Brunetti, Carlton (Melbourne)

People watching and drinking coffee is the best way to catch up with an old friend

With 2 weeks away from my first exam, I went on a study break to Melbourne. I thought about this long and hard, pondering if I would have enough time to study, procrastinate and if it's worth the stress. Then I remembered my 2 years stint working where my vacation days were limited to 20 days a year and at the mercy of my boss. That decided it. Hello Melbourne.

Cakes, cakes, cakes and oh, more cakes!

A friend gave me a list of a top 5 must go places for coffee but I only managed to go to this one with a childhood friend. I was blown away when we first enter the shop. Rows of cakes, everywhere my eyes could see! Did I die and go to heaven? Did I go to Wonka's chocolate transformed into cake factory? Thank God I didn't lose my cool and drool.

Our two mochas

I love the expansive space, windows, and choices of cakes in Brunetti. We decided on a couple of mocha while we wait for our lunch to settle and make room for dessert. We sat facing the street to people watch and play a game. The mocha was really nice and balanced. I love it when I don't have to add sugar. I think that is how I judge the baristas' skills - if they can make coffee that is just right where I don't need to add anything. I always take my coffee as is, so if I don't like it, I don't go back.

A nice sweet stuff that I forgot the name of...

An hour and a half later - almost fully caught up with our lives stories and had fun at playing our game, I trawled the cakes display in search for our dessert. Still feeling my lunch up to my neck, but feeling guilty as one of the shop lady already explained every single cake to me, I ordered this canolli like dessert. I apologize I forgot the name! If you show this picture though, I'm sure they can tell you what it is hahaha... It was tiny but good. The custard has some rum in it (love it!), the pastry light, crumbly and savory. And! There was some cherries on it! I love cherries.

The space inside

I really wish they have this in Sydney. I could soooo see myself having regular coffee with my books and people watch when catching a break. Oh we also saw Chelsea from Masterchef when we were people watching. We saw this girl walk by and we were like, why does she look so familiar? 3 seconds later it dawned on us that she was from Masterchef. A quick phone call to my Masterchef fanatic friend revealed that Chelsea is supposedly working in Lygon st, just a stone's throw away.

Brunetti

194-204 Faraday St

Carlon, VIC 3053

Click here for website

Just Desserts at Tomislav

Expect the unexpected for less disappointment and more nice surprises

As of late, my motto has been "set low expectation" so that when things don't turn out nicely you're not overly disappointed and when things turn out nicely, it's a lovely surprise. So when food enthusiast (read: food obsessed) love my food and sugar asked me if I was interested to go for Tomislav's 'Just Desserts', I said "sure, why not". I didn't really think too much of it till she happened to mention that Tomislav worked with Heston Blumenthal from Heston's Feast. OMG. I felt my expectation rising up... ugh not good! Luckily, my slow recovery of my broken foot and college assignments kept that expectation in check.

Table and the restaurant's surrounding

Less than 15 minutes after arriving at the restaurant, I was in an invariably good mood. I was pleasantly surprised (read: rather blown away) with the staff hospitality! First, the hostess was really lovely and asked me about my foot without being overly nosy. She asked me if the table they had allocated for us was convenient for me. Then she remembered that love my food and sugar is allergic to alcohol and informed the kitchen so that when the Delamotte champagne and violet granite were served, the kitchen staff had replaced her champagne with lemonade. How's that for awesome hospitality?

Delamotte champagne and violet granite & how to mix it - look how pretty the color is!

Totally loved the champagne and violet granite. Aside from the fact that purple is my favorite color, the taste was really refreshing with just a hint of sweetness. Oh and it doesn't hurt that it reminded me of my fantastic holidays in the lavender fields of Furano! Maybe it was the champagne, maybe it was the company, or the staff or everything, but I think I fell in love with Tomislav then, or in the process of.

Grilled strawberries with white chocolate and mint

The first course was grilled strawberries with white chocolate and mint. When it was brought out, I couldn't stop the Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever to start playing in my head as I marveled at the powder converted white chocolate and mint. Hell's yeah molecular gastronomy! Love love loveeeeeeeeeee the white chocolate and mint powder! It totally reminded me of eating milk powder during my childhood. Another score for Tomislav. The mint?! Gosh, lovely lovely flavor and texture. Embarrassing as it is to admit, we were both scraping the plate... WE WANT MORE!

Goat curd cheese cake with elderflower and pistachio

The second course was this goat curd cheese cake with elderflower and pistachio. When I read that after I first sat down I was like... goat curd... hmm hope it's not stinky. Thankfully it came stinky free in a shape of a snail's house. I absolutely adored the whole plate. It was so pretty! It looked like a little garden with a snail surrounded with pretty flowers. Presentation? CHECK! The goat curd cheesecake was light and fluffy and below there was this other thing that I suspect was vanilla something. Absolutely delicious. All my pain, frustration over my foot, stress over my assignment were gone in this euphoric moment. I love the elderflower jelly, sweet and sour to counter the cheese. The pistachio added a crunchylicious factor too! The catch? None, but there were these little leaves that baffled us at first as it taste like lemongrass but for sure it wasn't. The staff informed us that it was lemon balm. Fancy that. If you can't tell, this is my favorite so far.

Caramel ice cream with toasted peanut

Soon after, came the caramel ice cream with toasted peanut. The unexpected factor? POP ROCK!! I kinda knew or hoped that pop rock will be incorporated somehow into the degustation menu and oh soooo delighted! This whole dish could be overly too sweet, caramel and all, but it wasn't and for that I was grateful and content.

Warm chocolate mousse with sea salt and olive oil, plus mulberry sorbet with horseradish topping

Then came the warm chocolate mousse with sea salt and olive oil that I had been anticipating. Ever since my trip to Barcelona's Alkimia late last year I look forward for any dessert that incorporates olive oil. The chocolate mousse was dark chocolatey, my favorite kind, salty with the sea salt and fresh from the olive oil. Did I die and gone to heaven? It came with mulberry sorbet and horseradish topping. Yup, you heard that right. Weird huh? Thought so too, but the whole combo worked perfectly.

Beef mince pie with grilled onion and de-re-constructed tomato sauce

Rice crackers and vinegar spray

Sad as we were that the desserts were done, we were looking forward for our beef mince pie. Once again, it did not disappoint. The pastry was yum. We asked the hostess to convince Tomislav to keep this as a regular menu. *Fingers crossed* Then for not so dessert 'dessert', we received rice crackers with vinegar spray. For some reason, I could not use the spray... love my food and sugar had to do it for me...

We were so sad that it was over... BUT!!! Tomislav and Black Star Pastry gave us a Black Star Pasty take away box! (see the photo at the very top) What a great way to finish! It was genius. We were ecstatic. And guess what?! Each box has NOT one but FOUR different pastries! I was in cloud nine. Tomislav and Black Star Pastry are now my favorites in Sydney.

Chef Tomislav and Black Star Pastry, will you be my BFFs?

Tomislav

2/23 Kirketon Rd

Darlinghurst, NSW 2010

+61 2 9356 4535

'Just Desserts' degustation was A$125 per person - but with amazing food quality and great hospitality, I am not complaining.

Day 2 cont'd: Mont Blanc and Morimoto cakes

Mont Blanc!

By the time we got back to Sapporo station, we were wiped out and our feet were crying for mercy. So we decided to hunt for a delicious looking cafe to sit and get some sugar boost. We found a cute delicious looking cafe in Apia, one of the shopping arcade in Sapporo Station.

Ginko chan ordered a roll cake and I being in Japan of course must maximize the opportunity to order Mont Blanc! Mont Blanc is originally Italian meringue based cake that is lavished with pureed chestnut. Japanese, however, perfected the art of any form of chestnut cream cakes. More on this on my Tokyo posts on later days. Anyway, back to this Mont Blanc, it was so good I could cry. So soft and sweet, yet not too sweet. Just perfect. Can someone please open a Japanese pastry and bakery in Sydney???

The cream inside wasn't too sweet at all, I could happily eat 2 back to back.

After that, we went to Daimaru department store to hunt for food for our take out dinner that we would be eating on the train ride to Bibaushi where we would be staying that night. It was food heaven! I wish I hadn't been too wow-ed out and remembered to take pictures, but sorry to say I was really distracted. Don't hate me yet, I did manage to take these pictures on this Hokkaido milk and strawberry daifuku that Ginko chan got for dessert.

Display of the Morimoto cakes on the Daimaru's basement, I regret not eating as much as I could...

Well, do you feel the urge to move to Japan now?

Afternoon Tea@ Cova

Cova's entrance

Considering Singapore was a former British colony it is of little wonder that afternoon tea is highly popular here. From afternoon tea break at the office to the splendid afternoon tea sets that are scattered all over the island. That afternoon, P and I just wanted some dessert after our lunch at Casa Verde and the first thing that came to mind was Cova. So we took a cab and headed towards Paragon.

Apparently we weren't the only one with that idea, so we had to wait for a bit before getting seated. The maitre d saw me taking a picture and asked me not to take a picture, but since I just had to blog this I sneaked in a few shots inside anyway. Food blogs or even pictures posted on facebook these days are a part of word of mouth review that restaurant should let people take pictures and post them online. If you read my posting on the dim sum at Cherry Garden, you would see that the reason I discovered it in the first place was a food blog! Free advertising for them, right?

Anyway, we decided to have some tea and shared a slice of the strawberry mousse cake as we were quite full from lunch. P got herself a pot of Earl Grey tea and I went with Imperial Scent o' Morocco. While we waited for our tea and cake to arrive, I surveyed the coast and took some pictures. I love how the setting in Cova is very regal and proper but not English like. The chandeliers, the brass mirrors on the dark wooden walls, low intensity lighting were very charming. I also like the neatness of the linen clothed tables and the comfortability of the chair. P and I were definitely loving the chair as they were much comfortable than where we were seated earlier.

The seats, the mirror and the bar reflected on the mirror

A little about Cova: it is Italian franchise, established in 1817 by a former soldier of Napoleon, Antonio Cova. For more on the history click here. I am always a firm believer that if a restaurant can survive that long, it is because they have good quality. When the cake arrived, I can confirm that indeed the quality is high. Not only the taste was good, the presentation too was nice. Another friend told me that the food here is also good, but so far I have yet to try their meals. Remembering how the restaurant is set up, with a majestic display of all the cakes and sweets you can think of on one side I associate Cova with cakes and dessert.

Strawberry Mousse Cake

Our tea came steaming hot in silver pots. Be careful not to burn your fingers. The tea scent was strong, my Imperial Scent o' Morocco smelled like mint tea, very calming and relaxing. The two of us sat there for quite a while just hanging out enjoying our tea and strawberry mousse cake. The mousse cake was soft and flavorful, and for those of you who prefer your strawberry mousse cake sweeter, they put whipped cream on the side.

A pot of Imperial Scent o' Morocco

A cup of Imperial Scent o' Morocco

Another thing that I like about Cova is that they don't hurry you to finish your meal or give you the bill before you even ask for it. I suppose their being in Paragon, one of the poshest mall in Singapore, does have something to do with it, but its just nice to be able to linger and decide when you want to make a move. The only thing that I would want them to change is, be more camera friendly. Trust me, they should let people take pictures. Digital pictures posted on the web is the 21st century version of word of mouth.

Caffe Cova
Paragon #01-20A
290 Orchard Road
+65 6836 0925

A little bit of sugar rush from Komugi

I woke up that day with a craving of strawberry shortcake. That was all I wanted to eat, actually since the night before. I remembered that there is a small cakery at the Papaya Japanese supermarket in Melawai that had cute fancy looking cakes. After securing a ride, I was on my way there. In less than half an hour I was already on my way back with a strawberry shortcake, pistachio pudding, montmercy and fruit anmitsu. I just had to try it so that I could write it for you all. So you see, it's for a greater purpose, not just gluttony.


Sideview of the strawberry shortcake @Rp 18,000

The strawberry shortcake looked so fluffy, like it would just melt in your mouth. It lived up to its look definitely. The short bread was firm with just a hint of sweetness. The cream felt white (yes white), fresh and sweet. The cream really complimented the shortbread. The strawberry was sour, unfortunately, but if you diced it to small enough pieces and eat one piece with a dollop of the cake and cream, it's good. I suppose, you can't blame them for not using the finest strawberry as it would increase the cost of this delectable treat.


Montmercy - intriguing little thing isn't it? A slice for Rp 28,000

Montmercy. I have no idea what that means. I just know that it looks like pie, green pie, that was made from pistachio I was told. In the middle of the pie, they put some cherries. Whole cherries. It has this sweet almond-y taste to it. Perhaps it was made from almond flour. The cherry was the highlight of my piece of montmercy, as it gave a fruity flavor to the otherwise sweet pie. I think they should put more cherries...


The fruit anmitsu and pistachio pudding

Fruit anmitsu was yummy, but it was mainly jelly instead of fruits. The spritzy jelly part wasn't my favorite as it was quite sour, I'd much rather they not have that at all. They should have used brown sugar instead to stay true to the real anmitsu.


Pretty colorful fruit anmitsu @Rp 19,000


My little pint of pistachio pudding @Rp 29,000

I love the cute pudding jar! It's shaped as a miniature milk jar. The pistachio pudding was so soft and creamy with a hint of pistachio. The color was green and it was oh so smooth it almost taste like cream.

Komugi Bakery & Pastry
Papaya Supermarket
Jl. Melawai Raya No. 28
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta
+62 21 7279 3777