Journeyman

December 18, 2016May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

It was my last day of work before the Christmas break and my work mate and I decided that we’ll treat ourselves to something good! So he’s a guy who always likes to go to the same places to eat, whilst I’m someone who loves to try new places. Guess I got my way this time =)

Journeyman was always a place that came up on my Zomato feed, and with such a high rating, I had to recommend coming here. My work mate is easily impressed with a cafe/restaurant just from the decor, so before I even looked at the menu, I had a look at some photos of Journeyman to see if it’ll fit this requirement. It looked amazing in the photos and true enough, the decor and atmosphere was even better in real life.

It had a really cool rustic industrial feel to it. The feeling I get when I walked in was warmness from the wood but also coolness from the walls and exposed vents. I like this contrast, and felt very much at home. Inside was quite spacious and we got a table straight away, although I have heard of stories where the queues can get quite long here.

I ordered the beetroot cured salmon and he ordered the Journeyman eggs benedict. The beetroot cured salmon was surprisingly very filling even though it didn’t look it. The organic quinoa was cooked well and the chilli hit was spot on. I tried a bit of his eggs benedict and it was also very tasty, however the portion was quite small and the plate was filled up with a whole lot of unnecessary greens.

We decided to get the toasted waffles to finish off. Dense – is probably the word to describe it. Whilst it looked amazing in appearance, it was a bit too dense for my liking. Definitely couldn’t have too much of it. I didn’t bother with adding maple syrup to it as it was more than sweet enough from the fruits. I don’t know… maybe I’ve been a bit of a snob since I’ve eaten waffles in Belgium, but I have not been able to find a place in Australia where they can make it crispy on the outside whilst being light and fluffy on the inside. If any of you guys know a really good waffle place, please comment and let me know!

Food was quite good at Journeyman and quite decent. If you can get past the parking struggles, it’s a lovely place to have some nice food and soak in the atmosphere. I would recommend it and would most likely come back (after trying out a whole lot of other cafes of course). Lastly we would like to wish everyone a happy and Merry Christmas! I’m sure most of you will be having your Christmas lunches / dinners and spending time with your families. We hope you have an awesome one.

Journeyman
Approx $35 AUD per person
Website: journeymancafe.com.au
Address: 169 Chapel St, Windsor VIC 3181
Phone: +61 3 9521 4884

Victor Churchill

November 27, 2016 by Helen Le

While we were in Sydney earlier this year we were keen to check out Victor Churchill after seeing something on TV while we were just lounging about at home one lazy day. It looked like nothing we had come across before so we made a mental note to visit.

Victor Churchill is essentially a butcher. But it’s not just ANY butcher. It is the pinnacle of butchers. They sell quality, fine meats and have been around since 1876, making it Australia’s oldest continually run butcher shop. But it is that feeling of luxury when you step through the doors of this boutique shop (using the bronze sausage door handles) which is amazing for a shop that sells meats. Somehow they have pulled it off with providing a special experience to their customers, with their glamourous rich timber wall panelling, large glass windows and marble floors. There is also a sense of space when you walk through, which is not something you experience in a normal butchers.

When you step inside the shop, there are large glass cabinets housing meats from large lamb racks, eye fillet steaks and even marrow bones to the fancy stuff such as French trimmed veal cutlets, Rangers Valley grain fed aged black angus short ribs and David Blackmore 600 day ration fed dry aged full blood wagyu scotch steak, only to name a few! They also have premium cured meats and other luxurious produce such as duck liver pate with cognac or truffle. We ended up taking away some of the cured meats and pate plus some fresh bread there for a picnic at the nearby park.

There is also a floor to ceiling glass cool room on the other side of the hallway opposite the cabinets which consists of specialty cuts of meat hanging from a custom designed metal chain conveyer belt with massive carcass meat cuts hanging behind in the dry aging room. Himalayan salt bricks are stacked up behind that to act as a natural air purifier and reduce humidity, to assist with the dry-aging process. It definitely serves as a statement when you enter. And if you’re lucky, you may get a chance to watch the staff work away at cutting up the meats in the special room that’s almost set up as a stage for their butchers.

The cured meats and pate we took away were of top quality and we SO wished we could have taken some back to Melbourne. Overall, this was definitely an experience and I highly recommend you stopping by if you have some time!

Victor Churchill
Website: victorchurchill.com
Address: Queen St, Woollahra NSW 2025
Phone: +61 2 9328 0402

Chez Olivier

November 6, 2016May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Okay, so there’s been a bit of a theme lately and we have to admit that there is a particular cuisine in which we have been frequenting more often than others, and that is French food! I personally have always loved French food so I have no problem with that. But it just so happened that we have been coming across some top quality restaurants in Melbourne. So without further ado we introduce Chez Olivier!

Located in Prahan, Chez Olivier is a cute little restaurant on Greville Street offering authentic French bistro food. As soon as you enter you are faced with a well equipped bar with friendly staff and small tables scattered around. We were then escorted to the back area with more tables and a fireplace. I loved the wooden decor, framed mirrors and chandeliers, giving it an intimate and romantic feel.

For starters we ordered the seafood bisque which was thick, creamy and full of seafood flavour. I’ve had a real liking to seafood bisques lately so really enjoyed this one. I also can never say no to a steak tartare when I see it on the menu so we also ordered that. It was 100g of finely chopped raw Black Angus beef with brandy sauce and the usual condiments. Mixed in with the raw egg yolk, it was delicious and seasoned well.

Davin decided to order one of the specials of the day for his main, which was the duck breast with balsamic vinegar sauce, pumpkin mash and puff potato. The duck was cooked to perfection – medium rare. Combined with the balsamic sauce and pumpkin mash, it was presented really nicely on the plate and tasted even better!

I ordered the 200g Black Angus eye fillet which was wrapped in proscuitto, with a slice of foie gras, mushroom sauce and white truffle oil served with mashed potato. It was sooo delicious! The foie gras literally just melted in my mouth. I reserved a bit for each bite of my steak. And the combination of the truffle oil and the creamy mashed potato was heaven.

There was quite a selection of dessert options after dinner, but we ended up on settling on the chocolate fondant to share which came with vanilla ice cream and strawberry coulis. The fondant was cooked well and lovely warm chocolate sauce oozed out, which is what you expect from a good chocolate fondant!

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience. The food was top quality, the ambience was great for a date night, and the staff were also very attentive and friendly. As usual we were probably the last ones there but they were more than happy to take dessert orders and there was no rush to get out. We will definitely keep this place in mind when we’re in the mood for French next time!