FunnyFunny

Mr. A., A*., Manda and Dandelion, Mr. A.,'s boyfriend all decided to go out to dinner again and catch up! Manda and I caught up first and as a result we changed the dinner location about three or four times before we finally decided we wanted to have Korean fried chicken and ddeokbokki! Manda recommended FunnyFunny as it was her local Korean joint!

This place!

They always have random specials on all the time, and there's a drinks special for those inclined and keen to drink massive amounts!

They also have a daily special!

Noice

Here is a photo of their downstairs area!

Bar!

Most of the walls have spaces you can write on!

We got a large spread of banchan to share between us starting from the upper left and working clockwise. The red sauce is some kind of spicy dipping sauce that we used for a lot of the dumplings, pickled radish, a bean sprout salad, some type of carrot salad, kimchi and then a soy sauce for dipping.

Eat all the banchan!

We got half and half of the sweet and spicy Korean fried chicken as well as the crunchy plain Korean fried chicken. The spicy chicken was mildly spicy by my standards but the rest of the group thought it was quite spicy, but not enough that they couldn't stop eating it. It was that addictive spiciness where you just kept going and sweating as you go, unless you're me where you just continue eating. We thought that the crunchy plain chicken was a bit of a miss, we should have grabbed a different flavour to even things out.

I love you fried chicken

Dandelion decided to go with the pork belly and mustard sauce, he thought it was like crispy pork belly. I thought he was aware that Korean pork belly was known as bossam, simmered in spices, normally served cold in slices with a dipping sauce and a massive plate of vegetables for wrapping. He was therefore very surprised when this came out. We reluctantly ate this as we were so hungry. It was good for cold sliced pork belly, I'm pretty used to it since we use this style of pork belly for goi cuon in Vietnamese food. I guess just be aware if you're ordering this. The mustard sauce had a wonderful super strong mustard punch, think of hot English mustard or really the first time you had mustard and either loved it or hated it, that astringent nose clearing tang!

Pork bellyyyy

We got some steamed mandu to share between us, these were a soft pork mince dumpling that we dipped in all the sauces we were given. They contained a small amount of meat and weren't anything to write home about.

Hmmmm

We got the ddeokbokki as per A*.,'s request, we both love this dish like crazy. It was Manda and Dandelion's first try of this dish and they both really enjoyed it, they complained about the spiciness but kept going back for more! This one was very much a home style ddeokbokki! Like the one your mum would make you, with added veggies in so its healthy! It had all the usual fish cakes, rice cakes, onions, garlic, some tomato sauce and green onions but then it added cabbage and carrots for bulking!

Home style ddeokbokki

A*., was also obsessed with getting a hotpot of some style to share between the five of us. After a lot of discussion we went with the pork bone and kimchi one which we figured wouldn't be too hot for Manda and Dandelion to eat! It had a wonderful assortment of ingredients, potatoes, rice cakes, perilla leaves, enoki mushrooms and other hidden treasures in the pot! We also got a side of vermicelli noodles added in as well to help soak up the noodles. The pork bones here are the same ones you'd use in banh canh in Vietnamese food, aka bones with not a lot of meat on them. I say get used to putting your hands in the bowl and using your teeth to scrap off every little last morsel of meat off the bones. The soup was quite mild and had a wonderful porky and sour flavour.

So much seasoning pepper!

Dandelion was still hungry and we got some pan fried mandu to share between us. They were deep fried I think as they were quite pale but they were quite crispy despite it.

No golden brown appearance ):

FunnyFunny
Atmosphere: 8, I loved the atmosphere of the place, it seemed like the perfect place to get absolutely smashed with your friends and draw on the walls.
Service: 5, so average. I can't even.
Food: 6, solid. The food wasn't bad but I've had better Korean food in the CBD. 

Yard Bird Ale House

Yardbird Alehouse has been on my list of go to places for a long freaking time, I've never gone because I dislike bar settings, all the noise, drunken people and uncomfortable chairs make me hate them.

Watch out for this sign in the corner of the little food district.

Aw yiss

There are a lot of interesting pieces of artwork around the bar but they're hard to take photos of!

Kitchen

Overexposed photo :(

See! They're pretty hard to take photos of, I really need to work on playing around with exposure settings.

Aw yiss

Love em!

Huh?

Lovely couches!

Here is a link to their menu! The first thing we ordered was the New Orleans Chicken pizza, grilled Cajun chicken, chorizo, roasted capsicum, Spanish onions, mozzarella cheese on a chipotle tomato base. I found this to be a wonderfully meaty pizza with great flavours from all the ingredients. The base was American style, slightly thick but still crispy crunchy on the bottom.

Awesome!

You can only choose one flavour for your wings for every six wings that you buy, we got try all the flavours since we bought so many wings between the . . . fifteen of us or whatever it was that arrived.  Honey BBQ was slightly sweet but had a good BBQ flavour, the Southern fried wings were garlic and parmesan flavoured but I wasn't a fan, Chipotle BBQ was my absolute flavour with a great smoky BBQ flavour that I wanted to lick off the wings and original buffalo had a solid heat and sour flavour.

Lastly was the death sentence wings, they were the spiciest thing I've ever had. I have a solid medium heat tolerance for everything, and like a brown person level of spice too. Ms M for Megababe and I each had one each, my mouth quickly went numb but I stopped being able to feel it and just finished eating my wing. After about a minute, someone asked if something was wrong as I had tears streaming down my face from the heat. I wasn't even aware that I was crying, I looked over to Ms M for Megababe and she was also silently crying. Everyone was very impressed by how strong the spice was and most people there refused to even have a full wing, contending to just lick a bit of the sauce.

Garlic and parmesan on top and then the original buffalo sauce wings

Chipotle BBQ!

I went here a second time with Mr J on a date. He ordered the Cuban sandwich based on my recommendation, I actually had it the first time I was here but I used this photo instead. Its filled with pulled pork, smoked leg ham, Swiss cheese, gherkins and American mustard. The pulled pork was the main part of the sandwich, I found it slightly too dry and needed some more sauce to stop it being so cloying. The sandwich was huge and it was a massive struggle to finish it, even Mr J had issues trying to eat it all.

Meat tornado sandwich

I got the cheeseburger which came with a side of fries. It was terrible, the beef patty was quite dry, cooked to a well done state and the patty itself was quite small in size.

Tiny patty

The chips were delicious, freshly fried and well salted.

Good chips!

Yard Bird Ale House
Atmosphere: 5, its a pub. It could be worse I suppose.
Service: 7, super fast pub service!
Food: 5.5, sometimes passable, sometimes bad, generally huge portions for cheap prices though. I'd happily go here for food while drunk.

Doughnut Bar

I went to the Doughnut Bar food truck when it was in Eat Street! My sister VGirl was also with me and she was just as keen as I was to try this latest contender to the doughnut scene! Watch out for their van at the front of Eat Street.

This is the Malteaser doughnut! Melted dark chocolate on top, MnMs and three Maltesers! The chocolate was much more balanced than at Doughnut Time however I found that the actually taste of the doughnut was very bread like. Imagine bread, then you put icing on top of it, just like that. This was consistent across all the doughnuts that we ate.

Pretty though

This is the salted sundae, salted caramel glaze and pistachio! VGirl thought this was delicious but remarked that pistachio is always delicious. She also adds that she ate her doughnut the day after, when it had been in the fridge the entire time.

I wanted this one but allowed VGirl to have it

This was also my doughnut, the Cookie Monster, melted milk chocolate, bits of Tim Tam and blue icing. VGirl said it was tasty. I had no real opinion of it.

Crumbly bits

Doughnut Bar
Atmosphere: 5, its in Eat Street!
Service: 5, prompt service.
Food: 5, I didn't really like them. I found the icing more balanced than Doughnut Time, not quite as intensely sugary. I disliked the texture of the doughnuts themselves though. VGirl liked these more, but she doesn't have much of a sense of taste. 

The Moray Cafe

I decided to go to the Moray Cafe after seeing delectable photos of fried chicken and waffles from Dolce Bunnie's blog. I have always wanted to try fried chicken and waffles so off I went, I know I dislike sweet and savoury dishes together but I'm always keen to try something new!

Watch out for this sign! Its right near the roundabout smack bang in the middle of Moray and Merthyr Road, ample street parking so have no fear!

Lovely place

It has both indoor and outdoor seating but I prefer the indoor seating a lot more due to the comfy couch side along the window and the bright light and little pot plants!

Like this!

And this!

Here is their menu! There is a copy of their drink menu below which isn't available online! My first pick was a soy flat white made with Reverend's Fine Coffee. It was delicious, no complaints!

Yasss coffee!

As planned, I got the fried chicken and sweet waffles which came with a strawberry and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I found the sweet waffles to be an absolutely huge serving, it was crispy on the outside with fluffy insides, the perfect way that waffles should be. The fried chicken was crunchy and juicy but I felt like it could have done with more seasoning or undergo a short brine to get some more flavour into the meat. The ice cream was delicious with the hot waffles and melted all over my waffles very quickly.

Chicken!

I didn't finish my waffles at all and left defeated. I probably wouldn't get fried chicken and waffles again.

Sorry waffle ):

I went back about a week later with VGirl because I remembered they had an amazing vegetarian big breakfast that she wanted to try. We sat inside that time and I got this photo of the pretty little pot plant they have at the inside tables!

Cute!

VGirl picked the soy iced mocha and she said it was delicious, it had a very dark chocolate flavour which she enjoyed and the soy milk wasn't overpowering. I preferred her drink to mine and we were constantly swapping drinks during our meal.

Nothing between than sharing food!

I got the lychee and lime frappe, VGirl and I love lychee so we battled over who got to claim this as their primary drink. I got it because I was paying for our meal. As I said earlier, we ended up sharing drinks anyway because VGirl preferred my drink to hers and vice versa. It was a good balance between lychee and lime flavours with neither being overpowering.

Mmm frappes

On my second time here, I got the breakfast burrito, fried egg, bacon, tomato relish, rocket, lettuce, avocado and feta and potato cake. It was very filling, so filling that I only had about 2/3rds of it, I also got a bowl of chips with it but I digress. I think it could've done with the relish on the side so you dip at your leisure but the fillings went well together.

DEFEATED AGAIN

VGirl got the Moray Veggie Patch, roasted tomatoes, potato and feta cake, roasted pumpkin, haloumi, garlic mushrooms, two poached eggs and turkish bread. I think this is a seasonally changing dish as the ingredients have all changed on the menu listed but that just means its stays delicious all year around! 

VGirl said this was one of the best veggo breakfasts she's ever had, and commented that it was way too much for her and could have easily been shared between two people. The other thing that she was really happy about was that the haloumi wasn't the most delicious thing on the plate, she said the roasted pumpkin was amazing with its super sweet flavour and caramelised edges, not to mention the feta and potato cake as well as the mushrooms.

Dat pumpkin tho

I'm not sure why my breakfast burrito came with fries, but it did and it was carb overload heaven. We just barely finished the bowl of fries.

Chips are the best

Moray Cafe
Atmosphere: 7, warm and welcoming cafe. I like the interior the best.
Service: 7, quick and efficient, they took our orders very quickly, cleared away dishes and passed on our comments to the chef regarding the chicken.
Food: 7. SO MUCH FOOD, I would definitely go back for the Veggie Patch breakfast, the other dishes not so much so. The drinks are delicious though, keen for those.

The Spaghetti House

I feel like this year has been big for pizzerias and Italian places for me, not really sure why but I feel like I've eaten a lot of pizza this year. Anyway, I got invited to Spaghetti House which has now moved to Southbank, it used to be in West End!

Watch out for this bright blue sign, its right behind the Commonwealth Bank branch on Grey Street. Parking is a bit iffy in Southbank at the best of times, I personally always get parking in SW1 Secure Parking since I don't mind the walk. Sometimes you can get lucky with 2P parks, but there's always parks around Musgrave Park otherwise? Either way, you should probably work off this carb coma you're about the encounter.

The interior is lovely, soft candle lit lighting and lots of intimate seating options. Outside is freezing cold, especially since its winter but there are lots of blankets and giant heaters to keep you warm! It gets pretty busy so that helps things warm up too. The night we went the restaurant was about half full and apparently that's them on a quiet night! That's my kinda quiet!

So warm

I went with the lovely Ms D., since Mr A., promptly forgot that we were going to dinner together after my trip to Sydney, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out my poorly updated Instagram page. Ms D., was supposed to go with me to Holloway's Pizzartist but couldn't last minute, this time she cancelled on her boyfriend to go to Spaghetti House with me!

Here is their menu! Even though we had our pick of free drinks, we both went with pink lemonade. It was delicious, pink lemonade always is.

I've been playing with angles more latelyz

One of the specials of the night was the figs, prosciutto, rocket and balsamic glaze pizza on a tomato base. We had originally gone with the prosciutto wrapped figs and Gorgonzola fondue to be our entree as they are a super popular item on the Spaghetti House menu but also wanted pizza to see how those were. Our waitress reminded us of this special and we thought we'd get the best of both worlds with this choice!

The toppings were a hit! I think the combination of figs, prosciutto, rocket and balsamic vinegar are a winning combination and such a classic, fresh and well balanced combination too. You can't go wrong with it! I loved that the figs were sliced thickly as well! My only complaint with this pizza is that I love, love, love a super crunchy crust and base, this one was quite limpid and so I got them to put the pizza back in the oven for a few more minutes to get the crunch I wanted!

I think I ate five or six slices solo

Ms. D., is obsessed with arancini and so we got the arancini ai gamberi, prawn risotto arancini! She was a little disappointed with these as somehow she was expecting the traditional ragu stuffed arancini. I liked them however, they super hot from the fryer, the risotto was perfectly cooked, I loved the stretch of the mozzarella cheese inside and the prawns were juicy and tender. It came with a sundried tomato aioli which was perfect for dipping.

Delicious!

I couldn't decide what I wanted for my main so I went with an entree sized gnocchi alla Romana! Potato gnocchi with browned butter, crispy sage leaves and Parmigano cheese, I also opted to get fresh parmesan grated over the top cause you can never go wrong with more cheese! I was trying to convince Ms. D., to share a third pasta dish with me but she dodged my question very well and it was for the best, since she went into massive food coma halfway through her pasta. I could still eat but that would've been a superhuman feat of excellence. The gnocchi were fluffy pillows with gorgeously crunchy edges and the crispy sage leaves were a great counterpoint to the buttery sauce as well.

Mmm crunchy gnocchi

Ms D., ordered the ragu alla bolognese, she had a choice of either spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, pappardelle, penne and GF fettucine or penne. She couldn't decide and went with, "surprise me pasta," which I thought was a hilarious order. She said she absolutely loves bolognese and is what she wants her nonna to make every time she visits her, the flavour was absolutely traditional Italian, slow cooked pork and beef, rich tomato sauce and lots and lots of shaved Parmesan.

Classic

I wanted dessert, Ms D., was so full she felt like she could possible explode or throw up. So I forced her to get some chocolate gelato while I got the vanilla affogato with espresso. I love affogato, I find it to be great fun to mix super hot espresso and freezing cold ice cream together to make slushy stuff. I don't think you can really go wrong with this combination, so that's all I have to say on the matter!

<3

Ms. D., got the chocolate gelato, it was a lovely dark chocolate and mousse textured gelato. I finished this all as well haha.

Spaghetti House
Atmosphere: 8, gorgeous romantic, candle lit restaurant. It's the perfect place for a romantic dinner I think. 
Service: 10, absolutely wonderful service, not just for me but for everyone else there. Prompt orders, water top up, I saw every table get asked how the food was or if they wanted anything. They gave us great recommendation on food and cleared tables super quickly. I saw all their waiters and waitress prowling the floor like tigers, ready to pounce as soon as you needed something!
Food: 9, delicious! My only complaint was that the pizza was floppy. Otherwise I enjoyed everything I had here.