Pei Modern, Melbourne

Ok, so I don't usually take photos of the bread basket, but how could I resist when 4 warmed slices of sourdough were swaddled up in a white napkin? This is how we began our dinner at Pei Modern, sister restaurant of Mark Best's Marque in Sydney's Surry Hills where I've had some great meals. Just before our trip to Melbourne, Pei Modern was also named Best New Restaurant of 2013 in The Age Good Food Guide so that definitely sealed the deal and we promptly made a booking.

Brandade croquettes - $8 for four

To start, there was a choice of selecting a few bar snacks or proper entree dishes. The brandade croquettes was one of the bar snacks - 4 perfect quenelles of salt cod brandade shaped and deep fried to a crisp and served with a creamy mayo-like dipping sauce.

Wood grilled prawn with pork salt - $6.50

Melbourne Snackage - Round 2

One of the dangers of going on holiday is that there are always so many places I want to eat at. Three square meals a day just isn't enough time so I manage to squeeze in a few snacks here and there, leaving me ridiculously full after each day. Oh well - it is a holiday after all! My last trip to Melbourne included snacks like fries, cupcakes and chocolate. Round 2 of Melbourne Snackage is about all things sweet... get ready for some macarons, doughnuts, cakes and more macarons!

Our first stop is LuxBite in South Yarra - and the first thing that catches my eye is the rainbow of macarons in the glass cabinet. There are lots of flavours, several of which are unique to LuxBite, which makes it difficult to choose just a few.

Endless Love - $8.50

Near the macaron display is a wall of pretty cakes. We ogle at the cake display for a while before choosing a pretty ispahan-inspired dessert called Endless Love. It's sweet but not overly so, with a delicate lychee ganache, rose cream, chunks of lychee and fresh raspberries providing a bit of tartness.

LuxBite macarons - $2.50 each

Purple Peanuts Cafe, Melbourne

While researching places to eat in Melbourne, I came across Purple Peanuts Cafe which serves tasty and healthy Japanese food at affordable prices. As luck would have it, we found that Purple Peanuts Cafe was actually located just around the corner from where we were staying, and so it was the first place we hit after arriving in Melbourne.

Beef curry soba - $9

Don't be scared by quirky decor, which includes a giant stuffed octopus perched on top of the drinks cabinet. Line up at the counter and choose from the selection brown-rice sushi rolls and salads in the window, or pick something from the brown paper menu stuck on the walls behind the counter. Some of the hot dishes include this beef curry soba, which is definitely a winter warmer dish that arrives steaming hot in a bowl. The beef curry smells amazing and there's a nice sprinkling of fried shallots on top.

Prawn salad - $9.50

The Merrywell, Southbank

Late last year, I travelled to Melbourne for a week. It's only a one and a half hour plane trip from Sydney, but I love going there and exploring the city, since there's always new things to see and places to visit. One of these new finds (for me, anyway) was The Merrywell, located in the Crown Casino complex in Southbank.

Some tough decisions had to be made once we got there. First of all, upstairs or downstairs? Downstairs offered a casual burger and sandwich bar (hello duck burgers, fried chicken sandwiches and floats!), while upstairs had enticing snacks, mains and desserts in jars on the menu. We decide to head up to the restaurant, mainly because the snacks/share plates were too hard to resist.

Lollipop buffalo wings - $19

The lollipop buffalo wings were the first to arrive, and I have to say I was a little disappointed that these were little drumettes rather than the wing itself. These were pretty spicy and hot enough so that my mouth was burning after eating one (yes, pathetic, I know). A blue cheese sauce and celery sticks accompanied the bowl of buffalo wings, which provided some much needed cooling action for the fire.

New England lobster rolls - $22

Vue de Monde, Melbourne

"Is that cheese?" asked Liz, as she pointed at the circle of butter while the rest of our table laughed. It was our last day in Melbourne and we'd decided to splurge on a three course lunch at the three-hatted Vue de Monde. It was definitely on the pricey side for lunch at $55 for two courses or $70 for three courses, especially since a few of the group weren't that into fine-dining (or butter that looks like cheese). But by the end of the fabulous meal, everyone agreed that it was definitely worth every cent.

Table setting

We dined at Shannon Bennett's restaurant when it was still located at the Normanby Chambers on Little Collins St. Things have changed a little since then, with Vue de Monde moving to a new location in the Rialto on Collins St, but there is still the option of having lunch for $60 or going all out for their $250 degustation menu.

Glass of wine included with our meal (left) and quirky light fixtures (right)

We're in awe at the level of service as soon as we step through the doors. It was a rainy day and we were immediately offered to place our wet umbrellas and jackets in cloakroom before being taken to a spacious dining table. The girls in the group were even offered to place their handbags on a shelf rather than the floor - and it's these little things that make a dining experience so memorable. We took in the sights of the simple but sophisticated dining room, and I was lucky enough to have a clear view of the pass where a mirror was set up to reflect the chefs placing the finishing touches on the dishes before they were sent out.

Olives

Crisps with a sour cream and caviar dip

While we each decided on what we wanted from the menu, some appetisers were placed on our table for us to nibble on. The olives came in a bowl made out the bottom of a wine bottle, while the crisps and sour cream dip which was topped indulgently with caviar were a cute little set where the dish was able to fit perfectly on top of the wavy edge of the bowl of crisps.

Complimentary bread

After we placed our order (and after I convinced everyone to get something different so we could cover the whole menu!), a waiter came over carrying a basket of bread. We were each offered a warm bread roll which I slathered thickly with the French butter. Yes I wanted more, and yes I was eyeing off the bread basket going off to other tables. But luckily we only had the one bread roll because there was more delicious food to come.

Cured ocean trout, dill, avocado

Breakfast in Melbourne

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One of the things I loved most about Melbourne was that there was no shortage of excellent cafes to go to for breakfast. I've already told you about the 65/65 egg and the madeleines at Cumulus Inc., as well as the eggs and soldiers and fried brioche at The Hardware Société, but today it's time to talk bacon and eggs, french toast, and crepes for brekky.

Degraves St

On one of the mornings we head down to Degraves St which is a laneway of cafes near Flinders St Station. It's packed out on a Sunday morning but we stand and wait a while outside Degraves Espresso Bar and soon we're shown to a table inside and our much needed coffee orders are taken.

100% free range eggs on toast - $8.50, with extra bacon - $3

Sir D decides to go for classic bacon and eggs this morning, with scrambled eggs on toast plus a side of bacon. The eggs are creamy and well-seasoned and the bacon was awesome as usual (how can bacon not be awesome?)

French toast - $12

MoVida Aqui, Melbourne

Before my trip to Melbourne, I made sure to plan my meals to make the most of my time there. One of the restaurants on my hit list was Movida, and while the majority of my friends went to watch the musical Hairspray, I met up with Phuoc who also happened to be in Melbourne at the time to pig out at Movida Aqui.

Interior

We book a few weeks in advance to make sure we don't miss out. We're led inside the restaurant which is warm with wooden tables and chairs, and given a modern funky feel with milk crates overhanging the bar area that have light bulbs trapped inside.

Sangria - $35 per jug

It's a warm day so for drinks we get a jug of white sangria to share. The sangria has some lovely citrus flavours and definitely serves as a fantastic refresher before we start on the food.

Complimentary bread

The menu is broken up into small plates, grilled items and rice dishes which includes paella. Phuoc is keen to get the paella so we order a few small dishes keeping in mind that we have a big bowl of rice and seafood coming our way. After we place our order, the waitress goes over to a table and cuts up some slices of bread for us. It's served with a dish of olive oil and is wonderfully soft in the centre. In hindsight, I should have saved some for sauce-dipping later but it is too good to resist and I polish off my share in no time.

Bomba - $4.50 each

Old Town Kopitiam, Melbourne

Old Town Teh Tarik - $3.50 (cold)

Sometimes all you need is a teh tarik to put you in your happy place.

Ice Lemon Tea - $3.50

We were wandering around the vicinity of our accommodation in Melbourne trying to find a cheap but not-too-dodgy place for dinner that also wasn't full or booked out. After searching until our stomachs were crying out for food, we stumble upon Old Town Kopitiam in Melbourne's Chinatown. We ask if they have a table for 8 and soon we're sitting down sipping on refreshing drinks like teh tarik and ice lemon tea, and all our frustrations dissipate.

Old Town Char Kway Teow - $9.90

The menu is varied with a range of noodle and rice dishes as well as main menu items like bak kut teh, curries and vegetable dishes. There is also a small section of snack-sized dishes including roti canai and kaya toast, and of course Malaysian desserts like ais kacang, cendol and pulut hitam.

Old Town Hainanese Chicken Rice (steamed) - $9.90

Melbourne Snackage

On top of eating three square meals a day while on holidays, there is always room in my stomach for some snacking. And in Melbourne, there are plenty of places for a sweet or savoury snack between meals.

Chokolait

Before I travelled to Melbourne, I remember Richard telling me to make sure I visited Chokolait while I was there. At the time, I didn't see what the big fuss was all about, but I think the fact that I visited Chokolait three times during my week-long stay in Melbourne is a testament to how awesome it really is!

Chilli hot chocolate - $6.50

A range of hot chocolates with various origins, flavours, and cocoa percentages adorns the menu and we select the chilli hot chocolate to try on our first visit. The waitress asks us how hot we want the chilli on a scale of 1-10 (or more if we like!) and knowing my weak chilli tolerance, we go with a lowly 2. Despite getting minimal amount of chilli, the hot chocolate has a quite a significant tingle and spicy kick on the tongue and we wonder at how hot some of the higher numbers would be. There are also names scrawled on the blackboard with numbers in brackets next to them indicating the chilli level that they ordered for their chilli hot chocolate. Some of the numbers were in the 100s which was crazy!

Cinnamon hot chocolate - $6.50

Cumulus Inc., Melbourne

I've mentioned this before, but the one thing that will get me up bright and early on a weekend is the promise of a good breakfast. After a delayed 10pm flight into Melbourne and a late night out visiting different bars around the city, we still managed to get up in time for brekky at Cumulus Inc.

Organic orange juice and latte (part of the Cumulus Inc. Breakfast)

We were lucky enough to get a seat without having to wait and we desperately needed a caffeine hit so coffees were ordered. Sir D's latte and orange juice were part of the Cumulus Inc. Breakfast.

Cappuccino - $3.50

I had my sights set on other foods so I settled for a cappuccino which strangely enough came without the cocoa powder sprinkle on top of the lovely, thick milk froth.

Smoked salmon, 65/65 egg, sorrel, apple and dill - $17

The Hardware Société, Melbourne

Soft boiled eggs and three soldiers - $13

These are no ordinary eggs and soldiers. They're from The Hardware Société in Melbourne where I went towards the end of last year, and I loved the breakfast here so much that I went twice during my one week stay in Melbourne (and I would've gone 3 times if I had the time!)

Cafe decor and macarons

The cafe is hidden on one of Melbourne's laneways has a casual feel about it, with some outdoor seating, a large communal table on the inside, and giant bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. The interior is decorated in a happy sunshiney yellow which extends to the cute teacosies that warmly hug each teapot. There's also some pastries and a wide selection of house-made macarons for sale on the counter.

Butter dish and sugar bowl (left); Latte - $3 (right)

I order a coffee to start my day and when it arrives it comes with a tiny little sugared donut which I swear is one of the best donuts I have ever tasted. The donut has a crunchy sugary exterior and soft innards and I actually enquired whether we could buy the donuts on their own but sadly this wasn't possible. I could have eaten a whole bag of these on their own!

Hot chocolate - $4