This is a long overdue post about some of the meals we prepared and some of the restaurants and cafés we visited when we were in Melbourne earlier this year.
We arrived in Melbourne early in the evening after leaving Townsville mid-morning and stopping over for a couple of hours in Brisbane. We stayed at the same serviced apartments that we did three years ago so we were close to restaurants and supermarkets.
Meals we prepared
After such a long time I can't recall what we prepared. When we're away we tend to purchase pre-prepared meats like kangaroo burgers or salmon, which we can easily cook and serve with salad or vegetables.
I also fell sick while in Melbourne, unable to eat anything without feeling nauseous. I spent most of the day sleeping, only to emerge for a couple of hours to attend shows. It meant I felt less inclined to prepare meals or photograph them.
Some of the meals we prepared were:
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Fish and ginger congee
This is a dish I generally make when I feel ill and want a quick meal. I used my Quick Congee recipe replacing the meat with fish and grated ginger. I had to buy all the ingredients—the fish, ginger, eggs, sachets of oats, stock cubes and frozen vegetables—but we used up most of the ingredients while we were there and we brought the remaining oats and stock cubes home.
- Noodle and dumpling soup
We had an evening show and were expecting to have to eat quite late. My quick noodles is another regular meal for us, especially on the nights that I'm teaching. Because this was our last night in Melbourne I bought packaged udon noodles and baby pak choy from the supermarket, and dumplings from a store in the local food court. All that remained were the stock cubes and one packet of udon noodles that we brought home with us.
- Big breakfast: Fried eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms, and lemon and chive cottage cheese spread on toast.
I don't tend to cook big breakfasts in Melbourne preferring to enjoy the breakfasts in the local cafés. Because I bought eggs for the congee, I used the remaining eggs for breakfasts. The idea for the cottage cheese spread came after trying the Salmon and Avocado Stack at The Coffee Club in Brisbane. The spread comprised diced chives and lemon peel mixed into cottage cheese.
View in InstagramPlaces we visited
Whilst in Melbourne we visited some old favourites and sampled some new eating places. Following are some of the places we enjoyed:
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Country Bred on Lonsdale, Lonsdale Road
I first heard of Country Bred on Lonsdale when they liked some of my photos on Instagram. Because the café was in the CBD, it was close enough for us to try.
Country Bred on Lonsdale specialise in gourmet roast meat sandwiches. They were very busy when we turned up but luckily we found a table. Hubby tried their chipotle chicken sandwich and I opted for their pulled beef. The sandwiches were beautifully presented and delicious, although I found the serving size a little large.
As part of the Melbourne Marriot Hotel, the service seemed a little formal given the casual atmosphere of the café.
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Dahu Peking Duck Restaurant, Little
Bourke Street
I don't remember much about this restaurant. Our show had ended, it was 8:30pm and we were looking for somewhere to eat. The restaurant where we had planned to dine had a (minimum) 30-minute wait for a table! So we headed to Little Bourke Street knowing that there would be a number of restaurants still open for dinner.
The menu was a book and the food was tasty. However, the kitchen closed not long after our mains were served because, while ordering, we were asked whether we also wanted dessert.
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Dragon Boat Restaurant, Little Bourke Street
We've been coming to the Dragon Boat Restaurant for years. The attraction? The restaurant offered yum cha until 5:00pm. Perfect for those of us who like to sleep in!
The restaurant has been spruced up since we were last here. It looks so brighter and fresher, and with an open window onto Little Bourke Street, it's a great place to watch the comings and goings in this busy, narrow thoroughfare.
The food is good, and we can still find some dishes that seem to be unique to Melbourne.
The restaurant also has a store that opens into the adjoining arcade that sell lo mai chi, sticky rice balls filled with custard and covered in coconut. If I can, I always treat myself to a couple of lo mai chi whenever we visit.
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The Groove Train, Queen Street (Closed, although there are other outlets open in Docklands.)
Would you believe that the only reason we tried The Groove Train was because we had such a great experience at The Groove Train in Brisbane?And it was only a couple of blocks down the road from where we were staying.
We were tempted by the Hearty Vegetarian we had in Brisbane, but decided to try something different and not so big. Hubby decided on poached eggs and mushrooms and I chose the corn fitters, poached eggs, smoked salmon and rocket. My meal was not as big as the Hearty Vegetarian, but it was still filling!
This restaurant was located on the corner of Queens Street and Little Collins, and we sat at a table that looked out onto Little Collins. Little Collins was fairly quiet but I imagine, earlier in the day, it would have been bustling with commuters.
For atmosphere, I prefer The Groove Train at Brisbane Riverside. But then, the weather in Brisbane is probably more conducive to relaxation than it is in Melbourne.
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Issus, Centre Place
When Hubby was placed on a low-sodium diet, his dietitian recommended we head to Degraves Street for a nutritious breakfast. Each trip since we have visited at least one of the Degraves Street cafés for breakfast.
This trip we got a bit lost (or waylaid) ending up at Issus in Centre Place, another laneway you cut through to get to Degraves Street.
Hubby had their spinach, tomato, mushroom and feta omelette. Nice but a little salty for his taste.
Being one of my first meals since I was sick, I went for something plainer: scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Yum!
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Melbourne Central food court: Obento, Ensalada, Dumpling King
For a quick and cheap meal, there are always the food courts. When working late on a business trip in Melbourne, a Melburnian colleague suggested trying Melbourne Central food court for a quick, inexpensive dinner.
Melboure Central food court was where we went the first night we arrived in Melbourne. We bought a seafood salad, sushi and some ‘hand’ rolls from O-Bento.
They were delicious but we did miss our sashimi. Every week we enjoy takeaway sushi and sashimi from our local Japanese sushi bar. Yet we've never been able to find takeaway sashimi when we travel.
A couple of other stores that we enjoyed were Ensalada and Dumpling King. Ensalada make fresh gourmet wraps - a reasonably healthy lunch. I bought dumplings from Dumpling King for our late-night noodle and dumpling soup.
Melbourne Central is also the location of the supermarket where we bought most of our supplies for our stay in Melbourne.
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Pancake Parlour, Bourke Street mall
The Pancake Parlour is another restaurant that we've been visiting for years. We've been to this fast-food chain restaurant at all times of the days: breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is good and relatively inexpensive and, especially during lunch hours, the service is efficient. The Pancake Parlour also offer lunch and dinner specials, two-course meals with a drink.
It's not a restaurant that we visit every trip but, if we are looking for a quick, late-night meal, it's a good choice. And this is the reason we ended up at The Pancake Parlour. We'd just been to a show and had had problems getting in to some other restaurants, so tired and hungry, we decided to on The Pancake Parlour.
We both ordered the same dishes:
- Tabriz crepes, delicious mince in a delicate crepe served with salad, and
- Traditional blintz—an old favourite—cinnamon-flavoured cream cheese and sultanas wrapped in crepes.
Yum!
The worst part of the night? There seemed to be only one waiter, who provided a very perfunctory service.
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Queen Street Rescue, Queen Street
Queen Street Rescue is the restaurant located next door to the apartments where we were staying. We first tried this restaurant on our previous trip to Melbourne, having dinner there on our last night.
This trip, we visited Queen Street Rescue for breakfast.
The first time, Hubby ordered the poached eggs with added mushrooms and chargrilled tomatoes. I had poached eggs with avocado, feta, tomatoes, basil and virgin olive oil on toast. The eggs were poached to perfection - white cooked and the yolk runny. Delicious.
The second time we visited Queen Street Rescue Hubby had “Queen's Eggs”, sort of a smoked salmon eggs benedict. This was my first meal after being sick so I opted for something plainer, french toast with maple syrup and grilled banana. Nice and filling.
Queen Street Rescue is fast becoming a favourite restaurant in Melbourne.
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Saigon Fusion, Little Bourke Street (Closed 2017)
Little Bourke Street, west of Elizabeth Street, has changed a lot from what I remember. One of the newer stores is Saigon Fusion, which sells banh mi (Vietnamese rolls).
I initially ordered two traditional rolls but the proprietor upsold me a roast pork roll. Both were delicious but, personally, the roast pork roll was a little fatty.
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Spaghetti Tree, Bourke Street
The Spaghetti Tree is another restaurant that we seem to visit every time we have an extended stay in Melbourne. Eating here can be a bit hit-or-miss. I have no idea why but I seem to recall that this time was a ‘miss’ due to the service, although the food was fine and the decor kept me amused. I still love it (the decor, that is).
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Sukhothai, High Street, Northcote
Sukhothai is a 30-40 minute ride on the 86 tram out of the CBD. When we lived in Melbourne, Sukhothai was our local Thai restaurant that we frequented every week.
We ordered a number of favourites: angel prawns, pork larb, and pad king with fish fillet. All delicious although, again, we found the pork larb a little salty. Our tastes have definitely changed since reducing the amount of sodium in our diet.
This time I paced myself so we were able to fit in desserts. Hubby had the fried ice cream and I had my favourite, Hot and Cold Delight, sticky rice balls in a coconut milk with ice cream.
For us, it's still worth making the trip to visit Sukhothai for the food and the memories.
More photos
Photos of our meals are available on my fromdebskitchen Instagram feed, the first photo taken on 7 April of the sushi we bought for dinner and the last taken 10 days later of our late night dinner of noodles and dumplings in soup.
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