Dining Out in Melbourne: Part 1

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a great weekend. We had a bit of a lazy one. On Friday we said goodbye to some family who were visiting, and then did a lot nothing. It was awesome. Tj has been so busy at work so it was nice for him to finally have some time to relax in our new place. Saturday we braved the chaos and went to IKEA to return some stuff and pick up a few other little things we needed. The highlight of my weekend was finding the shoe rack we were looking for in the As-Is department! LOL. Our place is starting to come together! It was rainy all afternoon so it was perfect to read and watch movies. Now that we are more settled here we are looking forward to having a bit of routine. This is actually the first weekend we haven't eaten out since we've lived here!

If you've been following along on the blog, you've probably noticed that we've been dining out. A lot. I think we've eaten at more restaurants in our three months in Melbourne than we did for the entire two years we lived in London. The food here is that good. Tj is awesome at researching new places for us to try. He uses the app Foursquare and keeps lists of different restaurants in different so whenever we are in a new part of town, he already has a few ideas of where to go. I love it, but sometimes he gets annoyed at having to make all the restaurant decisions haha.

I am a vegetarian (minus a hot dog here or there) and I am usually pretty good at finding something on any menu that I can eat, even if it means just ordering from the starters or sides. But so far in Melbourne I've found that instead of one signature vegetarian option, there are always lots of vegan and vegetarian options. Even at the Asian restaurants there is a lot for me to choose from. And the waiters have been extremely helpful at recommending a few dishes for me to try, or explaining which ones can made vegetarian. 

In terms of pricing, I find it pretty similar to Canada. It might be slightly more expensive, but remember that taxes are included in the menu price, and you don't tip here. And generally it's been worth it. Even when one of us hasn't really liked our meal, the other has loved theirs, so I think it's probably that we just haven't picked the right dish and not that the food sucks.

We have been trying a lot of breakfast and brunch places (which is my favourite meal to eat at a restaurant!). For dinner we seem to enjoy a lot of Asian food haha. Here are some of our favorite places so far: 

Breakfast/Brunch:

• Humble Ray's - French Toast Forever is an absolute must-try! It's very sweet so I suggest sharing.
• Journeyman Café - The best soy chai latte I've had so far! Really good breakfast options.
• Two Birds One Stone - Lisa's favourite breakfast while she was here was 'The Breakfast'
• Top Paddock Café  - Tj had the Salmon and loved it. The iced coffee had a scoop of ice cream in it! I don't even drink coffee and I thought it looked amazing. 
• Abacus Bar & Kitchen - This one is super close to us. Tj loves the coffee here! He stops for one all the time. I love the design of the restaurant. It has a great atmosphere and yummy food (we've only been here for breakfast so far)

Lunch/Dinner:

• Lucy Liu Kitchen & Bar - Asian food. Great for sharing! Tj suggests the Kingfish Sashimi or the Soft-Shelled Crab pancake roll vegetarian alternate that I ordered (they replaced the crab with vegetable tempura and it was so good. I asked for spicy level 2 or 3 on a scale of 1-10 hahaha)
•  Shandong Mama - THE best dumplings! The vegetarian ones are so good even Lisa wanted more. Tj loves the fish ones. We prefer the boiled dumplings over fried. 
• Miss Chu Tuckshop - really good spring rolls. This one is pretty close to us so we've been here a few times when we are looking to pick up something quick
• Chin Chin - Thai food. Tj and Lisa loved the Green Curry. Great atmosphere. 
• Il Solito Posto - We went here with some friends and had a few appetizers and a lot of pasta. We all loved whatever we ordered. They had some really good daily specials too. 

Are you hungry yet? LOL. Have a great day :) I know I'll be daydreaming about that stuffed french toast...