Food Diaries : Mornin' Gorgeous (we return)

You may (or you may not!) remember a while back, when I was introduced to this little cafe which has been showering Bridge Road with blessings in the form of scrumptious bagels, sandwiches and the like.  Since gracing Richmond with its presence, it has been gaining a growing amount of loyal customers who will often stop in for a lunch time bite to eat.  One of those loyal patrons is none other than my very own Liam, who (on the days I dare forget to send packed meals to work with him!) will often stop by for a bite to eat.  Whether it be their breakfast wraps, tuna sandwiches, homemade sausage rolls or tasty bagels, Mornin' Gorgeous keeps my darling man (a little too) well-fed.

Aside from serving delicious tasty treats, one of the things which Mornin' Gorgeous prides itself on is listening to their customers and striving their best to keep their patrons happy.  This includes trawling the web and keeping an eye on their Urbanspoon reviews for feedback, which is how they stumbled across my past review on ye olde humble blog.  (Hi!) 

Knowing my obvious enjoyment of their luscious smoked salmon bagel, and with the introduction of their weekend breakfast menu and newly hired breakfast chef, they encouraged Liam and I to come in on a weekend to try some of the breakfast goodies on offer. This weekend happened to be the perfect opportunity! 

We were heading into Richmond to watch Buddy kick his 500th goal, and brunch at Mornin' Gorgeous beforehand sounded like a perfect way to start the day.

I started the meal with a Spiced Chai Latte which, I kid you not, has to be the most delicious chai latte I have ever tried!  Each mouthful was a sweet delight, perfectly fragranced with wonderful chai flavours and was beautifully rich without being too heavy at the same time.  It was a shattering moment when I took my last sip and realised that my glass was empty!

I always have the same dilemma each and every time I go to choose off the menu when I dine out.  There are just so many options, and I can never choose!  The menu at Mornin' Gorgeous did not disappoint, and I was faced with my usual dilemma once again.  Being the gorgeous boy that he is, Liam let me pick two choices from the range so that we could share. 

First up was the Salmon Stack [$16.00], which consisted of two crunchy potato cakes, topped with smoked salmon, gooey poached eggs, thick hollandaise sauce, a generous handful of spinach and rocket leaves, and little slivers of carrot to garnish.  Although the main purpose of the carrot was aesthetic, it tasted lovely coated in the creamy hollandaise and I stole all the little slivers from Liam's plate!  The potato cakes were fluffy on the inside, but wonderfully crunchy on the outside without being too greasy. 

But the real star of the show was that lovely chunky smoked salmon!  Or perhaps I should be describing everything as "beautiful" instead, which seems to be all the rage if you watch Masterchef these days.  Anyway, I digress...  back to the luscious smoked salmon, which definitely deserves a special mention!  And mention it before I have -

This is not your ordinary supermarket-bought smoked salmon, no ma'am! The pieces were about three times as thick as the oily slices you'll usually find vacuum-packed in the shops.  They were lovely and flaky, unlike any other that I have had before.

I still stand by all of the above... except for it being unlike any other that I have had before.  It was just like I have had once before... only better! 

The next choice off the menu was the Gorgeous Big Breakfast [$16.50], which as you can see contained all the important elements of a perfect Sunday treat! Crunchy potato hashbrown, salty rathers of bacon, lightly grilled sweet cherry tomatoes (and I am not usually a fan of the cooked tomato!), chipolatas, juicy mushrooms, and two beautifully poached eggs served on toast and smothered in a rich hollandaise sauce.  The side of avocado which I had ordered was ripe and creamy - a perfect accompaniement to my meal!

Although I'd initially ordered scrambled eggs with my big breakfast, I was almost thankful for the mistake when the dish was placed in front of me.  Piercing my knife into the perfectly poached eggs, I squealed with glee as the beautiful yolks flowed out onto my plate providing a yummy yellow goo that I could mop up with my toast.  I'm not even exaggerating, I get that excited by my food!

I really have no complaints whatsoever about our breakfast experience at Mornin' Gorgeous.  The drinks were divine, the food is spectacular, the mood is relaxed and informal, and the service is friendly.  Before our food was served to us, water was placed on the table.  Knowing about my blog, the owner smartly quipped "I'd hate for you to have to ask where your water is!"... get it, get it?!

I have nothing but good things to say about dining at Mornin' Gorgeous, and can't recommend it enough!

Oh, and yes...

Buddy did kick his 500th!

Ageing Like A Fine Wine...

Happy Birthday, to my darling man!   

This weekend my partner in crime turned the ripe ol' age of 27.  Whilst it means we're approaching the big 3-0 and are advancing way too fast in age for my liking, it was also a relief as it put to an end the "older woman" jokes he has been using since my birthday last month. 

On Saturday night, we headed out for dinner with friends and then to watch a fantastic Hawks victory over the Saints.  We booked a table at our regular pre-game haunt, and indulged in a few bevvies before heading over to the MCG.

I chose the caesar salad with Indian-spiced chicken.  

Liam decided on his usual favourite (what a surprise!) chicken parma.  You know the blogging-world is taking over your life when your boyfriend's meal is placed in front of him and he immediately cries out "oh no - the steam trap, the steam trap!" (a term which I picked up from one of my favourite food blogs) and hurriedly picks his parma up off the chips and onto a separate plate!

After the game, we headed out for a few drinks and I discovered that the amount of photos I take for this blog seems to be in direct correlation with the number of alcoholic beverages I consume.  Research has shown that the higher the drink consumption, the more likely I am to forget about taking a few snaps here and there.  However! Once past a certain number of beverages, happy snaps will often rise up to an all time high.  Although none will be suitable for the public eye.

On Sunday, we headed to Liam's parents place for lunch.  We were feeling rather worse for wear, as you can tell from the above picture where Liam is all decked out in tracky dacks and hasn't bothered to fix his hair at all!  So charming.  Also, note Mark in the background helping Liam blow out the candles on the cake!

Liam's mum cooked us a fabulous Indian feast, and this gorgeous cupcake-cake! 

How cute is it?! Hudson 'Hawka' Knights stands proudly amongst the Hawthorn-themed cupcakes with little goal post candles at each end! There were two types of cupcakes to choose from - chocolate and apricot jam with buttercream frosting.  YUM

As you can see, Liam was too impatient for me to even take a photo before grabbing his birthday cupcake! I can't blame him too much. They were so tasty!

We brought Rocket along with us, to play with the two dogs that Liam's parents have.  

After hours of chasing each other around the garden, they finally tired themselves out and we were able to have a moment of quiet

When we got back to my parent's place for dinner, we discovered that my cousin had been busy baking that day and had put together this little treat! 

Again, Liam couldn't resist long enough for me to take a photo, so there is a huge chunk taken out of the cookie! He's especially looking forward to the big birthday cookie, which he as dubbed as a 'Liam-sized cookie' and has declared to me that all food for him should come in this size.

Next weekend, I'm taking him away for the weekend to celebrate!  The two of us, and our crazy ginger-dog are going to head up to the Gouldburn Valley for a weekend of exploring and relaxation! 

I promise, regardless of how many beverages are consumed over the course of the weekend, that I will take plenty of snapshots to share! :)
 

Food Diaries : Mornin' Gorgeous

A voucher deal came up recently for the cafe across the road from Liam's work which was too good to pass up! $7 buys a bagel of your choice and a smoothie juice from their bottled selection.  I LOVE a good bagel, so as soon as this deal came up I knew I had to have it!

We bought two vouchers, one for Liam to have at lunchtime during work and the other for him to bring home for me to feast on.  With the vouchers, we each decided to get the cream cheese and smoked salmon bagel, with salad leaves, cucumber, red onion and lemon capers.

 

The first thing I noticed when I unwrapped this bagel were the luscious chunks of salmon nestled inside.  This is not your ordinary supermarket-bought smoked salmon, no ma'am! The pieces were about three times as thick as the oily slices you'll usually find vacuum-packed in the shops.  They were lovely and flaky, unlike any other that I have had before.

Liam also had a chat with the owners when he went back to pick up my bagel.  One of them was so excited to hear that he was taking it home for me to try, and upon finding out that I was a bagel fiend told Liam that she really hoped I liked it! She told him that she actually made the bagels herself, so she'd love to know my verdict.  Well, here it is - a delicious dense chewy bagel, with a lovely crunch of salads, a generous smear of cream cheese and gorgeous lemon capers which burst with flavour in your mouth!

Although I have not visited the cafe myself, I can tell the service is friendly and welcoming.  That combined with the lovely quality food, I would highly recommend you visit if you're in the area! Testament to that is that Liam has already re-visited twice since then to sample some of their offerings.

Liam and I both use the iPhone camera for most of our shots, but I'd like to think my camera skills are far superior to his! ;)

ANYWAY.  Point of the story is - if you've got a hankering for a bagel of a lovely fresh sandwich... go, go, go to Mornin' Gorgeous post-haste! They'll help satisfy your cravings! :)