Gingerboy

I booked this place for my dad’s 50^th birthday, never actually having been myself but always hearing good things. To our delight he loved it… we all did! What’s not to love about this contemporary take on South East Asian, hawker market cuisine. Located on Crossley Street in the midst of our city’s rich culture, Gingerboy sure provides a unique dining experience.

As we dined as a group, we opted for the Chef’s selection banquet to take away the pressures from decision making. I suggest this option is best as it allows you to try a good variety, including some dishes which you may not normally order yourself and you can also provide input in case you did have any preferences. Many of the dishes are share plates, so for a group it’s definitely the way to go.

The highlight of the night would have to be the ‘Son in law eggs.’ These crusted, poached eggs with chilli jam and herbs pop in your mouth as you take your first bite! One tip – make sure you put the whole thing in your mouth to get the full experience (also it can make a quite a mess otherwise). To finish off our banquet, we received a ‘Gingerboy dessert share plate’ which consisted of a mixture of delicately placed desserts which we managed to squeeze tastes of each in after our large indulgence.  

I loved the contemporary twist to these traditional meals and with the cocktail bar upstairs, there’s no reason to rush out of this place in a hurry! 

   

Local Breakfast

I’m sure you’re starting to gather I’m quite a fan of breakfast outings... or rather brunch. Well this post is another tribute to that fact. Squeezing in a quick meal this weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to stay quite local and go to Keilor Road, where Biagio’s caught our eye. I’ve walked past many times and have wanted to try it out and I finally had the opportunity today. I must say, I'm sure glad I did.

I ordered the ‘Biagio’s Vegetarian Breakfast’ and my boyfriend had ‘Biagio’s Big Breakfast.’ Both quite similar although instead of bacon and sausage, mine had these amazing Italian spiced beans and I’m glad with the choice I made as these beans certainly made the dish!  The rest of our meal composed of eggs cooked to your liking (mine being poached of course) on sourdough bread with a hash brown, sautéed spinach, roasted cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Don’t ask how, but I managed to squeeze the whole meal in… well I guess not so surprising as it was delicious and the perfect start to a busy weekend! Even more so to my delight, Biagio’s serves my favourite tea – Tea Drop, so I ordered a pot of Honeydew Green to accompany my meal.

They also had a cakes counter and brightly decorated cookies which would make anyone salivate. This place also does lunch and dinner and I’m looking forward to going back to have a try! It’s always good to know some good eats not far from home.  

Donnini’s Pasta

A casual stroll on a hot summer’s Sunday afternoon down Lygon Street with only the intention of window shopping until a fantastic display of fresh homemade pasta caught my eye. Yes, of course it was Donnini’s Pasta and I couldn’t resist the temptation to plan dinner for the night there and then! After a struggle of decision making I went with two types of Agnolotti as I couldn’t go past their vibrant colours – Beetroot & Ricotta and Pumpkin & Almond. With great assistance from the staff I was provided with storage and cooking advice and I also purchased a fresh Tomato & Spinach sauce to go along with my meal.

As it turns out, my questions on storage of the pasta was unnecessary as I began cooking as soon as I got home, so no freezing or refrigeration required for me! I divided both types of pasta in half and decided to use the sauce I’d purchased on one half and for the second half, took advice from a lovely friend to make a simple burnt butter and herb sauce so that the flavour of the pasta itself was not disguised.

The verdict… brilliant! The Agnolotti was full of fresh flavours with the tomato and spinach sauce even more so, if possible. I will definitely be going back to Donnini’s Pasta for many more cooking adventures. 

Milkwood

Located on Nicholson Street in Brunswick East, this cosy little café serves breakfasts packed with fantastic flavour and leaves your tummy satisfied all day long. Their house made relishes and sweet treats on display inside creates a warm ‘home-sweet-home’ feel whilst the brightly coloured yellow chairs outside allow you to enjoy some sunshine (when it decides to show its face) along with the moderate bustle of Nicholson Street.

I ventured out to Milkwood this week on a brunch date with my lovely cousin and we were definitely impressed with the prompt and friendly service and the terrific flavour combinations. Our choice you ask? Well, I usually can’t steer away from poached eggs when it comes to eating out for brunch but, on this occasion I couldn’t resist the beans in house made tomato relish with feta and basil on toast. And for my cousin, lemon and thyme mushrooms on ricotta toast. Both meals held flavour which definitely impressed the tastebuds and even though we couldn’t squeeze room in at the time, we had to make sure to buy a sweet bite to take home for later… almond and orange muffins!  

Happy Easter!

So I didn’t get a chance to dine out last weekend… but only because I was too busy baking in preparation for Easter. Instead I thought I’d share my baking fun with you!

Coming from a half Maltese background there is one tradition that certainly defines Easter for me, and that’s Figolli. A traditional Maltese Easter treat which always leaves us counting down for next Easter to come soon as this year’s is over! They are a shortbread cookie with an almond paste filling and are beautifully decorated with bright coloured icing and Easter eggs. My boyfriend and I have made a tradition of making them every year so here’s a sneak peak…

Traditionally they are cut into large shapes of animals however, we didn’t have stencils this year as we didn’t organise ourselves and borrow them from relatives. Instead we thought we’d be a little inventive and create egg shapes for the larger shapes and use Easter bunny and heart shaped cookie cutters to make smaller shapes. At the end of the day, they still taste the same… delicious!

We also change the icing around a little bit and added our own little trick… lots of lemon! You can never go wrong with lemon in my opinion and from our taste testers (family and friends), I think they might just agree.

To finish it off we wrap them up in coloured cellophane and give them as gifts to our family. It takes almost all day if you’re planning on making them for the whole family, but it’s definitely lots of fun and hopefully a tradition we can keep up for many years to come.