Melbourne chocolate
I actually did it. I actually bought chocolate things in Melbourne.
This is odd for me. I tend to wander around and look at the shops, think about how tasty each treat sounds and then walk away hands and stomach still empty. But on my recent trip I tested some things.
For some not chocolate fun, I tried a wonderful tempura zucchini flower at a restaurant on Chapel Street, Prahan. It was mouth-watering - even thinking back on it now - filled with some kind of cheese and deliciousness... if only I remembered I would try to replicated and be bitterly disappointed when I failed.
www.panasian.com.au
Brunetti is apparently quite an institution - given I visited at about 11pm on a bitter cold Melbourne night and it was full of people, I guess that's not overstating the case. It's a place to sit and be warm and refuel with sugar for heating. It's just off the Lygon Street and is full of tasty looking cakes, biscuits etc which I didn't eat. Instead I ordered an Italian Hot Chocolate - of course!
Sadly, the girl who took the order seemed to mishear over the raucous din of consumption, and served the hot chocolate in a takeaway cup. I think this lessened my enjoyment of it. It was rich and a lovely flavour, value for money ($4.40 for a standard size cup) and quite thick, but liquid enough to drink. That made me sad. Delicious, but I like my chocolate to pass the spoon test. I'll give it 8/10, but might give it a second chance when next I'm in the neighbourhood.
www.brunetti.com.au
On Lygon Street itself is a place called Mercadante. It's a woodfired pizzeria which boasts a chocolate pizza people rave about. Now I think it was because I wasn't very hungry at the time and I had recently discovered chocolate nachos, but the description and photo of the dish left me pretty cold. I didn't bother going back to try it.
That said, I will next time because people do rave about it. Apparently it is pastry with nutella inside served with cream or something. It doesn't sound much like a pizza, but it does sound interesting.
I also wandered through a Koko Black or two again, and again didn't order anything. I'll get there one day.
What I did do was go to San Churros and got three churros with dark chocolate for $7.90. Value for money? Yep. It was the perfect amount and the chocolate was rich and thick with a spanish twist, perfect for dipping. Definitely a good place for a hot dessert on a cold night.
Another place simply called Spanish Doughnuts on Elizabeth Street (across from Flinders Street station) sold churros filled with all sorts of things. I had a hot fresh one filled with peanut butter which was amazingly good. And later another filled with caramel and coated with chocolate. I have to say that one was less good, because wasn't as fresh, but still tasty.
Then on my last day in town I visited the Abbotsford Convent, which has been converted into a community space full of artists and natural therapists and friendly people. The bakery there had an array of tasty looking things, but I chose a chocolate filled cannoli. It was sweet in the middle and crunchy on the outside - just what I was looking for.
Later on I had an amazing meal at a place in Fitzroy called Birdman Eating.
There was haloumi, which I always love and an amazing lamb dish. But it was the Zucchini and Fetta Fritters that amazed me the most. They melted in my mouth and made me extraordinarily happy. Definitely good food. Go there.
www.birdmaneating.com.au
This is odd for me. I tend to wander around and look at the shops, think about how tasty each treat sounds and then walk away hands and stomach still empty. But on my recent trip I tested some things.
For some not chocolate fun, I tried a wonderful tempura zucchini flower at a restaurant on Chapel Street, Prahan. It was mouth-watering - even thinking back on it now - filled with some kind of cheese and deliciousness... if only I remembered I would try to replicated and be bitterly disappointed when I failed.
www.panasian.com.au
Brunetti is apparently quite an institution - given I visited at about 11pm on a bitter cold Melbourne night and it was full of people, I guess that's not overstating the case. It's a place to sit and be warm and refuel with sugar for heating. It's just off the Lygon Street and is full of tasty looking cakes, biscuits etc which I didn't eat. Instead I ordered an Italian Hot Chocolate - of course!
Sadly, the girl who took the order seemed to mishear over the raucous din of consumption, and served the hot chocolate in a takeaway cup. I think this lessened my enjoyment of it. It was rich and a lovely flavour, value for money ($4.40 for a standard size cup) and quite thick, but liquid enough to drink. That made me sad. Delicious, but I like my chocolate to pass the spoon test. I'll give it 8/10, but might give it a second chance when next I'm in the neighbourhood.
www.brunetti.com.au
On Lygon Street itself is a place called Mercadante. It's a woodfired pizzeria which boasts a chocolate pizza people rave about. Now I think it was because I wasn't very hungry at the time and I had recently discovered chocolate nachos, but the description and photo of the dish left me pretty cold. I didn't bother going back to try it.
That said, I will next time because people do rave about it. Apparently it is pastry with nutella inside served with cream or something. It doesn't sound much like a pizza, but it does sound interesting.
I also wandered through a Koko Black or two again, and again didn't order anything. I'll get there one day.
What I did do was go to San Churros and got three churros with dark chocolate for $7.90. Value for money? Yep. It was the perfect amount and the chocolate was rich and thick with a spanish twist, perfect for dipping. Definitely a good place for a hot dessert on a cold night.
Another place simply called Spanish Doughnuts on Elizabeth Street (across from Flinders Street station) sold churros filled with all sorts of things. I had a hot fresh one filled with peanut butter which was amazingly good. And later another filled with caramel and coated with chocolate. I have to say that one was less good, because wasn't as fresh, but still tasty.
Then on my last day in town I visited the Abbotsford Convent, which has been converted into a community space full of artists and natural therapists and friendly people. The bakery there had an array of tasty looking things, but I chose a chocolate filled cannoli. It was sweet in the middle and crunchy on the outside - just what I was looking for.
Later on I had an amazing meal at a place in Fitzroy called Birdman Eating.
There was haloumi, which I always love and an amazing lamb dish. But it was the Zucchini and Fetta Fritters that amazed me the most. They melted in my mouth and made me extraordinarily happy. Definitely good food. Go there.
www.birdmaneating.com.au