Octie Appetie

01 November 2023

3 Days 2 Nights Eating Trip in Melbourne: Sleep at Gundagai Motel and Breakfast at Early Bird Cafe, Albury

Over the long weekend in early October, we decided to drive down to Melbourne. We left home around 5pm. It would normally take around 10 hours driving straight from Sydney to Melbourne. But my husband, he has no liking for driving in Australia at night, simply because of those wildlife animals that might jump out of the bush all of sudden. So, we stayed overnight at Gundagai Motel before continuing to our destination the next day. Gundagai is a tiny town somewhere in the middle between Sydney and Melbourne.

We notified the reception that we will be arriving late so she advised us on how to do self-check-in. It was pretty easy and straight forward. Btw each room has a designed car park as well which is very convenient. The room was clean and functional, great for recharging our body before another journey.

The next morning, we left early because we were aiming to arrive Melbourne before noon, if we could. So, we had a brief stop at Albury for breakfast. There were a few cafes open already early in the morning in this area, but we landed at Early bird cafe as recommended by one of our local friends there. It was homey and their menu are quite simply yet they done it well. Their coffee was smooth and delicious as well.

Latte

Baby chino

EB breakfast toasty - $18.90

Bacon, egg, vintage cheddar, tomato chutney, mayo and greens sandwich in between sourdough bread.

Scrambled eggs on sourdough Ciabatta $13.90

Canadian pancake $18.90

Generous three slices of pancakes served with bacon, cinnamon sugar and pure maple syrup.

Gundagai Motel

264 Sheridan Street, Gundagai

Ph: 02 6944 1066

Early Bird Cafe

1/553 Dean Street, Albury

Open: Thursday - Tuesday 7am - 2pm

Stay tuned for the next blog still in Melbourne:

30 October 2023

La Renaissance Patisserie & Cafe, The Rocks

This classic pastry cafe is one of the best cafes in town selling Parisian patisseries. They have been in this business for over twenty years. I absolutely love their cakes and sweets selection. They also have savoury items available in the shop as well. This place makes a great breakfast and morning tea outing especially on those clear blue-sky days. There is a not-so secret courtyard located at their back door. With more space and tables under the warm sunshine.

If you come from Wynyard/Circular Quay station, walk along George Street toward The Rocks. When you see this Belgian Chocolate Cafe in the corner, turn left and La Renaissance just behind them. It has LaR sign on the top left of the building or otherwise it is very easy to spot, the one with lots of customers.

Mocha $4.50

Earl Grey tea $4/pot

Rare roast beef sandwich $12.50

Mushroom quiche $8

Coffee eclair $8.80

La Renaissance Patisserie & Cafe

47 Argyle Street, The Rocks

Open: Daily from 8am - 4:30pm (except weekend until 5pm)

25 October 2023

Yakiniku Yokocho

The last Yokocho chain we visited in this Regent Place is a Japanese BBQ place called Yakiniku Yokocho. Yakiniku means grilled meat. So yeah.... It's simply justified itself. A charcoal griller is installed on each dinner table. They have a wide selection of meat cuts and variety of side dishes as well. Their small dishes all look so appetising and we did try out quite a few of them. I really like the ponzo chicken skin. It was the first dish that served and they just gone in a flash. We ended up ordering the second one of this.

Ponzo chicken skin $8.50

Lobster salad $6.50

Yukke $14

Ox tongue karaage $8.50

Chicken karaage $8.50

Motsuni - boiled intestine $8.50

Smoked duck breast $8.90

To be honest, I couldn't really tell which or what meat we ordered. Some with flavours some just plain cuts. There were quite a lot of them. With the do-it-yourself cooking, the cooking power is all under your hands. So yummy or not the food is, it comes down to how you like it cooked. Because what can go wrong with a good quality meat to begin with.

High ball $11.80

Yakiniku Yokocho

Level 9, Regent Place Shopping Centre

501 George Street, Sydney

Opens: Lunch 12pm - 3pm, dinner 5pm - 10pm, close a little bit later on Thursday - Sunday night

23 October 2023

Yakitori Yokocho

The next yokocho chain we had under Regent Place roof was this Yakitori Yokocho. The shop recreates the sense of Japan's alleyways and is fully decorated with all these old movie posters that kinda transport us back to Japan in 50's era.

We aimed to nibble a few small dishes and grilled stuff with some beers. Judging by their menu, to be honest, I was expecting something more. We ended up trying not so many items. In that lunch hour rush, the shop was quite full. However, I saw lots of them enjoying a bento set. They looked appetising yet the price is inexpensive too.

Beef carpaccio

Wagyu yakitori

Chicken tight with Japanese leek

Gin and tonic

Carpaccio was in perfect cut, thinly sliced and tasted slight oily and tangy. While their wagyu skewer were also tender and cooked perfectly. For chicken skewer, we got some sweet teriyaki on it and it was definitely a nice compliment to those chicken pieces. Their food actually were pretty good.

Yakitori Yokocho

Regent Place, Level 9

501 George Street

Open: Sunday - Thursday 12pm - 3pm, 4:30pm - 10:15pm

Friday - Saturday 12pm - 3pm, 4:30pm - 12am

19 October 2023

Edomae Sushi Yokocho

Have you heard about Regent Place Shopping Centre near Town Hall station, this area turned out to be like a little Japanese town. They are filled with a pack of Japanese restaurants and stores selling Japanese sweets and merchandises. Let alone this Yokocho chains: Edomae Sushi Yokocho, Yakiniku Yokocho and Yakitori Yokocho, they are all under the same roof. I have visited 3 of them recently. Let me start with the sushi shop first.

When the address said level 9, don't get it wrong. It's actually one level down from street level. The shop is located just opposite Mido mart. On the weekend, it's very hard to get a spot, there always be a long queue. However, on weekday, we were so lucky to get a table right away.

It is a sushi train shop. You can just pick up sushi from the conveyor belt or place an order from tablet underneath each table. They have variety of nigiri and sushi rolls in the house. Inexpensive sushi, it costs $4.30/plate of 2 pieces nigiri and slightly more expensive on special items. I could tell that they use fresh fish and other ingredients as well. However, in here they tend to serve classic and traditional sushi, not those modern and fancy ones.