Tag Archives: Melbourne

Miss Marple’s Tea Room – Dandenong Melbourne, Australia

14 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by in Australia, Gastronomy, Oversea Restaurants, Travel

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It has been raining everyday in KL now for the past few days. I love rainy day (but hate the traffic caused by it), especially if it’s raining in the evening. It always makes me feel like late winter in Melbourne. I love the fresh earthy smell and also it makes it so much cozier to snuggle in my warm bed and blanket at night.

For some reason, this also reminds me of Scones in Dandenong !

Don’t ask me why?! During my 6 years staying there, I somehow always end up going to Dandenong during late winter ! Maybe it’s because it’s usually low-peak season… And this means most shops are less crowded, including the famous Miss Marple’s Tea Room. Or maybe, I just love the air in Dandenong during that time of the year.

This quaint little place is furnish to ooze the typical English tea room. Walls are lined with a row of teapots, old mementos and nick nacks. At the back of the room, there’s an actual fireplace. Thankfully, most of the time we are there, it’s so empty that we get to sit really close to the fireplace. (Mum love it)

Miss Marple is famous for their Devonshire scones. Please note that personally, I won’t call it scones because it bears nothing like scones. lol… I remember the first time I had it, I was shock !!! IT looked more like a huge slab of raisin bread that tasted like a dense ‘fatt kou’ (it’s a sweet chinese steam cake normally used for special occasion).

Scones !!!

Yes – That huge slab of square loaf thingy… it’s the so-call scone. LOL….But overtime, I kind of got used to it and rather enjoy it. I love the combination of the whip cream and sweet tart jam spread over the chunky loaf.

Aside from their famous scones… I love their Belgian waffle. Crispy on the outside, soft and moist inside. nom nom nom… Belgian Waffles

Please beware that during peak season / hour, the queue to get in can be quite scary. I am not a fan of queueing up. So, I’ll usually skip Miss Marple if there’s any queue… But, if you are visiting Melbourne and is in Dandenong, why not give it a try?

Our usual Spread

Yarra Valley Dairy – Yarra Valley, Melbourne Australia

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Australia, Gastronomy, Oversea Restaurants, Travel

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I love driving to Yarra Valley Dairy whenever I drop by Melbourne. Why?

Cheese !!! Of course. :p

Not to mention the fabulous scenic drive along the way. I love the amazing trees, off-road tracks and miles of beautiful vineyards scattered across this part of the countryside. The drive from Melbourne City to Yarra Valley Dairy probably only took us about an hour plus with one or two toilet breaks along the way. So, it makes a great day trip / road trip.

Be prepared to veer off the proper road into some really bumpy roads to get to the destination. Hub took a wrong turn unfortunately due to a ‘slight-error’ made by the navigator (me). But, thankfully – we got back right on track immediately because my friend who was supposedly trailing us took the right turn after seeing the sign board. LOL.Yarra Dairy TurnoffRight on Track

The shop has definitely expanded since my last trip there (maybe 4 years ago…). The dairy farm produces their own cheese and is mainly the fresh and soft varieties either from cow’s milk or goat’s milk.

We have Arrived !

Inside their cheese shop (which is the original 100 year old milking shed), the cheese tastings are complimentary. I think we tried about 6 -7 types of cheeses that day. ALL the cheese was really good (Personally, I prefer the cow’s milk ones). I was really in love with one of the cheeses and was tempted to get a tub back. Unfortunately, we still had some roads to cover and it’s not too good to leave the cheese without refrigeration for more than an hour or 2.

Cheese Selections for Dine-in Other Platters

So, the next option I have is to sit myself down and wallop the whole plate of cheese platter as compensation. Nom. Nom. Nom…

Our Cheese Platter 01 Our Cheese Platter 02

Aside from the cheese, there’s also quite a selection of desserts available. They have Ice-cream too !!! Personally, I think you should have at least ONE cheese platter if you are there. Come on… It’s a dairy ! ;p

Yummy desserts

What a beautiful rustic ambience to share an amazing cheese platter with friends and family, Chatting and chomping away. This is what life is about…Can’t wait till I’m back again.

Rustic Ambience inside Cheese shop

 

Happy Mama day 2013

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Australia, Gastronomy, Home Cook Food, Travel

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It was a blessing that I get to spend Mother’s Day this year with mum. Normally we would find each other in different continent. So, for mother’s day this year, I decided to prepare my family an elaborate dinner.

Surprisingly, mum was more than happy to surrender her kitchen to me. Normally, it’s pretty hard to convince her to let me use her kitchen because she always say I make a huge mess and she need to clean it up after. LOL.

Being in Melbourne makes it easier for me to hunt for great and fresh ingredients (you can get almost anything from Vic Mart). I had some ideas what I would like to prepare for dinner but I was still playing around the menu in my head. I prefer to look what are the freshest products that morning before deciding the dishes I would like to prepare.

While in the deli section of Vic Mart, I saw a huge varieties of cheeses. It was amazing. After discussing with the lady boss, we finally settle on some locally made goat’s cheese. The texture was really smooth and creamy with a mild after taste. She also told me that it’s a good melting cheese.

So, ta-da… May I present, Goat’s cheese toasted on baguette. I marinated the cheese with some olive oil, sprinkle of salt and pepper, fresh thyme and tarragon, and drizzle with some honey lemon. The combination of taste was so really good.

Toasted bread with Goat CheeseFor Mains, I made cold basil beef and Magret de canard à l’orange (Duck in orange sauce). Nom nom nom… I am salivating looking at these pictures. LOL.

Cold basil beef

Magret de canard à l'orangeBoth mains are convenient as I can per-prepare in advance.That way, I can kick-back and relax before the dinner and not look like I have slave away in the kicthen the whole day. ;p The orange sauce turns out so beautiful. It’s the orange I tell you ! These babies are pack with real ‘orange’ smell and taste, unlike the oranges I get back in KL.

For sides, I made Pommes Anna (forgot to take picture of this one – must check if my sis took ’em)

Pommes Anna

and mum prepared Avocado Salad with toasted walnut and pine nut drizzled with light vinaigrette dressing.

Avocado Salad with toasted walnut and pine nut drizzle with light vinaigrette dressingWhat an awesome meal with great company. We end the meal with dessert. And, the best dessert is ice-cream. My beastie (Ms. SL) kindly brought over a tub of New Zealand ice cream which all of us just dig in from the box. hehehe.

ICE CREAM !!!

On top of that, we manage to get hold of some amazing bubbly during our trip to Yarra Valley a few days back from Yerring Estate and Domaine Chandon. Yummilicious !

champagne- bubblyHappy Mama Day 2013. Luv you loads, Chuletz.