Two weeks ago, I had training for lawyer skills such as client interviews, letter writing, negotiating and advocacy. We were also fed us very, very well by the training institute. This had both pluses and minuses. Plus – lunch was provided, saving some money lol. Minus – I’m still trying to get rid of the food baby that developed that week :P.
Plus – we were located on Little Bourke St. Minus – the day that I intended to go early to grab a bite beforehand, it was raining cats and dogs!
I found a bit of shelter at a café I had spied the day before and decided to make it my choice for breakfast. The thing that attracted me was the Toby’s Estate name that I saw outside:
taken on a sunnier day :)
But before anyone gets too excited, the infamous Toby’s Estate from Sydney has not opened up a branch in Melbourne – however, their coffee beans has definitely made it over to Settebello, a modern little café on the corner of Hardware Lane and Little Bourke St. Continue reading “Quick Breakie @ Sette Bello, CBD”→
Mother’s Day is happening next Sunday so I thought it would be an appropriate time to suggest a lovely little cafe (the name made me think of mothers) to celebrate with your mum if you are around in Melbourne :).
I first heard of Madame Mango on Food Rehab’s 8 Killer Melbourne Cafes and The Breakfast Bootcamp so it became the more favourable choice when Ms. MoreBlindDates and I were tossing up places to catch-up as part of our semi-quarterly Saturday brunch ritual a few weeks ago.
I was tad late running some family errands so Ms. MoreBlindDates had already ordered her coffee and I requested a cappuccino (I think $3.50?) while I perused the menu.
The cap was just right and who doesn’t like pretty coffee swirls? <3
The name of the dishes on the menu were quite cute with Miss Buttermilk, Madame Museli, Madamoiselle Salmon…
Ms. MoreBlindDates settled on Dr. Breakfast ($14.00) which consisted of some perfectly poached eggs on sour dough topped w/rindless bacon finished in hollandaise sauce and some fresh greens on the side. We swapped a few bites and I must say that I’d happily order this the next time I’m in! Loved the hollandaise sauce and the bacon… mmm. But then again anything bacon is good haha.
It took me a while to make my choice but I decided to go with Ms. Santorini ($13.00) after the waitress kindly told me that I could swap the scrambled eggs with poached ones! It did mean that I forfeited the spinach and cherry tomatoes but no eat-out breakfast is complete without poached eggs!
Just look at that yolk sauce!! Lol, ok I’ll stop gushing about the eggs now… I liked the freshness and the simplicity of the diced tomatoes and a generous sprinkle of Greek feta (please ignore the hollandaise sauce and greens above that were transferred over from Dr. Breakfast).
Definitely a favourite after just one visit and not just because I had great company (conversations about food, faith and photography.. could life get better?)!
A sneaky shot of Ms. MoreBlindDates
The staff were friendly and accommodating and there was a homely feel about the place which was a welcomed change from the bustle of CBD breakfast joints. So if you haven’t yet decided where to bring your mother for breakfast on Mother’s Day, give Madame Mango a try!
Q: How will you celebrate Mother’s Day with your mum?
This has been in the works for a very, very, very long time. But the glorious sunshine today reminded me of this so I thought it was time that this draft evolved into a post so… here it goes!
Note: This visit was made a few months ago so I’m mostly working off the impression that I’ve been left with since then.
I finally made it to Auction Rooms. It’s been on my wishlist for a long while – ever since a Perthie went there during her whirlwind Melb trip and I vowed I would have to go there one day. And 6 months later, after getting unnecessarily lost walking from Swanston St to Errol St with the BFF, we found ourselves seated and eager to see what was on offer.
Though being known for it’s coffee, the afternoon warmth had taken the curiosity out of me so I stuck with water whilst the BFF went for a refreshing apple juice (which you can just see in the right top corner). Btw, I should just mention that this was the first time I’d taken my new DSLR for a spin so I was still getting used to manual focus and all the other things you need to think about when you aren’t using a point-and-shoot.
Following a peruse of the menu, we placed our orders and caught up what had been going on in our lives as girlfriends do :). The food came swiftly (or maybe we were just so engrossed in our conversation that time just flew)…
I love how breakfast is served until 2pm and evidently the BFF did too since she happily order French Toast (again, apologies for out-of-focusness!). I remember her saying it was a bit sweeter than expected, but was a good food experience (her first time of Cafe-style French Toast).
Now I can’t remember the name of what I had but hopefully the photo can help you work out what it was:
Looks like it was a poached egg, salmon, green salad and a fritter of some sort underneath it all. I remember the taste of everything being well balance and the egg being poached just right… lol, sorry for not being very descriptive – as much as I love my food, all I can really remember was a lovely warm, Winter day with awesome company in a quaint cafe that I look forward to visiting again… you should go too!
a Melbourne girl at heart 