Mini Melbourne Food Adventure

Whilst down in Melbourne for some family time I took the opportunity to have a mini food adventure and try some new places and an old favourite. I didn't get to every place I wanted to and my belly could only hold so much food so I will have to save up and come back for another food adventure.

I started off the day with an amazing breakfast at Northcote STN. After breakfast I headed into the city. A favourite of mine is Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese restaurant know for their Xiao Long Bao or Soup dumplings as they are also called. I haven't yet found a place in Adelaide that can compare to these parcels of heaven and so when I go back to Melbourne I always try to stop in if I can.

Northcote STN
I've been a follower of Mark Gerard on Instagram for a while now, you can follow him @marcusgerard. A little while ago he started posting all these delicious food pictures, working on a new menu for a new venue. Everything looked amazing and it was fantastic to see High Street Northcote continuing to grow. I've been drooling over the photos for a few months and finally it was my chance. I told my Mum whilst I was here we absolutely must go and have breakfast at STN. Thankfully we were a table of four so I got to try a little bit of everything and after some serious debate I settled on a dish although I could have happily ordered one of everything on the menu and stayed there all day trying to eat it all.

The smoothie bowl was my choice as I had seen how beautiful it looked and just couldn't leave without having one all to myself. Packed with kale, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, dragon fruit, quinoa candy, chia and seed granola this was a bowl bursting with flavour and health. Not only was this visually appealing but it was fresh, had great flavour and was so filling. I had never had a smoothie bowl before and wasn't sure if it was going to be enough but I almost rolled out of there I was so full and satisfied. All the little crunch elements helped to add something a little extra and break what could have become texturally monotonous had those elements not been there. Every mouthful bought a different delight and if I still lived in Melbourne I would be having this every chance available. I look forward to my next trip where I can enjoy more delicious eats.

A Sardine special they had on the day which my Mum and Stepdad thought was the best dish out of all. I'm not a huge fan of seafood so I didn't try the fish itself but all the other elements were very well put together.

 Beautiful red velvet pancakes with coconut meringues, freeze dried and fresh fruit, white chocolate soil and mascarpone. This was absolutely divine and while its a sweet dish the fruit helps balance it out. The pancakes were fluffy and light and a perfect treat. The meringue added a great texture and crunch. Yum Yum Yum Get in my Tum!

 Slow cooked beef cheek, rosemary hash, spiced cabbage and apple slaw with poached eggs. I almost ordered this for myself, so I was glad that I got to try it either way. The beef cheek was tender and soft, eggs cooked perfectly and while quite rich, the cabbage and apple slaw really cut through it all. Perfect on a cold morning to fill you up body and soul.

Do yourself a flavour and head down there right now, you have found your new breakfast spot!

Northcote STN Website

Din Tai Fung

The dumpling dough is so thin and delicate that picking them up can be risky business. You could accidentally poke a hole in the skin and then your soup would seep out everywhere. I like to pick mine up with chopsticks and place it into a spoon or my mouth before the nectar of the dumpling gods is wasted. When they arrive at your table the soup inside is lava hot, so a good way to enjoy your dumpling is to place it onto a spoon, poke a small hole and let the soup and steam seep out then pop the whole thing in your mouth and enjoy. The flavouring is simple but delicious, rich from the pork fat but that is why you have the vinegar and ginger, they cut through the fattiness. One of my other favourites to have is the truffle and pork dumpling, you only get one per serve but they are a must. The truffle will knock your socks off in the best way possible and whilst a strong flavour, it mellows out nicely during the long finish it has on your palate.

 On every table is a container of julienned ginger, black vinegar and soy sauce. I always add a large amount of ginger, plenty of vinegar and a dash of soy sauce and let the ginger soak up all the flavouring. Adding the ginger to your dumplings helps balance out the fattiness that comes from the pork filling and soup.

Perfection!!

Din Tai Fung Website

Aqua S

I don't think I have ever had a more wild ice cream then the one I had at Aqua S. For less then $10 I had two flavours of ice cream and three toppings of my choice. The flavours they had the day I went in were coconut, sea salt and pandan. I choose to have sea salt and pandan together. Now maybe I should have had less toppings as it was a little difficult to separate the flavours but it was balanced out very well. The ice cream was soft and silky smooth. Creamy but refreshing at the same time which I have concluded was down to the flavours themselves. It was a bitter cold day to be eating ice cream but I don't regret eating this one bit! Make sure you check them out when the weather warms up!

Aqua S Website

Chill Bro Paletas

Honestly, I really wish I had gotten better photos of these, they just don't do them justice. I stumbled upon Chill Bros by complete accident while trying to find WonderBao and momentarily giving up. The bright signs of a small shop tucked away in one of Melbourne central's many little laneways caught my eye and like Alice down the rabbit hole i was drawn right in. I met a lovely man named Juan (apologies if this spelling isn't correct) who told me about Paletas and talked me through the flavours. I wanted to try a creamy one and an iced one. His suggestion for the creamy one was the Yoghurt and Berries (which is his wife's favourite) This was nice and creamy, sweet but not overly so, the yoghurt and berries added some tang to it. I had this one half dipped in milk chocolate which added another sweet element which worked well with the tangy contrast and since it was half dipped I could enjoy it with and without the chocolate. A fantastic choice when you feel like ice cream but want something healthier. The other choice was the watermelon flavour with lemon and kiwi. This one was presented with a chilli salt to dip into, which left my lips tingling. Normally I wouldn't go for a watermelon flavoured snack because whilst I enjoy the fruit, I find watermelon flavoured things a bit odd tasting. This was nothing like that, made only with real watermelon, it was refreshing and while the flavour isn't kapoow!! in your mouth, I think its just perfect. The lemon and kiwi add just the right amount of acidity and zest to the watermelon as well. Combining that with the chilli salt is an interesting experience, on one hand you have the chilli biting at your tongue and lips and then the watermelon comes and sooths everything down making you want to keep going back for more. I could have stayed all day trying every flavour they had to offer and I know I will be back when I'm in Melbourne next time.

You can find Chill Bro Paletas off Elizabeth St, Menzies Alley in Melbourne Central! Your go to Summer treat!!

Hash Speciality Coffee

I. Have. Never! Had hot chocolate like this before. The presentation is unlike anything I've seen before when ordering a hot chocolate. The sheer amount of fairy floss/candy floss/cotton candy was amazing and I had an absolute blast pouring the chocolate and Matcha over it and watching it be eaten away. The first sip was almost too sweet for me, I did expect it to be insanely sweet and I was slightly hesitant to go back for more but then the bitter characteristics came out to play and balanced out the sweetness. The chocolate was thick and viscus, like I was drinking a melted mud cake. The perfect winter drink, the chocolate hugs your insides and not only is it fun to pour, its fun to drink! The winner for me though was the Matcha one. Creamy and lighter in mouth feel then the chocolate one, this had beautiful notes of sweetness in harmony with the earthy characteristics of the Matcha. Just as fun to pour out as the chocolate one, I would go back and have this in a second. Sightly tricky to find this little gem is tucked away in Hardware lane and is absolutely worth the trip

Mr Burger

After an Afternoon where I had a few too many sweet treats a veggie burger from Mr Burger was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. I regret now waiting till I no longer lived in Melbourne to eat one of their burgers. Everything just melded together to create an explosion of flavour in my mouth. They deep fry the patty which adds a great crust on the outside without drying the inside which can happen with veggie patties sometimes. The cheese was melted perfectly, veggies were crisp, bun was soft but not soggy and the mustard/ketchup/mayo combo was the condiment fusion to tie it all together. I would happily choose this over a meat burger any day because of how flavourful it was. My cousin was disappointed to hear I didn't add chips into the burger (which was an option) so next time I'm in Melbourne I shall have to try it.

Mr Burger Website

WonderBao

I was trying to hunt this place down on my first trip into the city but I had no luck and considering the amount of construction going on I'm not surprised I wasn't able to find it. On my last day I met mum in the city and she kindly took me there and we had a little feast. We ordered a mix of traditional bao that featured the Da pork bao, Char siu bao, Choi bao and Nai wong bao. The Da pork bao is HUGE! It was almost the size of my hand. Filled with egg, shiitake mushroom and Chinese sausage, this was my mums favourite but was a little lacking in flavour for me personally. The Char Siu Bao is possibly the most well know of them all, you can find it at any Yum Cha, or dumpling shop. Delicious, tender and flavour packed pieces of Char Siu pork inside a soft steamed bun make the perfect combination. The Choi Bao was filled with Shiitake mushrooms, tofu and veggies and whilst mushrooms are not my favourite this was indeed a delicious bao. Great flavour with a good ginger hit, it made me appreciate mushrooms although I don't think I'm ever going to become a lover of them. Finally we had the Nai Wong Bao which is the egg custard one, not sweet, but rich, savoury and eggy. The I got a combination of three Gua Baos, which are the little steam bun sandwich's that have taken over the food scene. I got the Fried Chicken, the fried silky tofu and the crispy eggplant. These are a little more filling then the traditional baos. The chicken was crispy but tender with the lettuce, slaw and mayo adding balance, a great snack. The tofu was my favourite as the pickled mustard added a kick that simply worked along with the crunch of the peanuts, I would have this again for sure and while the eggplant was nice it was missing a pickled element that could have taken it to another level. You do need a pickled veggie or a sharpness with these to add some lightness. Last but not least was the Ice cream bao. A fried bun filled with that days flavour of ice cream, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and peanuts. The flavour that day was black sesame and it was delicious! Not too savoury and not too sweet, it all came together to make a great treat. The deep fried bun was crisp and crunchy on the outside but soft and airy on the inside and while it all fell apart pretty quickly it was so much fun to eat. I would advise you order this and eat it in store since if you wait too long you wont have a sandwich or ice cream by the time you try to eat it. Certainly a place I will be going back to visit.

Wonderbao Website

So ends my Mini Melbourne food Adventure. If you have some places you would love for me to try next time I fly over let me know. Even though I lived there for so long I feel like I missed out on so many places because I had the mentality of 'oh I can always go there some other day' but now that I'm so far away its nice to explore the city and food with new eyes.

Do yourself a flavour and check out these fantastic places next time you are out and about. You never know what tomorrow will bring so get out there and enjoy life, eat good food and drink good wine.