Le Yummeh Bunneh

Parisian Patisserie
19 Keilor Rd,
Essendon

When I was at school, we were taught a trick to help us spell dessert. Spell it with a double 's', because you want double servings. In the case of Parisian Patisserie, dessert would be spelled desssssssssssssssssert, because you'd want that many servings of it... get it?

Step into this bustling haven, and you are enveloped by that warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven aroma. The very thought of dining here makes your ass grow a few inches. And you still can't help yourself. We dragged two other people with us on the 45min drive, just so that we could order more...

We arrived at 9:30am Staurday morning and the place was already full. The entire time we were there, constant streams of people came in for their sugar hits.

Strawberry Tart

First up was a strawberry tart. Each bite filled our mouths with fresh juicy strawberries, sweet creamy filling, and a buttery pastry. A very exciting preview of things to come.

Lemon Tart

I'm a sucker for lemon tart, and this one is up there with the best I've tried. The rich lemon filling was the perfect balance of sweet and sour, and paired with the shortbread crust - I could've scoffed the whole thing down in one go. But alas, I had to share. Shitballs.

Ham and Cheese Croissant

The patisserie is known mostly for its sweets, but its savoury pastries are also of note. Enter the best ham and cheese croissant we've ever had. Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy in the centre. Nothing like the soggy/too dry specimens I've tried elsewhere.

Escargot

Normally with escargots, I like to slowly peel apart the swirl so that I end up with one long piece of dough. But this one, with its sweet and sticky outer glaze, and plump sultanas scattered throughout didn't allow for such luxuries; I was far too impatient and couldn't eat it fast enough.

Almond Croissant

The famous almond croissant was the last to come out. The patisserie is said to sell 160 of these a day - and more often than not, sell out before midday. Despite feeling quite full, my mouth watered at the sight of this. This croissant was sinfully good. Fresh from the oven, the hot sweet crust melted away to reveal an amazing buttery interior. The crunchy flaked almonds texturally took the croissant to another level. This alone, was worth the drive.

Macarons (From top left: lemon, rasberry, hazelnut, pistachio, cassis and chocolate)

Of course we couldn't resist taking home some macarons to enjoy. These lasted about 2 hours before we devoured them. Unfortunately, these were not the best samples of macarons we've had. They lacked that satisfying crunch and crispiness of the shells, and the fillings were average.

Still, Parisian Patisserie is a shining jewel of a real French bakery. If you are watching your weight, stay away from this place with all your might. But for us, we left full, happy and with nicely elevated blood sugar levels.

A sweet start to the weekend.

AYO Mehico

Mamasita
Level 1, 11 Collins St,
Melbourne

Mamasita roughly translates to "hot babe" in Spanish. Nice.

What's also nice is the restaurant itself, which is now undoubtedly one of the hottest new restaurants in Melbourne. In fact, Mamasita is so in demand that people line up outside before the doors open at noon... as if it were a nightclub. But boy is the wait worth it. I've been here 4 times already; mostly due to the fact that the food is phenomenal, and partly due to the fact that it's conveniently located near my office. Bun has been here twice - the first time we came together we were so impatient to eat that we didn't get any photos taken! Here goes round two.

The first thing you realise when ascending the stairs to 'real' mexican food heaven are how efficient and friendly the staff are. If you are early, and lucky enough to find a table without having to wait for too long, you are whisked to a table and presented with the easy to follow menu. The wait staff will ask if you have been here before, and if you haven't, they happily explain all the elements of the menu items to you. This is absolutely brilliant service considering how busy the place is, and that most of the dishes names are in spanish...

To start Bun and I got the Mexican 'Street Style' Corn. For what I thought was a simple corn on a cob, I was literally unprepared for the intense flavour assault of awesome which took place in my mouth. The bitey queso cheese covering a sweet corn cob with chipotle dressing offered the perfect blend of sweet, spicy, sour and salty mouthful on a stick. Be warned though, these are a little hard to eat (unless you have a huge mouth) and you'll soon have parts of this dish all over your face.

chargrilled corn with queso cheese, chipotle mayonnaise and lime

Next we got the Tostadita tasting board of four. These are little fried corn chips garnished with a selection of delicious toppings. Albeit a bit of a mouthful, these are totally worth looking like an idiot while trying to fit a whole one in the mouth hole. The tostaditas were fresh, zesty and of course, chilli! Mamasita sure knows how to pack in flavour into little packages. A definite must when sharing the experience with friends, or if you're a very fat bun.

Tostadidas (From left to right: slow braised pork shoulder with encurtidos and jalepenos, crab meat one that we forgot to write down, market fish with lime, gaucomole, nasturdiums and serrano chilli, chargrilled chicken, avocado, queso fresco and chipotle mayo)

Fish tacos came next. Let's just say these aren't your average Old El Paso tacos. Soft, chewy tacos encasing tender pieces of market fish, fresh crunchy greens and a zesty achiote sauce make these tacos truly memorable. Definitely a favourite for the buns - these come highly recommended.

grilled fish tacos with lime, achiote paste and red onion salsa

Our quesadillas - a perfect little mexican pizza, were simple and delightful. Beautifully seasoned chicken, layered with gooey cheese and other delicious tid bits with a crispy tortilla casing made these truly hard to share.

char-grilled chicken quesadilla with 'pico de gallo', coriander and queso freso

At this stage we were pretty super full, but having glanced the dessert menu prior, we knew what must occur before we departed. It was a hard decision, but we decided to go with the Chilli Chocolate Pudding with cinnamon and choc sorbet. I love desserts with varying temperatures, and this dish delivered those elements in bounds. Cold sorbet + warm pudding + my mouth = jizz in my pants, and mouth.

chilli chocolate pudding with cinnamon and chocolate sorbet

Muchos yummeh!

Tap(as) this

Añada
197 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

Legend has it that an old King recovered from a long illness by drinking wine and eating small dishes in between meals. Once he recovered, he declared that all taverns under his rule would not be able to serve alcohol unless accompanied by a small snack "tapa". This is just one story of many on the origins of tapas, and I will have to leave google to satiate your lust for knowledge on the matter.

Añada is a cosy little tapas restaurant/bar in Fitzroy. Modestly decorated, its warm ambience, good food and fine selection of Spanish wines keeps the customers coming back.

The simple menu incorporates a range of traditional tapas dishes and... bigger tapas dishes, or 'Raciones'.
Be sure to order generously, as the tapas can generally be devoured all in one bite.
House made sourdough was presented first as we waited for our first wave of dishes to arrive.

To start, we got the chorizitos, chargrilled quail with frekah and pomegranate salad, salt cod croquettas, stuffed calamari and crumbed lamb brain with pork belly red lentils to share between our group of five. Each dish was petite but packed a lot of flavour. Favourites included the salted cod croquettes - a gooey puree of salted cod and garlic shoots encrusted in a crunchy shell, and the baby calamari with the sumac stuffing.

Stuffed calamari with sumac

salt cod and garlic shoot croquetta

For the Raciones (the equivalent of tapas mains) we ordered the pork belly, beef cheeks, wagyu beef, king fish, spanish mackerel and a gem lettuce salad. My favourite was the beef cheeks - tender morsels of meat rolling in Oloroso and fava bean puree.

slow roasted beef cheeks with oloroso and fava bean puree

pork belly with fennel seed and smoked aubergine

king fish in clam pil-pil with fava beans

wagyu beef wrapped in potato

Our tapas and bigger tapas were good, but our bellies weren't quite satified yet, so we ordered four out of the five desserts... (fat bun style).
If the tapas, in terms of taste, was like a giant rainbow in the mouth, then the desserts would be like riding a giant mediterranean unicorn on this rainbow to Spain.
The pomegranate and orange blossom sorbet with sugared pistachios was zesty and refreshing. Crema Catalina was my favourite; Crack open the perfectly caramalised top and expose the sweet cinnamon and lemon custard inside. Yummeh! Pedro Ximanez and muscatel ice cream tasted like a gourmet rum and raisin blend. Even Bun, who doesn't normally like rum and raisin, voted this dessert his favourite. Lastly, we all shared churros with a rich dark chocolate dipping sauce. These were crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle, paired with the bitter sweet sauce - a heavenly end to our evening.

pedro ximanez and muscatel icecream

churros with chocolate

Please sir, can we have Añada?

Miso Hungry

Eat Drink Bento
115 Hardware St, Melbourne

A Bento Box. The traditional Japanese lunchbox. They usually have little dividers inside with each different food kept in its own little compartment, so that it doesn't catch cooties off its neighbours. Eat Drink Bento have many a la carte items on their menu, but are best known for their bento boxes.

All bento boxes come with miso soup, house entree on mixed salad, steamed rice or cold soba noodles, and a house dessert. Miso soup was brought out first. It was yummmmmeh. The bowls arrived steaming at our table with cubes of tofu, wakame (seaweed) and scallions floating lazily inside. With just the right amount of salt, this delicate, mellow broth whetted our appetites perfectly.

Miso Soup

The accompaniments to our main were much more than mere accompaniments. Tempura sushi on a bed of greens, steamed rice with a sprinkling of sesame seeds, and white chocolate cake (from bakery de Coles). Each section of the bento were an impressive dish on their own.

Seafood and vegetable tempura bento

Bun got the 'seafood and vegetable tempura' and I got the 'wafu steak' bento box.
The tempura was the best he's tried. The batter was hot and crispy, and gave him the satisfaction of eating fried food without the excess oil. Also, the amount of seafood in his bento was generous for the price.Two prawns, a giant scallop, three pieces of fish, and an assortment of vegetables (including broccoli which was surprisingly nice).

Wafu steak bento

My wafu steak was cooked medium rare, drizzled with a peppery sesame sauce and sat on mountain of crunchy salad. Every piece was juicy and oh so tender.

Definitely one of the best bento boxes we've ever had.
私のボールを吸う!!!!!!    (o^_^o)

A view on Vue

Café Vue
430 Little Collins St, Melbourne

For those of us who can't afford to blow a week's wage on a meal at Vue de Monde (Shannon Bennett's 3 hatted restaurant), there is Cafe Vue - the little, little sibling of the aforementioned gem of a dining experience.
Attached to the side of Vue de Monde, Cafe Vue offers quick lunch & breakfast meals, quality coffee, and a selection of desserts for the every day suits who frequent the area.

Bun and I arrived a little before noon, and as such, the kitchen was not yet serving hot lunch meals. To pass the time we ordered some macarons, and by some I mean a box... and a box comes with 6.

From top left: Orange, Pistachio, Raspberry, Passionfruit, Mocha, Vanilla

Having recently tasted what I believe to be one of the finest examples of macarons at EARL Canteen, we were excited to evaluate these ones as they were coming from a French establishment. The macarons were a little larger than one's we'd sampled elsewhere, and the consistency was varied between the different flavours, but overall, it was a dignified batch. My favourite was the Pistachio, and Bun's was the Raspberry. The best macarons from this batch had a crispy shell and a chewy/airy interior. Perfect.

For our post dessert main I got the 'Vue Burger with French Fries' and Bun had the 'Chicken & Poccini Mushroom Pie'.

Vue Burger

My burger, although I thought it initially small, turned out to be quite hearty and packed much more flavour than your eyes would have you believe. The patty was seasoned beautifully with herby & peppery elements. The other fillings (rocket, cheese, bacon, beetroot) all came together very nicely in the mouth and worked well with the aioli-ish sauce. The french fries were unfortunately nothing special, and at times a little too salty.

Chicken and Porcini Mushroom Pie

Bun thought her pie was pretty crap. Oversized chunks of chicken, minimal mushrooms, and a grainy sauce that looked like cement - not what Bun had hoped for. The pie lacked any discernible flavour, and would fail in a pie-off against her school tuckshop's famous chicken and & veg pie. (She goes to pie-offs all the time so she would know).

The menu selection is limited, but the place is definitely worth checking out. Also there are macarons, so what other reason do you need?