Posts Tagged: lunch
Brunch: Dish and Spoon
Brunch at Dish and Spoon: Eggs Benedict
Went to Dish and Spoon in suburban Camberwell the other day for brunch for no special reason, just have some nice food. It’s a pretty popular place in the suburbs, with a pretty good selection on the menu. It was bustling on a Sunday morning, but they managed to get people in and out at a reasonable pace, no super long queues. For me, the options came down to the eggs benedict or the beef brisket sandwich, I think I will go with the sandwich next time and get chips (thick cut chips, it took every ounce of my being to resist), it’s saying something, the food was good enough to consider going back.
Brunch
The eggs benedict comes with ham hock (as opposed to smoked salmon), poached eggs, and some jalapeños on a brioche bun. This is my usual for brunch, I just really like hollandaise sauce I guess. This was pretty much spot on (the eggs might have been ever so slightly over cooked, but still mostly runny). Plenty of sauce and full of flavour.
Brunch at Dish and Spoon: Risotto Hash
Emmy had the risotto hash which sounds quite interesting, she added some of that shakshouka (sujuk) sausage and swapped the poached egg for some scrambled (for obvious reasons). The fact that I only got to try a couple slices of the sausage pretty much says it all, the hash was crunchy, a bit like the claypot rice that has stuck to the clay pot :D.
Brunch at Dish and Spoon: Green Apple Smashed Avocado
There was also an order of green apple avocado smash, which I didn’t get a taste of at all so can only assume from the picture and my own experience that it also hit the spot.
Brunch at Dish and Spoon: Kids Pikelets
There is also a nice little kids menu, Oscar had the pikelets which come with strawberries drizzled with maple syrup. For only five dollars this was really good value as kids meals usually cost 8-10$ at other places, and the nice thing was that Oscar actually ate most of it and liked it, especially the caster sugar :D.
Conclusion
I know exactly what I’m going to have if (when) we go back, the beef brisket sandwich and thick cut chips, unless something comes up on the specials board that strikes my fancy. They didn’t have anything that stood out when we went, but apparently there is a lobster omelette that has appeared and if it did show up again could be something to consider. Two thumbs up here.
Caveman 1961
Caveman 1961 exterior
I had a hankering for some Korean Fried Chicken near home, and Caveman 1961 seems to be pretty new to the Mount Waverley area. I should rebrand this blog as some kind of suburban eats thing at this rate, I’ve got another foodie post coming after this one but it’s in North Melbourne so not so suburban. It’s located in the Pinewood shopping centre which has a lot of restaurants so there must be some pretty stiff competition. However, the other places in the area seem a bit more conservative and probably not catered to the same kind of crowd so Caveman 1961 definitely has a chance.
Caveman 1961: Cave salt chicken wings
The menu is pretty simple, there are some sides, fried chicken, and drinks, that’s pretty much it, there are some other things (traditional Korean dishes) but we didn’t look into those. We ordered a cheesy corn grande, which is sweet corn kernels and cheese served on a sizzling hot plate, a soft tofu pot (spicy Korean soup with silken tofu and an egg), and 15 chicken wings (ten with signature cave salt, and five with sweet lava which is basically sweet chilli), which are actually wingettes.
Caveman 1961: Sweet lava chicken wings
Interestingly, the wings can be ordered from five pieces up to 150 (given that they’re not big, but that’s still a lot of chicken), they’re a little different from the other KFC places we’ve been to. The chicken is deep fried I’m pretty sure but either with no or very little batter (perhaps just a dusting of flour), so they retain the crispy texture but without the bloating batter. They’re quite good if a little pricey for what they are, we actually used their facebook promotion to get ten of the wings for free.
Caveman 1961: Cheesy corn grande
The cheesy corn grande was pretty sweet, not sure if they added anything or whether the corn itself was that sweet but it went well with the savoury cheese, I mean corn and cheese just go together don’t they.
Caveman 1961: Soft Tofu pot
The soft tofu pot was an under the radar star though, the tofu was very soft and smooth, and the soup (while tending a little too spicy) was a good offset to the sweet corn and the sweet wings, we also had some pickled radish which helped too.
I think I’ll happily go back to eat the chicken again next time I have a craving for KFC, considering how local they are (just five minutes drive) and the lack of quality food options nearby. So while the price is a little on the high side (compared to regular take away options as opposed to normal eating out) it’s definitely worth a look (or taste) down in the south eastern suburbs.
Queenstown 2017: Arrival, TSS Earnslaw, and Bob’s Peak
Jetstar arriving into Queenstown
Hello, I forgot to mention that I was taking the fam to New Zealand (Queenstown to be exact) last week, and that I’d be taking the newest addition to my family, my Pentax K-1 as well. I’ll probably post something on the K-1 after I’m done with the New Zealand stuff (as I’ll have had plenty more time to evaluate it (it’s been about a month so far). But anyway, we jumped on to a Jetstar sale and took a week off to try and catch some Autumn colours across the Tasman. Queenstown has to be one of my absolute favourite places to visit, there is just so much to do and see there, that my landscape eye never gets tired, except after driving for a few hours on not much sleep.
Departure
Our flight left Melbourne at 6.15am, which meant that we had to get out of the house at about 3am which wasn’t fun, and then to make matters a bit worse, the weather in Queenstown awaiting our arrival was unruly as well. Fierce winds meant that we had to circle the airport twice before the pilot decided it was safer to fly to Christchurch for the time being. After a short stopover it was decided that we’d have another go at flying to Queenstown, third time was a charm and despite some turbulence (it felt like) on the landing we landed okay about three hours late (3pm).
Dinner
Pizza and Soup at Winnies
So with half the day gone and the timezone a couple hours faster, we ended up just skipping lunch and going straight to dinner. I took the kids to Winnies which is a pizza place, the highest rated in Queenstown, I went there ten years ago with Alf, and it is still good. We didn’t get garlic bread this time (:(), but a half and half (pescara/seafood and Luigi’s Italian), a kumara salad, and the soup of the day (mushroom and blue cheese).
Monteith’s Black
The pizza was pretty good (both halves), the salad was hearty, and the soup (was for Oscar, but he decided that he was going to make sure he got the most out of his terrible two’s and not eat it) was creamy and rich. It was too much food, but I managed to finish off the pizza and salad at least.
The Monteith’s black that I tried wasn’t half bad either, in fact, it was very good. We decided to call it a day early so that we could rest up for the next day.
TSS Earnslaw and Lunch
TSS Earnslaw Gourmet lunch
We decided to take a cruise on the TSS Earnslaw the next day, and with no plans for lunch we took the gourmet BBQ option, we managed to squeeze on to the 12pm option having only arrived at the booking office at 10am. The cruise is about fifty minutes one way, and about 3 and a half hours in total (including lunch) so you have about an hour for lunch, and then 30-40 minutes to wander around and also watch a sheep dog and sheep shearing demonstration. Lunch is a buffet and is of a very high quality, I tried all the meats, my favourite being the pulled pork, the lamb was second. The salads were good, and then for dessert, being full already I just had a serve of chocolate mousse and a serve of raspberry sorbet. There was also cake and chocolate brownies, etc, but unfortunately I ate too much before dessert. Had the Queenstown Brewers Wry Red which went very well with lunch.
The cruise itself was very smooth, the boat doesn’t rock at all, and you get some great views of the lake surrounds from the upper deck and can even see the crew hard at work in the (coal fired) engine room downstairs (nice and toasty down there).
TSS Earnslaw arriving in the evening
TSS Earnslaw waiting to leave
TSS Earnslaw in action
Peach coloured rose at Walter Peak farm
TSS Earnslaw almost ready to depart Walter Peak Farm
Bob’s Peak
With nice weather I decided that we should head up to Bob’s Peak to check out the view before dinner. Since it was a bit later than I first planned I decided that it was better just to take the gondola up and down rather than hiking up and gondoling down (especially with a toddler in tow). I wanted to ride the luge but nobody was with me, so I just went up to the viewing deck and staked out a few different angles (still ended up with the same picture I took ten years ago! not quite as wide though). There’s basically one really good spot up there where you won’t be blocked by any obstacles and you get the best angle, but two guys had already staked out that spot so I had to settle for roving around looking for some slightly different shots.
Looking across Lake Wakatipu
The Remarkables over Queenstown
Ferg Burger
Ferg Burger in our hotel room
This very famous burger joint was our destination for dinner, and fortunately it was a Monday because the lines outside this place seem to get longer as the week gets goes, by Friday and Saturday, it’s just completely packed at night (even during the day too). There isn’t much seating space so we just got take away and ate back at the hotel. It’s a pretty good deal, we just got the basic burgers (Ferg) which are a decent size (and a kids burger for Oscar), it’s hard to find a similar value meal for the price in town (probably why it’s so popular).
Night Cap
With such clear weather I decided to try my hand at some night photography, specifically trying to catch the milky way. I’ve done long exposures to capture star trails before, but I wasn’t going to be taking enough time to get any interesting star trails, but with my new camera, getting the milky way would be something that I coiuld definitely attempt. My aim was to get the milky way hovering above the Remarkables or some kind of mountain for reference, I managed to capture something, and while it may not be great, I was certainly very pleased for a first try. I’ll be able to learn from this and hopefully produce something even better in future. Next day, Milford Sound, a lot of driving, how will we go?
Milky Way over the Remarkables
Cecil Peak stars
Spilt Milk: Breakfast
So we had a baby shower to get to over the weekend, scheduled for 1pm which is a bit of an awkward time when you have a toddler who has to have lunch and a nap. We were actually wanting to go to Left Field, which is an amazingly popular cafe in Carnegie, but driving past and seeing how busy it was and the queues streaming into the street with more people seemingly appearing everywhere, we decided that we had neither the time, nor the patience to wait. We went to another cafe in Carnegie closer to the main strip that we’ve been to before, Spilt Milk. I only had a very vague memory of this place from the last time (about two years ago), and afterwards I can now safely say I know why.
Poached eggs with bacon
Chilli Eggs
The food on the menu is peculiarly named, with each dish going by the name of an animal, maybe to make ordering easier. Emmy had the chilli eggs (I can’t remember the animal name) while I went with the donkey aka poached eggs with bacon. Reading the menu, the prices were a bit lower than I’m used to, and then when the meals came out, I could see why, they’re quite small and (for me) more suitable for a pure (first meal of the day) breakfast than a brunch/lunch meal. The chilli eggs looked all right, and while my poached eggs were over cooked, it didn’t ruin the meal, the aioli was quite tasty. I doubt that we’ll be going back to this place though if we can remember this meal, nothing special, and small-ish portions.
Son of Tucci: brunch
Another week, another foodie post, you get the idea, this has basically become a foodie blog over the past year, I guess that’s where the big bucks are. This cafe is pretty close to our place, like five minutes drive and we didn’t even know it existed. Fortunately for us our friends visiting from Adelaide had brunch here a couple weeks ago and recommended it to us. They also recommended another place to us which I’m sure we’ll visit in the future at some point as well.
Reuben
Fruit juice
Sweet potato corn fritters
Straight into the food, emmy ordered the sweet potato corn fritters which come with poached eggs, she didn’t offer me any so I can only presume that they were indeed very well done. I did have a little crumb from the corn fritters and it was very crunchy indeed, always a good thing. She had a hot chocolate with that, it was on the slightly bitter side which is our preference, so two thumbs up right there.
Having had breakfast not long before we left for brunch, I didn’t feel up for the burger and chips, so I took it easy and settled for the ruben sandwich, a nicely toasted sanga with all those nice salty cold cut meats, cheese, mustard and some pickles on top. I know what you’re thinking, that sounds bloody amazing, and yep, it seems like something that would be pretty hard to stuff up, one more thumb up from me. Look at it, this is obviously a very subdued version but that was perfect for how I was feeling. I also ordered the red rita juice there that had beetroot, ginger, apple, and some other fruity thing blended in, nice and sour, with a bit of sweetness too.
Oscar loved his mushrooms and bread, the scrambled eggs not so much, but I don’t think that was anything to do with the eggs, just his preference on the day. If we had a regular, this would probably be it, I’m sure when we’re feeling lazy this will probably be the place that I vote for. There are a bunch of other sandwiches I need to try (as well as the burger), and probably the eggs benedict too (although it’s ham not salmon).