Shire Cafe - revisit

Shire Cafe is a charming little spot, in the hip and happening Fitzroy, but a little bit off the mainstream beaten track. The charming, cafe has tucked itself neatly between two tall walls of eye-searing fluro pink and green graffiti (easy way to find it) on a side street not too far from Brunswick.

I had visited Shire Cafe earlier this year in April, but had not had the time to revisit it and check it out.

It's run by a lovely Bangladeshi man and Vietnamese woman, which I think helps to explain the odd mix of things you find on the menu. Everything from all day breakkies (eggs, corn fritters, gluten free pancakes (extra excited for this one!)), a variety of wraps, soups, curries, vietnamese style salads, burgers and of course dessert.

Last time I came, the chai latte was excellent, with gorgeously frothed milk and just enough honey to satisfy my sweet tooth. This time, the milk was a little bit overdone and with a tad overdose of honey. Whilst I do have a penchant for sweets, this was a little bit of an overkill.

Having such a big menu can make it difficult to decide what to eat sometimes, I must've sat there and 'uhm-ed' and 'aah-ed' for ages, tossing up between the gluten free pancakes and well...lunch.

I decided on the latter, saving the pancakes for a breakfast outing another time. Instead, I ordered the 'naked' burger, a massive burger patty served on a bed of fries, with cheese, lettuce and tomato. Seriously, this guy was huge. Take a look at this cross section...

That must be like an inch thick! It was definitely a good feed, with that much meat and the fries to go with it, the patty was pretty tasty overall and was lovely with the cheese, although I question the parsley garnish a bit....

And if you thought my burger was big, take a look at Brad's....it's a beast! I think this was just the Shire beef burger, or something along those lines. In essence, a burger with all the trimmings. Plus fries. We always thought Grill'd burgers were quite formidable, but this was really something else. It really wasn't much different to my burger in taste, and amazingly, Brad polished off the lot (how does he stay so thin?). Although I did pick on his chips, which were very well cooked, light and crispy. Mmmm.

We both enjoyed our meals, although in comparison, I would have to still say that Grill'd probably do their burgers better, the patty itself has better seasoning. Shire burgers were all beef and not too much flavouring within the patty, although I did like the little bit of crunch within from the onions I think. But if you do want value for money and a hell of a feed, Shire is certainly not a bad option either.

Next time....pancakes....

Shire Cafe

69 Victoria St

Fitzroy, 3065

In Tassie!

Hey guys! Just thought I'd drop a note, forgot to say I'm in Tasmania until the 30th of December, hence, lacking in posts. :(

I'll be home soon and be catching up soon! ;)

Tank Fish and Chippery

Tank's a pretty new kid on the block. In the sea of Italian men , hand gestures, spruikers (weren't these guys supposed to stop doing this..?) and wafts of liberally slathered cheese over pizzas and pastas (which smell disgusting but delicious at the same time...), Tank Fish and Chippery pops out to me as something bright, clean and simple.

At the time we went, the brightly lit, Greek inspired, blue and white shop was just over a month old, with fairly quiet business, where the other restaurants were absolutely packed and bustling, although we did get dinner a little bit early to be fair. I loved the communal table with it's intricate tiles, the overall look of the place is slightly retro, but minimalist and clean as well.

The second we walked in, as we went to look up at the menu on the blue perspex boards, we were greeted by the waitress (with the cutest accent, Brad and I were trying to figure it out afterwards...) and informed of the decisions we could make and the vast choices we had.

We decided to go with the bucket for two (I think.), which came with two pieces of fish, a choice of a salad and of course, chips. The alternative was a TANK for two, which came with fish, potato cakes, dim sums, chips....and more. A little bit too beastly for the likes of Brad and I, the bucket ended up being just right. The house fish was flake, which we were happy to go along with, one was battered and fried and the other grilled.

The fish itself was quite sweet and well cooked, perfect with a squeeze of lemon over it. The grilled fish in particular was nice, I've had grilled fish at other places and it just falls apart the minute I attempt to do a bit of stabbing with my fork, but the flesh of the fish held together quite well and was tasty. I didn't try a lot of the battered fish, but I was quite impressed it didn't look too oily at all. The chips though...were extremely intriguing. In the best way possible of course! They were tasty, well fried and not too oily and the seasoning...there was something in the seasoning that I couldn't quite put my finger on that I had grown a sudden addiction to. Apart from the naturally expected salt, there was an odd sweetness to it that was incredibly moreish. I don't think it could've just been sugar...I think I'm probably going to have to go back and find out!

Overall, I like Tank, I like the space and the food's not bad at all. I'm slightly partial still to Hooked I think, but Tank's certainly a nice option closer to the city. The bucket for two ended up being about $17 or $18 if I remember correctly, which for my opinion, for good fresh produce, cooked well is perfectly suitable for the price. How many fish and chipperies do you know that give you salad to offset all the frying?! :)

Tank Fish and Chippery

149 Lygon Street

Melbourne, 3053

Mezzo Bar and Grill

I love Twitter. Heck, I'm openly addicted to it. But it's amazing how useful it can be sometimes...take this one Friday night for instance. I was sitting in the car, abusing the Urbanspoon application on my iPhone and getting increasingly flabbergasted at the options. The minute you think "Ooh we could here..." another perfectly good option comes up and being fickle little ol' me, this develops into a bigger and bigger problem (especially since Brad is almost always easy going with whatever I pick, which leaves me being the decision maker).

However, in this time of crisis, I can turn to twitter, overrun with foodies and friends alike and simply ask.

@squeewubs: Where to have dinner in the CBD....

A swift reply was seen minutes later.

@ChefValvasori: @Squeewubs go visit @JosephVargetto at @Mezzobg

We didn't head straight to Mezzo this Friday, as we scoped our options and I was suddenly amazed that I didn't explore this end of Little Bourke more often! We initially tried to get a table at Punch Lane, but (in a way fortunately) they were full, so we turned to their next door neighbour Mezzo and snaked our way through the jovial, after-work drinks, suited crowd into the dining area.

I don't know how Brad and I have a knack for this sort of thing, but fortunately a reservation had cancelled earlier, so they were able to fit us in at a very cosy corner table. Perfect!

Mezzo was very chic. Oh yes she was. Yes I did just prescribe a gender to the restaurant. Swathed in understated black and white tones, with a pop of colour from the red light fixtures that hung from the ceiling that went on forever and of course, the feature accessory with a lovely warm mural on one of the walls. Mezzo Bar and Grill was definitely easy on the eyes.

How cute are the little spoon light switches?

Service was efficient, friendly and professional, we received our menus not long after sitting and before long our drinks were before us.

Brad got Peroni on tap, which is just beautiful, just light and smooth. Perfect in almost any weather.

I don't normally get cocktails these days when I go out, as I hate thinking of the additional sugary calories firstly, but I do just find them overly sweet and complicated a lot of the time. However, I couldn't go past the Mezzo Mule which had Frangelico (which I love), vodka, lime and urm. I don't remember. I just remember the Frangelico. It was well balanced though, the sweet nuttiness of the Frangelico came through but was not overwhelming as the citrus mellowed it out a bit with a bit of bite and freshness.

Since we got in early, we were given the option of having the pre-theatre dinner menu which gave us the option of having 2 courses and a glass of wine for $38 or all three courses and a glass of wine for $48. Well knowing that 3 courses each would probably be too much, we devised a plan where one of us would get the entree, the other would get the dessert and we'd each get a different main to sample. Perfect!

Whilst I was quite keen to try the meatball entree, Brad, being the voice of reason, suggested we start off with something light and fresh. I love myself a caprese salad anyway and was more than happy to oblige.

We were both pleasantly surprised with how large the serve was, it was quite generous and very cute. Not too much to not like about this, mozzarella was delicious and tomatoes cool and refreshing.

For my main, I chose the risotto of the day, which was an easy choice with aspargus, mascarpone and chives. I was tickled by the presentation, so elegant and just pretty. The surface of the plate is deceptive, there's a lot more risotto than what you're seeing as there's a nice sized bowl underneath the big rim of the plate. It was really just the perfect size for a risotto, I normally try not to order risotto just because I know the size of it is going to overwhelm me!

So this was just right and so beautifully done, creamy and cheesy as it should be (triple cream cheese, yeek! Hi gym!), whilst not being mushy, with a lovely little crunch from...something in there. Brad and I couldn't figure it out, I think it might've been thin slices of asparagus but I'm not entirely sure. At any rate, I enjoyed the crunch that contrasted against the creaminess of the rest of the rice, it added a lightness to it. I certainly indulged myself and loved this risotto.

Brad went with the panfried salmon fillet with roast pumpkin puree and what I assume is a cold salad of sorts, I didn't really get a good taste of it. I got a forkful with everything on it at once and I found the salad a bit of a shock since it was so cold in contrast to what I expected to be a lovely warm piece of salmon. But past the initial surprise, the salmon was well cooked and the pumpkin puree was delicious and smooth. They complimented each other very well, the pumpkin playing into the salmon's texture and making it feel even smoother. Quite nice. Quite nice.

And to finish off, who can deny an assortment of gelati and sorbets?! We were presented with an apricot ice-cream, raspberry sorbet and vanilla ice-cream. The raspberry was beautiful and flavoursome, the apricot, surprisingly sweet, I didn't like it at first, but the more I ate it...well...the more I ate it. In all it was a nice combination.

I really enjoyed my meal at Mezzo, the dining room though quite sizeable, filled up quickly and buzzed away. It was interesting to see all the different types of diners in Mezzo, big tables of Asian families, young couples (we weren't the only ones for once!), older couples and groups of women on a ladies' night. And even if it was so busy, Brad and I had quite a lovely romantic little meal in our corner and were looked after very well. It looks like Mezzo has managed to market itself well to a vast audience and I might try to pop by again to try out the ala carte menu next time. When a new chef moves in in the new year...

Mezzo Bar and Grill

35 Little Bourke St

Melbourne, 3000

Bread and Jam for Frances

It was almost 2:30pm. I was hungry. Really hungry. Like. Really, really hungry.

And being hungry, it meant I was cranky. I had wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant for lunch, but they all kind of close at 2:30pm. Boo. On an off note, I always seem to have Japanese lunch cravings on Sunday afternoons, but none are ever open! What is this?!

Ahem.

Fortunately I had recently read Food Rehab's review of Bread and Jam for Frances (which I keep accidentally calling Bread for Frances...just trying to simplify it...), which is just a short 5 minute drive away from me, which my stomach well agreed with.

Bread and Jam for Frances is tucked away quietly behind the Readings store on Glenferrie Road (I adore bookstores), so it's not too noticeable unless you're going hunting for it. It's a nice little alcove away from the hustle and bustle that happens on Glenferrie Street. Even on a cool and slightly overcast day, the space is airy with high ceilings, white walls and simple woodern furniture. It felt bright, it felt inviting and it was quite relaxing. My initial crankiness faded into obscurity fairly promptly.

The cafe is named after a book, about a food obsessed badger (Frances) who loved bread and jam so much, that's all he wanted to eat!

Fortunately for us, there was more than that on the menu!

Lovely coffee and a delicious chai latte were quickly licked clean. Thanks for the whole bottle of honey! Mmmmm.

I love the little logo, just so charming and adorable! Between Brad and I we got one thing off the lunch menu and one thing off the specials board.

Brad went with the pesto chicken and avocado toastie. Bread and Jam for Frances is also Dench Bakers home away from home, meaning that there is a selection of beautiful artisan bread to buy home, or have in the cafe. The toastie (I would just call it a sandwich, but toastie sounds so much cuter!) was delicious. I couldn't resist a nibble as I adore nice thickly cut bread with lightly crunchy crusts. The chicken was tender, the basil in the pesto nice and strong. Mmmmm. Quite delicious.

I went with the special of pumpkin and haloumi fritters (I think. Oh dear I am terrible.) with tzatziki (I can never say, nor spell that word. Seriously!). I thought it didn't look too big when it first came out, but as always, my eyes forecast incorrectly and my stomach whines and complains about it later. These were so hearty and so tasty, lots of pumpkin, not too doughy as I thought they could potentially be and perfect with the tzatziki. There was something with a bit of bite in there, a pinch of something that warmed the mouth that was cooled with the tzatziki. It was unexpected, but very nice.

After a good feed, Brad and I ended up sitting here for a while afterwards and it was interesting to see the people filter in and out. A few families, mostly older folk and not a student in sight. Before I knew it, we had been at Bread and Jam for Frances for almost 2 hours! Where had the time gone?! Would work notice I had been away for that long?! It's like reading a book, getting caught up in the story and losing all track of time.

I am certainly looking forward to many more lunches here. Maybe with a book next time.

Bread and jam for Frances

1/701 Glenferrie Road

Melbourne, 3122

Pizza Piazza

I'm spoilt for choice in Melbourne, as someone who's gluten intolerant. This is especially evident to me after being in America, the kingdom of Pizza's and burgers and cakes that could potentially crush small children. Seriously, we had a pizza in New York that was as wide as my arm. Ummm. Ridiculous. Whilst there were options aplenty, gluten free options were not very common.

In Melbourne, turn every corner and there are gluten free options being touted outside supermarkets, at the Queen Victoria market (our butcher does great gluten free sausages), at restaurants and cafes.

Even the more franchise-type places are doing it, Grill'd (a favourite), Crust (another favourite), Pizza Capers (which I have yet to try) and Mad Mex, to name a few.

When I first went (almost) gluten-free, Italian food was something I did not eat much of for the longest time. Especially pizza. I vividly remember, I was in grade 8, at a friend's party and I had found out the day before I was gluten intolerant. Lunch time came around and we all tucked into pizza, I had a wedge of greasy, cheesy, gluten-full joy in my hands and when I realised what I was eating, I quickly turned to my mother behind her and frowned a bit, before she told me it was okay and I could start being gluten-free- tomorrow. That was probably my last pizza for years.

Years and years later, I read of Pizza Piazza, an Italian place with an absolutely extensive gluten free menu. And when I say extensive, I absolutely mean it. Lots of places do gluten free pasta, but the simple standard stuff, penne, etc. and obviously, a number of places have started offering gluten free pizza. But Pizza Piazza, garlic bread, bruschetta and even ravioli!

It's been on my 'to go to list' for ages, especially with a voucher in the entertainment book (I do try to whore it out when I can) so when the opportunity arose after a very lazy day on Chapel Street, strolling from Hooked to Lucky Coq and drinking cider, we managed to get a table outside. I was somewhat surprised to find the place just about full at 7pm on a Saturday night!

Service was quite prompt even if it was busy, with friendly waiters and waitresses coming around to check on us frequently.

Brad's getting a bit tired of me sticking my camera in his face...

A whole gluten free menu...just for me...there's also a regular menu, which is slightly bigger, but I was pretty impressed with the size of the gluten free menu. In addition to it, we were supplied with an additional gluten-free menu of specials. I had spied the ravioli on this special's menu and was super excited at the opportunity to have it, as a kid I used to love the supermarket bought stuff my mum used to have.

Unfortunately for me....no ravioli. Sigh.

So we instead decided to settle on getting another pasta dish and a pizza. I must've been craving something fierce as I ended up deciding to get the Spaghetti ai Fungi, spaghetti with field mushrooms and shaved parmesan in a creamy mushroom sauce. Oof! I honestly don't remember the last time I had such creamy pasta, I normally tend to get or make light and easy pasta's.

It was very, very rich. Almost drowning in the cream, which was kinda watery honestly. Yet was terrible and pretty tasty, there was still quite a nice mushroom flavour to it, especially when the parmesan melted into it all. The texture of the spaghetti was good too, although I don't recall particularly liking the mushrooms themselves.

Choosing a pizza took us forever, do we want eggplant? Mushrooms? Meat? Chicken? Maybe. Yes? No?!

We do tend to end up getting vegetarian pizzas (I like to pretend I'm being healthy) and this was no exception, the Vegetariana had roasted capsicums and mushrooms, roasted onions, mozarella and tomato. Sounded simple and enjoyable.

I enjoyed the pizza base, but I found it a bit lacking with the toppings and not particularly strong flavours anywhere really. At least there was tomato and mozzarella all over, which was all melty and stringy, extending from the plate to the mouth. So whilst not too bad, it wasn't overwhelmingly exciting either, I imagine and understand they're probably going for the rustic, simple Italian style pizzas, and I certainly admire that, but it just didn't really work for me so well. Therefore for me, I probably wouldn't come back for the pizza.

However I haven't had garlic bread in a while.....

Pizza Piazza

171 Chapel St

Prahran, 3181