Hash Speciality Coffee roasters

Hash Speciality coffee roasters has been on my radar eversince Meld has written about how good their coffees and hot chocolate is. Ever since then I have seen people's Instagram where good hot chocolate shows.

I went there with a friend who loves lattes. He was a bit late but they let me wait patiently for him. It was before 12pm and it was steady but not busy. It was hidden in Hardware lane so it was a bit hard for him to find. Not so much for me. I know where most things are. But being the health freaks we are we wanted to give this place a go. I had read about the fact that they use local organic produce, hence the price rise.


So I got my hot chocolate and he got his latte and we both got a chocolate crossaint to share. Well I know that a whole one to myself is about 300 calories and so to be healthier it was shared. And it was a nice crossaint. The hot chocolate was expensive but it was nice to watch the fairy floss on top disappear and melt once you pour the hot chocolate over it.

This took a while to come but it was all good. Here they say that they have 85% dark cocoa and they mean it.

San Churro releases a new winter menu

This new Winter menu is healthier and lot less sweeter.

I have been to the San Churros in Highpoint but it has never been written about until now. Here they have had a makeover. The place used to be drab but now it is open and inviting.

They seem to have had a change in management as well. Gone are the days that service was slow and unfriendly. These days service is more friendly and now you order at the counter. The store used to be a lot bigger but now it is small.

Their raw cacao drink ($6.50) was amazing. It was thick and you can have it either hot or cold. It was not sweet either and you can opt to have almond milk in your one.

Their filled churros (one for $4.95 or two for $8.95) was also amazing. Here you can choose between chocolate and caramel. I chose the chocolate as the caramel was too sweet for me and I was scared I would make a mess out of it. I only had one to tide me over to dinner but some people had a fair few.

Also really popular is the churros for one. It is three long churros with dipping sauce. These churros are deep fried with lots and lots of oil. I can't stand the thought of eating all that much oil and fattiness so if I am eating these alone I often get the kids sized churros as I can finish these quite easily and not feel guilty. However many people gouged themselves on the churros for one and a hot chocolate/latte. I've often wondered how they would fit that in and dinner as well unless they sweat it out at the gym or go for a long run. Its no wonder so many people are obese these days.

Rating: 15/20- love the churros but they would need to cut back on the quantity of churros for one as it is just too many (if it is after 3pm that is).  They also should for health reasons state how many calories are in their churros. I also like their hot chocolate and it is good that they now have a cacao one. Please put this on your proper menu.

Mork- A chocolate lovers retreat

Mork Chocolate is a new chocolate place in Melbourne which specialises in Mork Chocolate. Mork Chocolate is a Melbourne Chocolate brand which has been around for sometime. Their powders and chocolates are featured at markets and food shows.

Hence it is ideal that there is a store just devoted to this. Here they not only do chocolate but they sell merchandise such as t-shirts and tote bags. And crockery which is unique.

They are about a 5 minute walk away from the corner of Errol and Queensberry st and right near the tram stop. The 57 West Maribynong tram will take you there from the city.  You will need a MYKI for this. Or what some people do is walk from the city to there.

Vanilla bean sparkling mineral water

Dark Cacao Chocolate

Here I had their dark cacao chocolate ($5) and their decadent salted brown butter caramel tart ($4). The hot chocolate was lovely and not too sweet. It worked well with the salted caramel tart as that was sweet.

What I remembered reading from other blogs is that their campfire hot chocolate was really good. But it is best enjoyed in wintertime and not in the warmer months when I visited.

Students do visit Mork for a taste of Melbourne's finest chocolate comfort

Selene's chocolate bar

Selene's chocolate bar is in Box Hill just outside the Box Hill station, hence it is convenient for all the workers to get their morning coffee/chocolate fix before starting work. I went here on Leandro's recommendation when they posted a lovely picture on Instagram.

I really wanted to try this place. I have walked by it a few times but never got to go in until today when I wanted tea and chocolates. I did not have a chance to look at the reviews on Zomato. Instead the place was busy at 3:30pm which was a good sign.

Not so much of a good sign was when the barista didn't know whether they had pots of green tea. They had to ask. Also they forgot to ask me whether it was eat in or takeaway. Luckily I wanted eat in since that was what I primarily visited Box Hill for.

I wanted to try their matcha truffle chocolate for $2.20. Here it was creamy and smooth, but I prefer Chokolait's one any day. Its just that their's is a lot smoother and richer in flavour. This wasn't so rich.

The green tea was ok for $4.50. In the city they charge $5.50 for this.

Oh well, its good that Box Hill have this kind of cafe. That and Movenpick and now Cacao Green. I'd visit just for their chocolates if I'm around. Otherwise its just out of the way for me.

The chocolate tasting tour

There are lots and lots of chocolate tours all over Melbourne. Some of them cover stores outside of Melbourne and some don't. This one was run by Best Food Tours and for a mere $25 (on a Scoopon that is) we were shown some local Melbournian stores. The tour ran for two hours and involved lots of walking.

There were six stops. Our tour guide was a lovely Indian girl who is a local Melburnian

1) The Cupcake family in QV.
This is where we all met for the day. Here this business is run by a Japanese couple and we sampled their mini cupcakes. I got their matcha one as I was interested in their new flavours. Here this was moist and not as sweet as some of the other ones. In fact it was more like Cupcake centrals one.

2) Chokolait in Emporium
Chokolait has two stores now. One in the Royal Arcade and one in Emporium. The emporium one opened in July and had been really popular with shoppers.

Our tour guide also took us through the lovely history of the Emporium and that it used to be an old Myer building. In fact they take good care of their shoppers on Shopping days with free wine and food.

Back to the tastings, I had a pandan flavoured chocolate which was handmade. It was just a delight to eat. The flavours worked well with the white chocolate

3) Cacao Lab
Situated in Driver Lane in the city Cacao Lab has been opened for at least a year. Here they are laboratory like place which produces some of Melbourne's best flavours. This is where I tried my first chocolate mint shot and it was a hit with everyone

The front of their store

4) Koko Black
Koko Black opened in 2003 and has been going strong since. Here we tried their original Belguim chocolate and it was that good. Several people made chocolate purchases but I live in the city so I can purchase them at any time

5) Ganache
Here we tried their strawberry flavoured chocolate and it was divine! It was like wow!

Image courtesy of Lulu T. Legrand from zomato.com

6) The last stop
The last stop was the Chocomama shop. Here we were treated to fusion like chocolates in which we tried the pretzel one and the white chocolate raspberry. And I finally bought something at last.

Many thanks to Best Food Tours and Study Melbourne for having me. Oh and by the way there are Scoopons for these tours and they are $25 each

Baking: how to make

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

Students baking is an essential skill if you don't want to waste a lot of money buying café laden snacks. We show you some videos on how to bake basic snacks.

Choux pastry.

It should be light and fluffy and with a little bit of cream on the inside. Saveur an online magazine shows you how to make them easily in their video below.

Red Velvet cupcakes

These are simple to make and you can make it from scratch. They are about 400 cal for a big one. But you can do baby ones or vegan ones as they have less calories.

Joyofbaking.com shows us to make it.

Chocolate tart

This is so rich and decadent and easy to make at home. The ones you get outside can be stodgy and calorie laden. And very expensive. The video below shows you how to make an easy chocolate tart.

Macarons

These are small cookie like snacks but the ones outside are sugar laden. Do it yourself with egg whites is even better. This is Martha Stewart's recipe below

Monarch cakes visits 1 and 2

Monarch cakes is in St Kilda about 5-10 mins by route number 96 light rail tram from MSAC (exam venue).

The place is frequented by tourists and locals alike. It is famous for their german cakes.

The place is small and rather cozy. And no they do not have a bathroom. Instead their bathroom is at Nandos

Monarch cakes has been around for some time now. They opened in 1938

1st visit
I had the lemon tart and moon crescent cookie. I also had a long black. Altogether $8. The long black was big but yummy. It looked really huge when it came to the table. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of this as I forgot to take one.


2nd Visit

This time we got takeaway and I sampled both the fruit tart and the vanilla slice. They were $12 altogether. The vanilla slice was huge and very creamy. And the fruit tart was lovely but was a little bit crumbly at the bottom

Rating: 18/20 do come and visit for some lovely morning/afternoon tea cakes. The service is very friendly with a smile. 

Alison Nelson's Handmade chocolates

There are a whole heap of new chocolate stores popping up in Melbourne and Alison Nelson is the latest one. Hailing from New York it is a success in Melbourne and it appears to be that RNIS is the first one to write about this.

Alison Nelson is in Emporium and they have only been open for six months. They caters for kids as well as Adults so Joyce from Mel: HOT OR NOT might actually enjoy this. She and all the parenting bloggers might actually like this place.

I came at 11:30am wanting coffee and cake. I saw the sign saying $7 for coffee and cake and the luscious looking cakes so I was tempted. That and I saw the handmade chocolates and thought "wow I must try". The handmade chocolates are $2.50 each but they are seriously THAT GOOD.

The service there was great and the waitstaff were very attentive. The American one was very friendly.

So I did. I had a piccolo and a chocolate cupcake. The cupcake was divine and was just like I would make at home which is not too sweet and not too moist. The piccolo was burnt and was bitter. But I loved the sublime lime handmade chocolate.

THERE WAS NO ARTWORK ON MY PICCOLO! I would love some artwork as Melbourne coffees have artwork on them.

Rating: 14/20-come for the chocolate and the chocolate drinks. They have a huge range of chocolate drinks which are not overpriced like Max Brenner. That and their chocolate gifts on display which are fun to look at and seriously addictive.

Koko Black @Lygon st by Katherine

I went to the Koko black on Lygon st having high expectations of it. And the place did not disappoint. In fact it was heaven here.
And I was wowed by all the chocolate. Yummy.
Whilst I was there I got to try some caramel chocolate which was sweet and tasted like toffee. Apparently they do give out samples of chocolate to their customers and I was one of them.

The service was a tad bit slow and unattentitive. I did have to call the waiter a few times. Perhaps they were thinking about going home and not about the customer?

I checked out the bathrooms whilst I was there. It is behind a door and down a very small ramp.
I had the doughnut special( $12.50) with a Green tea ($5 for a pot was a bit pricey. But given that it was a Chanella brand _I forgave them).
The french doughnut (Beignets)  special sounded great and it was a wintry day so I felt like lots of comfort food. Here this special was really good. The doughnuts melted in the mouth like what they should. These were handmade.
The chocolate sauce= heavenly. I could easily hang here all day and night and watch them make chocolate and the world go by.
I loved the ice cream. It was very creamy but smooth.

Given the price I'd probably not visit as much as I'd like to. But I'd happily recommend the place to tourists and all Melburnians alike.