snacking in vieux québec

Banane avec crème fraîche et chocolat - $7

With food, as with anything else, sometimes nostalgia can skew your opinion of it. The best crêpe I've ever had was from a sidewalk stall in Paris chinatown, batter was poured and spread on a hot plate when we ordered, Nutella from one of the numerous gigantic jars was smeared on the crisped batter, whereupon the crêpe was folded, tucked into a paper napkin and served warm and delicious. Depending on where we were at in Paris, the prices can vary to eye-gouging level. What was an injustice to me then, now through the rose-coloured glasses of time, I don't seem to mind the price anymore.

slow breakfast

Eggs delmonico - $13

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And theoretically I do eat breakfast every day. Breakfast at home for me typically includes a leisurely meal of rice and a small dish of last night's leftovers.

roti tugu bakery klepon ijo

Jajanan pasar are a type of snack foods, traditionally made by small home businesses (usually one-woman operations) and sold in small shops in the market. These small shops would usually have the snack loosely plastic wrapped but unsealed, but sometimes the plastic may also be sealed crudely (candles are used to burn the plastic and plastic together), and other times they can also be unwrapped and simply stacked against each other in a large tray.

jean pierre sancho macarons

Hot chocolate - $4

After my friend Dave came back from Bulgaria, I caught up with him over coffee to hear all about it. I always wanted to try Jean Pierre Sancho in the city since Maru told me that their bread was great, but either she forgot to mention that everything else was not great, or that I chose to ignore it, I'm not sure.

poppies passionfruit cheesecake

Whenever I go to a restaurant, cafe, pub that serves bad food, I'd always wonder how such a place can survive. Could it be that they used to serve good food, but over the years they couldn't keep up their standard? Could it be that the early customers are so loyal that they just kept going back? I don't know.

With a name like Poppies Cake Shop & Cafe, you'd expect they'd serve great cakes, but sadly this was not so. This was where I caught up with Dave one afternoon, days before he was about to leave for his big adventure in Bulgaria. I ordered the passionfruit cheesecake, Dave got some apricot crumble and a cup of coffee.

san churro churros for two

A recent article in the New York Times, talked about a form of dieting, whereby you imagine eating the food before you eat it. They call it the Imagine Diet (link here while it lasts). The Imagine Diet works this way: before you want to eat that chocolate truffle you're really dying to eat, first you would imagine devouring one chocolate truffle after another, imagining the smell, the texture in your mouth. This apparently will take the edge of that craving and therefore make you not want to eat it as much. So, theoretically, instead of eating three choco truffles, you'd end up having just one.

This mental dieting is probably something that I should have put into practice before I went to San Churro. For the sake of my companions, more than for myself.

ladurée macarons

Someone once told me that macarons are Les incontournables des Paris (english: Paris must-haves). It's dainty, it's colourful, it's like eating art. And no other place in Paris more famous for its macarons than Ladurée.

Ladurée is more like an institution than a simple macaron shop. As I was opening the door to the Champs-Élysées branch, I was greeted by a long queue at the counter. I was really tempted to just turn right to the restaurant and warm myself from the bitter cold I have just escaped from. Second option was to relax at the bar towards the back of the building. But, I was there to buy the macarons, get out and move on with the day. So, I queued.

windsor three little piggies

One of my best friends in the world got married on one sunny-but oh-so-windy day in Sir James Mitchell Park in South Perth. It was an intimate ceremony with closest friends and family. It was quite special. And afterwards we had a boisterous lunch at the Windsor, as we are a boisterous bunch.

The Windsor is a restaurant of modern settings with a water feature and a library to boot. That Sunday, we came in before lunch time and lucky that we did because the place soon filled up and was packed when we left, but not in a I-can't-move-an-inch kind of packed, because the place was anything but cramped.

kenny's chocolate croissant

The bakery opposite the hotel I was staying in looked so inviting, with orange/yellow coloured theme and friendly asian ladies (in their 20s and 30s) serving behind the counter. The bakery was clean, modern and well stocked. In the morning, when I was there, their service was quite prompt, if not a bit haphazard, like they couldn't quite cope with all the customers.

Chocolate croissant - $2.40

I went with two chocolate croissants. The pastry themselves were mildly sweet and appetising. But the chocolate I found a bit odd. Instead of swirls of chocolate meandering their way inside the pastry, I was greeted by a block of chocolate in the centre. It can almost be categorised as eating a croissant with a piece of chocolate on the side.


Kenny's Bakery Café
Shop 2, 190 Queen St
Melbourne VIC
Open weekdays 7am-4.30pm

lindt chocolat café macarons

The Lindt Chocolat Café is unique to Australia. Aren't we just lucky! It was also serendipitous for me that one only recently opened in Melbourne. I picked a cold rainy afternoon to go there, which might explain my hankering for hot chocolate, apparently so did everybody in Melbourne. The café was packed to the rafters, there was even a queue of people waiting to be seated. So I skipped all that and headed towards the take-away counter instead.

The café was just class all the way, I'd say Lindt went all out to decorate this place. Exquisite chandeliers, tasteful furniture, great location and friendly servers. Hey, it is Lindt after all.

Macarons - $2.00 each
Hot chocolate - $4.00

The hot dark chocolate was scrumptiously warming and beat all of my past experiences with hot chocolate in the arse. It was just that good. I also got some champagne and raspberry macarons (I can't quite figure out why Lindt had to be different and called them Delice). They are these dainty little biscuits with creamy filling in between. They were melt-in-my-mouth delicate, I especially liked the creamy champagne ones. Though I am disappointed there wasn't any of the dark chocolate macaron left.

I should have visited Max Brenner to compare, but I just didn't have the time. I have been thinking of visiting Ladurée in Paris, but was doubtful if it would be worth it, but now I would not think to even miss it.


Lindt Chocolate Café
271 Collins St
Melbourne VIC
Open Monday-Wednesday 7.30am-6pm, Thursday-Friday 7.30am-9pm, Saturday-Sunday 10am-5pm

geláre belgian waffle

I don't generally review franchise eatery, but rules are meant to be broken, especially for something as good as this. In all of my years of travel I have not encountered any other waffle that is better than that of Geláre's.

Geláre can be found in a few locations in Western Australia. Franchise eateries usually have varying degrees in their quality of food, depending on who owns the franchise. But not Geláre. I have, so far, found that their waffle and ice cream are of the same quality on all of their stores.

Regular belgian waffle with a scoop of cookies 'n cream (cream & syrup) - $7.40

My favourite is the regular waffle with cream and syrup, accompanied with a scoop of cookies 'n cream ice cream. The waffle, I find, is not too light, nor too dense. I have had waffles in other places that are too heavy or dense, I felt like I was eating bricks. But not Geláre's. And I don't know what it is about having cold chewy gelato with warm crispy waffles, it just works! It has been a decade since I first tasted my first waffle from this ice creamery, and I still can't find any other place that compares.


Geláre
Kiosk 023, Centro Galleria
Collier Rd & Walter Rd
Morley WA
Open Monday-Wednesday & Friday 9am-5.30pm, Thursday 9am-9pm, Saturday 9am-5pm

sail café brekkie, margaret river bakery bread & berry farm boysenberry pie

Breakfast (brekkie) is the time of day I find hardest to get motivated for. I am not a morning person. My work colleagues can attest to that. So, if I have to go out for brekkie, I usually go to the first place I set my eyes on.

When I was in Margaret River, we went to the Sail Café for a bacon and egg wrap, and croissant with ham and cheese. It was pretty average to say the least. The only redeeming point about this all-day breakfast café was the fact that they gave us a complimentary cup of coffee with our meal. We were in the mood for some latte.

We had the Margaret River Bakery's "Big Bakery Brekkie", which was filling but was also quite average. While you are there, I would suggest you buy a loaf of the organic bread with sun dried tomato & herb ($5.35). I had this bread when I went canoeing with the BushTucker Tour, along with the Aussie bush food they dished out. I loved it and asked where to get them. The bread was great with slices of kangaroo and a spread of chutney.

job cut detox

I went to Adelaide last week and let me tell you, if you felt the same sense of doom and gloom as I did, I would prescribe a few days of holiday at a location of your choice. Sometimes you just need to get away from it all to lift up your spirit and recharge the body, mind and soul.

In all honesty, I did only go because I had a Qantas voucher that I had to use before its January expiry date. But, it turned out to be a holiday taken at the most opportune time, I could not time it better myself. Even with the crazy heat wave, I really enjoyed myself.