Bread and Jam for Frances

Bread and Jam for Frances

1/701 Glenferrie Rd 

Hawthorn VIC 3122

Ph: (03) 9819-2122

Website

Howdy y'all! Today I'd like to tell you about a quiet achiever on the cafe scene: Bread and Jam for Frances, in Hawthorn. Despite my living in the area for a good few years now, I haven't really explored the local cafes in any great depth, and it's only recently that we've been googling "good cafe Hawthorn" on weekend mornings and going to check them out! It was reading Adrian's review of Bread and Jam for Frances that prompted us to visit. It's a quiet little cafe, behind Readings Bookstore on Glenferrie Road and opposite the Coles.

Dench bread and pastries, Cunliffe and Waters preserves, Keep Cups

They sell Dench bread and pastries (so no need to traipse across to North Fitzroy - wahoo!), and the cooked meals are also very good. What I really like about the cafe, though, is how chilled and friendly it is. You never seem to have to queue for a long time, and the staff are very friendly and attentive - e.g. when I got up to look at the bread, a staff member quickly appeared and asked if I wanted help with the bread. (I must admit to a certain amount of anxiety visiting more hipster cafes with queues and (sometimes) attitude!)

Prepared sandwiches, salads, drinks

One negative I will mention though, is that the food can be a little slow to come out - the kitchen is tiny, and as far as I can tell there is only one chef who prepares all the food. Not a dealbreaker, especially if you're having a relaxed brunch, but something to be aware of.

The pictures below are from two visits: one was for a weekend brunch, and the second visit was with my Mum for Mother's Day! On our first visit, I personally found the coffees to be on the weak side - so since then I always ask for strong here.

Latte

Cappuccino

Soup of the day - Cauliflower soup w/ bacon crumbs - $10.50

The cauliflower soup came, refreshingly, without cream, and had a lovely pure cauliflower flavour. The little bread roll also came warm - a nice touch!

"Ham and Egg" - Fried egg, ham hock terrine w/ cabbage & dill slaw w/ toasted Schwarzbrot - $15.50

I saw an item on the specials board that included Schwarzbrot, and my mind was made up. This was a great dish: I loved the meaty and compact terrine, and below the fried egg (Spiegelei!) was a refreshing mound of cabbage and gherkin salad. Very tasty!

Cabbage & dill slaw

Mmm... runny egg yolk!

Yolkporn

The next meals are from our second visit: and I'm pleased to say my mum loved it! She kept saying how nice the food was, and how she has to bring my dad here one day! Yay!

Poached eggs with a salmon & avocado roulade, grilled asparagus & hollandaise sauce - $18.50

Beneath the two perfectly poached eggs were little patties of salmon and avocado roulade (essentially mashed avocado, cooked salmon and herbs), and the dish was complimented with just the right amount of hollandaise sauce. Quote from my mum: "Oh this is so nice! I don't know which part to eat next!"

Yolk porn

Peperonata - Sauteed red peppers, onions, potatoes, goats feta, dukkah, poached egg

My breakfast of peperonata was equally delicious - a poached egg, sauteed capsicum and potatoes with a sprinkling of feta and dukkah. Again, this was well balanced, with all of the elements complimenting each other and nothing overpowering the dish as a whole.

More yolk!

Sandra went for a more lunchy dish: Thai-style chicken curry. $17.50 seemed quite expensive, but it was a very generous serve, and the curry itself was very good - it wasn't exceedingly hot, but had a pleasing combination of flavours from the different spices and herbs.

Thai-inspired chicken pumpkin curry with sweetcorn, spinach & fragrant jasmine rice - $17.50

Bienenstich

We took home a slice of Bienenstich cake as well - I've had Dench's Bienenstich before and really like it, but I'll be naughty and say that the Bienenstich I'm enjoying in Germany right now is much, much better!

So that was Bread and Jam for Frances! Needless to say, I'm a big fan, and definitely recommend it for a great brunch in a relaxed atmosphere!

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Acland Street Cantina

Acland Street Cantina
2 Acland Street
St Kilda, VIC 3182
Ph: (03) 9536-1175
Website


So, "Modern Mexican". It's a Melbourne dining trend that has pretty much passed me by. I visited Mamasita once back in 2010, wasn't a huge fan, and never had any burning desire to go back. Upon reflection my dislike of the restaurant was more to do with the inexplicable hype surrounding it, rather than the food itself, which was fine, if a little expensive. I just don't get why you'd want to line up for hours for it. (Or any restaurant, for that matter - but that's just my inner grumpy-old-lady talking). I must admit it also really grated on me that it was gushingly described by fawning bloggers and food writers as "authentic" Mexican, when it clearly wasn't.

And so, I never really had any interest in any of the Modern Mexican wave (hah!) of restaurants that have sprung up in Melbourne over the past couple of years. Prior to this visit to Acland Street Cantina, I hadn't been to Fonda, to Señoritas, to Chingón, to The Newmarket Hotel, to Touché Hombre. I had been to (and enjoyed) Los Amates, but as it's been around for ages, and serves traditional Mexican comfort food, rather than modernising it or creating a nightclub vibe with loud music, dark lighting and/or queues, I don't count it as being in the same category.

I much prefer trying to cook Mexican-style food at home, especially with my lovely cousin Catherine, who shares my cynicism regarding "Modern Mexican". (See Mexican Lunch #1; Mexican Lunch #2; and Mexican Lunch #3. Hot tip for home cooks: sopes are way easier than tortillas!)

This is really just a long-winded way of explaining that I went to newish Mod-Mexican restaurant Acland Street Cantina twice this year, and despite all my preconceptions, really enjoyed it!

Acland Street Cantina

The first visit was on a Friday night - my cousin and I had just attended the launch of Circa's Pop Up Yakitori Bar at The Prince (you can read about it at Gourmet Chick's blog), and hadn't been sufficiently assertive in the packed crowd to get more than a couple of nibbles and a drink each. We decided to retreat next door to Acland Street Cantina (another Paul Wilson venture, incidentally) to continue chatting and get a bit more food.  We sat in the bar section at the front and shared some baja fish tacos and a bowl of bravas potatoes, both of which were very impressive.

Baja Fish Tacos, $14 for 2 (at night)

Bravas Potatoes - $7

The service was also very good - the waitress serving us was really friendly and patient, explaining the menu and even offering us tastes of the ice-cream when we went up to pay. (They have sweet corn ice-cream, peoples!) We left full and happy, promising that we'd come back together for a proper meal.

Imagine my delight, then, when I won a $95 voucher to Acland Street Cantina a few weeks later, as part of Cinco de Mayo! It was one of those "Retweet before 3pm for your chance to win" things, and I thought it couldn't hurt to give it a go. It sure didn't! I enthusiastically texted my cousin, but unfortunately the only time she had free was the last night my brother was in town and obviously we had to have family dinner. I felt so guilty cancelling on her! (Funnily enough though, they ran the twitter competition again that week, and guess who won that time: my cousin! Hah! What a crazy coincidence!)

I ended up taking my brother there for a weekday lunch - he's been living in Japan for the last three years, and I felt it was my duty, as an ambassador for Melbourne, to show him something really Melbournian - hence, Modern Mexican. And we've come full circle!

Flowers, tequila bottle

The restaurant portion of ASC only does dinner, but that was ok with me, as I prefer the bright and colourful front bar section anyway (the back section looks a bit dark and, um, sex dungeony - it used to be the bar Mink, if anyone remembers it).

Acland Street Cantina - bar section

Cinco De Mayo

They had a special Cinco de Mayo barbecoa feasting lunch, which is what my brother ended up ordering. It did come with beer or a margarita, but it was lunchtime, so just soft drinks for us.

Strawberry Iced Tea - $4
Jarritos Grapefruit - $4 (but included in the Cinco de Mayo plate)

We started by sharing a plate of pumpkin guacamole. Such a cute idea, and I liked the textural interest added by the toasted seeds (pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower) - something to try making at home one day. The stripey chips are vegetable chips - I think taro? Very crisp and a nice change from the usual corn / tortilla chips.

Pumpkin guacamole with vegetable chips and salsa - $12

Here's the $25 barbecoa plate! The savoury items were very impressive, especially the tender and smoky slow-cooked pork rib, and there was a good variety of flavours and textures on the plate. I'd probably avoid ordering the tres leches cake myself in future, as it was a bit small (I'm of the understanding that the small dish you see below is the full serving size if you order it by itself), and I didn't like the addition of autumn fruits to the plain cake. 

$25 Barbecoa Feasting Lunch
Clockwise from right: Tostadas w/ wild mushroom queso fundido
Blue corn & prawn quesadilla w/ chipotle aioli
Cochinta Pibil style pork ribs w/ crushed sweet potato - slow cooked pork short ribs w/ achiote & seville orange sauce
Tres leches cake w/ autumn fruits

I knew I couldn't go wrong by ordering tacos (and they're only $5 each at lunch!).

Tacos!

Authentic Al Pastor Spit-Roasted Pork w/ Pineapple Salsa - $5 (at lunch)

Pueblan-style goat w/ red mole - $5 (at lunch)

Baja Fried Fish w/ slaw and chipotle mayo - $5 (at lunch)

I'd had a hard time choosing which tacos to go for - I chose a fish taco because I loved it so much the time before, the goat taco because of the relatively exotic meat, and the pork taco because, well, pork. I liked them all, but the goat and fish were my favourite! And at $5 each at lunch, they're really well priced. Three tacos made a decent sized lunch, and had I not been there with my brother, I would have been fine not ordering dessert.

But, for his sake of course, we did order dessert. (I'm such a good sister, don't you think?) I had to try the famous salted caramel ice-cream churro taco. It was a great, super-intense dessert - cinnamon flavoured deep-fried churro at the base, with two scoops of smooth and creamy salted caramel ice-cream, drizzled with salted caramel and sprinkled with crunchy sweet sugary praline. Delicious, but crazy decadent! Definitely one to share!

Salted caramel ice cream churros tacos - $12

I had a bit of value left on my voucher, so one of the waiters suggested I get some groceries to use it up. Here's what I got!

My chilli haul

It was: two bottle of hot sauce, two packets of dried chillies (there's ancho chillies and another one of which I don't know the name), and a tin of chipotle chillies in adobo sauce. I didn't realise until after I got home that  they were all chilli products! I think I have a bit of an addiction!

Thanks for the voucher, ASC, it was an awesome lunch! Looking forward to coming back again on my own coin one day!

Do you have a favourite Mexican restaurant in Melbourne? Do you prefer modern or traditional Mexican food? Do you like to follow dining and food trends or do you just eat what you like?

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The Unblogged Files: May 2013, Melbourne Edition

Yo yo! So, I know what you're thinking: "Whaaat?! It's only halfway through May, what's Sarah doing with another Unblogged Files already?" You see, I just got to Germany this morning, for a three-week holiday! I've got many, many delicious meals planned, so I thought it would make sense to do an Unblogged Files covering all the eating from Melbourne from the first half of the month, and do full posts for the Europe-based eating after I get back!

The first half of May was very busy food-wise anyway: I had a week off between finishing up at my old job and starting my new one, my brother was back in town for a week for a whirlwind visit, and I was also trying to catch up with as many friends as possible before my holiday!

First thing: cookies. I made a batch of The Rock's Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies (you can Google the recipe), replacing the suggested chocolate chips with a bar of Godiva Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate that my parents brought back from their most recent trip overseas. Wow.

The Rock's Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies with Godiva Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate

I also made a batch of Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies to take when we visited our friends who've just had a (gorgeous!) baby. These biscuits are also known as Pierre Hermé's chocolate sablés (again, you can Google the recipe), and they're incredible! It's a richly dark chocolate shortbread, crisp and crumbly, studded with little pieces of finely chopped chocolate and the crunch of fleur de sel.

World Peace Cookies

My brother's visit home from Japan was a busy and food-filled week (well, we are Malaysian, after all). Apart from my birthday celebrations that I mentioned in my last Unblogged Files...

We had family Yum Cha at Tai Pan in Doncaster East...

Tai Pan Yum Cha

I happened to win a $95 voucher from Acland Street Cantina, so took my bro for lunch there. We really enjoyed it and I'll be blogging it in full, but for now check out this picture of their delicious (and giggle-inducing) salted caramel ice-cream churro taco.

Salted Caramel Ice-Cream Churros Taco - $12

We also had coffee at Sensory Lab (super Melbournian experience, IMHO).

Sensory Lab Coffee

And on his last night in town, I cooked dinner for the family, their favourite: Saffron-Scented Chicken Pilaf - a Nigella recipe from Forever Summer. It's the best! (My bro wrote a really nice Bliphoto entry about me and this dinner, you can read it here!)

Saffron-Scented Chicken Pilaf

Being so busy, I was totally slack in bringing my lunch to work, and visited Snag Stand a couple of times this month - I loved the "Das Bratwurst", which came with a bratwurst sausage, bacon-studded sauerkraut, onions and mustard - although I must say I felt conflicted about buying a grammatically incorrect lunch. (It's "Die Bratwurst!) The chips are very good too (even though I'd have to say Schnitz' are even better).

Left: Das Bratwurst
Top Right: American Classic
Bottom Right: Chips

Continuing on the "slack" theme, one morning I didn't even make my own breakfast (for shame!), and got a Croque Monsieur from Streat. At $8, it's more than I like to spend on breakfasts, but it was very buttery and tasty, and I loved the meaty ham and Gruyère cheese. A nice treat.

Croque Monsieur from Streat - $8

As I said above, I was trying to catch up with friends as much as possible before flying off to Germany - one night, we hit up Simon's Peiking Duck in Box Hill with some girlfriends and a bottle of pinot noir. SO MUCH DELICIOUSNESS.

Simon's Peiking Duck

We did one duck between four, and ordered two dishes as well: General Tso's chicken and Chinese broccoli stir-fried with garlic. All dishes were uniformly impressive.

Clockwise from top left: Duck meat stir-fried with beanshoots, General Tso's chicken, Duck soup, Chinese broccoli stir-fried with garlic

After dinner, rather than having dessert at the restaurant, we stopped off at Leo's Supermarket and picked up two tubs of Ben & Jerry's and some waffle cones, and had that for dessert. Great idea! Normally I find Ben & Jerry's a bit sweet, but I can say without hesitation that their Clusterfluff flavour is fabulous! It's peanut butter ice-cream with peanut buttery swirls, marshmallow swirls and caramel cluster pieces.

Ben & Jerry's Clusterfluff & New York Super Fudge Chunk

Ice-cream cone!

Last Saturday night we celebrated my friend Adri's birthday with dinner at Touché Hombre - I wasn't expecting to love it (I get stressed out when restaurants have a no-booking policy!), but the food was really good and the atmosphere was nice and chilled. I'll be blogging it soon. I really liked the Tostada Pulpo - chargrilled octopus, crab claw, spring onion, coriander and pico de gallo on a crisp fried tortilla.

Touché Hombre's Tostada Pulpo - chargrilled octopus, crab claw, spring onion, coriander and pico de gallo on a crisp fried tortilla  - $13

To celebrate the new job, (and to save me cooking on my first day!) my friend Jess cooked us the most amazing dinner: sticky roast chicken with mashed potato, homemade gravy and beans/brussels sprouts/mushrooms with a feta vinaigrette. Perfect comfort food for the cold weather! (The mashed potato/gravy bowl thingo was Sandra's idea).

Roast chicken, mashed potato, homemade gravy, beans/brussels sprouts/mushrooms in a feta vinaigrette

A few treats from Burch & Purchese!

Left: Chocolate, mandarin, salted caramel
Right: explosive raspberry milk chocolate

For my dad's birthday, we took him to Mr Huang Jin in the Rialto Building for dumplings. Although it's pricer than your standard dumpling restaurant, the quality is very good. We liked the Xiao Long Bao... (we tried four different types: chilli, tea-smoked, pumpkin, and normal pork)...

Tea-smoked Xiao Long Bao

 ...and the sticky pork ribs.

Sticky Pork Ribs with Peas and Walnuts

Afterwards we went for drinks at The Lui Bar, on the 55th floor of The Rialto Building. My mum, who's not much of a drinker, just had a latte, which was one of those famous $10 coffees that come with a plate of petits fours. (There was a boule of eucalyptus ice-cream, a "lamington" made of chocolate mousse, a pink candy gum leaf, a piece of crisp chocolate, and a bourbon jelly lolly.) My dad proclaimed the coffee and petits fours such good value that he ordered another one for himself, on which they wrote "Happy Birthday". Yay! Also fabulous were the apple donuts and the macadamia martini, which came with some salted macadamia brittle. Happy Birthday Dad!

Clockwise from top left: Glenmorangie on the rocks, Petits Fours, Latte, Apple Donuts, Macadamia Martini with Salted Macadamia Brittle

And finally, we flew off to Germany!! Before driving off to the airport, we had a tasty breakfast at home of takeaway coffees, peanut butter and chocolate muffins, and ham and egg toasties from Porgie and Mr Jones.

Breakfast

And that was (the first half of) May! Follow me on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with my European eating adventures! Apart from being in Germany, I have a weekend in London coming up and a few days in Paris planned... and I'm going to buy some stretchy pants tomorrow. Tchüss!!

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