Fine Afternoon Tea @ Hotel Windsor, Spring Street

I finally got to go to afternoon tea. I'm often by myself when out eating but I thought about having someone to share afternoon tea with me. Really, would afternoon tea work when you're by yourself?? Fortunately, sis is here to save me from solitude. Hehe. Apart from that, she actually has a purpose. The weekend afternoon tea at the Hotel Windsor is served buffet style aside from the tier, which means I get to try more desserts-half a bite for each of us =).

I loved the atmosphere inside the restaurant. It's feminine and light, almost dream-like. I also loved the dark chandeliers dotted around the room, the high ceilings and the heavy curtains. I'm surprised that every table is full. That day, there were two tables with women dressed in pink with fur, headbands and white gloves. It made me feel like I'm in a real afternoon tea party.Aside from the ambiance, of course, I'm here for the food. First, a rose colored champagne is served, followed by tea or coffee, then the 3-tiered afternoon pastries. From the top are scones, savory pastries and finger sanwiches. I've heard so much about cucumber sandwiches and this is also my first time to try one. My first reaction is: is this all there is to a cucumber sandwich?? Oh, well. The savory pastries is another story. It's not as great as I expected to be but I guess it's all traditional and they stuck to it.

But, there's another reason why we came and it's the buffet table. It's not a huge spread but you can easily see the effort it took to think up of almost 6 different fruit pies/tarts, 4 different cakes, a chocolate fountain, crepes and 8 little pastries/cakes. It's unfortunate that they did not have names for all the sweets on display at the table but they're all good. Here are some of them:It's all very nice but I don't think I would go for something like this everyday. Going there is definitely a sweet tooth's dream come true. When we left the place I almost could not breathe from all the cakes I've tried. Overall, I will definitely recommend the Hotel Windsor for afternoon tea and for the experience of dining there.

Another Australian @ Charcoal Lane, Gertrude Street

Charcoal Lane is really charming. I think there is no other word to describe it. We were seated at the corner of the room for that added privacy. I love it that the establishment has enough room to move around and talk. One more thing I like about it is that it serves Australian food. I think it's less and less that you can say when a restaurant serves Australian food. I have been asked by several people what Australian food is like and I must add Charcoal Lane to my list.

We didn't have wine that night but we had the freshly shucked oysters with lime granita. To be honest, I would rather have the oysters baked or steamed because it was a cold night after all. The combination was good but I ended up taking out the ice from the oysters because it was too cold for my taste.
What I had for dinner was another thing. Native peppered kangaroo fillet, shallot & bush tomato tart, rosella flower jus. Eating a piece of kangaroo meat is not usual and I think this is the first time I've had it ever since I've been here. It was a piece of nicely cooked kangaroo fillet (not medium rare!) on a bed of crisp pastry. It was also artfully presented. This will be the best way to try kangaroo meat. Highly recommended.

Saturday Brunch@ Outpost Cafe, Yarra Street

What's wonderful about Outpost aside from the food and coffee is the kitchen. I have to admit that I was fascinated about the open kitchen as I walked into the cafe. A wooden board loaded with sandwiches and petite pastries gave off the impression of its abundance is a pleasant sight, plus the busy chefs and staff move like clock-work.

One down-side to the place is the inside of the cafe itself. A bit dark and cramped. There is not enough room, and I do mean literally, for conversation. After less than a couple of hours, the staff would start clearing up the table, almost ushering you out because they're busy (meaning, there are other people waiting to take our seats). It's the first time I've encountered this. Now, on to the food.

PG, MM and sis came with me to try this place out. I'm curious because of two things: one is to see the open kitchen which I've already raved about and another is the coffee, since Outpost serves coffee from St Ali. I actually liked the coffee, it's different to my taste of usual coffee (e.g. Dancing Goat and Las Chicas and Hardware Societe) but good nonetheless.

MM had the Poached Eggs Royal (smoked salmon), Sis had the Ham and Cheezy Toasty (which she liked enormously) while PG and I ordered French toast with Bacon and Maple Syrup (who can resist that honestly?). There are so many aspects to like about this dish. The french toast itself is already good - bread is well soaked with the yummy egg and milk batter, pan fried with a light crust. The entire thing is sprinkled with candied walnuts which is both creative and delicious.

Back to Little Creatures @ Brunswick Street

It's not often that I get to try something like this and when I do, I would like people to know about it. I guess that mixing charcuterie with fruit is not strange to many but for me, the only combination I know about was when I had pieces of prosciutto and melon (preferably sweet when in season). Having jamon serrano and fresh fig together is a new experience for me, since fresh fig is relatively unheard of in Manila. I have to admit that there are a few elements lacking in this combination but still, it's not a bad combination altogether.

What I love about the dish was the jamon itself. It's almost silky and light, saltiness is just a hint and not overpowering. The fresh figs were not as sweet as I would hope for them to be but a bit on the crunchy side. The croutons didn't really help much, I would rather have a few touches of fresh mozzarella. The olive oil is just enough to coat.

Posh Croque Monsieur @ Cafe Vue, Little Collins Street

The morning was freezing and we went out to breakfast at Cafe Vue. I know it probably won't be the best-est idea in the world, given this cold morning but sis and I were both starving...plus I wanted something new and different for breakfast.

Cafe Vue is not far from the apartment and I have great expectations in terms of the food and service. This is my second time to one of the Vues (first time being ages ago, by ages, I would mean more than a year). After a short walk, we were seated at Cafe Vue. I'm surprised with how small the place was, really just for the working group wanting some take away coffee and breakfast treats. Since we got time to spend, we ordered Ham and Egg Jaffle and Kurobuta Croque Monsieur for me.

Coffee is good. Croque Monsieur is excellent. This is so far far away from what I had at Le Triskel. Not that LT's not as good. Cafe Vue's is just ladden with butter. I can literally smell the butter when the plate was set in front of me. It was rich, heavy, crunchy, and oh, so good. Living up to the 3 most important ingredients of French cuisine (butter, butter, butter!), this is not breakfast for the faint-hearted. This is probably all a croque monsieur could be, definitely a knotch higher.

I dare you to drop in for a bite of this and I promise you, you won't be back for second helping...well, probably after a month?