Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Shop. and Eat. @ Emporium Melbourne (Part 2)

287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD 3000
Website for latest news : http://www.emporiummelbourne.com.au/
Check out Part 1 of this post here.



The Mykids Emporium opened last weekend on the 4th floor of the Emporium Melbourne.  Myers has moved its toys and children's wear department, as well as Men's Casual Wear and Luggage departments into this large open space.  It reminded me a little bit of the toy department back in the day when I was little, and I would have to "patiently" go through each level of the department store with my parents until we hit the top floor of the old Myer Store where the toy department was located! 

 It's just an escalator ride up from the food court on Level 3.
The big difference of course is that there are now so many different and varied toys available!  Myer has set up little play areas throughout the level to let children have some hands on fun with some of the toys.  To the delight of my children this meant that they got to spend quite a bit of time checking out all the toys!  My afternoon was full of exclamations from my very excitable trio of kids.


"Here's Emmet!"


"And Wyldstyle!"


And a duplo wall that entertained Bubs for ages.  You'd think we don't have any duplo at home.......


I was quite impressed with the model of Luna Park made with Lego.


Iron Man was there striking a pose.


Thomas and Percy were there.  Thomas had about 15 kids hanging off him so I took a picture of quiet little Percy. The Thomas toys have always been a massive draw for Bubs and this was no exception.


There were a couple of Little Tikes playhouses as well as their infamous little cars to entertain the toddlers. These were bolted to the ground when we were there, which is not a bad idea as I can't help envisioning the possible motor vehicle accidents and subsequent TAC claims.


Rainbow Dash was there.


And so was Lalaloopsy and a massive wall of all its different curly hair and detachable body bits incarnations. (At this angle all you can see are the Monster High dolls though, of which I am not a huge fan)


And next to that was a big screen TV (with a couch, which I took unabashed advantage of to have a rest) showing an endless loop of the latest Barbie movies.


There's also one of the biggest selection of Playmobil sets I have seen in Melbourne. I love Playmobil!


To my delight I found that Fisher Price has remade some of its classic toys. You're probably thinking that I know way too much about toys.  I'm sure Hubby often thinks that I buy toys for my own excitement rather than for the kids!  (I'm no Will Farrell but seriously hands off my minifig display case!)


We spent most of the afternoon here and by the time we left we were too lazy to walk far for dinner, and ended up having a bit of an "international buffet" of sorts by getting different dishes from the various vendors in the food court.   


We ordered some Parmasen Truffled Fries from Charlie & Co. Burgers.  ($4.9)  We had loved them and couldn't get enough when we tried them at the Sydney Westfield foodcourt (they serve a bigger bowl there for $8).  We've had these a couple of times here since they've opened but have found that somehow these seem less "truffle-y" and "parmasen-y" than the ones from the North.  Hopefully this will improve with time!


Hubby had the Bonezilla from Jimmy Grants ($9), as we hadn't tried that on our previous visit to their Fitzroy Store


Happy to report that this was just as awesome as the other ones!


And I acutally preferred their Chips with garlic oil, feta and oregano ($7).  



The kids wanted spaghetti and pizza so we ordered from Bar Napoli which has opened up in the same area, and the chef there cooks to order.

Thumbs up for the chef!

The Spaghetti Bolognaise ($12) was very pleasant.  Hubby felt it could probably do with a little bit more salt but the kids didn't mind and gobbled it all up, loving the generous amount of cheese on top.


The Margherita Pizza ($12) was very tasty in its simplicity, as it should.


As if Greek and Italian weren't enough, I had a hankering for sushi, probably because I had spotted the sushi train going around at Sushi Hon.  


By the time I got there the train had finished, so I got a sushi platter ($12) which helped me fulfill my hankering for aburi salmon, although it probably would've tasted even nicer fresh!


Macaron Monster had been asking for milk teas from Chatime everytime we've been out.  My last Chatime Milktea was way too sweet so this time we had them with 50% less sugar and 50% less ice and they turned out perfectly refreshing!



Earlier on in the day we had popped down to Tutti Frutti for some frozen yoghurt as they had an opening special with 50% off then normal price of $2.60/100g.  We tried the green apple, coconut and the salted caramel flavours which were all quite pleasant.


I of course added lots of pearls (they had pomegranate ones!) and some coconut jelly, and quite liked the little bits of mochi as a topping.


I'm looking forward to our next visit to the Emporium as more shops open over the next few months!

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt on UrbanspoonCharlie & Co Burgers on Urbanspoon
Jimmy Grants on Urbanspoon

Chatime on Urbanspoon


Sushi Hon on UrbanspoonBar Napoli on Urbanspoon

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Eat. @ Ladro (Fitzroy)

224 Gertrude St, Fitzroy ph : (03) 9415 7575


When did Winter 2012 hit Melbourne?  I swear I just waved good-bye to Summer last week, did I blink and miss Autumn in its entirety already?  Nonetheless it gave us a really good excuse to check out the wood fire oven dishes at Ladro on Gertrude St in Fitzroy.  (There's another one in Prahran)  Even more exciting for us is its newish kids' menu, declaring its readiness for meals with little ones!

We learnt tonight that Ladro means Thief in Italian

We had a booking at 5:30pm for the family-friendly early sitting, and the restaurant was empty when we first arrived.  We were warmly greeted and promptly seated, with a portable high chair fitted to one of the standard chairs for Bubs.  Luckily Bubs fell asleep for the entire meal so it was a lot less chaotic for us than usual!  The restaurant filled up pretty quickly after that but the service remained impressively attentive and efficient.


The kids menu offered pizza or pasta + dessert of bomboloni or ice-cream for $12.50.  My kids loved the puzzles on the other side of the menu and the color pencils that occupied them until their meals arrived.  Which meant no one hijacked my iPhone for the whole evening!


I enjoyed a sparkling blood orange drink by Daylesford and Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. ($4.5) while the kids kept busy.


Bread came with a very fruity olive oil that Hubby loved.


The older 2 shared a pizza and a pasta.  The Margherita pizza is a pretty decent size (enough that I had a slice, or two!)  Lovely thin base the way we like it.  I'm glad the kids enjoy a good old fashioned, simple pizza made in a wood fire oven.  

Margherita pizza

The prosciutto crudo pasta was delicious in its simplicity. (The large amount of cheese on top was requested by Mini Me)  

Prosciutto Crudo Pasta

For our mains we ordered the special for the night, which was wood fire oven roasted quail, with parmagiano potato mash, mushrooms and truffle honey ($36).  2 perfectly roasted quails rested atop the mushies and mash, the truffle honey giving that hint of sweetness that makes you want more.  Not a huge dish but very tasty, and something I would definitely have again.

Oven Roasted Quail

Rest assured we did not go hungry as the pizza was pretty big.  We ordered the Badabing ($20.5) which was topped with tomato, provolone, pork sausage, oregano, fresh chilli and basil.  Again a simple pizza with excellent flavours.  Our only gripe being that the base was a bit too charred (even for a wood fire pizza) and gave it  too much of a burnt taste. 

Badabing Pizza

The kids wanted dessert even before they had their mains, so their Jock's ice-cream was predictably well received!  Excellent chocolate flavour and real vanilla bean meant that Mummy enjoyed it too, when they graciously "shared" some with me!

Jock's Ice-cream, in vanilla bean and chocolate

Our dessert of Bomboloni, Italian doughnuts served with ice-cream and blood orange syrup was well worth the extra 20 minute wait.  The freshly fried (and perfectly round!) sugar dusted dough balls were super crunchy on the outside whilst being lovely and soft inside.  Served piping hot,, their temperature melts the ice-cream, which mixes in with the syrup into a delicious sauce that goes perfectly with the dough.  The highlight of the meal for me, and not only because it's dessert!

Bomboloni are da bomb!

There is an enclosed courtyard with a lovely skylight to the back of the restaurant, which has good pram access and a casual ambiance.  All up an excellent early dinner spot for families, with great service and delicious, simple food.  I already want more doughnuts and it's been less than 24 hours!

Ladro Gertrude on Urbanspoon


Tim from one of my favourite blogs TOT : Hot or Not also recently visited Ladro, read about their visit here.


Highchairs - yes
Toilets - yes, super clean, and although there's no proper change table, a flat space next to the main sink seems quite serviceable for a quick nappy change