DOC Espresso @ Melbourne, Australia.

Another round of Italian dinner at Lygon St and this time we checked out DOC. As usual it was packed, thankfully we managed to get a table within few minutes.

My friend ordered this, I'm not sure what the pasta dish was called, think it's Pappardelle.

We ordered a Caprese to share, love the colours on this dish. Some cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella with greens topped with olive oil. Good stuff.

Spaghetti al pomodoro for me, I just went nuts with tomatoes on this trip. The pastas were good, the breads with the olive oil was another delight. Can't stop munching on those.

DOC Espresso,
326 Lygon St,
Melbourne, Australia.

Tiamo @ Melbourne, Australia.

Lygon Street is well known for its Italian eateries, and this round we went to check out Tiamo. The queue was long for a weekend night, but you have the option of dining at both the outlets Tiamo Bistro or Tiamo Cucina. Although the menu differs, but you can order from both sides.

We ordered a few dishes to share and sample the food. The pizza was good, loved the dough crust.

The pastas were both equally on par. Typical comfort food I don't mind coming back everyday for dinner.

The food is good, ambience is one of those family run restaurants, noisy cheeky and friendly staff. You'll feel just like at eating at home if you know what I mean.

Tiamo,
303-307 Lygon St,
Carlton 3053,
Melbourne,
VIC, Australia.

The Mussel Pot @ Melbourne, Australia.

Found another hidden gem in Queen Vic, such a super delectable delight of fresh mussels. No frills joint (more like a food truck) selling purely mussels.

We ordered the chilli coconut mussels, something similar to tomyam broth but not that spicy. Oh my the sauce was super delicious can't stop dipping it with the accompanied bread.

No complains on the quality of the mussels, super fresh! Yums.

Top notch fresh mussels in a nice savoury broth in a bowl. Wished I can try the other type of sauces.

The Mussel Pot,
Queen Victoria Market,
Corner of Victoria St and Elizabeth St,
Melbourne, VIC
3000 Australia.

It's situated under the shed opposite of the wet market.

Shortstop Coffee and Donuts @ Melbourne, Australia.

I'm always up for a good cup of coffee but tend to stay away from desserts. A mate of mine told me I had to try at least one donuts from this joint.

Doesn't those little suckers looked just stunning.

The latte was good, think I mentioned this before, you can hardly get bad coffee/lattes in Melb, unless you're shit out of luck.

 Ordered a maple walnut and cookies and cream.

Omg, now I remembered why I stayed away from donuts, these suckers are super addictive. Put the other donuts I tried to shame. Both were equally superb, but the cookies and cream is my personal favourite as you can see from the pic above the cream was oozing out. Delicious.

Shortstop Coffee and Donuts,
12 Sutherland St,
Melbourne,
VIC 3000,
Australia.

Shimbashi Soba & Sake Bar @ Melbourne, Australia.

This small little joint serves fresh soba made daily. The inside decor looks pretty authentic.

We were seated outside, the heater gas ran out. Staff was quite fast in replacing it. Plus they were very friendly and courteous. Definitely a plus point.

Ordered a cold soba, was springy and chewy. Simple food but they do it very good here.

Agadashi tofu was nice, the other dish that I liked was the gyoza. Good stuff.

And a warm sake to enjoy in the cold winter weather. Just lovely.

Shimbashi Soba & Sake Bar,
17 Liverpool Street,
Melbourne,
Vic 3000,
Australia.

Nabe One Emporium Melbourne @ Melbourne, Australia.

Gyu tan or ox tongue, it's always a delicacy for me. When my friend told me there's this place that serves just this on a bowl of hot rice. I found myself here enjoying this bowl of gyu tan don.

 Went for the gyu tan don set, comes with a side dish of egg and miso soup.

The ox tongue was thinly sliced, has a nice soft texture to it. The cut chilli add some hints of spiciness, not too empowering. Coupled with the hot steaming rice, this is one divine bowl I have no qualms devouring it.

The egg was done well, with some parts being runny, just as I like it.

Definitely would come back here to enjoy the gyu tan don again.

Nabe One Emporium Melbourne,
Shop 2042, Level 2,
287 Londsdale St,
Melbourne,
VIC 3000,
Australia.

I Love Pho @ Melbourne, Australia.

Seems there's a new(Ok I haven't been back for quite a while here) place in town for Pho and some friends brought us for dinner here in Richmond.

The place is packed for a weeknight, luckily turnover was fast.

The spring rolls was delicious, ended up ordering another portion of it.

Beef pho with the works, generous portions. The broth was superb, although I find it a bit light in taste. But still a very good bowl of pho. One of my comfort food at bests.

Of course a decent bowl of pho comes with a good dollop of chilli oil. They do a good chilli oil here, no complains in that department.

I Love Pho,
264 Victoria Street,
Melbourne, Vic 3121,
Australia.

Lamb On Chapel @ Melbourne, Australia.

How did I miss this place last round I was in Melbourne, luckily I stumbled upon this souvlaki place as we were walking around on Chapel Street going for lunch. Went to CBD for happy hours, came back afterwards to do a take away for dinner.

How can you resist those layers of meat on a spit roasting over charcoal. The smell itself was captivating.

Lamb souvlaki with the works. Thick cut chunks of meat on a bed of greens with sublime yoghurt sauce. Good stuff. Definitely a must eat after few drinks.

Lamb On Chapel,
394 Chapel Street,
South Yarra,
Melbourne,  VIC 3141,
Australia.

The Merrywell @ Crown Towers, Melbourne, Australia

Had some time before my flight, was craving for some burgers, and found this one on google, The Merrywell.

Seems their burgers was voted burger of the year for 2012 and 2013.

Had some onion rings for starter, nicely battered.

Instead of the burger that won the award which was The merrywell burger, I opted for a K.I.S.S burger, something basic which I can relate to, and consists of beef patty, ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles(nice!), mayo and cheddar cheese.

Yeap it's pink in the centre, now this is what I call a burger. Delicious.

And to wash it all down, a pint of Peroni beer. Yums!

The Merrywell,
Crown Tower,
Corner of Clarendon St and Crown Riverside,
Southbank, Melbourne,
Australia.

400 Gradi @ Lygon St, Melbourne, Australia

There's a few cuisines I will always try and go for in Melbourne, and Italian food is one of them. I was told by a good friend of mine to check out 400 Gradi on Lygon St, as their margherita pizza was crowned the best at the Pizza World Championship in Parma, Italy this year. Woah, a melbourne based pizzeria won the championship? I had to check this out!

Cold winter night, seated outside, under the heater, coupled with a house red, ahhhh lovely.

The margherita, not thin crust, but doughy, chewy, not like those pan pizza's. I absolutely adore the texture. Somehow it has a nice balance to it, with certain parts being crusty and some chewy. A simple pizza just tomato based and cheese, executed perfectly. Yups, no wonder it won the best pizza. Keep up the excellent work. I'll be back!

400 Gradi,
99 Lygon St,
Brunswick East,
VIC 3057,
Australia.

Queen Victoria Market @ Melbourne, Australia.

Any trip to melbourne, this place is as iconic as it can be, it's definitely one of the checklist to do here. As you can see from my previous post, I would normally come here for my breakfast, but you can also do a take away, and in this case, oysters!!! Fresh, affordable and what a good way to start the day.

I wish I had a kitchen and cook some steaks. Everything looked beautiful.

Check out those fresh seafood.

 Oysters! 12 bucks for a dozen of fresh tazzy oysters. Good stuff.

Went to the fruits section, got myself a lemon, bought a tabasco previously.

Isn't that just lovely, all a dozen for myself.

Now the other thing you should try when your here, is the famous donuts. Sinful but worth it. It's just normal donuts, rolled in sugar with a bit of jam in it. Looks simple, but absolutely sinful and delicious.

Vic mart has a lot to offer, be it meats, fruits, coffee and so many other stuffs, just have a lovely stroll, look see and grab some bite or buy to enjoy at home. One of my favourite place when I'm down here.

Queen Victoria Market,
Corner of Victoria St and Elizabeth St,
Melbourne, VIC
3000 Australia.

Jim's Greek Tavern @ Collingwood, Melbourne.

Another rendezvous with an old mate of mine, we were having some happy hour drinks catching up in Collingwood, when hunger pangs. He was like, lets check out a greek joint around the corner. Damn was the place packed on a Saturday night.

One thing good about this place, you can bring your own (BYO) drinks, so happened we had a bottle of whisky to share between the both of us.

All the fresh produce on display, a lot of items to choose from.

 We were a bit plastered when we got in. How this place works is, the server will come, ask what food you don't or can't eat, and he'll recommend the dishes.

Some dips and bread to start with, no words can describe it. Everything was perfect. Love the dips.

Grilled octopus, very simply done, minimal seasoning but taste superb.

Next up was grilled fish, for me this was the star dish of the night. The boys did something right, I reckon the seafood is fresh, just beautiful. Drizzled with some olive oil, with a touch of salt, very basic but it brings out the taste of the fish.

We were having a good meal, paired with whisky, slowly catching up, and by the time we wanted to order an open souvlaki, all the meat that was being roasted was gone. I was a bit disappointed, but the server was friendly and recommended us this instead, forgot what was the dish on top, think was a lamb patty and the below was a lamb cutlet.

The cutlet was juicy, with enough fats on the side and mouthful of meat. Succulent. I'm not a connoisseur of Greek food, but I find their style to be very simple, no fancy seasoning, basic, but it brings out the best flavour of the dishes. I honestly would say, this is a hidden gem in Melbourne for me, and by far the best meal in this trip.  The ambience is homely, servers are friendly, and it feels like I'm having a meal in somebody's house.

Jim's Greek Tavern,
32 Johnston St,
Collingwood 3066
Melbourne VIC
Australia.