Noodle Kingdom at swanston st

You might recall me going to the other Noodle Kingdom branch in Russell st. Well this time Friend A and I went to the new branch that just opened a few months ago. There were lots of Asians there which is a good sign that the food is good. I don’t know why only 47% of people liked it on Urbanspoon.

Here you can see all the appetisers. I know that they look like plastic boxes but other bloggers told me that they are not and they have tried the kelp and stuff

This is exactly the same as that one, except for cleaner premises and better staff. They had better English. Although I got to admit water did take a while to come. We had to ask for it for the second time. The food didn’t take long to serve but it was yummy.
 And also better food this time around.
We had:
1) Vegetarian spring rolls. ($4) These were okay and I loved the sauce for it.
2) 2 Plates of dumplings, one in spicy soup and one that is just plain boiled. We liked them both except the ones in the soup always kept breaking. And the soup wasn’t spicy enough for me and Friend A. They were $8.50 each.
Takeaways are $0.20 extra, so if you are a cheapie like me try and finish the massive serves of food and always share your food with someone else because the plates are huge for such a small price.

woolworths fresh food fair

The Woolworths Fresh food fair is on this weekend and there are many chances to grab a sample of fruits and be in the know about cooking meals. At the city one there is fondue, orange juice and oranges to be had.

Oh and there are lots of discounts too. Watermelon for $0.69.

Boost juice

Boost Juice is a chain store. They are located all over Melbourne. Here you can get some really good juices and coconut water depending on where you go.
Here they employ many young Australians rather than International students. Most of them probably get good pay hence the good service. You order and pay and then they will call your name when its ready. You can see them making it.

I went to the one in Melbourne Central today and got their new pocket rocket juice. Normally $5.80 for a medium size. I only had to pay $0.80 because I had a $5 gift card from a friend which needed to be used up.
My juice was pretty good in curing a cold. It had orange, banana, chia seeds, pineapple, a booster of some sort and passionfruit. Yum. Now I wish summer was here again.

Scams and watch out for them

“Recently I was scammed by a con artist for an employment job somewhere in the ctiy. They emailed me asking for people.  I had to pay money for the interview and application proccess in which I was told that there would be a job for me. The process costed about $191 and my personal details.  But in the end there was no interview and I looked at the legitimate sites such as Careerone.com.au and found that no such company existed.  I tried to contact them but they didn’t not exist. So I felt ripped off!!!” says a friend of mine.

Sounds true??? It probably happens to all of us by some stage. The lesson learnt is to watch out for scams like these.

I also heard that another friend of mine fell victim to a housing scam. Fortunately they didn’t lose any money over it.

RMIT has a housing database where advertisers can place ads and they advised that students should see the house first before paying any money and always get the receipt.
You can get more information about scams here: www.scamwatch.gov.au

Koko black the second visit

You might remember reading about it first here.
Here I went with a friend and actually tried their handmade chocolates at $1.95 a pop. I got four pieces as well as a hot chocolate ($6.00) a mug which was not too bad. My friend loved her cappucino.
I loved the little handmade chocolates. Oooh lalala. They looked so good and tasted good.  I loved the crystallised orange, almond, walnut piece, passionfruit piece and mango piece. Yummm.

This really did satisfy my chocolate cravings. Yummy.

And the staff were all so lovely. Thanks for making my day.

Hanaichi @ QV Square

This is a really cheap Japanese place which is well loved by students and workers. I went just after lunch and this place was full as always. This chain of stores oringinated in Queensland by an actual Japanese chef. One of my friends work at the Hanaichi chain in Chadstone and he said that this was good.
Here they only do Japanese curries and other hot meals. No sushi or bento
Not so…
The place was chaotic with many people finishing their shifts at lunch time and not really helping customers out. I did put my hand up for someone to help me with opening my soup but they jsut whizzed by.
The waiters yelled to the kitchen staff rather than writing the orders down.
The upstairs area was full of litter and someone hadn’t gone around and cleaned it up yet.
They always require staff.
Hardly any service. You just order, pay and they call your name when the food is ready.
And  when I got my food (tempura with rice- $6.70 and miso soup $2.20) it was:
crunchy but too much rice and not enough tempura. And all the vegetables were hidden in the rice so they went all soggy
Loved the pickles and they used the correct rice this time. And I love that it was not oily but fresh.
Loved the miso soup just wished it had tofu in it. For $2.20 its a bit expensive without.

I think next time I’d go for the ramen and come a little bit earlier say 11am. Then that way they are cleaner and much more ready to help me if needed.

Free coffee at San Churros Lygon st

Today is Wednesday and there is free coffee for all of the San Churros fans and I was one of them! This promotion is for June only.

Hence I was interested in visitng the Lygon st store.  It’s really close to Melbourne Uni, but all the Melbourne Uni students don’t frequent there, why? This store had been opened for quite some time but I don’t frequent that area very much.

Here is like all the other store. You can read about my other store visit here.

Although there is free coffee today this store was quiet why? And why on earth was the manager so rude when my server was lovely?

And oh why oh why are the toilets so dirty at the back there?

Although I loved my mocha and my truffle ($1.95 each), I did not like my kid sized churros ($4.95). I’ve had better in the QV store. These were lukewarm and probably had been out for a little while. The chocolate was a little cold for my liking.

The truffle though was nice. It was a peanut butter handmade one. And I can see that they put a lot of work into this.

The mocha was really lovely, but I think a bit too much coffee rather than chocolate. I can taste small hints of chocolate.

I probably wouldn’t come back here again when I can go to the one in QV which is much better than this one, even if someone offered me free coffee. It is just too much out of my way and they aren’t even that great.

Spiga bar with RMIT staff

I went to the Spiga bar with RMIT staff today to celebrate Canada day. I really didn’t know a lot about Canada day except that it is a holiday for all Canadians. It’s not celebrated much in Melbourne, but it is celebrated by RMIT. They have been doing this for years.

So today I decided to celebrate it with them at Spiga and I met up with some lovely staff there.
Here Spiga bar’s food is not cheap but it is still busy. I came here about 5-6 years ago and not much has changed except for a new menu and gluten free food.

They are an Italian restaurant and they sure are authentic. Today I had penne pasta with too much olives and sauce in it ($14.90 for a small plate, can you believe it). The pasta was al dente and very filling and I loved the cheese.

Don’t you just love this

The service there was quite friendly with a smile. And it was attentitive and fast.

Everyone else loved their meals and there were only 5 of us. And we all ordered small meals. Although two people could not finish their meals. One was the soup ($13 with lots of bread) and the other was the risotto ( I think it was $18???). And the person with the soup loved it. She said that it was the right size for her.  The bill for the five of us was $113.

I think it would be much better that Spiga does a student deal such as 10% off then it could encourage more students to come. Although I did see quite a few students.

passioflower

 Passionflower serves Asian influenced desserts. So they would serve Pandan, Coconut ice creams etc. And they are $6 a scoop. Which is not cheap. I was influenced to go there by all the good reviews of the place.
But I was wrong.
I doesn’t like it. Why?
First of all the place is just like a suburban ice cream eatery with no bathroom and Cash Only. WTF??? Who would do that when all the food is $7+ and all the teas are $5. They used to have a $10 dine in minimum for patrons but they scrapped that.
The place feels more like a food court than anything. The music was so loud that it was really hard to concentrate on assesments. Being in the prestigious part of the city, mainly Bourke st I would have expected a bathroom and a lovely luxurious place rather than this cold plasticky crap which is best saved for the suburbs.
There weren’t a lot of people here except for a table of two teenage kids.
The decor was very tacky for such an expensive place.

Cute cup

Look how tacky this is

Second of all the service. Or is there really any? I didn’t think so. They seemed to be all doing their own thing and they guy that served me had really bad english and was really confused when I said “A pot of green tea”, meaning a hot green tea.

Last of all the food: The green tea was just ok. But I did like the pot and the cute little cups. But I think for $5 a pot it is really expensive even for T2 tea, which I guessed that they used. You can get a refill but it is $1 each. OUCH!!!!!
The pancakes were not cheap. At $7 a pop they were the most expensive of them all.  And they didn’t even come with ice cream. They were more westernized. I can get pancakes for the same or a little bit more at Pancake Parlour and they are huge. These were really small, mediocre and not worth the price. My guess was that it was microwaved, because five minutes after I ordered they came out. And they looked like the ones that you buy at the supermarket.
And why oh why are the prices different for takeaway?????? It’s cheaper for takeaway!!!! MAKE THEM MORE OR LESS THE SAME!!!

So lets say that in the end they are really not worth the price or the visit at all. I would love to try Tom Turtle across the road. They seem to have better ice cream for cheaper. And their drinks aren’t as expensive.
To Passionfruit management: lift your game and your service and allow EFTPOS or otherwise we won’t be back. And have cheaper food. This is not how a business should be run and I’m glad I only paid $10. All the other bloggers didn’t like it either.

Chez dre

Chez dre is in the top 100 Melbourne restaurants in Urbanspoon. It is ranked at Number 41. This place is in South Melbourne right outside the market.

I have been once back in November for their coffees and macaroons. But I forgot to write up about it. So here I am again.

It is a lovely French patisserie only opened during daylight hours, which is the norm for Melbourne restaurants. It is also hidden in a laneway just like Melbourne’s popular places. Here you can see all the lovely French pastries. I wanted them all. OMOMOMOMOM!!!! But I was having lunch later that day at Spiga, so I had to save some room.

I love this place. 

Love the garden. This is a typical Melbourne eatery

Look how cute these are

The service was really fast and the restaurant was not busy.

I ordered from the lovely waitress some hot chocolate ($5 for a large cup), French crepes ($10.50 for two small crepes) and a macaroon ($3). The French crepes were tiny for the price but lovely. I loved the little meringue bits. OMOMOMOM!!!!!

I still loved the macaroons but it was a wee bit small for $3. Still a great delicacy.

I loved looking at the big $18-$20 breakfasts. They were such a feast for the eyes. I can’t believe Big Fil and the Eat and be merry team haven’t had a chance to venture out here yet. They’re missing out. It is ironic that they are number 1 ranked blog and they haven’t ventured out here yet.