Sunday, October 31, 2010

Review : Bistro Moncur

The Woollahra Hotel

116 Queen Street
Woollahra

Lunch

Tue to Sun Noon - 3pm


Dinner
Mon to Sun 6pm - 10:30pm

Buggles and Squeak have loved Bistro Moncur for years now. We have visited often & have never once been disappointed in a meal there.

The clientele is very 'old school' Woollahra, however Buggles and Squeak don't mind this, we have always considered ourselves Eastern Suburbs 'ladies' trapped in Inner West bodies!

It had been a while since our last lunch, so we were very much looking forward to it.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Review : Vue de Monde

Normanby Chambers
430 Little Collins Street
Melbourne

Lunch: Tuesday - Friday
bookings between midday to 2pm
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday
bookings between 6:30pm to 8:30pm

*bookings essential


Anyone who is serious about their food, knows about Vue de Monde in Melbourne. When we originally decided to visit Melbourne, we were only going to go to Bistro Vue as the cost of Vue de Monde can be prohibitive, but once we came to our senses we realised that 'Money be damned!' - we were going to experience Vue de Monde, even if it sent us into bankruptcy.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Review : Lake House Restaurant & Cellar


King Street
Daylesford, Victoria

Breakfast
Mon to Sun 8am-10:30am

Lunch
Mon to Sun Noon-2:30pm

Dinner
Mon to Sun 6:30pm-9:30pm



One of the reasons Buggles & Squeak were really looking forward to our visit to Daylesford, was lunch at the Lake House.
The day of our lunch was a beautifully cold, drizzly day... which made the long, leisurely lunch we had in mind all the more appealing.

We leave our beautiful Daylesford weatherboard & take a short drive to the restaurant.

On entering the restaurant we were greeted warmly & led to our table in the back corner of the restaurant, overlooking the lake. We were off to a good start....

Friday, October 22, 2010

Review : Breakfast & Beer

117 Vincent Street
Daylesford, Victoria

Sun-Mon & Thurs 9am-10pm;
Fri-Sat 9am-1am

On our final morning in Daylesford we decided to head to Breakfast & Beer for our final Victorian meal.

It was a very sad day indeed for Buggles & Squeak, we needed a good, hearty breakfast in order to board the flight back to Sydney & the real world....Breakfast & Beer delivered.

Review : Sweet Decandence at Locantro

87 Vincent Street
Daylesford, Victoria


Open 7 days 9.30am - 5.00pm

While walking the main strip of Daylesford, Buggles & Squeak spotted some plump looking scones in the window of Sweet Decadence at Locantro....we decided there & then that we would visit for breakfast the following morning......and so we did.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Review : Enoteca Vino Bar

920 Lygon Street
Carlton North


OPEN Tuesday to Saturday 9am - 10pm

Sunday 9am - 4pm

CLOSED Mondays

Buggles & Squeak had been wanting to visit Enoteca Sileno for lunch ever since we won a glorious wine dinner co-hosted by the Enoteca crew & harbourkitchen&bar.

Finally our time had come...

Review : Brunetti

214 Flinders Lane
Melbourne


Monday – Thursday (7am – 9pm)

Friday (6am – Midnight)
Saturday (8am – Midnight)
Sunday (8am – 7pm)

Buggles had been pestering me to visit Brunetti since our arrival in Melbourne, in fact she has been pestering me since our last visit to Melbourne a few years back.
Apparently people had been raving about the cakes & other 'delights' on offer....so we visited the Flinders Lane store to pick up some dessert for later.

We ordered a Citrus Tart, a Strawberry Tart & two Ricotta filled pastries.
The Citrus tart had no citrus flavour at all & was very disappointing, a pastry shell filled with flavourless yellow goo.
Buggles said the Strawbery tart was ok, but not exceptional.
I quite liked my Ricotta pastry, it had lots of citrus peel in it & had a nice lemony flavour.
Buggles quite enjoyed her pastry, but it was a little tight on filling.

Based on our experience, don't know what all the Brunetti fuss is about.

Squeak
Brunetti on Urbanspoon

Review : Don Vincenzo

301 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy

Daily 7.15am-10.30pm

After settling into our North Fitzroy digs we decided to head out for some lunch. We hit Brunswick Street & finally settled upon Don Vincenzo.
It didn't look particularly appealing, but we were hungry & quite frankly didn't fancy walking the length of Brunswick Street.
However, perhaps we should have....

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Review: Public Inn

Criterion Corner
Barker & Mostyn Streets
Castlemaine, Victoria

Mon - Fri: from Midday
for lunch and dinner (and in between)
Sat-Sun : from 9am
(for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and in between)


Buggles & Squeak had branched out of Melbourne into Daylesford and had planned to sample some of the restaurants on offer in that immediate area only. On suggestion from Sebastian and Sigrid (of Bar Mattino fame), however we decided to stretch our radius to include Castlemaine and see what the recently opened Public Inn had to offer. The drive from Melbourne would not be too far for a day trip, and the township of Castlemaine is lovely, and steeped in Australian history with many original buildings beautifully maintained.

Review: Embrasse Restaurant - CLOSED

312 Drummond Street
Carlton
Melbourne


Dinner: Wed - Sun from 6:30pm
Lunch: Thurs - Sun from noon


Our recent jaunt to Melbourne led us down a few food paths, and on our last evening we decided that this path would lead to Embrasse Restaurant in Carlton.  This restaurant has been receiving a lot of accolades recently with the chef, Nicholas Poelaert, named Young Chef of the Year in  The Age Good Food Guide. On entering, the dining space is intimate, simple and elegant and is suggestive of a French bistro. As has become our habit, we decided to start the meal off with a glass of Sparkling wine. In this case, I had a Stonier 2007 while Squeak opted for a Kir Royale.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Review : No35


Sofitel Melbourne 
Level 35
   25 Collins Street 
   Melbourne


    Lunch: Mon-Sun
   Noon to 2.30pm
   Dinner: Mon-Sun
   5.30pm to 10pm


 
Buggles and Squeak decided to head south and sample the fares of beautiful Melbourne. We had been looking forward to this return visit and were very keen to start eating!
After a trip to Melbourne some years back (and dining at a 2 Chef's Hat restaurant) we were convinced that when it came to food, Sydney had it all over Melbourne.

Our first dinner was at No35, set on the 35th floor of the Sofitel on Collins.
Our trip into the CBD from North Fitzroy was a breeze, thanks to the 112 tram that dropped us off almost right outside the Sofitel. Now that is one thing Melbourne does have all over Sydney....Public Transport.

We enter the lobby of the Sofitel & take the lift up to the 35th floor...

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Review: Iiza

184 King St
Newtown

Lunch -  Fri/Sat/Sun  11:30 - 3:00pm
Dinner - 7 days 5:30 - late

Newtown has long resembled a province of Thailand when it comes to the many restaurants along King St, and while Buggles and Squeak enjoy a spot of Massaman curry or a Pad Thai every now and then, it is refreshing to see some new styles of cuisines being represented on the strip.  Iiza is one such place, and Japanese food is their focus.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Review : Platform 7 (Re-Redux) - CLOSED

4 Burrows Avenue
Sydenham
(opposite Sydenham Station)



Monday - Sunday 5.30am - 8.00pm


Buggles & Squeak were very excited to read the following on Platform 7's Facebook page;

"Platform 7 Cafe is proud to introduce our new chef Ned Thomson as our new head chef. Ned brings our menu to a whole new level! Try out his tender roasted pork belly with sweet potato mash served with a rocket, apple and caramelised onion salad!"


We couldn't wait to sample the goods on Ned's 'new menu'. We headed down for lunch Saturday afternoon.


However, as we attempted to place our order at the counter, things began to unravel.

Review : Revolver

291 Annandale St
Annandale


Mon to Sun 8am - 4pm
 
Annandale is one of those suburbs that has long appealed to Buggles & Squeak. We have had quite elaborate fantasy scenarios of the sort of house we would have there & how great it would be to be in walking distance of some of the great cafes on offer. Unfortunately, we will never be able to afford to live in Annandale, so we hop in the car & head over to Revolver for a late morning breakfast.
 

Friday, October 1, 2010

Review : Soffritto

367 King Street
Newtown

Tues-Sat 6pm-late

Soffritto describes itself as a "contemporary European restaurant"....amongst the scores of Thai restaurants scattered throughout Newtown, Soffritto is a most welcome oasis.

Buggles & Squeak have been wanting to try Soffritto for quite some time now, so along with M1 we decided to see if we could score a table.