2013 Roundup

Flourless chocolate cake with strawberries

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone and an early Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a delicious Christmas - we celebrated with multiple feasts including a family Christmas Eve dinner at our place which featured this flourless chocolate with fresh summer strawberries and a dusting of icing sugar.

Some dishes from our amazing four course meal at Sepia

But a new year will be upon us soon so it's time for a roundup of my favourite eats from 2013! We started off the year with a very special meal at Sepia to celebrate our anniversary and it was one of the most amazingly delicious and perfectly executed meals I've eaten. It's hard to pick out highlights when everything was so good but the chocolate forest dessert was really something special. I've been raving about it and recommending it to people ever since!

Guacamole from Mejigo, Supercheesygooeychimichanga from Dos Senoritas, Pork belly tacos from Mejico, and Homemade tacos

It feels like it's been the year of Mexican food with lots of new Mexican restaurants opening. Guacamole is pretty much a must when eating Mexican, and I thoroughly enjoyed the theatre of guacamole mixed at the table at Mejico. My clogging arteries were also introduced to the supercheesygooeychimichanga from Dos Senoritas - a deep fried, cheesy chimichanga that's probably best shared. I also had a go at making my own tacos at home with homemade flour tortillas and now I don't think I could ever go back to the store-bought variety!

Ramen from Tenkomori Ramen House, Kingfish jalapeno from Toriciya, Yakitori from Izakaya Masuya and a beautiful dish of vegetable 'onsen' at Ocean Room

Of course there was lots of Japanese food eaten this year, as expected. While I still keep returning to old favourites like @! Restaurant in Crows Nest, this year we visited some new places like Tenkomori Ramen House, Toriciya and Izakaya Masuya. I also returned to Ocean Room for their exquisite tasting menu which keeps getting better every time!

Waffles from Orto Trading Co, Peanut butter popsciel from 4Fourteen, Ispahan macaron from Luxbite and Magnolia Bakery Red Velvet cupcakes

And the year wouldn't be complete without a bunch of sweets thrown in too. Breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a snack - anytime is good for a sweet treat or two! Some of my favourites were these some awesome waffles for brunch at Orto Trading Co, a cute popsicle dessert from 4Fourteen, an afternoon snack from Luxbite in Melbourne, and some cakes of my own creation as well including these Magnolia Bakery Red Velvet Cupcakes and my Lemon Lime and Bitters cupcakes.

So, what's in store for 2014? Well over the Christmas break I've been able to finally make it to some cafes I've been meaning to go to for ages. I'm hoping there will be more recipes as well next year but there will definitely be an influx of Japanese food as Sir D and I will be going to Japan for 2 weeks in April which I'm super excited about! Here's to more delicious eats in 2014 and I wish everyone all the best in the New Year!