Foo Doo's

We were surprised to find Foo Doo's open on a Sunday, specially as the sign outside says "Sundays Closed" but there were several people inside so we walked in and after looking at the specials board, grabbed ourselves a table.

ET chose the Gnocchi Amatriciana which he said "wasn't bad, it's hard to do gnocchi".  It had bacon, capsicum, chilli and onion in napoli sauce.  (Lucky it was on the specials board because I was able to write that all down.  It's hard to write down ingredients when they take menus away at most places.)

My French Toast with Banana was barely warm and a bit soggy with no crisp edges.  But there were two big pieces of bread and the maple syrup was on a small saucer so I was able to dispurse it as I pleased.

Foo Doo's

366 Smith St, Fitzroy

Enrik's (VII)

Because we wanted to see Enrik's lunch menu (because frankly, ET & I couldn't remember if they had one) plus they have more variety that some cafes we've been to of late, off we went to Enrik's.

We walked in at 11:40 to be told breakfast finishes at 11:45 so we would have to wait 20 minutes before lunch is being served.  Say what now??  Who ever heard of a restaurant closing the kitchen between between meals for 20 minutes?  Seriously - if anyone has, let me know where.

Anyway, we were there already there so we ordered coffees and went through the menu while waiting.  A few minutes before they were ready to take our food order, ET ordered a second coffee and I asked for some water.  Incidentally, you can order from the full menu from 12:00pm (except for breakfast, of course) but we had to ask because they didn't explain that bit to us.

As always, ET went the pasta route.  The Fettucini Carbonara had more of a mushroom flavour and color but ET thought it was good.

The lunch menu Chicken Ceasar Foccacia had a nice dressing and filled the spot.

Oh and that water I asked for earlier - I'm still waiting to get it. :s

Enrik's Restaurant

25 Railway Rd, Blackburn

Cafe Coco (III)

Back at Cafe Coco for a second week in a row, but boy, were we disappointed!  ET's pasta lacked flavour and looking at the photo, looks a bit dry.

I went for the Burger Pide and "oh my God" was what came out of my mouth when I saw this tower of food.  Why didn't I learn my lesson from a week ago?

I thought the burger was a little under-done.  Plus the chips were nowhere near as nice and crispy as they have been on our previous visits.  This was an unsuccessful meal for both of us.  So much so that ET and I were left wondering if Cafe Coco had a new cook for the day.

Cafe Coco

129 Smith St, Fitzroy

Cafe Coco (II)

This was one of those times I wasn't meant to take photos, but I did anyway.  Only problem is, I forgot what ET ordered!  Obviously pasta.  And I do remember his enjoying it.  But that's about it.

The Chicken BLT Pide took my fancy. It wasn't bad but incase you can't tell, it's actually an open sandwich. The pide is on the bottom with the BLT on top, plus a skewer holding it all together. Because there was no bread on top, I couldn't squish it all down, so I ended up making quite a mess. But I did manage to polish it all off!

Cafe Coco

129 Smith St, Fitzroy

Switch Lifestyle (II)

As we walked by one beautiful Saturday afternoon, ET and I thought we'd give Switch another try and see if their music had mellowed down a bit...It hadn't.

Nevertheless we both went the pasta route with ET ordering Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Fettucini and Garlic Prawn and Calamari Linguini for me.  There was a bit too much oil and the serving was a little too much, so I had to leave some of my pasta on my plate.  ET, meanwhile, polished his off even though he had to first cut up the chicken as the pieces were too big for him.

Switch Lifestyle

Shop 8129-8131 Melbourne St, Knox OZone, Wantirna South

Red Cup Cafe

A corner cafe a few minutes away from Box Hill’s busy strip, Red Cup always seem to do a busy trade.  Although their coffee was only so-so and their water was self-serve (something I’m not fond of), they at least had a couple of twists in their menu.

Case in point was my ‘Big pork rissole in Turkish bread with grilled apple’.  Not normally something I would serve all together, and although the rissole had a strong pork taste, I was glad I tried it anyhow.
ET thought the pasta with chicken, mushroom and snow-peas was a “weird setup” because there was more chicken than pasta.  He had to take a knife and cut the big strips of chicken so it would fit into his mouth!

Red Cup Cafe
1124 Whitehorse Rd, Box HiIl

Cafe Coco

Arriving lunchtime with one other person in the cafe, I wasn’t sure how good this Cafe Coco would be. 
The coffee was just ok but I quite enjoyed my Pesto Chicken with Spinach sandwich.  I was surprised to find pesto smeared onto the bread as well as the chicken but that, along with the creamy aioli made the sandwich more appealing to me.
ET’s Chicken Tandoori Focaccia was also nice.
But we really enjoyed the chips.  They were the correct crunchy texture and the chmichurri sauce drizzled across the top was an interesting change.  Although I’m not sure why they call it “Big chips”…
Having a few more couples come in during the hour we were there, service was attentive but not overbearing, plus we were given water as soon as we sat down so just from that simple act, they already got a smile from me!


Cafe Coco
129 Smith St, Fitzroy

Food For All Seasons

With a few of the outdoor tables occupied on a cold wintery weekend we decided to Food For All Seasons a go.  After going through the menu I highlighted the special sandwich which ET ended up ordering.  It had ham, chicken and an assortment of other things plus wedges and salad.  ET was surprised he liked this jumbled mix of a sandwich and I was glad I could steal some of his wedges!
I went for the beef and burgundy pie with relish and salad.  I thought the pie could have had more gravy and I found it strange that the salad came with a single-serve Masterfood French vinaigrette dressing.   As for the service, ET didn’t like that he could see the waitress eating from where he sat or that she put her fingers on the cutlery and didn’t bother to ask if we wanted more drinks when our coffee cups were empty.  So although ET liked his sandwich, we won’t be going back specially as he saw the guy behind the counter sneezing and not washing his hands.  I sincerely hope that guy doesn’t prepare any food!


Food For All Seasons
254 Yarra St, Warrandyte

Smoken Joe’s Cafe

Walking into Smoken Joe's Ringwood, the first thing we noticed was its large size and colorful setting.  It has that American diner-style setting.  There’s even a lounge/bar area and because the place is fully licenced, ET thinks this might be a good place to have a function.  Although I think it might get a bit loud if you have a raucous party.  Since we were there for a weekend lunch, we didn’t have to put up with any of that.

To begin with, I have two things I must make special mention about their rather large menu – you have to check out their “gourmet” pizzas.  To ET & I, they sounded more like “weird” pizzas.  As in: Nacho pizza, anyone? :s   Kudos, however, for having something called a "Big Ass Breakfast" on the menu.  I kid you not!

Anyway, after going through the menu, I was tossing up between two dishes and ended up with the lasagna.  Which was a bit of a disappointment.  Although there was plenty of mince in the bolognese, it was actually quite dry and I would’ve preferred more sauce.  Also, the pasta was quite chewy in some parts.

The dish I passed on was the French Farmhouse Chicken because ET had decided on it while I was still tossing up my choices.  Anyhow he fared better that I did but he did mention the sauce was a little over the top.  You can see it drowning the chicken in the photo below.  

Nevertheless ET said the coffee was nice (which is always a bonus) and we have no complaints about the wait staff.  Although ET said the woman behind at the register was a bit weird.  I didn’t notice anything because I was too busy taking photos.  But may be that’s why she was acting weird – she was suspicious of me taking a picture of the lounge area!

But the best bit (at least for me, anyhow) is we got to sit at a booth – the kind where you sit across from each other and no one’s stuck on an uncomfortable chair while the other is on an either too high or too low bench.  This one was a real, proper booth.  And who doesn’t love a booth! :)

Smoken Joe's Cafe

305 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood 

Juniper Cafe

ET is somewhat of a regular here because of the coffee, so he was looking forward to having some when we got there.  His first coffee was quite good but his second, a short black, fell below the cappuccino standards.  For the record, I had no complaints about my soy latte.

Being close to lunchtime, we both went the sandwich route.  I chose the chicken, avocado and lettuce.  The chicken may have been a little on the dry side, but being shredded, I guess it can be forgiven.

Smoked salmon with cream cheese was ET's choice.  He gave it a "quite nice" rating. 

When we ordered at the counter, we were given and shown the different bread options which I thought was a nice touch.  Usually the varieties are just reeled off and I would only ever remember the first few choices.  It was nice to be able to see the choices for a change. 

What I did find a bit weird was they served the toasted sandwiches with only one side buttered on the outside.  I don't think I've ever seen that before.  And to be honest, I'm not quite sure I liked it..

Juniper Cafe

26 Britannia Mall, Mitcham

Escape on Puckle

To be honest, ET & I chose this place because it was the only one that had outdoor tables available.  It was the day after Melbourne's craziest storm and it was way too muggy to sit inside.

Upon reading the menu, I asked ET what BBQ dim sims were.  He was just as perplexed.  But, surprisingly, was willing enough to try it.  And just as well, cos it was a winner!!

Although it was just your average dimmy cut in half and grilled, it tasted quite good and both ET & I agreed it would be a good way to serve dimmies from now on.

For lunch ET chose chicken schnitzel focaccia.  He said it was quite good.

I chose the salami, olive with napoli sauce focaccia.  I was once again surprised by the taste.  I expected this to be slightly weird but I didn't find that at all.  But perhaps they can put more salami next time?

No complaints about the staff, or the coffee and overall, we had a good experience.  I, for once, am willing enough to try it again.  But only if I get to order the BBQ dim sims again.

Escape on Puckle 

103 Puckle St, Moonee Ponds

Monties

It came as a surprise to both of us that Monties has a pizza takeaway joint that you can walk through from the restaurant. And on a quiet rainy day, the staff walked between the two areas to serve the few who dared to venture out in the pouring rain.

I ordered the lasagne which, from first bite, I did not like the taste of. I actually asked ET to taste it, to see what he thought. I've never done that before - I usually don't like to share ;)  He thought the sauce wasn't great.

Needless to say, I did not finish the dish. It was quite a large serve, so I probably would have struggled to finish it anyhow.

ET ordered the carbonara. He didn't seem to mind it at the time, but (dare I say it?) he wasn't well afterwards.

So now ET can't make any positive comment except they had pleasant staff; but we were the only table being served, so now he might be reluctant to go there again.

I guess the highlight of the meal came at the beginning when we got our coffees.

My latte cup was cute but too hot to hold. I think ET finished his long black before I was happy enough to start drinking mine. Now that I think of it, that seems to be when it all started going downhill.


Monties
351 Smith St, Fitzroy

Feedback Cafe

This cafe consistenly gets good reviews.  But the last one I read mentioned their table was not cleared very quickly.  For our visit, we finished our meal and paid while the table stayed uncleared (even though the cafe wasn't flat out).

But enough of that.  I ordered the jumbo sausage roll after checking the display to make sure it wasn't just an extra long commercially produced one.  

Although it was large enough for me, ET decided it shouldn't be called  "jumbo".  As a man-sized serving, I'd probably agree.  The photo doesn't do the size justice, but I'll leave it for you to judge.

ET decided on a focaccia and although he said the bread was nice, he rued the lack of garnish on the plate.  I'd have to agree.  It looked so plain I didn't even bother to take a photo of it!  Oh well.

Feedback Cafe

31 Ballarat St, Yarraville