Capital Kitchen - Chadstone

The cafe in Elsternwick that was meant to open after 19th January (see my post *here*) was open today alright- it was open for renovations! Garh!

Since we were both hungry and I was planning to force the boy to head to Chaddy after brunch for a day of shopping (hee) I decided to kill two birds with one stone and have brunch in Chaddy instead. First place that came to mind was Capital Kitchen. I'm glad we didn't go anywhere else- the food was so yummy! I loved the layout and decor as well- high ceilings, exposed brick walls, light airy space, long communal tables, comfy sofas, big giant wall clock 20 times the size of my head.....The Iphone doesn't really capture the beauty of the decor, I felt like I was sitting in an industrial warehouse somewhere in health-conscious LA!

There weren't many choices on the breakfast menu, but what they had were tried & tested goodies. For the first time in brightcopperkettle brunch history, we both ordered the same thing.

Spanish eggs with tomato sugo, egg, chorizo and buttered sourdough. The sourdough was a tad crispier than I would've liked it to be but it was good for mopping up all that tomato goodness. I would have preferred the egg to be more runny too- the yolk was cooked through :( - but the chickpeas and kidney beans in the tomato sugo- they were so hearty. And I don't really like chickpeas OR kidney beans in the first place so you can imagine how tasty this was!

And the soy chai was so good, I believe it was made with true blue spices- the empty glass deserved a picture on its own to showcase the deliciousness that was the chai.

Mmmm- I was surprisingly very satisfied with Capital Kitchen overall. Next time we're in Chaddy we know where to head to for brunch! There's banana bread with maple mascarpone calling my name :)

Cafe Gaia - South Yarra

I once wrote about Dead Man Espresso, and Laurent Hoffarth who used to run the kitchen there and has since moved on to be head chef at Cafe Gaia, posted a comment and invited me to follow along on his food adventure at his new cafe. So I did just exactly that today :) The second time I visited Dead Man was disappointing- the pork belly sandwich was dry and for lack of a better word, uninspiring. It was time to move on to new cafes!

We were meant to visit another cafe in Elsternwick but it was closed till 19th Jan (today!)- just my luck huh? Anyways, since we were around that area we didn't want to travel back to the city or South Melbourne and were looking for cafes around the St Kilda/Prahran/Toorak/South Yarra area. A quick peek on Urbanspoon listed Cafe Gaia and I thought, 'Hang on a minute, this place sounds familar'....and the penny dropped! I read it in my comments once! And off we went to South Yarra, excited about the discovery of a new brunch place for us.

Soy chai- not sure if the syrup was used. If it was, real spices would have been way better.

Enjoying the weather (ok, I lie- it was chilly and cold that morning!). It's just that pictures look better in natural daylight :D

Haha I thought this picture was funny. Someone didn't look too happy with me, in fact, he looked like he was ready to stab me with the butter knife. But but but what did I doooo?

That's better :)

I ordered the breakfast piadina- purely because the waiter told me it included bacon and after that all I could think about was bacon, bacon, bacon! This was so delicious! In between the toasted Italian flat bread is scrambled egg, bacon, relish and rocket leaves. Fresh tomato salsa sits on the top, as you can see. The first bite of this transported me back to when I was 13, back to when I was in Europe for a holiday and had ordered a flatbread sandwich to satisfy my hunger pangs. Just like how certain smells evoke a certain memory, the same goes for food. 

The boy ordered the potato and rosemary rosti, with crispy pork belly, tomato & chilli relish and poached eggs. This is another win for Cafe Gaia- absolutely yummy! The hint of chilli in the relish gave it just the kick it needed to differentiate itself from being an ordinary relish. The roast pork belly was so tender it literally fell apart on your fork. Only gripe was that the crackling wasn't crispy.

Ahhh- birthday brunch totally exceeded my expectations!

A quick glance at the specials board today listed french toast with chai mascarpone...if I wasn't so full and satisfied from my piadina I would've ordered that for dessert. Maybe next time ;) 

Izakaya Den

Hidden in the basement of a building on the corner of Russell and Little Collins St lies Izakaya Den. Descending the stairs takes you to Chiodo, but that's not why we're here. At the very bottom of the stairs a black curtain hangs ominously on the left. If I wasn't with the boy I'd think I was at the wrong place. Push past the curtain and you'll find a glass door leading you to a restaurant bustling with patrons, chefs and waiters. Welcome to Izakaya Den. 

Drinks and food menu

There was a wait even on a Tuesday night so we ordered a couple of drinks whilst waiting.

I ordered the Hyakunen Umeshu- plum soaked in honey and brandy. Absolutely delicious.

The bar, and further along the bar is a stonetop area for dining. 

Perusing the drinks list which by the way, seemed quite extensive to me. Sake, wines, shochu, beer, cocktails, umeshu...everything under the sun!

Hello

Er, too many choices on the menu made it difficult to order? (no, not really)

Open kitchen concept whereby the chefs cook everything in front of you. The wait to get a table was around 20 minutes or so, but once your order is put through, they come flying out of the kitchen at top speed!

Fresh salmon roll with pickled konbu- pretty ordinary, but the salmon was very fresh!

Spicy tuna with taro chips, daikon and nori. I have to say- Nobu does something similar, and it does it better.

Deep fried sweet corn with green tea sea salt- was so good! It's a unique dish and the sweetness of the corn greatly complimented the salt.

Cocktail potatoes with anchovy butter. A squeeze of the lemon wedge and you're ready to rock and roll. I loved this, but it's because I like savoury food and you can't get any more savoury than anchovies!

Wagyu tataki with wasabi cream. This could be the first time I'm saying this about any of the food I've had...I absolutely hated this! I think it was cut too thickly and as a result it ended up being too chewy and raw. Moving on, moving on.....

This was the star of the night! Char-grilled duck with leek. It was beautifully cooked, tender and moist. I loved this!

Special fried black rice- nothing special but after the first few bites I tasted a little bit of sweetness coming through. Its texture is quite similar to wild rice.

Apple mille feuille- as the name suggests I thought I'd be served an apple pastry but no...out came this tower of apple sorbet on apple chips, drizzled with honey! It was refreshing but next time I'll pick the black sesame creme brulee over this.

We shared 7 dishes and 1 dessert and came out walking instead of having to roll ourselves down Lt Collins St. Pretty good result for an unexpected, unplanned night out on town ;)

Birthday photostory...

The apartment smells BEAUTIFUL- thanks to the lilies given to me by my manager. She even went through the trouble to decorate my desk with balloons and ribbons!

I'm not big on celebrations- so like last year *Montalto*Botanical*Press Club*, I kick-started my birthday a lil bit earlier. The night before my birthday, the boy and I made an impromptu decision to pay Izakaya Den in the CBD a visit. On the actual day itself, I took the day off work since I have an unofficial 'no-working-on-birthdays' policy and spent it doing whatever I felt like! Days with no plans and time constraints are the best. I <3 it!  Short post for now- reviews on Izakaya Den and Cafe Gaia to come in the next couple of days :)

Paid the newly refurbished Myer a visit- came away with two pairs of Leona Edmiston Luxury Opaques. Nothing, I repeat, nothing can top these. They are the best (imho) :D Stocking (no pun intended, hee hee) up for winter and nothing wrong with keeping a spare pair for the confused a.k.a chilly summer days Melbourne seems to be experiencing so far.

Bally surprised me with a handwritten birthday card! Who does this anymore? It entitles me to 10% off full price items for the month of January. I don't see myself using it- any takers?

Cupcakes from the heart, for the soul. Most delicious cupcakes in town- you have to try them!

Every girl needs a large cocktail ring. And pastel purple tips- gorgeous colour!

My shoes arrived two days ago- great timing, right? They are a half-size too large but nothing insoles and heel grips can't easily fix! Call me crazy, but the colour is hard to come by....I'm not willing to wait forever for them to pop up in my size!

Izakaya Den

Cafe Gaia

Till next time, xoxo!

Fill me up

The past week or so the fuel tank had been near empty many times. The light would blink slowly, and then quickly and then slowly again when he topped it up with $5 bucks worth of petrol. The reason? Fuel was more expensive than usual! So today was the cheapest we'd seen it all week and we went in to fill the tank.

Result? HAHAHAHAH- the tank is still not full!

He got in the car and literally went, 'Ehhhhhhhhhhh, why not full tank!' Hee hee hee, what a noob.

Summer berries

The last time I had superdupersweet strawberries were 5 years ago (yes, it could have been that long!!) when I went strawberry picking with my family at Sunny Ridge Strawberry farm- and my mom lost her sunnies in the midst of picking but that can be a story for another day haha,  so I was really happy my visit to Queen Victoria Market on the weekend ended up being fruitful- har har. Pardon the pun :D I got 3 punnets for only $4! 

I love that summer is when my favourite fruits come into season- white fleshed nectarines, strawberries, persimmons, fresh figs, oh yum! I also went apple and peach/nectarine picking last year at the farms in February and they were very, very sweet as well. I've never been able to buy fruits from the markets or supermarkets that were that delicious ever since tasting the freshness and juiciness of fruits coming straight from the farms. I can't wait for the little weekend excursion to QVM to see what fruits I can add to the menu for next week!

My window to the world

I was an avid reader of books. I remember mentioning on this blog sometime ago that I used to go through a couple of books a week (does anyone remember the 'Sweet Valley' series?). I believe I READ.THEM.ALL. I would always visit the bookstores once a week and dad would always get me the books I wanted. I'd read my afternoons and nights away, curled up in the black leather two-seater which has now been given away, replaced by a comfy L-shaped couch in the living room. 

I graduated from Sweet Valley to novels and would borrow books from this corner store in Subang Parade, until I became roommates with the storeowners' daughter here in Melbourne during my first year of uni. Once uni began, nothing else seemed to matter. I would not touch a book as often anymore. Twice a year, if I was lucky.

I found it hard to get back into the habit of reading, of letting myself be transported to another world. The Internet, with all its instant answers replaced books as thick as 500 pages each. That changed recently however, I picked up Jean Sasson's 'Princess' and have just purchased two more books- the sequels to her first book. It tells the story of the plight of Saudi Arabian women. What makes it interesting is the fact that it is told from the point of view of a Saudi Arabian princess and is a true story. Go on, I urge you to pick this book up. It will open your mind and eyes to another world unknown to us.

Only in KL...

If I didn't do this now I'd never do it in the next week, so here goes- my trip back to KL in pictures! :D Everyone loves pictures, right?

Roast chicken rice- delish!

'Lui cha'- the best vegetarian dish ever

Snowflake (fine, this is Taiwanese but mmm 'gui ling gao'...

But really, nothing to shout about...they almost always use the same ingredients in every combination

The best 'rojak' in SS15....been around for years and there's always a queue...

Proof.

Nothing in Melbourne can ever compare to the 'mee hoon ker' I had...

Carebear came with me... and she says hi

Aloe vera plant- thriving in my grandparents' garden. If only I had one here too, it's great for soothing sunburns, itchiness...and tastes delicious when boiled with rock sugar and red dates, or eaten raw with honey. 

Potted plants galore- how does her garden grow so green?

Home of caterpillars. When I was young we used to torture caterpillars. Bad, I know.

Mangoes everywhere!

Even high up in the air...These are for the squirrels, my grandmother says.

 

And then we have these- unique to the Chinese culture.

Wok.

What would you call this (no, not the stool)?

 Nothing. Can. Beat.

My. Grandmother's. 

Home-cooked. Food :)