Wonderful selection of tapas, pastas, pizzas and desserts at the relatively new art series hotel The Cullen. The Terrace is a popular venue with an alfresco dining area that is always bustling.

I can’t go past the linguini and creme brulee! The bufallo mozarella pizza is simple and true to italian style pizza.

Baguettes, pies, omelettes and other light meals make it a one stop shop for a pleasant afternoon. The original store is being refurbished to offer take away breads, pastries, wine, champagne and other French goodies.

My favourite by far is the pistachio crumble so much so I have had it for the past 3 weeks in a row!

This is my usual pit stop whenever I visit the Queen Victoria Market (QVM). A nice cup of coffee defnitely perks one up and it also warms you up on a cold morning.

Coffea Café is pretty popular and  the cafe is always packed by 9am on weekends. They roast their coffee beans onsite and custom-blended bags of beans are available for sale too.

Other than fresh produce, a smooth brew of coffee is a definite incentive to visit the market!!!

I was told that this is a favourite haunt amongst international student community here in Melbourne city area. It has always been packed whenever I walk past.

Food here is reasonably priced (the usual $8-12 for your noodles/rice dishes) and I waited less than 10mins for my food to arrive after ordering. Turnover at this eatery is pretty high and everyone seems to polish up their meals quickly.

I ordered a seafood hor fun for lunch. This is a simple dish but you can tell how good a restaurant is usually by the standard of such dishes. It was decent – nothing fantastic (though according to the menu, this was a recommended dish with a “thumbs-up” ). Seafood (prawns, fish & squid) is fresh and it is not too bland or salty. I find the hor fun lacking in “wok hei” because I like my hor fun a bit more flavourful (charred). My friend ordered the lemon grass chicken with fried egg and fried rice – a signature dish here. She seems to enjoy it but again, I find the rice a bit too hard for my liking and lacking in “wok hei”. It was a fairly big plate of rice – value-for-money at $11.50 (she packed the other half away for lunch the next day).

I can understand why this is a favourite haunt amongst International Students. Dessert House Eatery serves clean, affordable and decent Asian food/dessert with a very convenient location (Melbourne Central is round the corner). Good for a quick bite or takeaway when you miss your staple rice or noodles

The creperie adventure continues…

Another authentic creperie in the CBD amidst the popular Hardware Lane Precint. Again, the choice of savoury galettes and sweet crepes make up the menu.  Vegan friendly option is also available at an extra $1.50 (egg and dairy free).

Savoury galette w gruyere cheese, mushrooms & spinach

All galettes come with a side of salads & 2 slices of baguette.

Choose various combination that include gruyere cheese, goats cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, smoked salmon, turkey and others.

Sweet crepes can also be ordered with a vegan friendly recipe.  Combinations include typical lemon sugar, butter sugar, melted chocolate, nutella, chestnut cream, bananas, honey, maple syrup, strawberries, pear, ice cream and flambe (bien sur!)

Banana & maple syrup

Strawberry & honey

Melted chocolate & pear

Stinky Fridays start from 5pm and at $25 per person, it is a cheese appreciation evening that includes a range of french ewe, goat and cow cheeses.

Who can go past crepes?  Savoury galletes or sweet crepes, they are everyone’s favourite.

Often the simplest ingredients bring together a beautiful harmony of flavours in your mouth.

Voliere and Berger Galettes

Originating from Brittany, crepes and ciders are now synonymous with the “little” town in France across the channel from the UK.  It shares more than the channel with the UK, it also has a celtic history.

Back to crepes – all of you who have been yearning for gluten free (galettes are as they are made from buckwheat), dairy free and egg free REJOICE!  Le Petit Francais can make you one with a moments notice, though 24 hours notice is best (a better galette with the overnight rest).

Spoilt for choice between a basic vegetarian one, to the chicken curry and gruyere cheese (Voliere) or the hamburger (Pink Panther anyone?) – you may take much longer to decide than to devour one!

chestnut cream w vanilla bean ice cream and honey & coconut crepes

Sweet crepes come with the usual butter and sugar, melted chocolate, nutella, chestnut cream all that can be accompanied with strawberries, fresh cream, ice cream.

Highly recommended – tables were filling up even on a Thursday night.

My friend SY and I first stumbled across Laurent some 4 years ago after a tired day of shopping

Nestled at the end of the Causeway (near to Little Collins Street’s end), you will find the hidden treasure – Laurent.

Self-declaring April 23rd to be Melbourne’s very own “Macaron Day”, I decided to treat myself to some sweets in the colour of GREEN (Pistachio – my fav) & YELLOW (Vanilla) - Aussie colour Priced at $1.80 per piece, I wouldn’t consider these sweets cheap but they aren’t readily available in your usual bakery. These sweet macarons are best accompanied with a cup of latte – without sugar of course!

Today, I also ordered the eclair au cafe to try. Perhaps my latte was too strong and thus, I did not taste the coffee in the cream of my eclair – it tasted more like caramel instead.

Overall, Laurent is a nice cafe and it is a nice chillout place (excluding the lunch peak hours) for a cup of coffee and some pretty cakes.

In Melbourne, some of the Patisseries and Boulangeries like Laurent and French Fantasies and French restaurants like Vue De Monde regularly have macarons.

mini macarons

Pistachio Macaron

Dating back to the 18th century, the macaron is a traditional French pastry, made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. This sweet pastry came out of the French courts’ baker’s oven as roundmeringue-like domes with a flat base.

Macarons are not to be confused with macaroons. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. Macaroons are dense cookies made either with coconut or with a coarse almond paste.

Macarons come in a wide variety of flavors varying by store and season; ranging from traditional to exotic.

Source: Wikipedia

welcome to my page.  i hope to update this page real soon with new dining experiences and share my views with you…