Sweet Evelyn Cafe

We were invited by Sweet Evelyn Cafe to dine as guests, and it turned out to be the perfect start to our weekend! They are a cute little cafe located in the hipster suburb of Brunswick. I loved the semi rustic feel of the cafe with the tin roof and huge planter boxes located just before you walk in. This feeling carried flowed through to the inside with the worn wooden floorboards, and vintage style lights. I never got the sense that they’re trying to be something they’re not, instead I got a strong message from them that says ‘this is what we are, and we welcome you’.

We generally have a quick look at the menu the a few days before to see what types of food are available. I quickly detoured from my original food choice due to a heavy night of drinking the previous night, and I didn’t feel like anything too heavy. I opted for the Acai bowl but I had a bit of trouble ordering it because I realised I’ve been pronouncing it wrong this whole time! I’ve always pronounced it ‘AK-KAI’ but it turns out that it’s ‘AH-SAI-EE’. Now how the hell was I supposed to know that? How embarrassing… all the other places must have not bothered to correct me.

Helen could never turn down baked eggs when it’s available on the menu, so she opted for the Shakshuka Baked Eggs which is a Middle Eastern style baked eggs with peppers, tomato and goats cheese served with sour dough bread. I was lucky enough to be offered a few spoonfuls by her and it was soooooo good! The balance of the tomato and peppers sauce was perfect, it wasn’t too sweet or sour. The eggs were still runny and the goats cheese rounded up the dish beautifully. Helen mopped up all the sauce with the sour dough bread, a valiant effort from her!

My Acai bowl was exactly what the doctor ordered. It was a giant bowl of fibre and nutrients, which was everything my body was craving for. It was also Instagram worthy, all the ingredients were separated and displayed artistically. I didn’t know how to tackle it because I didn’t want to ruin the presentation. This concern lasted for about 5 seconds before I just went for it! For a fruit lover such as myself, this was divine. The house baked granola provided a textual and temperature contrast to this dish, something I don’t get in other Acai bowls. I couldn’t fault it at all and loved it from start to finish.

We had a great experience overall and would highly recommend Sweet Evelyn Cafe to anyone looking for some daytime indulgence! Just a stone’s throw away on Fallon Street, there’s a great place called Very Edible Gardens. We walked past them, and they were happy to show us their veggie patches and chook pens. There’s something about watching food grow that makes it so comforting. Check these guys out too if you happen to visit Sweet Evelyn Cafe!

Sweet Evelyn Cafe
Approx $25 AUD per person
Address: 128 Union St, Brunswick VIC 3056
Phone: +61 3 9078 3734
Website: sweetevelyn.com.au

Sweet Evelyn Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Oyster Bar & Grill

We were at Crown for a few nights over the Easter break and decided to check out Oyster Bar & Grill, a more casual yet sophisticated dining area located in a corner area of The Atlantic. The main reason for this visit of course was for the $2 oysters! Yes, you heard! Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday they do $2 oysters until sold out. When we caught wind of this, we knew we had to be there. It reminded of us when we were in New York and downing $1 USD oysters during happy hour. Ahh memories…

Anyway, we ended up going back there TWICE during our stay because the oysters were THAT good! They were so fresh and delicious. They weren’t too big and came with a lovely shallot vinaigrette which I of course drowned the oysters in because I can’t get enough of it. Davin probably ate half a dozen and I had about a dozen to myself because I love oysters that much.

We also ordered a crab toast which consisted of hand picked spanner crab and avocado cream. It was delicious and again the crab was super fresh.

As a main we ordered the King Prawn Spaghetti to share, the dish was cooked to perfection. The pasta was al dente, the prawns were fresh and the sauce was well flavoured with chilli, garlic, lemon and parsley.

Overall, the food was of very high quality. The restaurant itself had a great ambience with a classy feel to it and the staff were very friendly and efficient. The only thing I’ll note is that there was a bit of confusion at the end when we paid our bill. Firstly, our Crown membership card didn’t seem to work so the guy that took our payment told us we needed to take our bill to the Crown Rewards front desk so that they could add the reward points onto our card. He also told us that we couldn’t obtain free parking because The Atlantic was not a Crown restaurant (we were advised that if you dined and spent $50 or more at a Crown restaurant that you get free parking). That was fine for us.

So we took our bill to the Crowns Reward desk and they told us that the restaurant should have provided us with a manual adjustment form so that they could add the points onto our card and that we SHOULD have got free parking for dining there. They were kind enough to add the free parking to our card but we had to walk back to the restaurant to ask for the manual adjustment form to get our points. We ended up speaking to someone else at the restaurant who dealt with it for us. We saw him talk to the original guy we spoke to who seemed to shake his head like he didn’t even remember us. Oh well, other than that it was a great dining experience.

Oyster Bar & Grill
Approx $65 AUD per person
Address: 8 Whiteman St, Southbank VIC 3006
Phone: +61 3 9698 8888
Website: http://theatlantic.com.au/eat/oyster-bar-grill

Oyster Bar & Grill Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato