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. 

Eat. @ Fat Boy Thai Kitchen

850 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn ph (03) 9818 7728

We stumbled across Fat Boy Thai Kitchen one day when we went for ramen at Hakata Gensuke but they were undergoing renovations.  The kids thought the name was hilarious and so we gave this place a try, and so happy to report that it was actually a really nice meal without any hype.

We started off with the fish cakes ($8.9).  Nothing fancy, but a tasty morsel of fish cake with a great sauce.

The crying tiger ($11.9) was a portion of marinated scotch fillet grilled medium.  Another tasty starter.

We couldn't go past the sticky pork ribs ($21.9) on the chef's recommendation in the menu.  These were fabulous, fall off the bone tender, with an amazing caramelised sauce with a touch of chilli.  The broccoli provided the healthy antidote.

We always order mussaman beef curry ($16.9) when we have Thai and that night was no exception.  The beef was tender and the sauce was perfect.  The kids loved this as it's not as spicy as the other curries, and it goes a long way with a nice bowl of jasmine rice.

Lastly we tried the red duck curry ($18.9).  You can't see much in the photo but here's some very nice pieces of roast duck in a delicious red sauce.  I always like the lychees in red curries as it gives a nice sharp contrast to the spicy curry.

We've been back a couple of times since the first time we stumbled across Fat Boy.  The service has always been courteous and efficient.  The upstairs area lets us come along with in bigger groups with friends and family and the lack of hype means we can go for a good feed of Thai food without too much planning or trouble.  Keep up the good work!

Eat. @ Sir Charles

121 Johnstone Street, Fitzroy 3065 ph (03) 9415 7077

Hubby and I are big fans of Axil so it was a no brainer for me to try out Sir Charles when I found out this was their new venture.  We've been here quite a few times and it has become one of the "regular" places we go to for a great brunch when we're not venturing out to new places.

One of the reasons for this is that the space is quite big and they are quite accomodating for our family of five and due to the number of tables we've not had to wait for more than 20 minutes (my limit of waiting for food with young kids!)

We often have our first coffee whilst we're waiting and their mocha ($3.8) is great as you would expect from its pedigree.

The kids love their little carrot cake ($4) and we've ordered this as a "snack" as well as a dessert.

The menu is quite interesting and a strong Asian influence is evident.  I think one of their signature dishes would be the Sir Charles Benedict ($18) with panko crumbed eggs, Sriracha hollandaise and bacon on roti.  The eggs are lovely and the roti is a genius twist to the good old muffin.  The hollandaise gives a tasty kick but my kids find it a tad too spicy so I usually get all the sauce (mwahahaha).

They have changed their menu quite a few times since our first visit and I'm always surprised by their new dishes and not been disappointed.  Some of these have included the corn fritters ...

The most amazing lamb ribs....

A Korean fried chicken burger.......

And a Fish Curry Special of the day.....

I can't wait to see what's on the menu on our next visit!

Eat. @ Oppa Kitchen

271 Swanston Street, Melbourne CBD 3000 ph 0421 351 489

The kids spotted this new cute Korean place when we were in the city and made a snap decision for lunch there on one of our visits to the city.  I love that they are now at an age where they are keen to try out new places and new foods!  

Well since our first visit we've been there about 10 times because it's such a quick and cheery place to grab a quick meal before we head off on adventures in the CBD!  

To be honest, the food here is not your super traditional Korean fare, but the dishes are pretty cheap, fun and quick to the table, so it ticks all the boxes for my kids.  Now get ready for all our delicious pictures - we've tried just about everything on this menu!

I always get the Fried Rice Cake ($5) here, they are slightly crispy and covered with a good dose of sauce.  The serving is not huge but it's a great starter.

The Korean Fried Chicken comes in original fried, soy garlic and sweet chilli flavours ($6 Small, $11 large).  Not the best I have tasted but still quite pleasantly, and comes mixed with pieces of wedges and fried rice cake.  The kids actually quite like that!

You can also get the same deal but with chicken wings ($6 for 4 pieces, $11 for 8) and they are also quite tasty.

Their Bibimbap comes with a choice of beef, spicy pork, spicy chicken, tofu and mushroom or avocado. ($10 regular)

For the crispy rice version you can order the stone bowl Bibimbap ($12).  Call me a big kid but I am a massive fan of crispy rice!

For a bigger meal we often share a Dosirak ($10 -$12), which is a meal bucket, the equivalent of a bento box in Korea I guess!  Again you can choose a different "protein" topping like beef bulgogi, beef steak, spicy pork, pork belly and pork ribs.  The rice is topped also with a salad, fried potato hash, pickle and usually a piece of orange.  They're pretty good value for money and we quite like these, although I don't really like the pork belly one as I find that the pork is 95% fat so there's not that much meat to eat!

They also serve a Korean Curry (with Korean chicken schnitzel $11), which is quite mild and tastes much like a Japanese Curry.  Macaron Monster loves curry and we tried this once and we all quite liked it and it's not too spicy.

I went with my sister once and we tried out their Meat Platter ($26) which has a nice mix for the meat lovers with beef steak, pork belly, pork spare ribs, chicken breast and lamb ribs.  It's not bad value for money when you share! 

As a change I like their mandarin juice ($3) which you don't often see on menus.

As you can tell we quite like this place and hope that they keep up the prompt service and cheeriness!