Church Street Enoteca, Richmond MELB

A few weeks prior to my trip, I wanted to tick off a few restaurants on my "to eat" list and one of them would be Church Street Enoteca. Listed in the Age Good Food Guide and known for serving good Italian fare, what more could I ask for?

Usually packed around dinner time, we were fortunate to secure a table despite a last minute reservation. I was impressed by our waiter's wine knowledge and recommendation - A+ for finding a wine that suits me well.

Gippsland aged grass fed eye fillet served with parsley, caper and shallot salad and confit garlic. Meat was prepared medium rare which, in my opinion, showcased the meat's tenderness and flavour pretty well. With a good cut of steak, not much else was needed to jazz up the plate.

Rabbit ~ unfortunately, I cannot recall the name of this dish of mine but would describe it as rabbit done thee ways :p Rabbit tortellini meets a rack of rabbit ribs and agnoletti? Meat was very succulent and was perfectly complimented by the assorted of ingredients used.

Kipfler potatoes, garlic and thyme ~ I love a good bowl of potatoes that has the right amount of crunch on the outside but still fluffy and fragrant on the inside. This one ticked all the right boxes for me:)

CSE tiramisu ~ torn between a tiramisu and panna cotta, I opted for the tiramisu, just because I like my desserts with a bit of alcohol infused into them. Not exactly your typical tiramisu, this one was a lot more subtle and probably a good one to opt for if you're after a light end to the meal.

One thing to note is that whilst food and service is excellent in this restaurant, it does come with a slightly hefty price tag attached. Good place to impress if that's the motive for the night:)

Airstream Cafe, Glen Waverley MELB

My three week long vacation is coming to an end and surprisingly enough, I am looking forward to heading home (although, still not in the mood for work!). Will update this blog on what I have been up to over the next few weeks along with more updates from last year's Europe trip.

This is one of the few places that I have yet to visit in Glen Waverley and was convinced to give this place a go by H. Fair enough, I was not disappointed at all:)
 
Chicken caesar salad ~ one of those dishes that I tend to order when I am not on my cheat days. Very generous portion to which, I struggled to finish but gladly managed to:)

Big kahuna ~ basically a Hawaiian pizza but with a thinner crust as opposed to the thicker, bread-like version. On the following week, I went ahead and ordered the Spartan and Hangover pizzas. Spartan was amazing and topped with succulent pieces of marinated lamb, peppers, onions, mozarella, feta and tzatziki. Highly recommended.

Fish and chips ~ beer battered fish fillets with a side of green salad. Always a sucker for fish and chips and this one gets two thumbs up for its drool-worthy, well seasoned crispy exterior.

Budapest - New York Cafe

Very rarely do I follow recommendations from strangers, not because I do not trust them, but rather due to the fact that each and every one of us have different preferences. When our tour guide told us about this cafe that we must visit as it's just around the corner from our hotel, I hesitated. Quoted by her to be "one of the most beautiful cafes you would have been to".

Despite our hectic schedule, the sister and I managed to squeeze in a visit here. And boy, was I blown away by the architecture and cafe interior. It's akin seating in an opera box - chandeliers, music, all at different levels.

In terms of affordability, it was quite similar to how much we would have paid in Australia but goodness me, the coffees comes in a vivid array of flavours. I had a creme brulee version and it was possibly one of the best coffees I have had in my life. Highly recommended and worth the effort to get yourself here.

A whirlwind day it was, hence the exhausted expression - would I repeat this experience? Yes, bring on round 2.

On a random note, here's the only picture I managed to snap at one of Budapest's ruin bars - a bar built from old/ worn out buildings...similar to Melbourne's alley bars except a lot more crowded and no dancing haha.