Eat. @ Breakfast Thieves

Shop 1, 420 Gore St, Fitzroy 3065 ph (03) 9416 4884

Hey I'm back!  I've had a 6 week break from blogging as multiple happenings over the holiday period had kept me otherwise occupied, but welcome to 2013 and I am looking forward to a bigger and better year!  To start things off I wanted to write about a cafe that has truly *ahem* stolen our hearts in the last few months - Breakfast Thieves.  I've been a couple of times in the recent months, once for a break by myself while Bubs slept in the pram, and another with the whole gang during a busy Saturday school holiday brunching hour.  Apart from the delicious food and coffee, the thing that has kept, and will keep on bringing me back is the friendly service.

With my recent "healthier lifestyle" I have been drinking skinny mocha's when I've been out.   The mochas here have been really good despite the use of lower fat milk.  In an effort to prevent Macaron Monster from knocking over a bottle of juice, I of course knocked over MY cup of coffee!  The staff was very nice - they quickly helped me clean up, and before I knew it another cup of mocha appeared.  It was much appreciated!

Hubby's cappuccino came in pretty blue cup and even prettier latte art.

I tried The Breakfast Chain ($16) the first time I was here.  This was a mini smorgasbord of breakfast goodies including two perfectly boiled gooey eggs with brioche soldiers, a side of vanilla yogurt with house made granola, and a fruit based side.  This was in the form of a fruit crumble when I visited the first time, and a summer fruit panzanella the next.  It's a perfect meal for someone like me, who can never decide what to have, so a little of everything is very enticing!  

It's also great for kids, and Mini Me and Macaron Monster shared this on my second visit. 

So much fun and deliciousness dipping the brioche soldiers into the gooey eggy goodness.

It was past 11:30am and the lunch menu had also kicked you, so Hubby did not hesitate to order the Kazman Wagyu Burger ($17).  The patty had wagyu and water chestnut, and came with a fried egg, green mango slaw, in a toasted brioche bun, with a side of hand cut chips and wasabi mayo.  I'm not one for veggie filled, herby type burgers but I was surprised at how well this combo worked!  Hubby has voted this one of his all time favourite wagyu burgers (the other being the one from Ezard.)  We were both totally blown away by the awesome chips and dip.

I don't usually take pics of already eaten food (I seem to be doing it a bit in this post!) but this burger is crazy good and looked amazing to boot.

We finished off the meal with the Brioche Pan Perdu ($16), a brioche French toast served with  raspberry coulis soaked cherries, white chocolate mascarpone and candied pistachios.  Every bite was melt in the mouth buttery eggy goodness, then you get the sweet tang of the cherries and then bang, the crunch of the pistachio.  So, so good and I will definitely order this again!

The service was prompt, friendly and efficient, and the staff was most accommodating with our kids and prams and little accidents.  They even had some good old fashioned Little Golden Books lying around for the kids.

I have no doubt this will be a favourite of ours throughout 2013!

Toilets - Yes, spacious and kid friendly

Highchair - Yes

Eat. @ Mister Close

Shop 13, Midtown Plaza, 246 Bourke St, Melbourne CBD 3000 ph (03) 9654 7778

Mr Close is found in Midtown Plaza, near the entrance to the city branch of Daiso, and it's not where you expect a cool cafe with excellent coffee would be.  But it is exactly that, and more!  Firstly I HAD to know who Mr Close is/was, and a look at their website reveals that Mr Close was the Year 8 teacher that taught the lads who run this joint Geography.  (This brought back hilarious memories of MY Year 8 Geography teacher who used to wiggle his bum unintentionally every time he wrote on the blackboard, tehehe!)  Anyways Mr Close sounds like a cool dude who would "take you around the world", just as the "honest food" served here aims to do!

A mid morning visit meant I was having brunch again (Mummies don't get to eat breakfasts till late) so I ordered the aptly named Fast Breaker, a roll filled with housemade thyme mayo & relish, tomato, bacon, poached egg and toasted.  Yummy combo and I especially liked the thickly sliced bacon.

Of course I had my usual mocha which was lovely and smooth, with beautiful latte art.

Macaron Monster had already had breakfast (even if I don't get to eat in the morning I DO try and make sure my kids do!) so a hot chocolate was a treat.  

We shared a canele from Gâteaux de Bordeaux.  Oh I love these custardy soft but crispy things.    These ones are some of the best in Melbourne.  One is never enough! 

The cafe was spacious inside with room for prams.  There were no high chairs but the kids, even Bubs, did okay on the benches next to me.  On the other side of the cafe is another area with lower tables to sit, ideal for office workers in the area or uni students taking a break.

Lovely to see a great cafe bang smack in the middle of town.  We will definitely be back to try their other offerings.

Toilet - yes, in the centre
Highchair - not that I could find

Eat. @ Mr Hive Kitchen and Bar

8 Whiteman St, Southbank ph (03) 9292 8300

A little while ago Hubby and I realised that we hadn't been on a date night for 9 WHOLE MONTHS!!!  Life has been ultra busy for us this year with juggling our work, kids, illnesses and other commitments.  And now that we we have 3 kids it always feel extra difficult to organise babysitting.  An opportunity came up for us to go out by ourselves and we were crazy with excitement - a meal where (hopefully) there's no crying, food throwing, or threats of "no dessert unless dinner is finished"!  I looked through the long list of fine dining restaurants on my list and finally decided on Mr Hive Kitchen and Bar.  We had not had the opportunity to visit prior to its transformation from Maze.  I'm glad to say that it more than lives up to the hype and we had a fabulously night dining out.

We sipped on our lemonade and dry ginger as we try to narrow down what to order from the menu.  As you'll see we went a bit crazy with the ordering!

The first of our 3 shared entrees was Crispy Little Pigs ($18).  Moreish morsels of pork with interesting zesty sidekicks of watermelon.  If you order ahead they do a meal with a whole suckling pig which sounds very interesting.

Following that we had the Charred octopus share plate ($18)  which was perfectly cooked.   In particular I really enjoyed the black garlic used in this dish.  Such an interesting ingredient, I'm not usually a fan of garlic but this was really delicious, and the dish was very pretty to look at.

Cured Kingfish with fingerlimes and smoked yogurt ($16) was very fresh and light.

For mains we had a Braised Lamb ($33) special for the night which was very nice.  We slow cook a lot so it didn't feel like a very exciting dish for us in the end, but the soft lamb and the sauce made for a bit of a comfort food" dish.

The Venison ($38) was perfectly cooked to rare, and came with a delicious parsnip mash and braised red cabbage. 

Sides of chips and autumn greens ($9 each) completed our mains.

I must confess one of the reason I picked Mr Hive was due to all the beautiful pictures of their desserts I had seen on my instagram feed.  For this part of the meal we were moved to the dessert bar and watched their dessert chefs work their magic.  We continued the food frenzy and ordered 3 desserts!  I told you it's been ages since we'd been out without the kids, and we seriously ordered like adults who didn't know when their next decent meal would be!!!

We shared Mrs Hive's Chocolate Bar, with peanuts and caramel ($18).  Melt in the mouth dessert that Hubby and I both loved.  

I had the White chocolate, with, mango, basil and coconut ($16).  The basil sorbet was a surprise but went remarkably well with the other elements.  The coconut mousse was very light and refreshing.

There's a 15 minute wait for the raspberry souffle, understandably as this has to be made fresh in the oven.  A scoop of heavenly ice-cream plunged into the centre of the steaming souffle made this totally irresistible, although my stomach had been totally defeated by the amount of food I had consumed on the night.  Hubby battled on and thanks to this awesome version he has dropped some pretty heavy hints for me to move on to souffles for my next baking adventure!

Last but not least, cute little bottles of milk shake and truffles.  I must confess I am ashamed of not finishing this even though it was ultras delicious!  We were also sent home with little bags of handmade boiled lollies and treats for a sweet souvenir of the visit.

The service was attentive and accomodating, the ambience was lovely and the food was well thought out and delicious.  Throw into that a discount with the entertainment book and we had ourselves a pretty awesome date night meal!  I can't wait to go back and have the Dessert Degustation. Hmmmm!

PS - I just realised that I had forgotten to publish this post a few months ago.  The menu has recently changed into their Spring Menu, although many of the favourites like the Crispy Little Pig and the desserts remain unchanged.  The prices have gone up a little as compared to those quoted in this post.

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. @ Coffeehead

8-10 Railway Parade, Camberwell 3124 ph (03) 9831 1400

A rare day off to do some medical tests for myself meant that I could have lunch out with Hubby on a weekday!  He always complains that I try all the cool new places without him (as it's less busy on weekdays) so we went somewhere we both hadn't been before.  Bubs was in full co-operation mode and slept in the pram for the whole meal.

Coffeehead is a spacious converted space just a bit further down Railway Parade from Brunetti's Camberwell.  The fit out is retro and the ambience is casual.  Plenty of room meant that maneuvring our pram to our table was easy and unobtrusive to other diners.

After all the fasting for tests lately I was hanging out for a coffee.  I sipped on my mocha with the pretty latte art and felt a sense of familiarity.  I looked up and spotted my favourite barista from Coffeehit at the machine!  He makes a fantastic coffee and this of course was no exception!

We ordered 2 of their mini wagyu burgers ($8.9 for one, $17.5 for two).  The brioche is all the rage now, and housemade which is great, albeit just a tad dry for my liking.  The wagyu was certainly juicy though and made up for that!  There was quite a bit slaw and ironically I made quite a dripping mess eating this but it was very tasty!

I loved the pulled pork tacos ($17.9) though.  A perfect serve of pulled pork on soft toasted tortillas and a a side of fresh salsa, mayo and lime.  I really liked this dish and would definitely have it again.

Coffeehead also do their own roasts and there are lots of bags of beans for decoration and for sale. I really quite enjoyed our visit here and would definitely come again for both the coffee and the tacos and stalk the barista!)

Highchair - Yes
Toilet - yes, and big enough to fit a pram.