Golden Bean Espresso, Carnegie

If one happens to head down to Carnegie Central, it is worth exploring Golden Bean Espresso. It is a cafe just up the escalator on the first floor. The cafe serves breaskfast, coffee, smoothies, wraps, cakes and pastry. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. The ambient is very relaxing, just a great spot to rest and refresh after shopping here.

Beautifully presented latte

A variety of wraps and rolls

Zagar's Charcoal Grill, Burwood, Melbourne

We took a friend of mine who was visiting Melbourne to this steak house because we wanted to take her somewhere to try Australian beef. How lucky are we to find this place! This place is run by a lovely, friendly couple and the steak here was excellent. The steak are chargrilled here to your liking. The homemade beef sausage is a must try. You get to choose 2 different sauce to go with your steak. There were limited choice on sides - there's coleslaw and potato salad. But if you just want great steak, it is a place worth trying.

Note: The place is very small, so if you're planning to bring a group it is worth booking in advance.

Interior

Eye Fillet

Tasting plate

Sakura Kaiten Sushi, Melbourne

We went to Sakura Kaiten Sushi one evening because it has such a high review on Urbanspoon, hoping that it will be just like the ones we had in Japan. The atmosphere was nice but I find the variety of sushi were quite limited. It was also a bit pricey overall. I think the sushi here was okay but it is not something I will rave about. Personally I think it is overated.

Interior

Prawn balls

Seared Salmon Nigiri with cheese

Fried octopus

Unagi nigiri

Soba

Seared scallop nigiri

Sweet potato Korokke

Chilli tuna with cucumber

Shyun Ramen Bar, Carnegie

Finding a good japanese ramen in Melbourne is so far still a challenging hunt, especially once we've tried the ramen in Japan's ramen stores. There is one we really loved in Melbourne in the city, but I'll save it for another post!

We thought we'll give Shyun Ramen Bar a try. My wife ordered a pork ramen with miso base soup and I ordered a tempura soba with fish broth. The order is made at the cashier and paid prior serving. At the time of visit, only cash is accepted.

My wife thought the ramen is okay but not as good as the one we had in Japan. The egg was cooked well (still soft and golden in the centre) but the overall presentation and everything in the bowl was somehow lacking love from the kitchen. The soba I ordered was excellent (especially the broth), but the portion is quite small. I was not satiated, thus not satisfied.

Overall I don't think we are getting value for money here and so won't be coming back again.

Tempura soba with fish broth

Pork Ramen in Miso base soup

Brunch at The Hardware Société, CBD Melbourne

We went to this place as we're planning to go to Melbourne Zoo one Sunday after searching urbanspoon for a place to have brunch. This place has a very good review and we can see why.

It is best to come early as there are many customers. Once your name is registered by the waiter, you'll just have to hang around till you're called.

I ordered the pork belly while my wife ordered the baked egg with chorizo with latte for two. The food that came out looked really elegant. It's more like fine dining food in a casual restaurant in my opinion. The food was cooked to perfection despite being so busy. The latte was excellent. I can see why there are many people coming in for takeaway coffee despite the crowd.

We really enjoyed our brunch experience and would really love to come back again when we get the chance.

Pork Belly

Baked egg with chorizo

Beautifully presented latte

Another latte with a different presentation

Udon at Umaido, Box Hil

We haven't found great authentic udon in Melbourne yet but the one at Umaido is pretty close to the ones we had in Japan. We went in just as the store has just opened, so everything has just been freshly prepared.

The udon here is springy and light. The soup base is just nice too (not bland yet not overpowering), very refreshing. The tempuras are unfortunately not as crunchy because they are pre-cooked before the store opens - which is to be expected as tempuras are normally made to order for immediate consumption. For a self service store, I don't think it is possible for them to do that.

Overall, we enjoyed the udon at Umaido. It definitely brought back memory from our trip to Japan.

Udon with tempura as side

Sugar Bun in Melbourne

For those people whom have travelled to Sarawak, a state of Malaysia on the Borneo island may have seen Sugar Bun stores in most cities there. Sugar Bun is a restaurant that serves a mixed of western and local cuisines in Sarawak. It now has a store in Melbourne!

I took my wife there to try the Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶) as she hasn't had it before. This is a Malaysian/Singapore chinese dish which is in Hokkien (a chinese dialect) that means pork ribs in chinese tea. The Sugar Bun version is served with what looks like wild rice and chinese donut. There are many variation of this dish in different parts of Malaysia and Singapore. The Sugar Bun version is one of the best I've tasted! My wife really enjoyed it too. I was pleasantly surprised that we could find such an authentic dish here in Melbourne.

For myself, I ordered one of the old favourite menu of Sugar Bun, the Fish burger with fries. YUM! This tasted exactly the same as the one I had in Sarawak. What makes it so good is the sauce. If one likes the McDonald's fish-o-fillet, this is a must try as I think it is way better!

In addition, the staff are friendly overall and the ambient is good. We'll visit again.

Sugar Bun's Bak Kut Teh

The interior - ground floor

Sugar Bun's Fish Burger with fries

Dinner at IONIO, Doncaster

Few weeks ago, we've decided to try IONIO after getting a $10 voucher after attending the cooking show presented by the friendly chef at IONIO at Knox shopping centre. We tried the recipe for open lamb souvlaki at home and really enjoyed it.

Surprisingly the chef remembered us and served us a complementary dip and bread. We were really grateful. I guess he remembered us as we were really keen learners and stayed for most part of the cooking show, especially the really delicious seafood Paella!

I ordered the lamb rack and my wife who is a seafood lover already had her mind set on having the seafood Paella after tasting the sample during the cooking show!

The food was great but the service is a bit chaotic. We kept getting different waiter or waitresses which most are friendly except for one. Unfortunately that did bring down our experience somewhat.

Overall, we did have a good time.

One of the best Lamb rack I've tasted

My wife's favourite Seafood Paella

Sunday Brunch at Chocolate Sensation in Belgrave

One weekend, I decided to take my wife to try the brunch at Chocolate Sensation at Belgrave. What a right decision to make!

It is a cosy small bakery where one need to order everything and pay at the bakery side of the shop and the food will be served in the dining area next door. We shared the big breakfast and a Cronut.

The breakfast was good but the Cronut was really something. It has a crunchy sensation on the outside, soft on the inside with cream in the middle. My wife really loves the different layers of its texture.

We'll love to come back and try the other pastries. 

A cup of latte for a cold winter

A Big Breakfast to share

A Cronut to share as dessert

Waya Japanese Restaurant in Glen Waverley

We tried Waya for the first time and really like the decor. It reminds us of a restaurant we went in Osaka. The food presentation was pretty good and portions are generous.

However, the beef in the teriyaki bento was a bit salty and the cold soba was okay. My brother who tried the ramen thought it was a bit bland. If one is after a reasonably priced Japanese food with large portions, Waya would be worth a try.

Cold Soba

Beef Teriyaki Bento

Sliced Pork Ramen

Sushi Hotaru

We went to Sushi Hotaru with my siblings for the first time. There was a long queue and we had to take a number to wait for seat. Was it worth the wait? Definitely!

This place brought back memories of our first sushi train dinner in Osaka, Japan few years ago! All the staff are Japanese and the interior setup was pretty much the ones in Japan.

The variety of sushi were pretty decent. We strongly recommend the soft shell crab roll, crab stick nigiri, seared scallop nigiri, renkon chips (lotus root chips), takoyaki (octopus balls) and green tea ice cream! I was happy with most of the dishes except for the octopus karaage. I thought it was unfortunately overcooked.

Very reasonably priced! $3 per plate. $7.90 for gold plate as of the time of writing.

Hints: If it is your first time, make sure you click on the iPad to order drinks or specials not on the train. Also make sure everyone's present if you're going with friends as seat reservations are not allowed and your seat will only be given to you if everyone's present due to the high traffic flow of customers. You may need to ask around as it is difficult to locate the arcade and restaurant (it is on the first floor).

Sushi Train at Hotaru

Soft Shell Crab Roll

Seared scallop nigiri

Octopus Karaage

Renkon Chips

Crab stick nigiri

Salmon & Avocado rolls

Chicken & Cheese rolls

Green tea ice cream