Middle Park Hotel

RNIS was invited by Dimmi to try their burger but paid $7 for their own drink.

Middle Park Hotel is in Middle park which is a suburb between Albert Park and St Kilda. It is a quaint little suburb with the beach nearby. It is on the number 96 route.





I saw that Middle Park had many great reviews on Zomato and I was keen to give their burgers a try.

The pub itself was really busy on a Friday night. This is a good sign that things are going well. They had a few large groups that day.

The other table's Mac and Cheese looked really good but I would have been too full for it.

To start with I got a Little Creatures Pilsner. I have been to the Little Creatures brewery before and enjoyed this Pilsner.

It went well with the Wagyu burger. But that burger was so big that I couldn't finish it and I was full afterward. The wagyu pattie had that nice soft juicy flavor and I enjoyed the egg on top. The brioche bun was a little bit dry though. But I enjoyed the burger though.

And I loved the chips that went with it. It was nicely salted with that chicken salt. It was nicely fried.

Do come by to this pub when you can as the service and the food is great. I would love to try the Mac and Cheese next time I'm here.

The Quarter cafe

This cafe is on Degraves st and it's very popular at lunchtime. And it is also popular with people at dinnertime. I walk past it when I go to the gym.

They serve your normal cafe fare.

The service here is just ok. And it was your standard lunch hour. Most people had meat dishes.

I have been here before for chips and coffee.

Here I tried their farmer's baguette. This is a vegetarian one with pumpkin and halloumi and onions. I couldn't get any of the meat dishes as I'm doing No meat may with Healthyintstudents.

This was a really nice baguette and it was freshly done. Here I loved the halloumi cheese and the pumpkin. They were just gorgeous with the caramelized onion.

Do come by for your baguettes

Rozzi's Italian cafe in Highpoint

Rozzi's is a small little cafe in Highpoint. They have other branches in the city and Chadstone, but Highpoint was closer and I had to get my weight checked that day at the same place.

Here I was in for a vegetarian fix. I had their roast pumpkin wrap with a pumpkin salad. Naturally, I will have more fiber than what to do with. But that's a good thing as recently I found out that not many Australians have enough fiber in their diet.

But the pumpkin salad had a lot of olive oil in there and I could not finish this. But the roasted pumpkin wrap was nice. And the orange juice went well with it. This version from Charlie's was not too sweet.

Service wise they were a little bit abrupt but I guess it's because they had a busy lunchtime. 

Hairy Little Sista

RNIS had a Dimmi voucher and they did not have to pay!

Hairy Little Sista is in Melbourne right where the Tivoli arcade is. Here they are a lovely bar and they are really homely.

The service here is quite lovely and for a rainy Friday afternoon, they were quite steady. Inside the bar was warm and cozy. Outside it was pouring rain.

They have the $18.5 lunch special which includes a sandwich, chips and a drink. Of course being no meat may I went for the vegetarian sandwich which was avocado with corn and tomato salsa. I had it on the organic sourdough which was quite lovely. I really liked the avocado and the fried corn.

But the chips on the other hand although nicely cooked were salty. Too salty.

The house chardonnay worked well with the sandwich.

Do come by to this lovely place in the heart of the city and many thanks for the invite Dimmi.

Dumpling World

Dumpling World is in Collins St where Southern Cross station is. They are mainly a meat-eating place but they also do vegetarian.

Tonight it was not too busy. Here there was one other table with Caucasians.

The bathrooms are out the back and are just ok. The service though was very swift.

I had their beancurd with hot chili sauce and rice. It was $11.80 and was really filling. They also put lots of MSG in there. The rice was quite alright.



But I did like their custard baos though. Here they were not too sweet and they helped offset some of the MSG and really hot sauce.

Do come by this place before you take the train home.

Ba Sar

Ba Sar is a Vietnamese place in Moonee Ponds. They are a tiny in the hole wall place. Here they had quite a few customers and a roaring trade.

They have been open for a few months now and they open for dinner and lunch. Here they have some Caucasians and Asians working there which I liked. At Mister Minh, they have been great. The lady that served us smiled.

Their soups and food have no MSG which I like. I had the lunchbox of chicken pho and rice paper rolls and my friend had the beef pho. We shared a plate of deep-fried chicken bites. These were tender melt in the mouth and my friend thought that they should have used the chicken thigh instead of the breast. I think the other way around and they should have made the bites a bit more salty like they did at Mister Minh's.

The pho was quite alright and I liked how they didn't put too much noodles in mine as there were lots of noodles in the rice paper rolls. The rice paper rolls were moist and not dried out like Roll'd ones. I loved the thinly sliced chicken and the onion. The bok choy didn't belong in there as pho doesn't have bok choy in there.

My friend's pho was quite alright although he would have liked more noodles in there.

Do come by for lunch if you are in Moonee Ponds. As they have the best Vietnamese there so far.

La Kuaizi

La Kuaizi is a popular cafe on Manchester lane in Melbourne and about a five-minute walk from my gym.

Here they do Asian cuisine as well as Australian. My friend Kristian liked it and when I saw his post on Instagram I wanted to give it a go. So much so I got a $9 voucher for a breakfast meal and juice.

Here I have heard that Brinner is a big thing in the states. Brinner is Breakfast at Dinner and this thing is really popular in the States. So much so I decided to give it a go.

As part of Healthyintstudents Meat free may I went without meat and got the tomato, chilli eggs, and poached egg combo. It took them a while to make but I did enjoy it. It didn't have a lot of chilli kick to it but it did have that Asian kick to it with the soy sauce.

As for my drink, I had orange juice. As an athlete training hard orange juice is a must. It is packed with vitamin C among other things like potassium. I could have got wine but with all that drinking the next day it wasn't such a good idea.

The ladies on the table next to me got some yummy looking dessert. Next time I'll have to come for the dessert, wine and roti.

Noda Grill

RNIS did not have to pay for their food but they paid for their drinks thanks to Dimmi Rewards!

Noda Grill is in Richmond outside the Epworth hospital and has been opened for about five months now.

On a mid-week night, they were not too busy when we visited. It was cold outside but not rainy.

The waitress was quite lovely and warm. The place is run by Koreans but it doesn't have many blog posts.

As I have promised Healthyintstudents that I'd participate in Meat free may, I ordered a dumpling and soba noodle salad and rice cakes.

They come with the banchan which I quite like. Although I would like kimchi, my dishes were quite spicy without it.

The rice cakes were cooked nicely and were mind-blowing. The sauce was addictive and the cakes were fried nicely.  I enjoyed these with a nice Pinot.

Soba noodle salad

I enjoyed the soba noodle salad. There were a lot of dumplings and vegetables for $17. This filled me up really easy. The vegetables were really fresh and the dumplings were cooked nicely. I haven't had a lot of Korean dumplings before so I can't say much about them.

Do come by to this Korean place and give them some love.

Michel's Patisserie in Moonee ponds

I received a free coffee voucher for this place and needed to spend it. But the cake I bought it myself.

I was going to go to the one in the city but they closed down a little while back and replaced it with Soul Origin. Hence I picked a hospital day to visit as that was on the way to the hospitals. And I had to change trams.

I'm glad the city one closed down as that one was really bad

This place is tucked away in Moonee ponds central where Coles is.  They have a dining in area as well as takeaway. I didn't want to get takeaway as last time I did, I burnt my hand and it was very embarrassing for all. And painful.

Service wise it was great.

But at least the coffee is good here. I'm not too sure about the cake as it was dry. It was a black Forrest gateau for $5.50. Black forest cakes are supposed to be moist and have lots of liquer and this didn't. I'm glad there wasn't a lot of cream in this.

If you do happen to have the coffee voucher and if you happen to buy the book from us you can visit this Michel's patisserie for good coffees and great service.

Mister Minh

RNIS was invited to Mister Minh's soft opening on Facebook and did not have to pay.

Mister Minh is one of our friends on Facebook. We first heard of them when they were in North Richmond. Now they had moved from where the druggies used to be to a much better place and they announced their soft opening on Facebook.

Beer

Someone brought this Champagne in for them

It took us a while to write this as we had been too busy with other stuff for Healthyintstudents.

The place is right on the number 48 and 75 tram lines.

The bathrooms are out the back and there are paintings outside the bathroom doors.

Many loyal friends and bloggers gathered at the new place and loved the cool fit out. We also loved the bar and watching the bartender make some wonderful cocktails such as the Vietnamese coffee espresso martini.

The owner and his staff are lovely and they will help you order what you want. They are also attentitive.

We also enjoyed the bespoke white wine which works well with a vegetarian pho or dessert of some sort. It was sweet and appley.

With the chicken wings, we got the sexy back beer which kicked a punch. The chicken wings were fingerlickingly good. I couldn't stop at just one.

The vegetarian pho was good but the broth was a little bit on the sweetish side. Some pickled onions would be nice to go with it. And the serving was huge. Two people could have easily finished this. It was a bit hard for one person to finish.

Do come by to this eatery at nighttime rather than those other drab Vietnamese places on Victoria st.

Killiney Kopitam

There is a new Kopitam in town and its in Richmond. Visiting the last two branches, I had high expectations for the third.

I wanted to try this one out when I saw the Entertainment book voucher for 25% off the total bill. Note it does not include the $15 sets. But I didn't want them anyway.

The Richmond one did disappoint me a bit especially with the roti prata. But their vegetarian nasi lemak was good.

There is a bathroom but its behind a wall. And yes it was a bit dirty.

The service here was friendly like it should be. The waitress talked to everyone and when someone asked her for recommendations for curry she gave some.

Oh and yes she gave everyone complementary tea which was nice.

The rroti prata was dry and very flaky. I love my roti to be oily and fluffy.

But the vegetarian nasi lemak was nice. Here I enjoyed the coconut rice and the tofu. The rice was just like the one that I would have done for Hari Raya at Malaysia Hall. I would have ordered meat but I promised Healthyintstudents that I would go meatless for the month of May and participate in their challenge for a healthier country.

The anchovies and the nuts were really crunchy and lovely.

I would order this dish again and maybe the kaya mantou and the toast if I was to visit here next time. Oh and do buy the Entertainment book of Healthyintstudents as you'll be supporting their charity.

Rare Steakhouse Midtown

RNIS was invited to the Rare Steakhouse and did not have to pay.

Rare Steakhouse is what replaces Squires loft in the city. Squires Loft was the old steak eatery but they weren't doing that well. For eight years now Rare Steakhouse is in its place.

Vegetarian Gnocchi

Sweet potato fries

And now they are really busy with lots of steak orders and a new two-course menu which is $40 and can only be ordered before 6:30pm. At the old Steakhouse, everything was really expensive and there weren't many vegetarian dishes on the menu. At that time I did not drink.

But now I do just for the enjoyment and I had a light Italian beer which was nice. I really loved the sweet potato chips. At the old Steakhouse, there wasn't a huge variety of wine on the menu. And now there is for everyone to enjoy. People can buy a bottle or a glass to drink.

I also love the hospitality here as it was warm and friendly.

The gnocchi was nice and moreish. It was the only vegetarian main on the menu. I would have liked there to be fewer nuts and more vegetables though. I couldn't finish the whole plate. The steak coming out of the kitchen looked good though.

I hope that Rare Steakhouse is featured in the Entertainment book as they are a great place to go to

Queen st Rescue

RNIS was invited by Dimmi and did not have to pay.

Queen st rescue is a nice place to relax after work. They are in fact a gastropub which has a lot of wine and alcohol. Here they have some weight watchers friendly meals such as Mushroom risotto and pasta. They also have specials such as $12 pizza and $17 curry.

I saw other people's meals and they were huge. I had too much snacks and beer at a launch event just before so I decided on something light.

The place is busy on a Friday night and you do need to book ahead.

The bathrooms are out the back and they have these cute doors: ladies is pink and men is blue.

The mushroom risotto was nice and I could have had cheese in there but since I had lots of cheese before I went without. But the truffle oil was the glue that held it together. This really did fill me up



I could have had ice cream but since I had it earlier today I decided not to have. The next time I come I will have to enjoy a drink and some fried goodness.

Hecho En Mexico

RNIS did not have to pay for the food but they paid for their drinks.

Hecho En Mexico is in South Yarra and it's their second store. The first one was in Fitzroy and it was not as good. The atmosphere there was really dark whereas South Yarra the atmosphere is quite nice and open. And they do have outdoor dining.

Oh at the bar it is really lively and the bartender seemed to know what he was doing.

For a Friday night on Chapel st they were really busy. Therefore it's a good idea to book ahead. We did that via dimmi. And for this restaurant Dimmi awarded us with a $20 food only voucher.

The bathrooms are out the back where the carpark is and they are always busy.

Here they have combo deals for those that love to try everything and Hecho's promo Tecate. And you can add either onion rings or chips and Tecate for $10. They have their usual burritos. A Tecate is a Mexican strong beer and the Mexicans like it with their burrito. Their Tecate was strong and I really enjoyed it with my fish burrito

I had the fish burrito with the onion rings. It was a huge portion. Here I really enjoyed the crunchiness of the batter and the fish burrito although cooked well, was not made properly. Some of the rice and fish filling fell out of the tortilla casing. It was really messy to eat. And I would have liked a little bit more of the onions and salsa in there. Or have them as a side. Oh and there weren't a lot of black beans in there which was disappointing as GYG I have had a lot of black beans and guacamole in mine and BayCity burrito was the same.

Do come by for a drink and I would love to try the Margheritas on offer.