I was so, so excited to discover that a Grill’d has finally expanded onto the Gold Coast!

I first discovered Grill’d in Melbourne and used to regularly visit and even convinced my co-workers to make trips to Grill’d for lunch. For those Queenslanders that haven’t experienced Grill’d then you’re in for a treat. They make amazing tasting, healthy gourmet burgers with fresh ingredients and seriously yummy chips.

They’re not the cheapest but they are incredibly filling and their range is diverse -from meat to lamb, chicken and vego. I tried the moroccan lamb which had roasted capsicum, tzatziki, salad and relish.

Grill’d
Shop 23, 72 Marine Pde
Coolangatta, 4225

Phone: 07 5536 3555
Web: http://www.grilld.com.au

Outside Grill’d at Coolangatta

The Moroccan Lamb burger $10.90 and chips $3.90

Inside Grill’d

Technorati Tags: grill’d, grilled burgers, gourmet burgers, healthy burgers, coolangatta, restaurant review

I remember coming to twenty one espresso about 15 years ago and I swear the decor, the menu - everything! has not changed one bit.

It’s a simple cafe in Double Bay and they’re famous with the local Jewish community for their matzo ball soup. We both weren’t too hungry after having a late lunch so we both ordered a soup. The prices for the soups were reasonable at $10.90 each and we were given complimentary rye bread with butter as a starter and to dunk into our soup.

The main meals ranged from around $20 and crept up to $30 or more. They serve a lot of traditional European food here such as Stroganoff, cabbage rolls and schnitzel so this cafe is popular with Eastern Europeans.

The service was prompt and friendly and the meals came out within about 10 minutes of ordering. The only downside is that they cram so many tables in there that you’re only inches away from the table next to you.

Twenty One Espresso
21 Knox Street
Double Bay, NSW
02 9327 2616  

The Cafe 21 Menu - I swear this hasn’t changed since I was last here about 15 years ago!

Matzo dumpling soup $10.90

We both ordered a soup for $10.90 each but most of the other meals were affordable. Some of the mains creeped up to $30 or more.

The chicken noodle soup was also $10.90

Technorati Tags: matzo ball soup, matzah ball soup, cafe review, double bay, chicken noodle soup, rye bread, sydney

I came down to Sydney for a long weekend a few weeks ago with my mum and we decided to treat ourselves by staying in Double Bay.

Double Bay is notoriously exclusive and snooty and is known as ‘Double Pay’ by Sydneysiders. We ate lunch at this casual open air cafe called Bar Indigo which had seating both inside the cafe and also on the traffic island in the middle of the road. It’s a quiet road in the middle of Double Bay so the (expensive) cars are only slowly driving by. It was really nice to sit out in the sunshine under the trees.

The staff here were really friendly and the service was very fast. The meals were also very well priced and averaged around $15 for most meals.

Most of the other diners were 50+ and we were surprised that the area was so quiet given that it was a Saturday. Walking around Double Bay it seems like it’s lost some of it’s lustre over the years - the famous star spotting cafe with the green and gold chairs under the Stamford hotel has gone and is undergoing renovations. Overall there were few people around and a lot of the boutiques seemed a bit drab and dull.

Bar Indigo
6, 15 Cross Street
Double Bay NSW
02 9363 5966

Bar Indigo

The falafal vegetarian wrap was $13.90

The seating in the middle of the road

Spaghetti and meatballs was $19.90

Technorati Tags: cafe review, double bay, sydney, bar indigo, spaghetti and meatballs, falafel

I came here for breakfast with my friend and for some reason I always imagined the Brighton baths to be an indoor swimming pool area. Instead it’s a fenced off section of the bay.

It was a freezing day with a chilling wind yet there were still swimmers doing laps around the outside. I would have been wearing a wetsuit at least!

The middle brighton baths has an upmarket restaurant upstairs however we went to the downstairs cafe for breakfast. Our table wasn’t at the front of the cafe but we still had a good view of the baths.

The cafe is very modern with a concrete floor and sparse furnishings. Service was prompt and friendly and our breakfasts cost $15 each by the time we added two extras. The cafe felt really cold though as it was a cold day outside and the concrete flooring added to this. It would be a great spot to come to in Summer.

Middle Brighton Baths
251 The Esplanade, Brighton
Ph: 03 9539 7000

The cafe inside has a nice view of the Brighton baths. It was a freezing day yet there were still people doing laps around the outside.

Poached eggs ($9) with avocado and bacon ($3 each)

Scrambled eggs ($9) with mushrooms and avocado ($3 each)

One of the pigeons that regularly sneaks in through the opened door to wander around looking for crumbs

The lifesaver painting inside the cafe.

The Brighton bath! it’s a fenced off section of the bay and on the day we were there it was absolutely freezing yet there were still people doing laps around the outside.

Technorati Tags: brighton, brighton baths, middle brighton baths, brighton baths cafe, cafe review, restaurant review, brighton melbourne

If you love cakes, deserts and sweet biscuits you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven when you walk into Brunetti.

Brunetti is, without a doubt the best cake and biscuit place in Australia. There are so many different cakes from large cakes for birthdays, to large slices, bite sized portions as well as a huge variety of biscuits.

Everytime I come here I find myself (like everyone else) walking backwards and forwards along the huge glass display trying to decide what to have.

If you’re not into sweet’s there are savoury meals around the corner and Brunetti also has a small fine dining restaurant attached. If you’re visiting Melbourne you absolutely MUST visit Brunetti. The great thing about it is it is open late so you can come in after dinner for a sweet desert. They have other locations in the city and Camberwell but the Faraday street store is the original and I think, the best.

There are plenty of seats both inside and out but you may still find yourself waiting to grab a table, especailly at night as it’s always packed out. If you’ve ordered coffee or a drink you’ll need to wait for it to be made and stand over near the coffee area until your number is called rather than have it brought out which is a little annoying but I guess you don’t have to wait too long.

Brunetti
194 - 204 Faraday Street
Carlton
Ph: (03) 9347 2801

Some of the amazing Italian biscuits on offer

Some more biscuits and sweet treats - everything from florentine biscuits to nougat

Trying to make your choice is so hard! I always end up walking from one end of the glassed area to the other trying to decide

Some of the large ready made cakes which you can choose. You can also have them designed just for you for bithdays etc.

This is where the savoury meals are such as foccacia’s, aranciata rice balls and there is also a gelato ice cream area!

Some of the small taster sized cakes - this way you can try 3 or 4 little cakes instead of just getting one large slice.

Technorati Tags: brunetti, brunetti’s, italian cakes, lygon street, faraday street, carlton, brunetti cakes

Tiamo used to be one of my absolute favourite’s when I lived in Melbourne and it seems like it’s still everyone elses favourite too as it’s always hard to nab a table. This restaurant is so popular that they’ve expanded into next door and have created Taimo 2.

Simple things make for a great restaurant. Fantastic service (authentic, good looking Italian waiters also helps in this restaurants appeal), large servings at resonable prices ($14 for the pasta meals) and really good food. I also love it when restaurants give you something free for a starter, in this case they gave us a basket of sliced french bread with butter.

Turnover here is quick and you won’t be waiting forever to get your meals - ours arrived within about 15 minutes of ordering. I found it hard though to get used to the fact that you can still smoke and eat outside in Melbourne so if you’re a non smoker - try to get a table inside.

Even though it was a cold Autumn night there were plenty of heat lamps available. I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re dining out on Lygon street. This is comfort food at it’s absolute best and it’s a great spot to do some people watching and to check out the Ferrari’s cruising down Lygon street.

Tiamo
303 Lygon Street, Carlton,
Ph: 03 9347 5759

Most of the pasta items on the menu were around $14 - great value

Cannelloni with bolognese sauce on top

The tortellini bolognese.

Technorati Tags: tiamo restaurant, lygon street, tiamo 2 restaurant, italian restaurant, restaurant review, lygon street melbourne

After having a light lunch at Yering Station we pulled into the Sticks winery.

This winery is much smaller and unlike Yering Station it didn’t have a cafe or restaurant, only a cellar door where you could sample their wines and buy bottles or a small range of souveniers. I purchased a calico bag for $5. 

Sticks Yarra Valley
179 Glenview Road
Yarra Glen, Vic 3775

Ph: 03 9730 1022

The Sticks vineyard

The vineyard against the scenic Yarra Valley background

Located just near the carpark is this large mosquito sculpture

Inside the small cellar door area - upstairs you can purchase wines and a small range of souveniers

Inside the Sticks winery - upstairs is the cellar door

Technorati Tags: sticks winery, victorian winery, australian winery, vineyard

Driving around Victorias wineries just outside of Melbourne is a lovely way to spend a day and we decided to have a look around the Dandenong Ranges in the Morning and head out via Lilydale to have lunch at a winery.

Unfortunately the stunning modern restaurant at Yering Station was fully booked so we had a light lunch at ‘Matts Bar’ which is upstairs from the produce store area. If you plan to dine here then definately book because it’s extremely popular on weekends.

We shared an antipasto platter which was around $30 from memory and it was a nice light meal considering we’d eaten so much the night before.

Yering Station Winery
38 Melba Hwy
Yarra Glen 3775
Victoria, Australia

Ph 03 9730 0100

The exit from Yering Station winery

The Yering Station vineyard

Our antipasto platter. We ordered extra bread and of course had a glass of Yering Station pinot noir

Technorati Tags: yering station, winery, victorian winery, australian winery

I came here last Friday night with a friend who highly recommended we try their set tapas menu which is $40 each.

First to come out was gazpacho which came out in a small glass and served very cold. I’ve honestly never tried gaspacho and I wasn’t too keen on it. I absolutely love tomato sauce but I found the gaspacho to be very strong tasting and for me overpowering.

The next entree items included anchovy tapanade on bread and a vegetable torte. Both of these were nice but I thought the vegetable torte was a bit bland. Entree also included grilled trevally with a tomato confit sauce. The fish was lovely although I’m allergic to some white fish so I ate mine with a bit of trepidation.

The mains included grilled chicken skewers, chorizo corn and sofrito and grilled artichoke with romenesco which was like a sundried tomato dip underneath.

I’ve had tapas once before in Sydney and I have to say it much more enjoyable and flavoursome than what I had at Basque. I’ve been to Movida before in Melbourne and that is to die for so it’s unfair to compare Movida with Basque but I just felt there wasn’t great value for money and I wasn’t a fan of a lot of the choices and felt some dishes were just plain boring and bland.

Overall I’d rate it 13 out of 20 so while it’s not terrible, I think there is room for improvement and a better tapas set menu.

Basque Tapas & Wine
159 Chapel St
Windsor 3181 VIC
Phone: (03) 9533 7044

The set tapas menu is $40 each or $50 with two glasses of wine

We ordered a spanish wine while we waited for our table to be free

Gazpacho, Anchovy tapenade on bread and vegetable frittata

Artichoke with sundried tomato dip underneath and grilled chicken skewers

Grilled trevally fish with a tomato sauce on top

Chorizo corn and sofrito

Technorati Tags: basque, spanish restaurant, melbourne restaurant, spanish melbourne, tapas, spanish dining

The latest chain craze to hit Melbourne is San Churro!

San Churro is a Spanish chocolate store selling everything chocolate from traditional thick Spanish hot chocolates to churro’s (Spanish donuts which are long crispy donuts that you dunk in hot melted chocolate), handmade gourmet chocolates and chocolate ice cream.

I tried a hot chocolate after dinner on Chapel St. The store is located down the Windsor end of Chapel and it was great to have a hot drink on a cold night - I can’t believe how freezing it already is down there. We also ordered a cookie which was a chocolate and chilli cookie with lime icing filling. The chilli wasn’t too overpowering and it’s the first time I’ve tried chilli chocolate and now it won’t be the last. It’s an interesting but surprisingly nice combination.

I really hope they open up a San Churro on the Gold Coast - hey maybe they’ll put one in at Robina town centre or Pac Fair. But I doubt it seems to take forever for great chains to come to the GC (Grill’d can you hear me?)

San Churro
Chapel St, Windsor
150 Chapel Street
Windsor VIC 3181
Phone: 03 9529 7559

This photo was actually taken outside the Acland St store in St Kilda - They’re everywhere in Melbourne!

This is also outside the St Kilda store

Inside the Chapel Street store

The handmade chocolates which are around $1.90 each

Our hot chocolates with the chilli and chocolate cookie with lime icing filling

Technorati Tags: san churro, spanish hot chocolate, spanish chocolate, chilli chocolate