Our hunt for good coffee continues...
After getting some wrong information from Beanhunter, the coffee place we wanted to go to was actually closed. Most specialty coffee places in the CBD are closed on the weekend so don't hope for much.
Postal Hall
116 Russell St, CBD
+ an average cup of coffee. On the milkier side.
++ yum smashed avocado on toast.
++ ok prices for food
Brioche by Philip
114 Russell St, CBD (and other locations)
++ amazing coffee and pastries. Closest that we've had to NZ coffee
++ one of the only places with beans from origins we love - earthy ones
++ did I mention the pastries??
Chadstone Shopping Centre
1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone
Need I say more?
We took the train to Hughsdale, walked for about 10 minutes on Poath Rd. Easier than getting on and off a bus.
++ bought a pavlova cupcake. Wasn't great but the passionfruit icing/cream was yum.
++ Annabel found her new toys and got dad to buy them :)
-- great to visit especially if you love high end labels, but because it's so huge it's a bit confusing and you would do a lot of walking.
-- not a great range for food so we had Nandos. Very expensive compared to what we would get here in NZ.
Pho Flinders
233 Flinders St, CBD (and other locations)
After spending all my money on Annabel at H&M and Target, we had to go budget on the food. Actually we had walked along Southbank along the Yarra River and most of the restaurants were too high end for us and didn't look children friendly.
++ smelt really nice as we walked past. Only $9 for a small bowl, $10 for medium and $12 for large. Rice was $9 too.
++ tastes average - maybe don't get the rice but good for a quick and cheap meal
End of day three. Annabel enjoyed her walk back.
Day Four
First stop church. We chose to go to the Uniting Church Gospel Hall as it was close to us and is in Cantonese.
Next time I will want to go to this one as I really like their name hehe
Mr Kitchen
319 Swanston Street, CBD
Quick stop for brekkie before going to Springvale.
++ nice, quick and cheap Asian breakfast
++ deep fried ghosts and soy milk were the best thing we got
-- congee was a bit on the watery side but again it was cheap and nice to have on a cold morning
Pho Chu The
17-19 Buckingham Ave, Springvale (and other locations)
Springvale is new to us. It is another Vietnamese town with lots of places to eat. This one was the one we went with my mum and her friends.
++ authentic pho, delicious soup with the rice (not like the usual MSG filled ones we get here)
++ great for kids - Bel got her own pho with pretty scissors to cut. Children friendly place
Seven Seeds
114 Berkeley St, Carlton (CBD fringe by Queen Victoria Markets)
++ nice cup of coffee and ice latte
++ pretty decor
++ the food looks good too but we only bought a lamington (and was quite dry)
-- almost missed it because the entrance is not obvious and the sign is on the wall
Flagstaff Gardens
West Melbourne
Nice park to walk and play with the kids.
Next to Queen Victoria Markets.
Something else to do besides eating and shopping hehe
Peek a boo
361 Queens St, CBD
We stumbled upon this one on our way back from Flagstaff Park. Owned by Hong Kong people.
++ nice cup of coffee especially if you like fruity/nutty flavours
++ Asian tasting coffee
++ cute little shop
-- jar cake did not taste as good as I'd hoped.
Mamak
366 Lonsdale St, CBD
Been craving this since Sydney.
++ delicious fresh roti with curry
++ great mee goreng (we asked for no spicyness)
++ no long queues like the Sydney one
-- not as good as the Sydney one, although some might prefer this one as it's more Chinese Malay than South Indian Malay
Day Five
Little Blue Bean
15 Little Collins St, CBD
++ good cup of coffee
-- only open on weekdays
We really love Melbourne. It is a very pretty and creative city. Reminds me of Christchurch. There are colours everywhere and they put a lot of thought into their designs. We will be back!!
