A trip to Chaddy to visit Jones and the Zoo.

Mum: Oh I think the boxing day sale prices are probably still on....

Me: BRAD. CHADSTONE. CHADSTONE. CHADSTONE. CHADSTONE. ......Please...?

I visited Jones the Grocer not so long ago (2 months...that's not so long now is it....?) and swooned over it's shop interior and reviewed it's chai latte and sweets.

With a pang of regret (since I forgot I didn't enjoy their chai latte that much last time)...I report that the chai latte is still very milky and weak. Beautifully frothed, but not much flavour. Ah well. Will have to remember for next time...

Since it was a lovely day, Brad went with a sparkling juice instead, refreshing and not overly sweet. I ended up sipping on quite a lot as we were never brought out the water like I asked....

Whilst I'm normally a sucker for eggs and sweetcorn fritters, I think I wanted something a bit more substantial this time. Or lunch sounding at least. So I got this.....salad. Well it said a salad on the menu, but didn't quite look like much of a salad when it came out. As they say though, don't judge a book by it's cover, this was a lovely meal, somehow both light but very satisfying at the same time. Lamb balls, a light bit of yoghurt, chickpeas and half a tomato, all very mediterranean. It was surprisingly generous with lamb which was well seasoned and not over cooked. Wouldn't have minded a little bit more tomato, but I suppose that would ruin the aesthetic.

Boys being boys, need to be fed. So as he usually does, Brad went with the big breakfast, I can't remember the name but it probably was something along the lines of 'The Jones Breakkie' or 'Jones Big Breakkie' or maybe just 'Big breakfast'. There seems to be a bit of a generic name formula for these sorts of dishes.

Beautifully poached eggs that bled everywhere, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, sausages, toast and a heck of a lot of bacon. I mean seriously, look how much there is! I'm surprised there wasn't a bit of spinach or colour to take away from all that...brown.

Although this obviously did not put Brad off as he completely polished off his plate. Mm, runny yolks....

After lunch, we resumed our prior wandering around Chadstone, where earlier Brad had bought a pair of shoes and some CD's and I had bought....nothing. Something wrong with this picture here? Although this was quickly rectified when I fell in love with a handsome cropped biker leather jacket from White Suede...

A little damage to the bank account, but totally worth it.

With my prized cargo in tow, we wandered over to a shop my (buff) friend Attila worked in and stole him away for frozen yoghurt. At a place so new that even Attila who worked in Chadstone wasn't aware it was open.

It was Igloo Zoo. No penguins sadly. However, take your pick from mango, green tea, pomegranate or chocolate 99.5% fat free yoghurt, pick some toppings and voila, instant (almost) guilty free sweet hit! I had spied this once while driving down Glenferrie Road in Malvern (I have no idea why) and wanted to try it, but never seen it anywhere else. Now at least, Australia's first culture bar has expanded, close to Brad so I can get my fix more frequently.

I loved the pastels, the clean, the bright, I also marveled at how big the sizes were (no wonder the country is getting fatter), although I didn't think I could stomach a regular size...

So I got the kids size! I have this odd addiction to having almonds as a topping with my frozen yoghurt and....I have no excuse for the mini M&M's. There's just something far more enjoyable to me about them than the regular sized M&M's. The small little chocolate crunch is just so addictive! So an odd mix, almonds, chocolate and mango yoghurt, but you know. The yoghurt was just delicious. I like my sweets. I ain't complaining.

Om nom noms.

Jones The Grocer

1341 Dandenong Rd Chadstone Shopping Centre

Melbourne, 3145

Igloo Zoo

1341 Dandenong Rd Chadstone Shopping Centre

Melbourne, 3145