Eat. @ The Kettle Black

50 Albert Road, South Melbourne 3205 ph (03) 9088 0721 

Melbourne is certainly bringing on the cold, and it already feels like it's been winter for aaaages!  On a cold, wet and super wintery morning, Bubs and I finally ventured over to South Melbourne to try The Kettle Black on our brunch roulette.  

The eatery spans a few rooms, giving it a slightly different but still cosy feel to the restaurant.  We had a short wait for a table on a week day, and I've heard it's super crowded on the weekend.  Bubs took the time to peruse the baked goodies display, naming all the different sweet treats like a pro. 

Once we were seated my mocha arrived with the pretty coffee art on a cheery blue saucer.  The coffee was great.

I ordered the Fresh Cray Fish in an ash roll ($21), which is quite the signature dish here.   The presentation is beautiful, as expected since The Kettle Black hails from the crew at Top Paddock.  The crayfish was tasty, but the lime and yuzu mayonaise knocks the it out of the ball park and I would definitely order this again.  

Bubs only wanted a sweet that morning and enjoyed his cupcake from the display.

I would've love to try more of the menu but there's only so much I can order just for Bubs and I - the advantage of having a family is that we can share more dishes!!  Can't wait to come back with the rest of the gang!

Eat. @ Giddiup

269 Coventry St, South Melbourne 3205 ph (03) 9682 8820

Giddiup is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it coffee nook on Coventry Street, diagonally across the street from the Made In Japan Warehouse in South Melbourne.  I must have walked past it a thousand times without even realising it's there, as the shop doesn't "declare" itself at first glance.  The fit out is simple, with basic stools, tables, and even a few milk-crate-converts for seating.  Friendly and efficient service makes it a place you want to come back to.  Bubs and I stopped by for a mid-morning pit stop after some market shopping.

I  ordered a little BLT slider from the menu, which was simple, delicious food and hit the spot perfectly.  (It comes in 2, but the waitress let me order just 1 as I wanted to have sweets after.)  Coffee is good here, as expected in this neck of woods.  I enjoyed my mocha with a little cherry danish by Noisette.  Other pastries and cakes are available daily from the front counter.  Not a lot of room in the shop itself but patrons were accommodating and I had no issues with Bubs in a stroller.

Definitely a great spot to have a break when shopping in the area!

Eat. @ CheekyChinos

145, Cecil Street, South Melbourne 3205 ph (03) 9077 6492

Regular readers of this blog will know that while I write about places to eat with kids,  I'm usually not a fan of kid-centric dining, where food and drink seem to come last on the list.  There's a time and place for heated up sausage rolls, cordial and giant slides and ball pits (ie/ birthday parties), but I don't really want to do that when we go out for our little dining out experiences. Cheekychinos in South Melbourne however, has opened up this type of dining for me with a fantastic twist that will no doubt attract parents with young kids (including myself!) for return visits over and over again.

Essentially Cheekychinos is a cool cafe, with an adjoining play area with 2 trained staff members looking after the kids at play, while you get to have your meal in (relative) peace.  It is situated on Cecil St, diagonally across the road from South Melbourne Market. 

There are less than a dozen tables in the dining area, and on the day we visited, the cafe was already full to the brim at 10:30am.  We were initially turned away and advised to come back later, as the play area was already full - I think they only allow 6 children in at the same time - and the tables were all taken.  I decided to start ordering anyway since there were a few spots at the bench facing the front window.  Luckily by the time I finished  putting in my orders a table was available, so we had morning tea and put our names down on the waiting list for the play area.

The menu offers food that you would expect from most of the nice inner suburb cafes, with a great selection of healthy options and gluten free fare.

Macaron Monster had fun picking a drink from their "Chino Art" menu, which is CheekyChinos' range of creative babycinos ($2).  Of course the one we chose on the day was the aptly named Rainbow Chino, which was covered in 100's and 1000's!  The range is quite interesting, from the Cosmic Chino, with cosmic wormhole, moon and star sprinkles and mini m&m's, to the rather new-age sounding Tranquil Chino, which is caffeine free chai froth, honey, cinnamon sprinkle with gingerbread man.

My mocha ($3.8) was very good, not your average coffee at a play centre!

I ordered The Gruffalo's Lunch ($9) for Bubs, which was shaved virginia ham, swiss cheese, crunchy veg sticks, hummus and apples slices.  I'm proud to say that Bubs has inherited my love for little courses of food served on a platter, and enjoyed his meal so much that he spent the whole time eating playing with the food!  The grapes and the currants were a nice touch I thought.

Macaron Monster fuelled up on an Angry Chook ($5), which is smashed egg on a toasted mini roll.  Cute, and pretty tasty!

While Macaron Monster played, I sat back and ate a mini lemon cheesecake.

So what about the play area?  It is lovely, clean, safe, colourful, and probably most appropriate for kids from crawlers to about 5 years old.  The design and colour scheme was very appealing and Macaron Monster had a ball. The staff were patient and lovely, and there were 2 of them looking after 6 kids.  It does cost $10 per child per 30 minutes ($15 for 60 minutes) but I think if you factor in most play centres charging $5-10 for unsupervised play it's not too bad.  

Being a baby friendly cafe means that it's also got a pretty clean and user-friendly baby change area.

Overall we had quite an enjoyable time at CheekyChinos.  I was impressed with the coffee and menu selections, and Macaron Monster obviously loved the play area.  The only issue I can foresee is that this place is way too popular for the number of tables it has to offer, so it might be difficult to find a spot during cafe peak-hour! 

Toilets - Yes
Highchairs - Yes, and in abundance!

Eat. @ Dead Man Espresso

35 Market Street, South Melbourne 3205 ph (03) 9686 2255

Juggling 2 careers, 3 kids, and everyone's extra-curricular activities means that it is a rare event for Hubby and I to have a weekday morning off together.  So when the moons aligned a little while back and we both didn't have to work on a Monday, we excitedly looked for a place to go to for brunch.  (Hubby is super jealous that I always try the trendier places during weekdays to avoid the crowds.)  Dead Man Espresso was the place we chose in the end and we headed off in excitement with Bubs in tow.  Yes, it's a date, any time we go ANYWHERE with one or less kid, be it the dentist or Coles, is counted as a date these days.  (Babysitting for 3 is hard to come by and has to be pre-arranged for super special occasions for now!)

First up coffee!  Usual orders of mocha for me, cappucino for Hubby were lovely.  Latte art impressed.

Hubby ordered a Fried Eggs on Toast ($9) with Istra bacon ($3.5), tomatoes ($3.5) and sausages ($4.5) as they had sold out of pork belly on the weekend.  A good big breakfast all round.

I ordered the Rosti ($17.5), which was a herb and potato rosti with poached egg, avocoado and smoked salmon.  Delicious in its simplicity, differing textures complimented each component well and a winner in my eyes.

Dead Man uses many local suppliers, as well as sourcing its own herbs and honeys from its rooftop garden.

I found Dead Man more kid-friendly than I thought it would be, although again like many of the trendy inner suburb cafes it's better for older kids.  It helped that Bubs was on best behaviour that day and we both managed to eat at the same time and enjoyed the meal!  We were seated on a large communal table and although we did not have our stroller with us there was plenty of room for it.  The service was friendly and efficient.  A semi-enclosed area lets you check out the streetscape while enjoying your latte.

In a hurry to go?  Take-aways come in 3 different sizes.

Dead Man Espresso is named for the era in which South Melbourne was a bit of a no man's land of lost dreams during the Gold Rush years. You can read the interesting history as you peruse the menu.  Interesting to compare it to the 1970's and 80's, when many immigrant families settled into the area.  And again to the current trendy inner suburb it has become.

Eat.Play.Shop. Says - Another great coffee establishment in South Melbourne with a decent breakfast menu.

Highchairs - No 
Toilets - Yes

Eat. @ Chez Dre

285-287 Coventry St, South Melbourne 3205 ph : (03) 9609 2688

It's taken me ages to write this post because I've been for quite a few visits since Chez Dre opened earlier on in the year, so look out, I have a stack of photos! (Get ready for a long post and some drooling!)  Chez Dre is a Patisserie/Boulangerie/Cafe located a stone's throw away from South Melbourne Market, slightly hidden behind the Southwood Trading Company. 

Yummy Mummies out there will know that it's behind where the gorgeous maternity and baby store Fragile used to be located.  It is the brainchild of the talented "Dre" who is is obviously passionate about what she does and Chez Drez is a beautiful but relaxed place to catch up with friends, have a coffee, and enjoy the tasty treats both visually and gastronomically.

Firstly the drinks.  The coffee is roasted at the The Maling Room, and even though I wasn't a fan when I was there, the mocha I had at Chez Dre was very nice. ($3.50)

The cappuccino is of equally high standards.

The tea is from Larson and Thompson.  I had the English Breakfast. ($3.50)

Their House Hot Chocolate is a single origin "Madagascar" 64%.  This was very, very nice, smooth and sweet without being too strong.

For brekkie, I tried the Poached Eggs on Sour Dough, with marinated smoke salmon, smashed avocado and goat's cheese ($15.5).  The eggs were perfectly poached, and the salmon, avocado and cheese went very well together.  I'm torn between having this again next visit, as I loved it so much, or to try the Chez Dre Breakfast Platter, which has smoked ham, gruyere cheese, boiled egg, poached fruit, vanilla yoghurt with granola, raspberry jam, croissant and baguette - a bit of everything, ie/ my kind of food! ($18.5)

For lunch with my parents we tried a variety of their lunch offerings.  The mountain of freshly prepared baguettes beckoned!

I went for a half serve of the Roast Chicken with gruyere cheese, roasted garlic aioli and cos lettuce for $7 (saving my tummy for the famed desserts!).  A full serve is $12.  This came with a side of carrot, slightly reminiscent of a Vietnamese Baguette and rather refreshing.

We also had the Pork and Pistachio Terrine, which was served with baguette and apricot chutney.  This was simple and a pleasure to eat.  For bigger appetites, the Chez Dre Ploughman's Lunch consists of the beautiful pork and pistachio terrine, with smoked ham, brie, gruyere, grated carrot, roasted beetroot, cornichons, mustard, chutney, savoury tart, baguette and a sweet treat.

The Moroccan Salad with Chicken was an unusual choice for my mum, but a fairly healthy, interesting and pretty filling one, at $18.

The display of beautifully made desserts made it very difficult to make a choice!  Most of the desserts were around $8.50 per serve.

Being rather full on lunch we shared a Salted Caramel Eclair, lovely with my tea.  Warning - this is a rather indulgent eclair!

I bought a couple of the desserts to share with friends we were visiting that night.  The Blood Orange Mousse, Citrus Cream, Hazelnut Meringue was a real winner, being light, refreshing and not too sweet.

The other dessert we tried was the Jasmine Tea Brulee, Milk Chocolate Mousse, Flourless Chocolate Biscuit.  A very well designed dessert, the jasmine tea taste was very clear and pleasant.  Very impressive as the subtle tea taste is so often overpowered by anything chocolatey in a dessert!

Their macarons were beautifully displayed, in an array of lovely pastels.  Despite them being $3 each (my benchmark being $2.50 for the ones from La Belle Miette)  I bought 4 to share with Hubby.

We had the Orange, Raspberry, Salted Caramel and Passionfruit macarons.  These were the only items we've tried so far that I couldn't rave about.  The flavours were pleasant, but they didn't have enough bite/chewiness, and the crusts were a bit too thick.  Do remember I am very, very fussy with my macarons though.

There's quite a few tables, both inside and out.  I personally preferred sitting inside, as the times I've been outside I'd been overwhelmed by the passive smoking in the courtyard.   However that area is very pram-friendly and is beautiful on a sunny day.  We'd visited on different occasions but always during the less busy weekdays, and the staff were friendly and helpful.  If you have a pram, enter via Hotham St (ie/ the Courtyard) to avoid the steps in the laneway entrance).

I love visiting South Melbourne Market, and now I love it even more as I look forward to having a yummy break in the classy Chez Dre!



Hi Dre!

Eat.Play.Shop.Says - a great place to catch a break on market days.  The staff have told me that it can be chaotic on Sunday mornings, so go at other times to avoid the rush!

Toilets - Yes
Highchairs - No