Maru Shih

Tags

food, japanese

After several fairly expensive meals I met up with a friend to catch up at Maru Shih, an affordable Japanese cafe on Toorak Road.

Was told that their green tea latte was something of a specialty and decided to give it a try. Tasted like a warm Starbucks green tea Frappuccino. So if you like that sort of thing (which I do), you’d probably like this.

It was a pleasant meal with a simple, home cooked flavour, not unlike the vibe that one gets in Peko Peko in South Melbourne. My one small gripe would be the dine-in area. Although it was well furnished and decorated, the size of the room, proximity of the tables and lack of background music made it extremely easy for diners to eavesdrop on each others’ conversation. So if you want a private conversation – probably a better idea to go elsewhere.

Overall, a cute little affordable cafe with friendly waitstaff and simple and pleasant food. Definitely worth trying out.

Gewurzhaus

Tags

life, salt

Wandered down to Hawkesburn Village and stumbled upon Gewurzhaus, a herb and spice merchant. Went slightly crazy in there and somehow ended up coming home with 3 different salts (that was holding back – I could have easily bought the entire shop’s selection), pepper and some tea. Why did I buy more tea when there’s a good 10-15 types at home as it is was a mystery.

Can’t wait to try them all out.

Organization Porn

Tags

food, ikea, kitchen, life, organization, pantry, tupperware

I am one of those people who love the idea of perfection. I love containerising things in uniform containers and if I could buy everything in white, I probably could.

Spent a fair bit of time organising my pantry over the last few days and here’s the results!

These darling little Tupperware shovels just arrived in the mail today. Love eBay – these aren’t available in the ordinary Tupperware catalog.

My spice bottles on racks attached to the inside of my pantry door. An Ikea purchase.

Now, time for my tea drawer and fridge.

Brunch

As a lady of leisure these 3 months, it seems fitting that I should be brunching frequently. I went to the European for that very purpose and it was highly, highly satisfying.

The best part was that because it was a Tuesday, there were no queues, no crowds and no pressure to hurry up, eat and leave.

Another place I went to was Continental in Albert Park, incidentally my favourite suburb in Melbourne due to its proximity to both the city and the beach. I had baked eggs with chorizo – I have a tendency to order that when I eat out for some reason. Maybe because I wouldn’t bake eggs at home?

Am not looking forward to the day I have to return to work.

Chocolate Brownies and Other Things

Tags

brownies, chocolate, food, life, melbourne, nespresso, photography, sunset

Woke up at 9am and very slowly started to think about what to bake for the day to bring to a friend’s place, where we were going to spend the afternoon together. After a failed macaron batch (don’t ask) I decided to opt for something simple and bake some brownies.

Recipe from here. My blog from a while back that I kinda abandoned after a few posts. Shame on me.

Anyway, drove out to Templestowe, where my friend was ready with my favourite things – coffee, stuffed baby peppers and… ham, cheese and tomato toasties.

This was the first time anyone had served up a Nespresso coffee for me so I was eager to try it out. It was a decent coffee, but I think I still prefer to get one from the cafe.

It was a pleasant day just hanging out with friends that ended with a beautiful sunset. I love this city.

 

The Waiting Room

Tags

food, melbourne, the waiting room

My childhood friend from kindergarten days is an air stewardess. That means that occasionally she comes to Melbourne and we get to hang out. Monday was the day for one of those outings and we had the best time together!

Decided to go for some afternoon tea. I have been to several in Melbourne and after some Google background work, I decided to try out the afternoon tea offered by The Waiting Room in Crown.

The Waiting Room is located in the lobby of the main Crown Hotel. We sat down, ordered our drinks and sat waiting for at least 30 minutes for the tea to be served – my only gripe about the entire experience. I could not see why it took so long for them to arrange cookies and cakes on a tray.

However, I have to admit it was worth the wait. It was the best afternoon tea I have had in Melbourne, and at $42 per head, one of the most affordable too. Highly recommended – the scones were lovely and light and not at all floury (my personal pet peeve) and the sandwiches and little cakes had little twists in the flavours that made it fresh and interesting.

Spent the rest of the day just window shopping and chatting, catching up on the latest and greatest in each other’s lives. A lovely day out – had the best time together.

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Bistro Gitan

Tags

bistro gitan, food, melbourne, south yarra

I was walking in Fawkner Park about 3 months ago and from afar, I saw a pleasant looking restaurant. It had French doors – I adore French doors. I made a mental note to dine there when I had the chance. The opportunity arose last week.

Bistro Gitan. A fairly relaxed and pleasant atmosphere with French food. It was very busy for a Thursday night and they were clearly understaffed. How would I describe the clientele? We were the youngest people there – the rest of the patrons appeared to be fairly mature inner southeast dwellers who were out for a meal on a Thursday night. In other words – this restaurant was the local and casual joint for the affluent.

I had escargot for the first time that night – I would describe it as mushroomy, with a chewy texture. The entire meal was fairly forgettable. Not bad but nothing outstanding.

I guess for me it is worth having a look see, but probably not somewhere I’d go to twice.

 

 

The Golden Rule Of Shopping

Tags

life, prada, tod's, wallet

I met up with my friend in the city for lunch and made the fatal, fatal mistake of going into David Jones to ‘have a look around’.

Somehow ended up in the shoe section and zeroed in on a pair of red patent Louboutin Pigalle 45s. 40% off.

Umm-ed and ahh-ed for about half an hour, trying to make a decision as to whether I should get them or not. Decided to just purchase them since I could return them if I changed my mind anyway (David Jones’ returns policy is incredible).

The moment I purchased it I knew it was the wrong thing to do. Half an hour later I apologetically returned them, much to the extreme delight of a girl who had been searching for that pair of shoes for the last few months.

I’m not surprised I returned them so soon after – I should never have purchased them in the first place. I had come up with an extremely good way to shop about 2-3 years ago and it has never failed me.

Only buy items that you have fallen in love with and are willing to pay full price for.

In this case, I wanted them because they were on sale and it was a style that I would not have minded adding to my collection. They were pretty, but I wasn’t in love with it, nor would I have paid $800 for it. Lesson learnt (for the umpteenth time).

Anyway, since we are on the topic of shopping, here are my two latest acquisitions, both of which I am very much in love with.

Prada Envelope Clutch – all the way from New York, thanks to a long suffering friend.

Tod’s Continental Wallet – I had decided that using a ivory white leather on a daily basis was just far too impractical. This is going to replace it.

Akanoya Robatoyaki

Tags

akanoya robatoyaki, food, singapore

My last meal with my friend during my stay in Singapore was at Akanoya Robatoyaki. It was a new concept to me – raw food arrayed in front of you and the chef grilling the food to order. I was more than happy to try it out.

But first, one has to park the car. The parking lots in Singapore are narrow, but I think the place we went to was even more so than usual. I doubt there was more than 10cm of space on either side of the car by the time my friend managed to squeeze his car in. Quite ridiculous. So for those who are thinking of driving in Singapore, brush up on your reverse parking skills – you’re going to need them!

Back to the food.

I once again got lazy with my photography and stopped taking photos after the first dish arrived which was the asparagus (very tender and crunchy). The highlight of my meal was probably the sweet potato – it was deliciously sweet, fluffy and mealy in texture. The fish was also quite tasty. We wanted to try the scallops as well but somehow our order was misplaced. Oh well.

Overall, it was an interesting experience if you want an interactive meal and like vibe of a busy restaurant with a fairly high volume. Not the ideal place for a date, but certainly a good place to go with friends if you’re into trying something different.

I actually went on to dine at Dolce Vita in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the next day with a childhood friend. Yes, I went to 5 fine dining restaurants in a row in the space of 2.5 days! However, we were so caught up with catching up with each other that we forgot to take photos of the experience. It was a lovely restaurant overlooking the rooftop pool of the hotel. The attendants actually enquired if we would like to go for a dip – we must have looked like we were hotel guests. Would have been awkward if we said yes and then be told we can’t go because we aren’t residents?

Thus ended my fine dining journey through Singapore. I really enjoyed the experience, but I think what I enjoyed the most was the company. I rarely get to meet up with my friends who aren’t in Melbourne so it was great to catch up, and even more of a novelty to catch up in restaurants with different flavours, interior design and vibes. Was thoroughly, thoroughly spoilt – so thank you so much to the both of you (you know who you are!) for the decadent meals and hosting me during my stay. It was a memorable trip.