Two Birds, One Stone

Two Birds One Stone.

You all know about it already. Set up by the same people who did Three Bags Full, blah blah blah. You've read about it here, here, here and maybe even here. 

So I won't go on too much about that. 

I remember being amazed at the tweetstorm that happened by every single cafe and/or restaurant in my twitter feed who seemed to all have visited on the day it opened. You know something's gotta be good if all the hospo's are singing praises from day one.

But I still took my time to get there. I had no interest in showing up on a weekend and instead, scratched my head a little to figure out who I could get to go with me on a weekday….ah! Tegan has scheduled RDO's! Maybe I'll find out when the next one is…

…"Next Friday!"

And so there we were on a Friday, 11:45am. 

Since there are so many other blogs about this cafe, I'm going to keep this post mostly picture orientated, since it is such a photogenic cafe and I had such a nice little window spot…which means gorgeous lighting!

An adorable chai tea, with just enough honey. 

Twice cooked marmalade French toast, oranges and vanilla mousse. Who said you can't have sweets for lunch? And yes, it smelt and tasted as amazing as it sounds.

Their version of the vegetarian big breakfast is 'One Stone', it's carnivorous counterpart aptly named 'Two Birds'. I went with the former, with eggs, mushrooms, avocado, spinach, haloumi, home smoked corn and tomato relish. 

Filling but wholesome, my tummy was happy. 

It is hard to fault Two Birds, One Stone. Service is polished and friendly, interior is bright and shiny, food is tasty, fun and well executed. What's not too like? Other than the wait on a weekend or trying to find a parking nearby that is….

Two Birds, One Stone

12 Claremont Street

South Yarra 3141

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Crabapple Kitchen

I was one of those private school kids, now, now, no judging around here, who went to Methodist Ladies' College, just on the corner of Barkers and Glenferrie. So a fair bit of my life was spent on Glenferrie Road. 

Back in the day, the cool thing to do, on my recess and lunch breaks, was stroll down to Boost juice, grab a smoothie and head back. So insanely awesome right? Cafes and lunch dates weren't such a bit thing when I was in high school (although I wasn't a popular kid)…but now? Not unsurprising to see MLC uniforms giggling together over a mocha or two. How fast we grow these days.

Though it's not too surprising why, Glenferrie Road is a perfect spot for a cute or cool little cafe or two…which it is seeing more of these days. Private school kids (which means private school mothers), heaps of residential property barely a stone throw away and students from Swinburne who are surely always needing a coffee fix…and maybe learning that Starbucks isn't actually their only option. There's a healthy market out there.

Crabapple Kitchen is one of the newer additions to the scene, and fits it like a glove. 

Looking like a little white picket fence and bundle of joy from the outside, Crabapple Kitchen makes you feel at home in a heartbeat. It is incredibly cosy. I think it makes me think of a home most as it feels like there's a lot of stuff in there…I'm a bit of a hoarder, so I prefer homes that are just filled up with stuff (but not messy) and Crabapple Kitchen has packed a lot of cute in one space!

New cafes are always impossible to get to on the weekends, surely Brad and I would know this…but nope. We rock up to Crabapple Kitchen on a Saturday and the place is pumping. All the tables were taken, so we plopped ourselves on the marble counter, overlooking the kitchen. 

I loved this spot, boasting a wonderful view of the adorable and rather French looking stove (it's yellow!) and of course, all the kitchen action. I'm always impressed by open kitchens…how do they keep them so clean?!  

The cartoon drawings of charcuterie and meat on the tiled wall also brought a smile to my face. Next to the slicer…naturally. 

I wasn't particularly well when I visited, and so was quite comforted by the smooth, and tasty soy chai I consumed. 

The breakfast menu is extensive, and rather tempting all around. I loved the little section of the breakfast menu that featured breakfast dishes that the chefs experienced on their own travels. How fabulous!

I won't lie, I was pretty tempted to have 'Steak & Eggs' in the morning…with shoestring fries. Go hard or go home buddy.

But instead I went with a slightly more humble offering, the vegetarian 'Big Brekky', 2 free range eggs on sourdough with roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and buttered spinach. Yum. 

I will admit, big breakkies can be a bit boring, which is why I don't usually have them, but I just loved how well cooked and how bright Crabapple's offering was. That green, that red! It looked so fresh. The mushrooms were quite sinful. Sinfully delicious that is! And what a nice little mountain of them you get as well!

Brad ordered one of the travel breakfast experience dishes, originally had in Jalandhar City in India (one place I still have not yet been too…), two baked eggs in an aromatic Northern Indian style curry with lentils and caraway seeds, heirloom carrot, spiced yoghurt and wholemeal flat bread. 

Wow. That flavour. Just amazing, much saucier than some baked eggs I've seen in town, but this just makes it perfect with the flat bread. It was kind of like eating curry eggs…which is as good as it sounds. Especially for brunch. 

Do I love? Yes quite, there's not much to dislike here. With a lunch menu that also has some beautifully thought out and incredibly tempting offers such as four cheese ravioli, I only wish I was still in high school. Maybe I would have wagged maths a little bit more often to have crabapple sliders…or even just to nibble on the Italian chocolate coated figs that tempt me every time I get a takeaway chai...

Crabapple Kitchen

659 Glenferrie Road

Hawthorn

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Just a Mess

So you may have noticed my blog posts have been a little bit scattered and irregular lately. I'm also concerned I'm losing the vigour and joy I usually like to exude in my posts. 

I'm a little flat at the moment guys. Blogger fatigue? Time precious? Burning candles at both ends (or maybe even multiple ends). Something like that.

It's been a bit of a stressful couple of weeks. Or I feel like it has been. Work's doing it's thing, along with a couple of side projects, along with changes, transitions and preparations going at home, I feel like I've been in a bit of a hectic headspace. 

I tend to be one of those people who reflect the emotions and energy around me, if you're upbeat, I'm upbeat, if you're not so chatty, I'll be a bit quieter too and lately, it's been a little negative around here, so bear with me. 

And so it's times like these where I'm going to take a break from the usual thing and just show you pictures of a rather lazy and tasty eton mess my mum and I made back in August when we had some family friends over. Because sugar always makes me happy. 

Actually we made the eton mess because Chobani kindly sent me a range of their greek yoghurt to try out, from classic greek yoghurt, to flavours such as mango (my favourite) and blueberry, and I wanted to make a dessert with it. Although I really enjoyed the Chobani yoghurt in general as well. It made for a great and healthy afternoon snack (compared to my usual chocolate nibbles). Mum did comment on how much creamier and denser it was compared to some other yoghurts as well.

But anyway, so we took the strawberry yoghurt, whipped it up with some cream (so that the mess wasn't soooo naughty), broke up some pre-bought meringue (really doing a lazy here) and sliced some strawberries into it. 

Could you ask for anything easier? 

Result? Simple bliss. 

Disclaimer: Yes, Chobani sent me complimentary yoghurts. Yes the thoughts and views I have on the yoghurts are my own honest views.

Last Day in Bangkok!

Ah, so we descend onto our last day in Bangkok. It's amazing how the time flew by, and how much we managed to squeeze in, in just under a week. I suppose it helps if you're a super girlfriend and all though. 

Brad did keep commenting though, it would always felt like so much time passed by since everyday something big and new was happening…and at home, those big events are usually a little further and fewer in-between. 

Fortunately, we hadn't felt like killing each other just yet. Juuuust yet. 

On our last day in Bangkok, we popped by Chatuchak market. It's famous, it's huge, there is really a whole lot of stuff to buy there. I didn't really take any pictures, as I wasn't entirely sure what the go was with photos, but did pick up some cute and cheap doggie clothes for Chai (which Brad lamented me doing), and a couple of other cute bits and pieces.

Shopping in general is not Brad's thing, so we didn't spend as long as some other people might. We did however, enjoy the park that is right next to the market, with plenty of green, just so relaxing….

We then decided to make the trek to, what I think, is still one of my favourite places to eat in Bangkok, Ruen Tong Restaurant, which I previously covered here. It's a little bit of a pain to get to via public transport, and even with the business card, taxi drivers couldn't quite figure out where it was supposed to be. 

But we eventually got there, and it was so worth it. I was pretty much just craving an awesome yum pla duke foo, after having some mediocre ones earlier in the week and Ruen Tong did not let me down. Sweet, fluffy, crunchy….swoon…sigh…!

Steamed fish cakes…mmm….!

We also picked up Brad's completed suit from Crown Tailors. Doesn't it look fab? I keep trying to find excuses for him to wear it…teehee.

For dinner, we had a local friend recommend a couple of places to us, as I was pulling a lazy blogger move and couldn't be bothered to do the research for myself. I'm allowed to now and then right? 

So we ended up meeting another friend, that we were introduced to at the beginning of the week (who texted me complaining that he didn't have anything to wear...boys...), for dinner at Soul Food Mahanakorn in Thong Lor, a very short walk from the Thong Lor BTS Station. I had read via tripadvisor and an assortment of other websites that you generally needed a booking when going here…which we realised upon arriving, as the empty restaurant was actually fully booked out, but fortunately they had a little bar type area on the second floor that they could neatly fit three of us on.

Just perfect!

Soul Food Mahanakorn doesn't really feel like any other Thai place in Bangkok. It's a little moodier, and for some reason it made me think of Studio Ghibli films (I know weird thing to think about with restaurants), hear me out though. The tones and colours of the restaurant made me feel like I was in a forest, it even felt a bit zen like and somehow made me think it looked more like a Japanese place than a Thai food place!

But then it also had walls like this which reminded me of places like Naked for Satan or Chin Chin back home. 

The philosophy of Soul Food Mahankorn is pretty straight forward, serve authentic regional Thai food, in a comfortable environment. They've also got some pretty snazzy little cocktails and also source a lot of their ingredients from small farms and aim to go organic and fair trade where they can. 

Hard to go past a green vegetable curry, not as thick and creamy as I may be used to in Melbourne, but I did love the bite and flavour it did have. Maybe a little on the weaker side, but still incredibly tasty and perfect for drenching rice with.

I honestly can't remember what these noodles were. Sorry guys. They clearly weren't a stand out with me!

To get our fill of rice and carbs, we got the lamb grapow, with Australian lamb naturally (talk about food miles?!), holy basil, garlic and chili. Oh yeah, and a fried egg with a runny yolk. Over rice. Best ever or what?!

Surprisingly to me, the star of the night was the stir-fried morning glory, with chili and bean sauce. Out of all the dishes we had, we cleaned this one up the fastest. There was something so incredibly moreish about the sauce and the morning glory together, the texture was just right, the flavours were spot on. 

Whilst I don't necessarily think the food was the most authentic I had ever had, we all did like what we ate. If you want the real Thai experience, you can probably skip over this place, but if you want somewhere with a nice environment, some tasty cocktails and some tasty food, it's definitely worth considering in my book. 

We later ended up meeting with another friend, who took us to another cool bar, of which I can't remember the name, but it was in Thong Lor, that his friend owned. How the heck do I know all these ballers in Bangkok? I'm really not that cool.

We were treated to a new concoction which was not yet bestowed on the menu, but my gosh, I hope it is soon! I don't remember everything that was in it, but it was gin based, there was liquid nitrogen and smoke and the cocktail itself was a glorious light blue colour, which I find quite unusual and not so typical of most cocktails. Oh and you drink it from the jar. Who needs cups?! Smitten. Smitten. And it has to be in Bangkok. Le sigh! 

The next day, after a bit of running around and picking up last minute supplies, freaking out that the airport train wouldn't get us to the airport in time, we checked in our bags with Air Asia and found ourselves in the international terminal of Bangkok. What a whirlwind. And how else to end it, but with, a slightly overpriced, but last, Thai iced tea, Singha and som tam? 

Bangkok was good to us, and it was a great way for us to start our trip. Accessible, easy to get around, easy to get everything you may need, cheap food, cheap drinks and just so much to do in general. I guess it helped that with Bangkok, I had been before, so I had some idea of what to expect, where to go, how to get around…however…Cambodia on the other hand was unchartered territory for both us…

Soul Food Mahanakorn

56/10 Sukhimvit Soi 55 (Thong lor)

Bangkok Thailand

085-9042691

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He Says, She Says

He says…not a lot…and she says….a whole lot more…in our relationship anyway. 

I really do dictate where Brad and I go for breakkie on the weekend. As if he keeps up with what's happening, who's opening, what's closing and lord knows what I might be craving anyway. So it works out. But I guess the main thing, that I do love and appreciate, is that he enjoys his breakfasts out with me, it's something that we both miss whenever I'm out of the country over a weekend. What a terrible girlfriend I am, spiriting myself overseas all the time...

It was a slightly wet Saturday, the winds were biting but I was in high spirits and tossing up where to go. We ended up heading out towards, Camberwell, although I nearly had Brad stop in Hawthorn on the way when I realised I had finally noticed where Home Dining Room was. 

But we stuck to the original plan, and down Camberwell Road, away from the busy shopping junction and train station, just on the corner of Toorak Road, we found He Says, She Says. 

It's not much to look at out from the outside. All black. Kinda office-like. Mildly tacky stick on letters on the door advertising coffee and muffins and breakfast like stuff but once again, I will learn not to judge a book by it's cover.

Stepping inside my heart just flopped all over the floor. All over the floor. The place was beautiful. 

There was barely a wall in sight, instead surrounded by tinted windows,  which on a day as nippy and overcast as it was, made it feel much warmer and cosier than it otherwise as, as the room appeared so bright. 

Oh, have I told you how much I love big windows and high ceilings…have I told you lately….?

And beyond that, He Says, She Says was just decked out beautifully, gorgeous, clean yet immensely cosy. Elegant neutral shades, with hints and pops of yellow, which just exuded an overall warm tone. It kind of looked like it could have popped off the front cover of some home living magazine. 

We were warmly greeted by the manager (I assume) and I naturally gravitated towards a seat by the window where the daylight had just married the table and created beautiful photography light. Just beautiful. Tear. 

I'm not sure what it might be like with you guys, but for Brad and I, going out for meals is when we have our most insightful and meaningful talks. I guess there's not much else you can do to fill the space in-between waiting for meals after all! Not saying that we don't talk otherwise...but we tend to just chill out a bit more when not over a dining table. 



A rather pretty looking coffee for Brad...

My soy chai was full of flavour, spicy and sweet, although I found the milk seemed a little watery in texture. Not as rich and creamy as I've had it before, but I still absolutely loved how it tasted. 

Brad had the baked eggs of the day, I don't remember everything that was in there, but there was smoked salmon, lentils and a couple of other things. I quite liked what a different take this was on the typical baked egg. I don't think I had ever come across fish before, and although I found it surprising, the flavours worked together quite well all the same.  

For me, what else could it be but the sweetcorn and manchego fritters, that came with a slow cooked egg, little squirts of avocado and tomato chilli jam. And because I might have been craving it, a side of black pudding. Seriously, not enough places have black pudding as a side. Melbourne please rectify this. Everybody needs a little more black pudding in their life.

Pretty as a picture, although the squirts of avocado initially made me think of something a little less savoury, it is kind of cute in it's own way. And whilst edible flowers are never really necessary, they always do bring a smile to my face on a dish. It made the dish feel very Spring-like. I'm a colour girl. I'm easy to please!

The egg was amazing. Upon release, the yolk just gently cascaded down the mini tower of fritters it was perched on. I wish I had a video of it, it was just…magnificent. 

Overall I found the dish enjoyable, the fritters were tasty, not too doughy and full of corn, but maybe a little bit under seasoned. Fortunately, I had ordered my black pudding on the side, so it provided the little extra salt that was needed I think. At the end of the day, I loved the combination of everything I ordered. 

The couple one table down from us, after their breakfast, had both moved to the couch side of their table and proceeded to flip open the paper and sit and read, while sipping on a second coffee. 

This was the atmosphere of He Says, She Says. I do wish I had had a book and more time on my hands that day. An easy spot to sit, chill out and leave the world behind you for a bit. With some fairly tasty food too! Whilst I was tempted by sweet treats sitting at the counter on the way out, I thought I might save it for next time…and maybe a dinner visit? Perhaps…?

He Says, She Says

1101 Toorak Road
Camberwell 3124




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