Lucy likes food.

The Grain Store
517 Flinders Lane
Melbourne 3000

Website: http://www.grainstore.com.au/

After seeing my friends eat here yesterday, it reminded me I should probably do my blog post about The Grain Store.. I started it last time I was procrastinating at the library but don’t know why I didn’t finish it off..

Anywhoooo, I visited this cafe one cold morning a few weeks ago as I had about an hour to kill before class started. It’s just a short walk from Southern Cross Station or a tram ride from Flinders St Station. Either way, very much in the CBD and easy to access.

There was no one else inside when I went so I sheepishly walked in to ask the barista if they were open.. which they were. I settled myself into one of the cute side booths and ordered a strong cappuccino to start the morning; and so I could get stuck into some of my readings. They use a St Ali. for their house blend and it was wonderful.

Breakfast likewise was amazing! I can’t find the exact description of what I had (sadly) as it’s not on the menu online but it was along the lines of Potato and corn fritters, bacon steak, egg sunny-side up, spiced apple cider jelly and kale. They’ve got a similar item on their menu, but omg this was absolutely delicious! The fritters were amazing and light somehow even though the centre was cheese filled which just oozed out (look at the last pic!). The bacon steak was a bit too much for my liking but tasted great with the apple jelly condiment. I think this was one of my first times eating kale, and it just tasted amazing with the whole dish. Loved it!

Definitely a great quiet morning cafe to just indulge and read the paper and enjoy some ‘me’ time. They also serve lunch so I guess I’ll need to head in to try that soon too!

Pepper Lunch
309-311 Elizabeth St
Melbourne 3000

Website: http://www.facebook.com/PepperLunchVictoria

Came here for a quick lunch before work one afternoon, just wanted something fast, hot and filling (it was a cold rainy Melbourne day).
 It’s just on the corner of Elizabeth St and Little Lonsdale so quick and easy to get to (and close to work!).

I ordered just the basic Pepper Rice with Beef ($8.90), whilst my friend ordered the Pepper Rice with Curry Chicken ($10.20 + $1.00 Large Rice) (don’t have a photo of it unfortunately). It comes with a piece of paper surrounding the hotplate which serves two purposes: tell you how to start eating the rice and stopping you from touching the hotplate.

The meat comes raw but cooks pretty much in a few seconds from the hotplate, giving it a nice char on the outside. The sauce liquifies on contact with the hotplate giving the rice a lovely flavour - it’s really good. However, the meat itself isn’t seasoned so it was quite bland. They’ve got a few sauces on the side (garlic or sweet sauce) to give your food extra flavour if you’d like but I didn’t think they were anything special.

Overall, it’s a nice casual place for a quick lunch - something to fill you up! And especially good for cold days and nights..

Code Black Coffee
15-17 Weston Rd,
Brunswick 3056

Website: http://www.codeblackcoffee.com.au/

Solo-tripped to Code Black Coffee one morning when I was in the city waaaay too early for anything (8am..). Needed a good early start to finish off an assignment (about zoos) due the next day! Super easy to get there, especially from Melbourne Uni - just take the no. 19 tram that runs along Elizabeth St in the CBD.

Started off with a very nice strong cappuccino - absolutely perfect and rich! They have such an extensive menu full of breakfast items I love that it was a pain having to choose one (the pitfall of dining alone) but decided on the Baked eggs with leek puree, baby spinach, soft goat’s cheese and polenta fingers. It was a perfect combination cooked just right (look at that yolk oozing out), and I love anything that pairs eggs with goat’s cheese - it’s the absolute best! Wasn’t too sure about having the polenta fingers as part of the breakfast meal, it just seemed a bit too heavy having all of it together..

Definitely need to come back soon as there are at least two other breakfast items I am desperate to try. Someone come with me next time! :)

Dead Man Espresso
35 Market St
South Melbourne

Website: http://www.deadmanespresso.com.au/

I get excited anytime my boyfriend decides to come out to the city too because it’s just too rare. So I scramble around trying to find something to eat because why else do you come out :) He had to sort out some paperwork, and I was worried we wouldn’t make it here in time before the kitchen closed (3pm) but we got in round 2.45pm luckily.

It’s insanely easy to get to, just board the 112 tram towards St Kilda and hop off the first or second stop on Clarendon St. Simple. From Swanston St, it’s only abut a 15 min tram-ride.

I started off with an ice coffee (it was just too warm for a hot coffee!), with their house blend from Seven Seeds. For lunch we went for:

• Potato and leek hash, with pancetta, green tomatoes and fried eggs - Firstly, i got to say I love the symmetry of this dish - two hashes, two slices of pancetta and two eggs; just makes it so much easier to balance out the whole dish and know how to portion it all. The hash was amazing, but have to say there wasn’t of the leek flavour through it though it tasted great anyway. Eggs were perfect, and just overall a nice tasty meal.
• Steak and chips: Open steak sandwich with a cabbage slaw and chips - Boyfriend likes meat, and lots of it. Overall, don’t think he was too impressed since he’s not too fond of ‘open sandwiches’ as they are impossible to eat easily. Flavour was good though, but probably not the best choice on the menu (the fries were perfect though!).

Chez Dre
287 Coventry St
South Melbourne

Website: http://www.chezdre.com.au/

Since we were in the area, I couldn’t resist popping over to Chez Dre for dessert. We didn’t have lunch here though because my boyfriend is allergic to egg and virtually the whole menu has egg woven into it..

Sadly, there wasn’t much of a selection of petit gateaux left when I got there, but they had one of the ones I had been eyeing from their menu anyway. I got the Passionfruit, White Chocolate & Ginger Spice (ginger spiced biscuit, passionfruit jelly, white chocolate and vanilla mousse) to take-away so I could share with the family back home.

The flavours are great! I was worried the ginger would be too overpowering but it’s only a small portion of the cake that is ginger-spiced. Everything blended really well together and quite smooth in the mouth.

Silo by Joost
123 Hardware Lane
Melbourne 3000

Website: http://byjoost.com/silo/

It’d been ages since we caught up, so a good friend and I went to grab a late lunch. She suggested we go to Silo as we’d been to Joost itself when it set up a pop-up restaurant back in the Melb Food & Wine Festival of 2012. The practices they employ here are indeed very sustainable and organic, using good produce and simplicity in a sense.

It’s just opposite Hardware Societe so is often overshadowed, but this small quaint little cafe offers some amazing food. There’s just one long communal table (or maybe some other bar stools..), with the small kitchen just right next to you - so you can watch the chef preparing your meal.

We started off with a coffee each, our second one each for the day, as we couldn’t resist going for one of theirs. A piccolo for me and an iced coffee for my friend. What we remember from Joost was the cups and bowls, all recycled in one way or another. Terracotta pots painted partially in white, cut-up beer and wine bottles for water glasses - they really make an effort to recycle as much as they can.

The menu reflects seasonal produce and what they are able to get their hands on at the time, hence the menu is simply written on a blackboard consisting of only about five or six items. We chose to order two and share them:

• Mutton, candy beetroot & buckwheat - We weren’t sure what to expect but it definitely wasn’t this. The flavours that they packed into it were amazing - the lamb was tender and bursting with all the juices that you can mop up with the buckwheat and grains mix.
• Roast parsnip, apple, radish & herbs - Again with this dish, they have packed so many complimentary flavours together to make an amazing dish. The flavours were more subtle in this but instead gelled very well together. Parsnip has never been a ‘wow’ vegetable for me but this may have just changed it.
  

The experience was amazing, wouldn’t mind going every season or so to check out their changing menu. The menu names don’t seem to inspiring but the actual food more than makes up for it!