.  The tuna was perfectly seared, the salad was a nice change from the usual greens, and the trio of sauces were good fun!  The poached egg completed the dish nicely.

This week I tried the Rubiki Bacon and Egg Roll ($7.5) and was impressed that it was freshly made, served piping hot and with a good slab of bacon.

I have a feeling I will be a frequent visitor to Rubiki.  See you there!

Eat. @ Kitty Burns

24 Acacia Place, Abbotsford (03) 9427 0164

For our last weekday brunch roulette prior to Little Man starting prep (or as they call it nowadays "Foundation" *why why why?*) we headed down to Kitty Burns. 

This new cafe, like many around Melbourne these days, is on the ground floor or a mid sized apartment complex in Abbotsford.  I'd watched with anticipation as works went under way for the cafe, since we've often utilised the lovely bike path that winds its way along the Yarra past the new buildings around here.

The menu was quite varied, and offered lots of healthy choices like smoothies and raw cakes, as well as the decadent, like the luscious donuts sitting on the counter.  I ordered the Torched kingfish, with kimchi mayo, leek ash, sea succulents, with a roast sesame dressing, edamame beans and Japanese rice. ($22.5)  This is one of the more successful fusion lunch dishes I've had, and it's gorgeously plated.

Little Man shared lots of my brunch as always, but I did order him a Mac n Cheese ($8) off the Kids Under Twelve menu, which he in turned shared back with me.  This is a golden slab of crumbed mac n cheese, sprinkled with more cheese.  I don't think anything more needs to be said about that, and it obviously went down pretty well.

It was a raining and cold summer day, but the bright, cheery and beautifully designed interiors definitely marked a stark contrast to the dull weather. 

New things coming to Eat.Play.Shop.

Hi everyone!  I've been MIA for the last few months, busy handling health issues, work and family.  It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride, but hopefully (fingers crossed) everything is back on track, and I can spend some fun times hanging out on the blog again.  

Now that the kids are all at school, I've decided to take a slightly different direction with blogging.  There will still be many, many posts on eating out and eating in because, let's be honest, cooking and eating is just such a fun activity for the Eat.Play.Shop. Family that the blog would be very quiet without it!  But there are lots of things I want to write about but never used to post to the blog, like fitness, sports, design, photography and new trends, just to name a few, which I will start sharing here.  And most of all I want to share some posts on travelling with kids which is something that I'm really excited about!

So watch this space for something bright and new at Eat.Play.Shop.! (starting off with the colour scheme - I feel like we just repainted the walls in our house!)