Eat. @ Journeyman

169 Chapel Street, Windsor 3181 ph (03) 9521 4884

Bubs and I visited Journeyman on one of our "brunch roulette" days.  Quite a busy cafe but there were plenty of wait staff and they were quick to respond to our queries and requests for bowls and extra cutlery.

As expected their coffee ($4) was top notch.  With beautiful latte art, a must from any decent Melbourne barista really nowadays!

Bubs and I shared the beetroot cured salmon ($18) with quinoa, avocado, chilli and kale salad, topped with poached eggs, feta and herbs.  It was delicious, felt super healthy and to be honest was massive in serving.  We couldn't finish it!

The service was friendly and efficient, we'll definitely be back.

Eat. @ Hobba - New Autumn Menu

428 Malvern Rd, Prahran 3191 ph (03) 95100 8336

I have been a fan of Hobba's great coffee and amazing 65 degree eggs since my first visit back in 2011.   So I was super happy to have been invited to preview the new menu that is being launched for Autumn and to experience their new dishes!  Owner Con Katheklakis and head chef Rhys Hunter have been working hard to bring some very interesting dishes to the new menu and it was most impressive to see their passion for a great dining experience for their patrons.

We began the evening with a tasty starter of crispy calamari and Asian salad, which is part of their repertoire for functions at Hobba.  Woah, I didn't know you could have functions at Hobba, but what a cool way to celebrate an event in their cosy dining room!  

The calamari itself was really tasty and I loved the tangy dressing for the salad. The caramelised lime was a lovely touch.

The first new menu item was "Hobba's Vietnames Banh Mi".  This was my favourite dish of the night.   Marinated pork loin, in a brioche bun with chicken liver pate, coupled with radish, lombak and the most amazing pork crackling crumb.  Oh that crumb, I could probably eat that sprinkled on every dish!  The side of slaw was refreshing, and my only gripe was that the dressing soaked the underside of my otherwise crispy and buttery brioche bun.  I had no problems gobbling the whole thing down though, wet buns and all.  More crumb please!

Next up was a pan seared snapper, with a cauliflower puree, potato gratin, asparagus and heirloom beats and purple cauliflower.  The dish was very pretty, the fish perfectly cooked, and can easily be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Then came the first appearance of the 65 degree egg, which appeared in a dish of wild mushrooms (woodear, enoki and oyster), served with sherry jus and green chives.  The egg was beautifully cooked and the gorgeous mushrooms had a delicate yet almost "meaty" taste.  A fabulous option for non meat eaters.

Hobba's chilli con carne followed, and along with a 65 degree egg it was served with a 10 hour confit brisket and goats cheese croquet, topped with shaved chocolate.  A really hearty and filling brunch dish.

Then we moved onto the Alfa Feast, which is a Hobba staple.  Southern style pulled pork, with fried eggs, alfalfa salad, and a pear reduction hollandaise.   Whilst I didn't find the dish super exciting my Hubby would love this combination of slow cooked tender pork and fried eggs.

And last but not least - I always have to end a meal with a little something sweet - Hobba's hotcakes!  Fluffy hotcakes, served with seasonal berries, mascarpone, honeycomb, vanilla bean and house-made maple syrup.  My favourite part of the dish was the honeycomb crumble which gave the super fluffy hotcakes a crunchy textural contrast.  The berries adding the tang.  A really well balanced sweet brunch option.

I think Con and Rhys have come up with a great menu which gives diners an interesting array of brunch dishes to choose from.  The range of flavours and ingredients used would satisfy the fussiest of our city's discerning brunch addicts!

Disclaimer : Eat.Play.Shop. sampled Hobba's new autumn menu by invitation of the owner and the chef.  Opinions are my own.

Eat. @ Tall Timber

60 Commercial Rd, Prahran 3181 ph (03) 9676 9333

I won a voucher at the gorgeous Lou Salon on Greville St in our kinder's trivia night raffle, and took the opportunity to visit Tall Timber on my way there (sans kids!).  It was so nice having their beautiful mocha ($3.8) by myself!

The Brekkie Board ($16.5) is always perfect for someone like me who is no good at making up my mind, and a little bit of everything is always fun!  The Lime and Coconut museli that they use from The Wild was a standout.

I brought the kids back on the way to Prahran Market during the school holidays and besides having the brekkie board again we tried the lunch menu BBQ Pulled Pork brioche burger ($18).  A pretty burger ticking all the right boxes with a smokey pulled pork and pretty and refreshing slaw salad.

We ended with a sweet ice chocolate......

....and something sweet.  A Cobb Lane carrot cake hit the spot.  I love love love their carrot cake!

Another wonderful cafe for Prahran locals!

Toilets - yes
Highchair - yes

Eat. @ Tyranny of Distance & Agathe Patisserie

Tyranny of Distance - 147 Union Street, Windsor 3181

Agathe Patisserie - Fri & Sat - Rear of 97 Chapel St, Windsor 3181 (enter via Artist Lane) ph 0403 222 573, Sat - Prahran Market

I have been wanting to eat at Tyranny of Distance because I love, love, love it's name.  Unfortunately as the name suggests it is quite out of my way, but I recently made a trip down to Prahran and finally got to try it out on a brunch date with Bubs. 

I started with my usual cup of mocha, so good after the drive!

Bubs and I shared the "Salmon Eggs, nothing like Caviar" ($17.5), which was their house smoked salmon, beetroot relish, avocado, spinach, poached eggs and potato rosti.  I loved all the components of this dish, together and separately.  And it made for such a gorgeous looking dish!

After the delicious brunch I visited Agathe Patisserie, where the lovely Agathe sells her wonderful baked goods in the little back Alley (best to enter from Artist Lane, just around the corner from Tyranny of Distance).  As you may know I have a soft spot for pastries and baked goodies in general really, but I'm also bit of a fussy pastry-snob in that they must be really good.  Who wants to waste good calories on bad pastries!   Agathe's goodies ticked all the right boxes and I was super impressed with the lovely spread of croissants, cruffins and caneles I brought home that day.

The Juliette ($5) is a lovely almond croissant with raspberry and rose, beautiful with a cup of tea.

The croissant ($5) is made up of of layers and layers of light and flakey buttery goodness, easily one of the best croissants I've had in Melbourne.

And the caneles ($3) were perfect little cakes with a caramelised sweet crust and a soft, almost custardy centre.  Currently you can buy her delectable goodies from this location and also at the Prahran Market on Saturdays.  Agathe's most recent stall at the Cake, Bake and Sweets Show will no doubt make her goodies much more in demand!

I am most certainly inspired to make little trips to Prahran a lot more often.

Eat. @ Hobba Coffee + Kitchen

428 Malvern Rd, Prahran 3181 ph : (03) 9510 8336

Bubs and I popped in to Hobba for brunch on the way to Prahran Market the other day.  Housed in an old converted garage, this cool cafe is a busy hub of activity.  Regular readers of this blog will notice that I tend to visit the "cooler, trendier" cafe spots during the week, as I'm weary of having to wait for a table on the weekend with our family of 5.   I am happy to report however, that this is a fantastic, cool, yet family friendly cafe, and one that I would even be willing to return on the weekend with our "Party of 5" and queue up for a table to sample more of their goodies and coffees.

I started with my usual choice of mocha.  A lovely cup, right up there with the high standards of Melbourne coffee. 

For brekkie, I ordered the Smashed Avocado, Persian Feta, Grain Sourdough and Slow Poached Egg ($11.8) and added a side order of Ottway Free Range Dry Cured Bacon (+$4.5).  The Hobba Kitchen serves up excellent Green Eggs slow poached at exactly 62.5 degrees, and being crazy for poached eggs I was keen to try this out.

All I can say is, WOW!   The egg white was soft, the yolk was "thick runny" but not messy.  If I was more poetic I would embellish this post with a sonnet or two about these eggs, but since I'm not even a good limerick writer, I will just tell you to try this one out for yourself and thank me later.  The egg was the show stealer, but the bacon held its own by being tasty without being overly salty, and the avocado and feta were perfectly balanced.  To be really pedantic, the toast was a bit too crunchy, but Bubs happily munched on it, seeds and all.

The whole seating area is very spacious, kid-friendly and awash with natural light.  (Apologies for the extremely overexposed photo of my coffee above!)  I was comfortably seated in one of the timber booths, with Bubs pulled up along side in the pram.  Towards the back of the cafe are communal tables with ample room for prams and highchairs.  Lots of parents and kids in the area must take advantage of the set up, as I enjoyed my brekkie and watched singles and couples, as well as families and mums, pop in for a catch up over coffee.  Little ones flew in on their little scooters and bikes while their parents picked up a take away.  The service was top notch, the staff were efficient and friendly, and the cool dude who served me even smiled in sympathy as he helped me pick up toys Bubs threw out of the pram for the ump-teenth time.  

Perhaps next time I will try out their eggs with asparagus and poached salmon, or in the Hobba version of the big brekkie?  The lunch menu also looks inviting with their take on chicken schnitzels, beef burgers and crab and salmon patties.  Vegetarians and kids are well catered for, with many menu items suitable or easily adapted for both groups.

As I sit here typing away, Hubby is next to me, simultaneously salivating over the pictures of the food and cursing me for going without him.  Look out Hobba, I will definitely be back!  Even on the busy weekends, with the whole gang, waiting in line and risking a toddler meltdown.  It was that good an experience.  

Eat.Play.Shop. Says - Go the Slow Poached Eggs!  And the coffee will not disappoint!

Toilets - Yes
Highchair - Yes

Eat. @ Market Lane Coffee

163 Commercial Road, Prahran 3141 (@Prahran Market) ph : (03) 9804 7434

I visited Praharan Market recently and found a treasure trove of new food-related things to love, not in the least is this beautifully minimalistic coffee specialist, Market Lane Coffee. 

These guys are really serious about coffee.  In this busy world of multi-tasking, instant gratification, and often way too many choices and options, it's actually really refreshing to see such a dedicated and single minded approach to the one thing that is important to them.  And that, is coffee.

I am the first to admit that I'm no coffee connoisseur.  I appreciate a good brew, and all I look for in a cup is consistency, pleasant taste, and no bitterness.  Coffee here is the main star.  To the point that there is no mocha here, just pure coffee.  I must admit I started to drink mochas as they are more forgiving if the beans and the baristas are not up to the tip-top standards of the awesome coffee places around Melbourne. 

I love a good flow chart!  Coffee explained!

I had a latte on the day, coupled with two gorgeous looking macarons The  coffee was perfect.  Smooth, lovely and no bitter after taste.  Beautiful latte art, with a cute little spoon.  If coffee is like this everywhere I'll gladly give up mochas and have lattes instead. 

The macarons, sourced from La Tropizienne, were fantastic as expected.  (Yes, one of my top picks for macarons in Melbourne!)  I had the Blackcurrant and Salted Caramel.  Very different but delicious in flavours, and both very well made and beautiful looking. 

The space occupied by Market Lane Coffee is spacious and well lit by natural light.   Enthusiastic but unintrusive service with a smile, a relaxed atmosphere coupled with quiet and soothing background (ie/non-elevator) music added to the ambience.

I loved the look of the large communal table, with storage buckets neatly stacked in the background working double-duty as funky decor.

Bubs was quite comfortable in the stroller pulled up to the table.  I couldn't see any high chairs, but did spot a make-shift booster obviously fashioned by an ingenious mum having a cuppa with a little one before me!

Being so coffee-centric, food takes a backseat as an accompaniment, and a small offering of treats to go with the main attraction is available.  I had no need for a babycino on the day so I'm not sure if this is offered, but the sweet treats look quite kid-friendly.

Eat.Play.Shop. Says -  Excellent coffee and relaxed ambience makes Market Lane Coffee a pretty special place for a "pit-stop" while shopping at the Prahran Market.