From the category archives:

cheap eat

Hung Vuong, Footscray

by jeroxie August 15, 2010

I cannot believe that I have blogged about Hung Vuong in Footscray. With so many choices along Hopkins Street, this has been our preference lately. Maybe because it has heating in winter and air-condition in summer unless many of the older establishments. And also maybe because it has nice white light and better for taking photos!

I made my usual order of beef special combination. It is basically pho served with beef slices, beef sausage that is heavily laced with black pepper, tendons and thinly sliced tripes. The broth is quite heavily scented and flavoured with clove. MSG? Of course! But still a nice broth. The portions here are quite generous. As usual, I love topping it with bean sprouts, Vietnamese basil, a good squeeze of lemon with slices of fresh chill, chilli sauce, hoisin sauce and more chilli oil. Stir, combine and slurp! Pho is the best in winter! Comforting and somehow doesn’t make me feel too heavy after

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Zappa, South Melbourne

by jeroxie August 8, 2010

Thursday is gnocchi day at Zappa. This little cafe is family owned and have been around for ages. It is a South Melbourne institution. Michael is usually there to greet everyone. “Hi Bella! How are you today?” And I love how this place is decked out. So many memoirs and nic nacs stuck on walls from the past to the present. Photos of family, greeting cards, little notes… all of sentimental value and showcases the history of this little café.

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Melbourne CBD quick yummy lunch – N Lee & Cinnamon’s

by jeroxie May 7, 2010

The thing that I miss about working in Melbourne CBD is the variety and quality of good lunch food. Now that I am in South Melbourne, I hardly venture around the area. It is like what @jettingjoyce said, a black hole of good food and I totally agree. Don’t get me wrong. There are nice places for food in South Melbourne but few are affordable to lunch everyday.

After the trip from Hobart and not much food in the refrigerator, it was an excuse to travel to the CBD for some good and affordable lunch. First stop was N Lee Bakery. This is one of the only places in the city that serves Banh Mi or Vietnamese roll. It is definitely a meal in a bun. Carbohydrates, protein and fresh salad! Banh Mi starts with a short Vietnamese style baguette or roll. It has a thin layer of butter and pate. And then followed by the cold meats. You can choose to have cold cuts pork (original) or chicken breasts slices. It is then topped with shredded carrots, thinly sliced onions, fresh coriander, freshly sliced red chillies (optional) and then drizzled lightly with light soy sauce. $5 for a roll in the city is very affordable. But you will be able to get it at $3.80 in the suburbs.

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Coconut House after its renovation

by jeroxie April 27, 2010

We have not visited Coconut House after its recent renovation. We walked past it several times as we head to Rose Garden at times for lunch. Coconut House is hardly empty. It is always buzzing and I think even more so after its renovation. What caught my eye that fateful Saturday was the poster of a bowl of wonton noodles. I must have it. A little queue won’t kill right?

Both of us have a soft spot for cendol and was please to find it on the new menu. The Coconut House Cendol Special was served with soya bean and gula malacca (palm sugar). It was not as we expected. The cendol was not well made and just did not work with the soya bean. It is probably more healthy than having coconut milk instead but soya bean lacked the flavour.

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Wooga, North Melbourne

by jeroxie April 12, 2010

One of Mister’s close friend was in town just this Easter passing. He has been away for a year travelling around the world and currently settled in London and working. It has been tough for him and I can imagine the change in lifestyle has also changed him. I was always this weird anticipation before catching up with friends that I have not met for awhile. Will we still be able to just pick up from where we left off? Do you ever have this feeling?

Anyway, the day we caught up was the day that Mister and I spent the day with #ramenhunters. After a day of eating, it was unthinkable that we could consume anymore food. We settled for Korean BBQ. I could at least choose to nibble on pieces of meat and not feel self conscious.

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The search of the best tonkotsu ramen in Melbourne

by jeroxie March 7, 2010

A call to all Melbournians – Where is your favourite ramen shop?
I am not sure when Mister started his craze for Ramen, in particular, Tonkotsu. I thought long and hard and it seems that Menya Noodle Bar in Sydney is the culprit. Mister discovered this place while on a short visit up in Sydney. The next time we were up there, he insisted that we had to pay homage to this place.

Before I carry on with my rambles, let me briefly explain what tonkotsu is. It is a cloudy pork soup base. It’s cloudiness comes from being cooked with crushed pork bones for hours. Hence, its porky aroma and heavy pork tastes in its broth.

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Wabi Sabi and a chocolate croissant

by jeroxie December 4, 2009

We are beginning to love Collingwood all over again. Having lived here for 4 years before, this place has changed but hasn’t? It is still gritty and somewhat ugly but it has always been full of character. But over the years, more cafes and littl restaurants have sprung up along this street. More yuppies have moved in and the face of Collingwood is changing.

Mister suggested that we headed to Collingwood for lunch as he wanted to try Goshen (Korean) and have some bibimbap. But alas, the place is closed for lunch. We went past Wabi Sabi when we visited Monsieur Truffe awhile back. This place has been around for 5 years and I am ashame to say that this is our first visit.

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MY Restaurant

by jeroxie November 5, 2009

It is beyond a doubt that I love my Mamak. When I found and read about MY from @stickifingers, I knew I had to make a trip down. It did take me awhile as I was distracted with food within my proximity but Mister and I finally drove ourselves across the river last Friday. Surprise surprise. Friday night and no binge drinking. No getting home early Saturday morning. It was a good break from the usual madness.

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Is Laksa King still the King?

by jeroxie November 3, 2009

Laksa King has been around for ages. I used to visit this place when I was at Uni with my fellow Singaporean or Malaysian friends. This was the place to go if we wanted to get our Laksa fix. After more than a decade, the furnishings of this place remains the same. The old laminated wooden tables are still around. There are still queues on most nights. And this place still only accepts cash only!

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Viém Cafe in Richmond

by jeroxie September 29, 2009

After freezing our toes and fingers at Slowfood farmers market in Abbortsford, we headed to Richmond in search for some yummy food and to get some asian ingredients for chai tao kueh (fried carrot cake) and Sunday’s congee. Not sure what the reason was but I wasn’t too keen on the usual Pho. We drove past Vien cafe and remembered that @stickfingers mentioned something about this awhile ago.

It was still quite early and I reckon we were their first customers of the day. The menu was extensive. And I noticed they have steamboats here. Baby Goat Steamboat ($45), Tom Yum with Seafood ($50) & Steamboat Silver Pearch in Sweet & Sour Soup ($50). It was more than just the usual Vietnamese Pho and broken rice dishes, there were stir-fry dishes, Asian hawker street food, herbal soups, entrees and different types of cold sweet drinks.

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Yemeni – The new kid on the block

by jeroxie September 27, 2009

We knew of this place before the raving review from Matt Preston. It is almost a stone throw away from us. I was curious but I had doubts. So what stopped me?

Most of us are quick to judge on first impressions. It is a habit that is hard to break. We will walk past Yemeni (124 Union Road, Ascot Vale) on countless occasions when we walk the dog. I never fail to look in. Hmm… front bit looks empty. A computer is plonked on the left hand side of the dining area. Very simple furnishings. I would wondered if there were any punters in the back. And I will walk away. So what finally made me decide to try Yemeni?

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Serving Singaporean hawker food since 1990s – Old Raffles Place

by jeroxie September 18, 2009

Raffles Place is another old time favourite places to eat while we were living in Collingwood/Brunswick. It looks a little old and rundown but strangely enough, it has an old skool Singaporean charm. The restaurant is divided into 2 parts, the kitchen & the dining area. The walls are painted pink and is lined with old colonial photos of Singapore and write ups from Elizabeth Chow.

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Pancake Dessert House

by jeroxie September 13, 2009

Back in the days when I was a poor Uni student, Pancake Dessert House was my favourite and most visited eating place. It was only a couple of years ago that this originally 1 shop lot space eating house became 2 to accommodate the ever growing queue of mostly Asian students waiting to get a quick bite.

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