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!

It's A Red-Letter Day!

I scurried out to my car to retrieve some clothing... as I was rummaging through the mess in my boot, a large work ute pulled up outside my house.  I shoved the jumble of clothes and shoes back into the car, and panicking slightly (as this meant I would not have time to change) I casually turned around and waved as Liam wandered up my driveway and enveloped me into a hug. 

And that is, you might say, where it all began!

On our anniversary last week, things were a little different.  Although I still hadn't changed when he arrived, and although he still enveloped me in a huge hug when he got home, we are a long way from where we were on our very first date.

After picking me up, we drove to Knox City near my house, and wandered around for a while before settling on Hog's Breath Cafe.  This year, we decided to return to the scene of the crime!

It's been a year since we'd been here last, so I had no idea what to expect from the food - not to mention the fact that Hog's Breath isn't exactly a gourmet establishment to start with!  We decided to start the meal the same way as our first ever date with...

... Boss Hog Mushies! [$9.50]

At first glance, there is a major difference between the plate that has been set in front of us and the dish as it was in my memory.  The portion size has gone down, and the price gone up! This is to be expected in this day and age, however disappointingly the amount in the bowl appears to have decreased by almost half. 

Fortunately, that's where the disappointment ends with these mushrooms.  I pop one in my mouth, and bite through a peppery crunchy coating to taste that wonderful mushroomy juice which is almost scalding on my tongue! Yet I can't resist and continue to eat them piping hot, with a little smear of the tartare sauce provided. 

As we're deciding what to order, Liam pulls these out of his pocket, and places them on the table :

As our anniversary falls in between both of our birthdays, we agreed on no gifts... however I couldn't resist a couple of small items!

Right before our first date, Liam had decided it would be a good time to try and mow some of the lawn, electrocuting himself in the process! He sent me a text of his bleeding finger, and to be honest I thought it was his way of cancelling on me at the time! He reassured me that he was still keen to see me, and I told him I would have bandaids to make it all better. 

Flash-back!  Here are his superhero band-aids!

I tried to find the same superhero band-aids but to no avail, so instead had to settle on Transformers or Cars.  I couldn't decide, so I bought both! We're both still children at heart.

He has a love affair with Stitch, so I bought him this phone cover, where the ears pop in and out! Yep, there's an iPhone hiding under that little blue Alien!

Okay, now back to the food!  We decided to try a Mixed Grill Tower for 2 - that way we'd be able to sample a little of everything that Hog's Breath has to offer! The tower includes steak, lamb, ribs and bacon, with a serve of Hog Tail fries, and your choice of sauces and either salad, vegies or mash. 

Vegetarians... look away now!

It really is a tower! Like... the high tea of meat?



That is a mountain of meat! Carnivore's delight, and a nightmare for vegetarians!  We opted for steamed vegetables as part of our tower, but I didn't take any photos... you all know what vegetables look like!

I have to say, unfortunately I was left underwhelmed by our meal in general.  The meat, while I could find no real fault with it, was lacking in flavour.  We had ordered it to be rare, and by the time it was brought out to us was cold.  The lamb cutlets had been perched on top of the plate, and were the coldest of all, so by the time we got to eating had congealed and were not that pleasant to eat. 

The Hog Tail fries were probably the best part of the meal, however these were slightly cold as well, and tasted like they'd been sitting around for a while. 

Again, there was nothing wrong with the vegetables per se, however if a restaurant can't steam brocolli without stuffing up then we have major issues!

It had been a year since we'd eaten at Hog's Breath last, and going by the quality of our most recent experience, it will be another year until we dine here again.

Food Diaries : Rose Shamrock Hotel

On Australia Day Eve, we found ourselves hectic busy. In between trying to do my nails and preparing for our Australia Day BBQ, I just could not find the time (nor could I be bothered!) to cook a proper meal. We toyed with the idea of eating potato chips for dinner, but decided that a far better option would be to stop by and grab a quick bite to eat on our way home from the shops.

That's where the Rose Shamrock Hotel comes in! We'd driven past it countless time, and even peered in while stocking up at the BWS bottle shop next door but had yet to try any of the food. As we walked past the pokies to the left and into the spacious bistro area, a sign greeted us declaring that all main meals were $16 every Wednesday. That sealed the deal!

We browsed through the menu, and after making our decision headed up to the counter to order.

Whenever we go for a counter meal, it's always a fairly safe bet that Liam will opt for a chicken parma.
He's going for the title of parma connoisseur, I think!

I decided on the fish and chips, with a side of salad and tartare sauce. I guess you could say we ordered fairly safe on this evening. Both were stock standard dishes, hard to really go terribly wrong with.

As for the standard of the Rose Shamrock? Well, as previously stated, the dishes we ordered were ones that were hard to stuff up. I was a little disappointed with my fish - I misbehaved and ordered it fried instead of grilled, and was expecting a lovely thick crunchy batter. When the meal was placed in front of me it looked flimsy and didn't impress me, however upon cutting it open the flesh was lovely, fresh and piping hot.

While the food wasn't fantastic, it was passable. I left the Rose Shamrock Hotel feeling fairly neutral overall. I didn't dislike my meal but I wasn't wowed by it either, and I didn't feel entirely satisfied. Full yes, satisfied no.

It was a cheap and easy meal, but I'm not sure I would come back again. On a Wednesday, the food is good value for $16 a meal, however any other day of the week you're better off going to the Stolberg just down the road which is also fairly reasonably priced for a much higher standard.


PS - Don't forget my mini-giveaway! :) xx

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! :)

Food Diaries : The Coffee Club, Knox Ozone

We headed down to Knox Ozone for dinner on a warm summer evening.  We knew what we wanted, we just weren't sure where we would get it.  I had a hankering for a nice steak sandwich, and Liam had nachos on his mind. 

Knox Ozone has plenty of choices, and plenty of good options for whatever food you might be craving.  It ranges from steak houses to Japanese cuisine to just your reliable ol' pub fare.  What we were after is fairly standard grub, so as we browsed all the restaurant menus we realised that we could pretty much take our pick.  The Coffee Club is newly re-opened, and I remembered hanging out there all the time with friends during my youth, so we decided to give it a shot to see how it measured up. 

The menu looked promising, with many tasty offerings, but we knew what we were after.  It was all on the pricey side compared to the other restaurants in Ozone, but we hoped it would be a case of "you get what you pay for" but sadly, this was not to be the case.  Service, although extremely friendly and helpful, was hard to get a hold of.

The Pine Lime Frappe [$5.90] was very refreshing choice on a warm summer night.  I wish I'd gotten it spliced instead, which has ice cream through it.  Then it would be exactly like drinking a Splice ice cream!

The meals came out, and they were disappointing, to say the least.  Liam chose the nachos with chilli beef added.  The additional chilli beef cost an extra $5, bringing the price of the nachos up to $20.  For a $20 plate of nachos, we were expecting something special however what ended up being placed in front of us was a relatively small serving of corn chips with cold, gluggy chilli beef unceremoniously dumped on top.  

The steak sandwich did not fare much better.  Although the steak was well-cooked, it was sandwiched between what looked like generic-brand toast, and did not cover the piece of bread which resulted in mouthfuls of just plain toast.

What made no sense also, is that the Deluxe Steak Burger is the exact same meal but with added bacon and egg for an extra $2, however when I asked how much to add bacon to the Steak Sandwich [$16] I was told it would be an extra $3. Go figure! 

Overall, our experience at the Coffee Club was a major disappointment.  Although they have now added table-service and there is no more queuing up for food, you end up with a long wait time at the table before you are seen to anyway! Prices are ridiculously over-priced for what you receive, and there are too many superior options in the Ozone precinct for me to return.