SugarBun @ Melbourne (Russel St)

Shop Front

Soooo fellow Sarawakians, you will be very familiar with this shop. That's right its SugarBun! Our childhood fast food shop! Not KFC, not Burger King but our very own Sarawakian Sugar Bun! The grand opening was last week however I only came and try it out today. My friend and I actually arrived around 11 20am but the only open at 11 30am. So we were forced to wait for awhile while they set up. So while waiting, we studied the menu. While in Sarawak it is a fast food restaurant where they operate just like KFC style where you have to order at the counter etc. However here in Melbourne, it is table service. The menu is a fusion of other local Malaysian dishes such as Sarawak Laksa and Bak Kut teh, however their signature dishes are also available, and that is what we were aiming for today.

Menu at the Door

Finally they were ready for service and we were the first customers of the day. Staff was really really friendly and looked after us well as we sat down. He immediately asked if he could get us some drinks to start with while we decide on what to eat. So we asked for some water. We were also presented with the beverage and food menu.

Menu

Flipping through the menu once again we decided not to order any drinks. So basically we made up our mind. We will have the fish fillet with savoury rice, 2 pieces broasted chicken with "Kano" Sauce for each of us, and a plate of Chickies to share. The waiter kindly took our order and we settled in and waited for our food to be served.

The Familiar Logo

The waiting time was quite long perhaps because we were the first customers and they had to get everything started from scratch. While waiting I told my friend who is from West Malaysia more about the background of SugarBun in my hometown. Finally, the fish fillet with savoury rice was served first.

Fish Fillet with Savoury Rice and Appe Hancer ($9)

This is my childhood favourite since I first had SugarBun. I remember those times where I was so happy when my parents takeaway this from SugarBun for me when I was a child. So I was very eager to try out how it tasted here in Melbourne, far away from homeland. The dish comes with a piece of deep fried crumbled fish fillet with SugarBun's signature savoury rice. I loved the savoury rice when I was a child I could just order only the savoury rice and enjoyed my meal. Apart from that, there's a piece of lemon to go with the fish and "Appe Hancer" which is their pickled cucumber and pineapple with carrot shreds. I started eating and to my surprise, every thing tasted 100% exactly the same as it tasted back in Sarawak. The savoury rice had just enough flavouring and the Appe Hancer as refeshing. Not to mention the fish had its signature taste. Definitely loving it and able to satisfy my craving for SugarBun.

Broasted Chicken with Kano Sauce ($7)

This is the most famous dish in SugarBun. Broasted chicken served with their signature Kano sauce, which tasted like sambal and with a pinch of lemon grass taste. Unlike KFC's tasteless chicken, the broasted chicken broasted with their own herbs and spices. It was juicy and goes perfect with the Kano Sauce. I remember my friend saying "I feel in love with the Kano sauce". This dish is served with the Appe Hancer salad too!

Chickies ($6)

Now chickies is like chicken fingers. Basically chicken breast cut into strips and deep fried. I remember we used to call them "Chicky Twix" back home in Sarawak. It was first targeted at children and I used to had them for lunch once in awhile back home. For this dish, though it's chicken breast, it was still juicy and tasted well with the sauce it came with!

Satisfied

So we had a satisfying lunch, great food, great company, and most importantly, it brings back awesome memories of Sarawak. Definitely coming again in the future! 

Just a little add on to this post, today I tried out the red-velvet cupcake at cupcake central. Since there's a lot of good review about it. I decided to give it a go.

Red Velvet Cupakes ($4 each)

The thing I like about it is that it is not very sweet. The cream had a buttery and cheesy taste which I like and the cake was moist. My friend and I had one each where the amount is just nice.

Photography by Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Luke's Eatery @ Highpoint Shopping Centre (Quick Post)

Menu

Just a quick post today, went to Highpoint Shopping mall this afternoon to get some stuff done. Stopped by Luke's Eatery to have some brunch to start the day. Interesting thing to notice here is that they used "UNO" numbered cards as their table number, something really unique. Both of us ordered the "Brekkie Burger set with Tea". 

Brekkie Burger with Tea

Tea came first in a small pot and there was a little cup of milk to go with it. Inside the brekkie burger was bacon, eggs and melted cheese with BBQ sauce, and a piece of hash brown on the side to go with the burger. Generous portion and satisfying breakfast/brunch. $15 for each set.

Photography by Fujifilm XF1.

Dukes Coffee Roasters @ Chapel Street, Windsor

Dukes Coffee Roasters

There are two of these outlets of Dukes Coffee Roasters, one located at Flinders Lane in Melbourne CBD, and the one that I went to was at Chapel Street, a walking distance from Windsor Train Station. Around 11am, the shop was already full of crowds enjoying their breakfast or brunch for some people like me.

Interior

By the time we reached the cafe, we were very lucky and blessed to have only one table left for us. It was so crowded at that it was a bit hard to walk around inside. First thing I realized when I sat down was the ambience. The lighting was kind of warm and there was not a lot of natural light. Good thing today I brought along my Canon EOS 7D with a fast f1.4 lens. The staff there was not very friendly though, maybe it was because they were really busy, but in my opinion customer service should not be compromised. Having a look at their menu, it was quite limited for breakfast which is served up to 12pm noon. So to start with, we ordered hot chocolate and a coffee.

Hot Chocolate and Coffee

Once again, great coffee art and the taste of both drinks were very satisfying. The hot chocolate was not too sweet and rich with the right amount of chocolate. The coffee on the other hand was very aromatic. For our main meals, I ordered the "Baguette with Scrambled Eggs, Crispy Pancetta and Hollandaise Sauce". I was actually aiming for the Egg Benedicts however I did not come across them. Mom had the  "Hummus Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs & Candied Honey Bacon Bits".

Baguette with Scrambled Eggs, Crispy Pancetta and Hollandaise Sauce

I did not expect the dish to look like this but I was really impressed with the presentation when it was served. By just looking at it, it was able to stir up my appetite. The baguette was nicely toasted while the scrambled eggs had a great buttery taste. I had experiences where scrambled eggs was tasteless but this is just the total opposite. The texture was just nice and blended perfectly with the crispy pancetta and hollandaise sauce. 

Hummus Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs & Candied Honey Bacon Bits

I'm not a big fan of avocado but the hummus sauce really brought out a good taste together with the toast. Refreshing salad to go with as well. The main highlight of this dish for me was the Candied Honey Bacon Bits. It tasted like honey glazed pork meat. If you know what is "bak gua" or "肉干", it had the texture of bak gua and lightly glazed with honey.

Counter

All together we were really satisfied with our breakfast today. Altogether it costed around $40. Honestly aussie breakfasts are really expensive compared to Asian food. I guess it's because of the labour cost as well. Anyway, a good place to try out if you are out for some Aussie food!

Photography by Canon EOS 7D

Waffe On @ Degraves St, Melbourne CBD

Special Design

The famous Degraves St located at the heart of Melbourne CBD brings out the calm and cozy dining environment for tourists and local residents. Packed with rows on restaurants it is surely one place that should not be missed out for food hunters. Waffle On which is located at Degraves St is famous for their Belgian Waffles. During my orientation city tour our host specially recommended this shop to us if we were out for some nice waffles. That was around two and a half years ago and only until today, I finally went for a try after some lunch near by.

Closer Look

At a closer look, the area of the shop is actually very small and it seemed to us that there were only two little seats to the left of the counter if not mistaken. I guess many people come here for takeaway as I heard that their Baguette Sandwich was nice too. I do like the ambience of the shop that gives me a comfortable and casual feeling.

On the menu

We had a look at the menu on the wall and 4 of us started to discuss what to order as we were actually quite full and only wanted a little sweet bite. So we ended up ordering the La Gourmande and Canadienne. We initially expected the portion size to be very big.

La Gourmande

Freshly made waffles served with sliced strawberries, thick chocolate sauce and some icing powder. The first impression I got of it was the sweetness was just nice. A lot of places had their desserts too sweet and that turns me off since I'm not a fan of sweet food. The strawberry slices were very fresh and went well with the chocolate sauce. The waffle was nicely baked and had a soft texture that kinda melt in the mouth. Thumbs up!

Canadienne

So it was caramel, literally caramel flavoured ice cream tasted unique and some reviews said that it was homemade.  The hot and cold combination of the waffle and the ice cream together with some syrup and icing powder was just awesome. It kinda made me keep wanting for more to be honest. Luckily there were 4 of us and we finished up everything in less than 10 minutes, now you can imagine the portion size. 

Just if you were wondering what we had for our lunch, we ate at Kim Sing around the corner inside Port Philip arcade. They serve cheap chinese food there and the chicken steak with rice was so awesome. 

Chicken Steak on Steamed Rice with extra Fried Egg

Well I have to admit that it was a really unhealthy lunch. The chicken steak nicely deep fried and the sauce that came with it was great, should had asked for extra sauce. It costed only $7.40 and without the extra egg it is just $6.60. Fully satisfied :).

Photography by Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Cafe Gaia @ South Yarra

Cozy Home Style Ambience

Cafe Gaia located at Avoca Street in South Yarra, Victoria is definitely one of the popular places for Australian Style breakfast/brunch and lunch. Because I had read quite a number of good reviews about it so today we went the try it out. The staff was very friendly and made us feel at home and welcomed. To start with drinks, we had a flat white and hot chocolate.

Flat White

Nicely done coffee art and I could smell the awesome aroma when it was served.

Hot Chocolate

Some artwork done as well with this cup of hot chocolate. The chocolate is actually very thick at the bottom and I had to stir it well before I really taste it. It reminded me the taste of Spanish hot chocolate that I tried a few years back.

For our meal, we went around 10am so we ordered from their breakfast menu. There were many varieties from muesli to poached eggs...you name it. What caught my eye was the Pork Belly sandwich with corn bread and in the end I went with that.

Pork Belly Sandwich with Corn Bread

It was served on a cutting board like board but I'm not really sure if it is really a cutting board. The food presentation was nicely done and it definitely looked appetising. What's special about this dish is the bread. Well it is actually what they call "corn bread" and the texture was not like normal bread, it was a bit like cake texture yet it still maintained the bread texture. It was very soft and tasty. The filling of the sandwich was pork belly slices with their salad and the combination was nice with the salad dressing. Definitely a thumbs up!

Mom ordered Ham Hock & Chipotle Baked Beans with Fried Eggs....what a long name.

Ham Hock & Chipotle Baked Beans with Fried Eggs

Beneath the two fried eggs was a slice of corn bread. I tasted the baked beans and it was very special. It had a taste of herbs and spice that goes well with the slices of ham hock inside. A very filling dish.

Overall I am very happy with Cafe Gaia and looking forward to try out their lunch menu one day.

Photography by Fujifilm XF1.

Dahon Tea Lounge, South Melbourne

Yesterday after church, a few of us was walking around the suburb of South Melbourne looking for some lunch. As expected, most of the places were full as it was a Sunday and there were churches around. So one of us suggested Dahon Tea Lounge and all of us were like, where is that? So it was a Philippines cuisine restaurant and it seemed like it is not known by many people. So we went there and staff were very friendly and welcoming. Seemed like the friend of mine who recommended us the place knew one of the staff too. So I was torn between the deep fried pork belly and the skewers. Both dishes were highly recommended and in the end I went for the deep fried pork belly with rice.
Had to wait quite awhile for the food too be served it seemed like it is very popular. When the food was served as usual the portion was very big and it was like...all pork. The sauce served with it had a soury vinegar taste and goes well with the pork. I'll give it an 8/10 and would surely go back to try out the skewers next time.