Mr Munchies Sushi - Mt Lawley

Mr Munchies isn’t the first name I think of when I want fresh Sushi…but maybe that’s about to change…

An ‘Our Deal’ online voucher we purchased gave us the opportunity to try the newest member to the Mt Lawley restaurant strip on Beaufort Street – Mr Munchies Sushi.

We paid $25 to have anything on the menu (minus the sashimi) for up to the value of $50.

For me, this meant eating as much as I normally do - a lot -for the cost of a normal person. So I was a happy camper!

Mr Munchies is the first Sushi establishment in Australia to offer customers a chance to customise their sushi – build your own from scratch!

1.    You choose either sushi roll or a salad

2.    Pick your base: Chicken/beef/pork/salmon/tuna/other seafood

3.    Stuffing (up to 3)

4.    Toppings

5.    Sauce

As appealing as this process was, we were too tempted to try the already made combinations on offer (I’ll have to come back another time and make my own!).

A small roll is four pieces of sushi (priced from around $8-$10) and a large roll is eight pieces of sushi ( priced from $13.50-$18.50).

Chatting to the friendly co-owners of Mr Munchies – Ricky and Henry, I was told they want to try offer freshly made sushi for prices more affordable than the popular Aisuru Sushi in Northbridge who they are in direct competition with. They assured me they pride themselves in only using fresh ingredients. I could definitely tell the quality was there when the sushi rice was still warm upon arriving at my table.

Henry and Ricky were so keen to chat and make a good impression which was nice to see as the service throughout our meal was also fantastic.

We ordered the Seafood salad and Squid Salad:

Squid Salad $5.50

This salad I would order again in a heart beat! I loved the fresh squid, spiced and tossed through seaweed and spring onions. For $5.50 this was a lovely side dish to add to our meal.

Seafood Salad $9.50:

To be honest, this wasn’t the best value for money I hoped for. I think it was because I was comparing it to a wonderfully generous seafood salad I had at ‘Is Donburi’ on William Street just a few days earlier which gave me a huge amount of seafood in a wonderfully fresh salad. These small bits of sashimi were sitting on a huge bed of rice and I chose the teriyaki sauce to accompany it. Whilst the salad mentioned “cherry tomatoes” I had one baby cherry tomato sliced in half….I feel this was a little underwhelming and not worth adding “cherry tomatoes” to the menu description… The sashimi on the rice was however very fresh.

Small Chicken Lover roll $9.00:

Grilled Teriyaki chicken, avocado, tamagoyaki, topped with mayo, spring onion, and chopped karaage, served with sliced lemon.

The chicken was cooked so superbly that it still held its moist texture and was wonderfully fresh. The teriyaki flavour was not hugely pronounced, however this did not matter as the roll was a delight to eat.

Large Seafood roll $18.50:

Fresh salmon slices, steamed prawn, cucumber, topped with fresh tuna flakes, and served with double sauce (wasabi aioli and chilli mayo).

Beautifully fresh seafood in a roll that had been made minutes before sitting on my plate! I loved the fact that it had a chilli mayo on top as there is nothing I love more than seafood and chilli!

Small Mr Munchies Roll $9.00:

Tiger prawn fritters with crabsticks, avocado, tamagoyaki, topped with chilli mayo.

Mr Munchies Roll

I also tried a piece of the Mango Chicken sushi which was a special on the night – this was chicken and prawn fritters in a sushi roll with sweet chilli and coriander, topped with mango. So delicious and fresh – they used real mango pieces which I was quite impressed by! I love that Thai-inspired combination of chilli, coriander and mango! The chicken as in the Chicken Lover roll was also wonderfully moist and fresh.

Mango Chicken sushi

My friends had the Philadelphia roll which was smoked salmon, cream cheese, topped with black and white sesame seeds, with mayo and sweet chilli sauce.

If I wasn’t so full from all this wonderfully fresh Japanese I would have tried the Miso soup for only $2.50! I love a good Miso Soup and usually cannot pass it up, so I’m surprised I didn’t try it here. I think I was too busy catching up with good company!

Mr Munchies is located down the corridor from Grill’d Burgers on Beaufort Street – you don’t really know it’s there unless you are looking for it or stumble upon it on your way to the toilets.

The painting on the wall is a funky Astro Boy drawing which adds a youth feel to the sushi café. The décor is simple: wooden chairs and tables with wooden chopsticks on each table and the café is small and would seat around 25 people max.  

Sushi master in action preparing our sushi fresh!

I really hope this place does well! It’s an interesting concept to have a “build-your-own” sushi establishment and I hope Perth embraces this wonderfully fresh and affordable sushi café.

I wish Ricky and Henry all the best and I’ll definitely be back!

Mango Sticky Rice with Thai Custard

There is one dessert I will get every time if it’s on the menu no matter what.

No matter how full I am of three Thai curries, rice, stirfrys and appetisers - I will still get this dessert. Although simple as it is, it would have to be one of my favourite desserts.

Most people either do not love this dish or have no opinion on it. It’s not hugely sweet, nor is it something you really feel like after indulging on huge Thai curries and filling up your stomach with ever-expanding rice. However, I stand strong that this dessert is delicious.

Sweet Mango Sticky Rice.

Typically, it looks a lot like this:

I am luckily enough to have a Thai friend who upon request will make sticky rice and Thai custard for me if I give her a few days notice (you need to soak the rice overnight).

When I receive the bowl of sweet sticky rice; covered in coconut cream and the sweetness of palm sugar, and the Thai custard; which is an unflatteringly grey/yellow colour, I portion out my servings in an attempt to make the goodness last as long as possible.

As the sticky rice and custard looks quite unappealing, I have restrained from photographing it and instead utilised the fantastic capabilities of the world-wide-web to showcase a much more presentable version which was most likely at a restaurant. You get the idea.

All in all, I encourage you to try this dessert when next faced with the opportunity at a Thai restaurant or otherwise. I’m not claiming it is rich and indulgent, chocolately or have any world-standing textural or flavour-compelling features.

I will however tell you it is delicious. And I am luckily enough to tell you I have some sitting in my fridge at the moment.

*had some sitting in my fridge thanks to my lovely Thai friend.

Cookies 'n' Cream Choc Mud Cake

When do you ever not feel like a chocolate cake?

This one is so simple it takes one bowl (saucepan) and is so moist! 

It's not to rich that you cant eat three slices in a row but still hits that choccy craving that you want (need).  

I made this one for a friend's birthday but I think I need another excuse to knock up a choccy cake as it is to die for! 

Here's the recipe:





Ingredients:

125g butter
1 cup white sugar
2 tbs cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp bi carb soda

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups SR flour

Mix butter, sugar, cocoa, boiling water and bi carb soda in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then reduce to simmer before it boils over. 

Let the mixture cool. 

Beat in two eggs and sift in 1 1/2 cups SR flour. 

Cook in oven at 180 degrees for 40-45 mins.

Icing:

1 tub cream cheese

Icing sugar

Hot water

Vanilla essence 

I pretty much just mixed these together until I got the consistency that I liked, then stirred in crushed Oreo biscuits.

I then decorated the top of the cake with Oreo biscuits :)

Choux Cafe - Cottesloe

Apple Custard Tart 

In three minutes....

You would think a French Patisserie would also give you a complimentary voucher to see a Diabetes Educator when they pass you a tart you've purchased for morning tea. 

I've always associated French desserts to be overly-sugary, buttery 

and/or blood-glucose-level-raising. 

This gorgeous Apple Custard tart was surprisingly not overly-sweet.

Perfectly sliced apples layered over a base of smooth custard.

Crunchy shortcrust pastry base.

Gorgeous orange macaron added to perfect this tart.

Delicious, more-ish and dangerously addictive.

Piccolo's Corner - West Leederville

The fact that I house-sat about 100m away from this cute café and never new of its existence saddens me. My bank account however, would be very happy as if I had known of Piccolo’s Corner before, I would have spent every weekend here.

Piccolo’s Corner is located on the corner of St Leonards Ave and Woolwich Street in West Leederville.

This tiny café is actually a little bigger than first expected as you can opt to sit outside in the cute garden courtyard surrounded by plants, flowers and watering cans hanging from trees.

What I love about this place is that everything is mismatched and quirky. There are chairs, lounges, some tables are made of old doors and the sugar pots on the table are all random. They serve free range eggs, the food is fresh and delicious and they even have fresh home-made lemonade on offer!

Through my research I found that the most popular dish offered for brunch is their “Smashed pumpkin, feta, spinach, pesto and poached egg on toasted ciabatta” ($17.50) Those who have reviewed Piccolo’s Corner have ravved about this dish no end!

The menu is really interesting and features gorgeous dishes that you can tell have had some thought put into them.

Being obsessed with mushrooms, I couldn’t go past the “Garlic and tarragon filed mushrooms with salsa verde and fetta on toasted ciabatta.” ($14.50) (I asked for no fetta as I have had a bit of dairy intolerance as of late).

I also ordered a Cappuccino. Upon the first sip out of the vintage china cup with a souvenir teaspoon I realized the coffee was of high quality. A quick check inside and I see “5 Senses” sitting on the shelf. Absolutely divine!!

Jack opted for the Piccolo’s Breakfast which had poached eggs, avocado, bacon and spicy capsicum relish on toasted ciabatta ($17.50) with a Latte.

I found it cute that they served the pot of tea in a china ‘house’ and nearly convinced me to order a tea until I realised I had not had my caffeine for the day and needed this greatly.

My mushroom brekky was absolutely delicious! They did not shy away from flavour with lots of garlic and tarragon! I would have loved the choice of a grain-bread but that’s just me being fussy. On a normal day I would have probably walked away hungry as the size of the meals are very humble (on this particular day I was still recovering from the flu). I do take into mind my abnormal-appetite but I still think they could be a little more generous with the servings.

Jack also made this comment on the size of his meal. Being the biggest meal on offer for breakfast – he was hoping for a big feed but was slightly let down.

Inside Picciolo’s is a gorgeous array of colours - there are artworks painted on the walls, flowers in pots and even a candy bar where you can pick-n-mix!

They have freshly baked muffins on the counter screaming to be eaten and even some freshly made rolls and quiches for lunch.

Piccolo's Corner in a nutshell:

·         Coffee: 5 Senses

·         All eggs are free range

·         Home made Lemonade

·         Candy bar inside!

·         You order at the counter and it’s cash only.

·         We were there at 8.00am (opening) on Sunday but a line of people very quickly grew out the front so get in quick to avoid the wait!  

 Piccolo's Menu:

Pumpkin Spice Latte

From my experience of Halloween in Canada I can confidently say that everything is PUMPKIN.

Think of every type of food you have ever eaten.

Now transform that food into a pumpkin version of itself - add pumpkin, flavour it with pumpkin, shape the product in a pumpkin shape - hell – dip it into pumpkin puree! - and this is what America and Canada do obsessively during Halloween.  

I love pumpkin, don’t get me wrong. Do I believe it should be added to every biscuit, cereal, breakfast, lunch, dinner that exists? Possibly not…

Good on them I say – why not embrace pumpkin this Halloween?!

 In honour of my Canadian buddies and combined with my love for coffee and cinnamon – I came across a Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe that I thought I should give a go!

Here it is:

(Vegan)  Pumpkin Spice Latte

Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 3-4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (plus more for garnish)
• 2/3 cup strongly brewed coffee

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together milk, pumpkin and maple syrup until well combined. Heat until warmed through and frothy. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and coffee. Whisk rapidly until latte is frothy.
3. Pour into mugs and sprinkle top with more pumpkin pie spice if desired.

It was actually delicious and easy to make! I would actually recommend you give it a go!

MMM oh Pumpkin .

Aisuru Sushi

There isn’t a day when I don’t feel like sushi Japanese full stop.

I would happily eat raw fish and beautiful little roles of rice and creamy avocado any day.

Aisuru gets me excited because I can see the sushi being made there on the spot.

The rice is still warm when it arrives at your table, which just screams FRESH!

Aisuru Sushi executes the art of sushi like no other. The sushi looks like an artwork on your plate when it arrives, and surprisingly enough, the plate is empty by the time you count to 20.

From top left:

Jennifer Roll

Teriyaki Tofu

Chicken Plum Roll

Black Velvet roll

Miso Soup

Dreaming of Brunch in Melbourne

I’ve spent a morning scrolling through photos of my friends travels on Facebook and through photo-envy I have resorted to looking at my own travel photos.

I have been hungrily reminiscing my holiday to Melbourne earlier this year and thought I’d spend a moment sharing these gorgeous little brunch spots I came across in Melbourne.

The Bond Store - Southbank

·         Cappuccino

·         Fried eggs on rye toast with white truffle oil, spicy chorizo sausage and Mexican chilli.

·         Poached eggs on toast with smoked bacon, wilted spinach, smashed avo & roasted tomato

·         Poached eggs on toast with wilted spinach, smashed avo & roasted tomato (side of smoked salmon instead of bacon)

·         Hot banana bread with honey butter

·         Latte

The best dish here was the Banana bread by far. It was soft, light and crumbly in texture but with a crunchy crust. Sweet (real) banana flavours and with a thick slice of honey-butter – it just melted in your mouth! More like a banana cake than banana bread. So divine!

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Affogato Espresso Bar

Down one of the most popular little brunch lanes in Melbourne hides a pretty little espresso bar called – Affogato Espresso Bar. Hardware Lane was another skinny street boasting of macaron cafes, coffee shops, and so many breakfast cafes! Cobblestone paths, coffee bean aroma floating through the air – I could not be happier.

A gorgeous welcoming couple (that clearly own and run the café) were ever so friendly and accommodating and invited us into their cafe.

The Coffee was out of this world! I asked what coffee beans they used and they said “Supreme.”

We had two large (mug) latte’s, then two more normal-sized lattes (because the first were so damn unbelievable!), the big Vegetarian Breakfast with extra sides and an Eggs Benny – ALL FOR UNDER $40!!

The brunch was probably my perfect brekky on a plate: Poached eggs, salmon, mushrooms, fried tomatoes and spinach leaves on seeded toast!

Jack had an Egg’s Benny which he also ravved about!

I would return here purely for the divine coffee, the impeccable service and the best breakfast I had in Melbourne!

Affogato Espresso Bar
29 Hardware Lane
Melbourne
+61 9642 5593
www.affogato.com.au