food / cooking / restaurants
Shandong Mama Mini is the place to go for the amazing vibe and food. Check it out if you are walking the streets of Melbourne.
I had not heard about their original and bigger store, so I was impressed with what I got for the price. Apparently, you can get cheaper elsewhere.
Shandong Mama Mini
5 Centre Place, CBD, Melbourne, VIC
ph. 0419 777 221
Foam in Leederville remains a popular spot in this ever-evolving suburb. It must be doing well as it has expanded into the neighbouring space, and onto the footpath in front. Their website says it is Swedish-inspired. I haven’t been to Sweden so I’m not sure what parts are Swedish-inspired. Maybe it is the deer head on the wall, or maybe they copied a few menu items from Miss Mauds.
I went only for coffee, but the place was busy feeding a big crowd breakfast off the menu or from the selection of baked goods on display. I dropped in on the day of a street festival, and disappointingly they were only serving hot drinks in takeaway cups (I assumed they did not usually do this). It just doesn’t taste the same.
location: 130 Oxford Street,Leederville, Perth, WA phone: (08) 9444 7475
Is it a bookshop or cafe? I pick bookshop. There wasn’t even a menu. That does not mean it is not a good place to go for a drink and catchup, quite the opposite. It is nice to find somewhere a bit different, with a bit of character. I enjoyed the eclectic mix of tables and chairs placed among the bookshelves, and mugs that seem like they were bought from the op shop across the road.
I find it hard to distinguish the very good from the excellent coffee. Any cafe that has return customers must satisfy many of them.
In these places I never know if I can have a look at the books on the shelves while enjoying a coffee, it is very tempting, but may be frowned upon. I went with my four-year-old, who I had to hold back from helping himself to the shelves of books.
Where is it?
Address: Unit 1, 416-418 Oxford Street, Mount Hawthorn WA 6016
Phone:(08) 9444 9884
The Ichiban Japanese Delight food outlet is located inside the International Eating House in Victoria Park, WA. We were attracted to this place as we love international eating, and the food hall set-up was perfect for our family, offering a large selection of food. Unfortunately, the place has seen better days. More than half of the food outlets were empty, and the whole place had a dodgy feel about it.
A large teriyaki chicken. large serves.
chicken donburi
Location
Ichiban Japanese Delight
International Eating House
Shop 1 1020 Albany Hwy, Saint James, WA
ph: (08) 9355 3688
Cafe Damar is a newly opended bakery/cafe situated on Jl Raya Pengosekan, close to the corner of the road to Nyuh Kuning.
Lunch options are bakery and Indonesian/Western options. We ordered a club sandwich, which looked pretty, and tasted pretty good too. It had the typical ingredients of chicken, bacon, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Surprisingly the bread was nothing to rave about though given it was a bakery.
The French toast was very good, although the strawberry garnish was looking a little wilted. We would still come back for more.
There is a selection of burger options, and the chicken burger was very robust as far as burgers go. The burger itself was a pattie, rather than a piece of chicken as expected. The wedges on the side were pretty tasty too.
There are some bakery goods as well, which are all made and baked on site. From pastries to desserts and cakes. Not quite a traditional croissant, but fairly good for Balinese.
We also went for breakfast on another occasion, ordering eggs hollandaise, omelette, and pancakes, with fruit. All the meals were really good. The coffee is also of a very high standard with a specialist barista. We will be back!
Mr Prata is an Indian/Malaysian restaurant on the Ubud main road. It is a little along from the busy section of Ubud and misses a lot of business because of this.
There are a few Indian restaurants in Ubud, but not many other places to buy paratha. The taste is pretty authentic. It is part of a chain of restaurants.
Since we visited here last year they have done renovations, so your experience may be different from ours.
It is quite a drive north from Ubud along Jalan Tirta Tawar to get to Warung Bintang Bali, but the drive is worth it. Keep a look out on the left for the flags after driving for about 10 minutes from Ubud.
The tuna steak comes highly recommended, though there are plenty of other good choices on their very reasonably priced menu.
Sit and enjoy the farming land views, and get there early while there is still light.
The Cherry Blossom Cafe is located on the quiet side of Jalan Goutama. The food is Japanese inspired. There is limited seating, but I have never seem more than one couple eating there at a time. The staff are young and friendly, and as you will possibly be the only one there you can get attentive service.
As you can see, it is not the usual Japanese food. The red rice sushi was better than it looked.
Pesto was OK, the pasta overcooked. Not sure why we cannot get good pasta dishes in Bali.
The chicken very dry, horrible mashed potato.
Oh, the food was pretty average. It looked good and they had tried hard. We enjoyed our icy cold beer though, and the nice and quiet location. Maybe your food choices will be better and they may have improved. It won’t cost you a lot to try it out.
If you are visiting the mountain town of Bedugul in Bali, you will probably be checking out the markets. Tucked away facing the car park behind the markets is this funky cafe called Eat, Drink, Love.
It is a good travellers rest place away from the pesky market sellers, ideal for a coffee break. Not sure if they did nay food, but it looks like the place best for drinks. There is a more relaxing area upstairs.
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Eat, Drink, Love | Jalan Candi Kuning -Bedugul, Bali
This review is about the Living Food Lab based at the Hubud co-working space on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud. There is also a branch of living food lab at green school.
My first experience with food from this café was this burger/sandwich, which I was not too impressed with. It was just that I was expecting something more substantial. I do love bread. Anyway, from that time on I just went there for coffee, which was pretty good.
They have salads that are pretty popular, and have a few nice juices and cakes too. Nothing too substantial, and not cheap. Many of those working a Hubud will visit one of the nearby warungs for lunch.
You don’t have to come here to eat. It is a good place to hang out. If you are not a member of Hubud, you can still get free wifi while there (just not as fast as the members get!)
