Melbourne 2023

Carried on from my Sydney 2023 post (finally making some time in between drawings!), my first stop in Melbourne is almost always Brother Baba Budan. Having a 5PM closing time is handy!

Cumulus Inc is also generally my first meal stop! It's a bit different from what I remember in terms of opening times; it seems to not be open for breakfast these days? That's ok, I understand. Not sure if they're still doing half serves either but I managed to eat all the food I ordered! It was too late for lunch, too early for dinner. Some oysters, the tuna tartar, a cucumber salad which looked super interesting. And some mussels escabeche, because their seafood is always done so well, and this was no exception! Also managed to fit in a strawberry panna cotta!

Even though I was mostly full, I wanted to try one of the chinatown shops, just for something small, so that I wouldn't be starving at night. I liked the look of a shop called Crazy Wings, and I only learned later that apparently they had a fire recently! I also didn't realise I went in on a day when there was a buy one get one free on exactly the skewer I ordered, so I ended up with more food than I was expecting. Some really tasty chicken bits here! Wings, probably giblets, thigh, and some other things! The seasoning was a tad spicy so I had to chug the "plum juice", which turned out to be prune juice, which was also delicious. The chicken feet were also spicy but I really wanted chicken wings, and I was so full I had to take most of the feet back to my hotel.

There was a person next to me who also got skewers and this massive plate of fried rice that looked so good. This was funny because she got asked a few questions about the fried rice she was eating, and then some people also asked me for recommendations! What should I do? Should I say this is my first time and I have no idea what I'm doing? But I gathered enough from what the other person was saying that I managed to say similar things and then also give my own opinion! Definitely a place I'd want to eat at again!

The next morning I was off hunting for onigiri. 279 Victoria St is a musubi shop that came up on my feed a long time ago, and then my brother also visited recently and said it was really good. So, here I am! I wanted to not overcaffeinate so I went for a houjicha, even though they had an interesting line up of coffees. And oh my goodness, that is one delicious rice ball! Saba shio kombu is so good! I also saw kuzu mochi on the menu, so I had to have that too - though I was expecting arrowroot powder, and a triangular cut mochi - I am still haunted by the memory of that one time in Japan I didn't buy kuzu mochi after enquiring about it because it wasn't what I wanted at the time??? But I really need to know what kuzu mochi is like! And what I got looked more like warabi mochi, but it tasted so good! I love warabi mochi, so I was super happy!

I was a bit awkward and tried to ask about their kuzu mochi after I ate, hoping to find out how it was made. The chef came out and brought out an allergens booklet, but I tried to clarify and wanted to know more about the ingredients, and she mentioned tapioca starch, and so I want to try making warabi mochi with tapioca starch at some point! My only previous experience was using what I believe was sweet potato powder, which also turned out really well, but I guess everyone mostly uses tapioca starch so I want to try too!

Tarts anon also came up on my radar, so I had to try that. The agony of choice though! I needed the original custard tart, but also another flavour, so I think this was a white peach one, and then also a savoury one, which had chorizo in it, and all three were so good! Why do I want to eat so much food all the time! I love it when food tastes good and also has such a technically perfect structure and presentation!

And I managed to hang out with a friend and his dog! Isn't Tofu so cute???

I had some time to kill before dinner, so I figured, hey why not visit Melbourne Zoo!

Having worked up an appetite from exploring the zoo, I then headed to Komeyui for a delicious dining experience! It was a place that was on my list for a while, but Minamishima had taken precedence on my last visit, so finally this place made it to the top of my list!

And a cheeky crepe! I love the Petite Creperie! A classic lemon and sugar!

Wow, what a downpour! I was travelling super light so I didn't pack any rain boots, just regular boots that were okay for heavy rain but not super storms! I was absolutely drenched and my boots were wet for days after this! But I will trek through anything for food, and successfully made it to Hector's Deli for a beef sandwich. It was super comforting to eat!

The show had to go on, and luckily, the thunderstorm cleared up for the rest of the day.

The next coffee adventure was the most interesting one for this trip, my barista recommended that I go to the Zest Coffee tasting studio, and while the website seemed to indicate it required a booking, I decided to try my luck as a walk in. Ah, it's not a cafe! It's literally a "studio"! They do classes, sensory flights, etc here, and yes, it really is best to pre-book! But since it was a terrible and gloomy day, it was empty, so I managed to sit down and choose a tasting experience.

There are some wild price points here! The cheapest flight was $35, the mid range being $50, and ninetyplus costing $75. For three coffees. I actually didn't mind which set I tried, and after talking to the barista/owner, we settled on the Granja Paraiso 92 tasting (which was the $50 one). I'd had a Granja Paraiso 92 before at Blacklist, but this was a set of three different varietals which underwent the same processing method (thermoshock!). It was so good! The coffees were experimental and full of flavour, orange bourbon was my favourite varietal! I would have loved to have tried the sudan rume varietal too, but they were out. But that's ok, I was definitely very happy with my experience! We talked a lot about the coffee, he even had a book with photos about the farm visit they had. We then went on to talk about where I'd seen Zest coffee in other states, which was pretty fun!

Definitely a good visit, next time, I'll have to take a trip to Manta Ray coffee roasters!

Oh no. Zest Coffee Tasting Studio is near Collingwood, I kind of had to pass through it on the way back, oh no....

And so I ended up back at Proud Mary, only because I was too caffeinated to go to Aunty Peg's! I'm so silly like that. I got my short mac, because the east coast can do a proper mac (none of this Perth topped up stuff!), and the food was very welcome after so much coffee, this small prawn roll was good!

Hey it's Fluffy Torpedo! I had the strangest feeling I saw this place last time I was in Melbourne, but I don't think that's possible because it didn't exist??? I am not too sure. But this place is great for all of the crazy flavours it has! Think vegemite white chocolate! That's the scoop on top! I couldn't decide what other interesting flavour I wanted. I was going to go with a fruity/berry (maybe aeroplane jelly?) type but after tasting it and finding that it tasted pretty much like what I expected, I decided that the most interesting flavour to have was actually the liquorice, and wow, it was GOOD. I'm not exactly a liquorice superfan, so it did become a bit too much towards the end, but it was definitely amazing. Would recommend!!!

I don't remember what I had for dinner that night, but I am pretty sure it was trashy because I didn't want to spend too much money, and, I wanted to try different things. Somehow, that ended up being a Hot Star fried chicken, because the ones in Perth got rebranded, and my brother said that the Melbourne Hot Star was better than Sydney's. It's interesting because the fried chicken is coated in what feels like tapioca starch? It had a nice sweetness and chew!

And the morning before my fly out - a cute little cafe in the city called Hikari! This was a pretty good shokupan and the coffee was so good! It was a Glitch coffee so I couldn't resist - the barista was apologising for how long it would take to make my coffee due to their staffing levels, but it was totally okay! I felt bad that they were apologising so much.

Other noteworthy things from the trip that weren't pictured - right around the corner from Hikari, are Bakemono Bakers and Little Rogue - both are very good! Bakemono is extremely amazing; Lune is the whole "you have to try it at least once" but Bakemono is for people in the know. Little Rogue also does nice coffee, but what place doesn't!

It was such a great adventure!

Komeyui Melbourne

I only really wanted to choose one restaurant to book while in Melbourne, and Komeyui has been on my list for several years and seems to regularly pop up as a great restaurant to visit. Some of the research I did shows that this omakase would be interesting, since they also offer kaiseki options, so I wanted to see what dishes they'd have on offer!

Autumn sunset - fresh oyster, scallop, grapefruit, scampi caviar

Hello scampi caviar, I haven't seen you in so long! So many of my favourite things in a combo I haven't had before!

The Jewel of Heard Island - cured toothfish, shaved qukes, yumepirika tart, miso oroshi ginger sauce

Okay this plating is so fun and interesting too! I definitely love the way the dishes are presented here. This is my first time having cured toothfish too, and it was nice! The yumepirika rice tart was very crunchy, which was a great contrast to the fish.

Onsen Tenaga Ebi - steamed scampi, soy curd skin, ginger ankake

This was the cutest dish of the night! Look at it! An adorable little scampi complete with flower decoration! Of course, I took multiple pictures of it as a result. The chef also recommended to scoop the brains out of the prawn to mix into the ginger ankake. How fun and tasty!

Konnichiwa Wagyu-san! - Seared Mayura MB9+ wagyu, truffled creme fraiche, shaved shiitake

Even the menu description is excited! This doesn't look like much but it was my favourite dish of the night! I thought it would be the scampi, but as soon as I bit into the beef, I knew. The truffle oil and the shiitake made it nice and aromatic, but it was the bite of the beef that sold me. It was tender, but there was this lovely hint of resistance, like sinew? But not chewy - I don't know how to describe it exactly but it's my favourite kind of texture where it gives a little, before it gives way. Sooo good!

And then came the 10 piece nigiri selection!

Snapper, alfonsino, tuna, and Salmon with fried radish (I think it was fried radish) were the first in the lineup. The salmon was actually a pleasant surprise because that fried radish?? was very crispy and the texture worked so well! It's something I haven't had before in that combo so I was very happy with it!

Josper Wagyu Bouillon - Josper grilled MB9+ wagyu soup, cherry tomato, shallot, pumpkin.

Soup time! What a cute little soup! It took me a while to remember what a Josper was, but I recalled it being a super fancy oven! This was a light, clear soup that was perfect to have between courses.

The last few nigiri were kingfish, scampi, otoro, wagyu, scallop, and anago. I was curious as to how this wagyu would taste, considering the previous wagyu dish was so good. The seared wagyu and shiitake from earlier was definitely a clear winner!

What's also interesting is that I seem to recognise anago! The size and shape is different from that of unagi! It was good to have this as the final piece!

Born in Kochi-ken - matcha gateau, adzuki red bean paste, yuzu panna cotta.

I was super amused at the olive branch in the middle, only because my pigeons love olive branches haha! The waitstaff recommended alternating between the two desserts, but I had a clear favourite, the yuzu panna cotta.

There was also a most delicious matcha and soybean tea that was served at the end! Funny story, I tried to order this at the beginning, since I saw it on the menu, but I was told that coffee or tea was included at the end, so that I could choose another drink if I wanted. The tea turned out really tasty, and it was so good that I got an extra pour of it!

Overall it was quite enjoyable, and I liked the variety of dishes. It's been so long since I've done any kind of fine dining and this was a great experience!

And we're not quite done yet. On the way to the bathroom, I noticed the photo on the wall. Wow, pigeons!! Haha I can't believe they'd have a photo of pigeons! I found that adorable, but was also puzzled that someone would actually print a photo like this! I mean, I took a similar photo in Sydney lol, maybe I can "publish" a pigeon photo!