Milk & Honey Nashville

I've been to Nashville quite a few times now, but rarely have I had the chance to grab a good brunch. Luck would have it that on a lovely Friday mid-Spring, I would up in Nashville within walking distance of Milk & Honey, a cafe that came highly recommended by a local friend.

Milk & Honey Nashville

A charming cafe by day, and a hip bar by night, it's a beautifully laid out, casual space with a great breakfast menu, and extensive drink options. Of course, I settled for a cold brew with a splash of coconut milk, perfect for the early heat of the day.

Cold Brew

Smooth and delicious, the delicious drink boded well for the food to come. The brunch menu has a heavy focus on sandwiches and bagels, but also has a reasonable selection of what they call "Other Good Stuff", including Shakshuka, Omeletes, Chicken & Waffles, and my order, the Hodgepodge Hash.

Hodgepodge Hash

This was a lot of food. With roasted red potatoes, sweet potatoes, pastrami, sausage, sauteed veggies and peppers, caramelized onion, pickled red onion, chipotle crema, feta, and cilantro, all topped with an egg, it was certainly a busy dish. Busy, but undeniably tasty. And filling. 

With a choice of sides, the fresh fruit seemed like the sensible option to offset the heaviness of the dish. All pretty reasonably priced too at $14 (pre-tax & tip of course).

My dining companion chose something a little less messy, but no less indulgent and delicious.

Alabama Pork Biscuit

Because when in the South, why not have a rich Biscuit for breakfast? With pork confit, caramelized onion, Alabama white sauce, white cheddar, onion spread, and an egg, it's a gratifying breakfast, smothered with silky yolk. What's not to love. 

Milk & Honey is a great choice for brunch to celebrate and indulge in food and life, with rich dishes and smooth coffee. Good service and a fun atmosphere top it all off, and I look forward to returning next time I'm in Nashville.

Milk & Honey Nashville
214 11th Ave S, Nashville, TN, USA
Sun - Thu 6:30am - 10:00pm, Fri - Sat 6:30am - 11:00pm

Alain Ducasse au (Brunch)

Continuing this year's Parisian-based birthday celebrations, I was treated to what was the fanciest and most indulgent brunch I've ever had the pleasure of eating. The brunch at the Alain Ducasse au a glittering space with the famed restaurant, and with an impressive succession of dishes, washed down with a glass of champagne (or if you're feeling health-minded, cold-pressed juices). 

Is it written in law somewhere that every brunch in Paris must start with a basket of pastries? If not, then it really should be. 

Basket of Pastries

 These were fine examples of pastries - buttery, flaky, and not too sweet. We had to be careful not to eat too many though, as there were a good few courses of dishes still to come. 

To start the string of dishes, amuse bouche. 

Amuse Bouche

Perhaps the bread was a bit crunchier than what I would have liked, but I can be fussy sometimes I suppose. My choice of started was light and refreshing.

Sea Bass Ceviche, Tomatillo, Fresh Heart of Palm, Lime, Coriander 

There was a nice balance of flavors in this dish, with a not-too-overpowering acidity, and I appreciated the delicate construction of this. M chose something a little heavier.

Entree of the Day

M ordered the special entree of the day which if I recall correctly was a rich mushroom tart. The earthiness of the mushrooms counterpointed by the tart pickled onions and caper-berries. This was a M-choice dish rather than my, and he seemed to enjoy it.  

  

Onto the mains:

Dish of the Day

 My choice was the dish of the day - a turbot I believe with broccoli/Romanesco broccoli. I found the greens a touch overwhelming but the fish was very well prepared, tender and delicate.

M, somewhat unsurprisingly, chose the luxurious dish.   

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Soft-Boiled Eggs with Artichoke Base, Truffle, and Lobsters

Somewhat amusing in presentation, the dish of course lived up to the expectation. The artichoke I found to be bland, but the eggs were exactly as soft-boiled eggs should be, with the truffle and lobster taking this to the next (expensive) level.

No meal would be complete without a cheese plate. With plenty of variety to choose from, I took a particular liking to the 18-month aged Comte, and of course the Camembert.

Cheese Plate

And a some berries for variety (although I dislike cranberries).

Desserts were impressive - crispy chocolate, light mousse, coffee mousse, light cream, berry tart. What an ending to a great meal. My favourite was the berry tart - not sugar-laden and with plenty of berries is my idea of a good dessert. 

Desserts Galore

Desserts Galore

Overall we had a great meal, and was definitely an experience to celebrate a birthday in Paris. If nothing else, the room is so beautifully decorated with a thousand or so crystals that it's worth a visit. 

Hotel

, , France
Mon - Sun 11am - 1pm

Top Paddock

One critical item on any itinerary when in Melbourne is to enjoy brunch with some friends. Indeed, what better way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than catching up with friends over a Melbourne coffee and good food.

Top Paddock was a central location and given we were after a late lunch, seemed a good option to for delicious grub and (hopefully) not to long of a wait. Getting there at 2pm meant we snagged a table without effort as their rush hours seem to coincide with more traditional brunch times.

First order of the day was to get some caffeine into me (long black, no sugar) - living in the US, you really appreciate how wonderful Melbourne coffee is. Don't you lucky Melbourne residents take this for granted, ok?

The coffee is Five Senses, and much of the produce is locally sourced (from paddock to table, get it?). The menu itself is typical brunch fare;  almost all the dishes featured some kind of egg but there were still enough variety, and an interesting Spanish spin, that deciding what to eat was still a difficult choice.

I ended up with this:

Roasted kipfler potato & leek omelette with padron peppers & taleggio on toast

Not particularly pretty but very patriotic with the green and gold. Since my last trip to Spain, I've had a craving for padron peppers. This didn't really satisfy the cravings given they were really for the roasted peppers, smothered in salt, with the occasional hot one to spice things up. 

I digress however, and this omelette was rich and filling, and the flavours worked together quite well, although I wish I had added a sprinkle of salt over the top. Really, that was my fault given I had ordered it without the taleggio (and got teasingly reprimanded by the waiter for that). I can appreciate how the addition of the cheese would have completed the dish. 

My dining companion were happy with there orders too, and in the process, taught me quite a lot about all the different types of cheese on offer.

Grilled broccolini & sugar snaps with avocado, toasted almonds, poached eggs & heidi racelette on toast

White anchovies & Jamon serrano with fried eggs, padron peppers & manchego on toast

Eggs benedict: poached eggs with hamhock & béarnaise on toast

Did I mention that I really, really miss Melbourne brunches?

Overall, it's understandable why Top Paddock is so popular. The coffee is great, the produce is fresh and mostly local, the dishes are interesting and the waitstaff are friendly and efficient. The space is airy and on a beautiful day, the patio is wonderful to relax on. What's not to love about Top Paddock,  except for the almost guaranteed wait for a table that is. 

Top Paddock

Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat-Sun 8am-4pm

Krimper Cafe

You know when I said the my last post was final entry in my Melbourne series? Well, I lied. Not deliberately of course, but there was one more review hiding in my drafts.

It's a cliche, but one of things I miss most about Melbourne is the coffee culture. The little laneways, the hidden cafes, the great waft of fresh coffee as you walk through a heavy wooden door into a warehouse-like space. Sound familiar? This description could apply to every second cafe in Melbourne but that doesn't stop it from being impressive/comforting never the less.

Krimper Cafe

The menu is of course very different now to when I dined there with some wonderful friends, but at least one things stays the same: the coffee.

Espresso

A delicious roast by Proud Mary. You just don't get that type of coffee here in the States!

The lunch options on the day we dined there were varied and could easily be classified as modern-comfort food. Taking a quick look at the current menu, at least that theme hasn't changed with hearty sandwiches, a duck-meat shephard's pie, green risotto and winter salad on offer.

We dined on a glorious rendition of salmon and eggs:

Salmon & Eggs

Crispy skinned salmon that was lightly seasoned, fresh greens, sweet grilled cherry tomatoes, a slice of potato (because you always need some sort of 'hash brown'), pickled onions and of course, a crumbed egg.

Yolk, Glorious Yolk

Not quite as perfect as a Scotch Egg (because meat mince makes it inevitably better) but delicious anyway. Look at the runny yolk and try to not be seduced by it. Well, younger me would have hated it but I was much picker in my teenage years after all. 

Also ordered was a board special (so you'll have to excuse my memory) featuring duck. 

Duck Dish

You can see that it's slightly pink, and I did find that the meat was slightly on the tough side, but where else can you get a generous serving of duck for <$25? Well, I could never go past half a roast duck from Chinatown but this is a little bit classier and had a much more refined taste. The salad was a refreshing counterpoint to the oiliness of the meat as well. 

Krimper is one of those cafes I could see being a regular haunt if I worked in the Melbourne CBD. With an interesting variety of dishes, friendly staff,  funky atmosphere and most importantly, great coffee, it's got a lot going for it. The location is a little hard to track down, but once you've found it, it's definitely worth a return trip. 

Krimper Cafe

Mon-Fri 7am-5pm, Sat-Sun 8am-4pm

Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill

It feels like every week I'm in another place, and something always gets in the way of blog posts. So after trips to Australia, Brazil, the UK and a semi-permanent move to Illinois, I'm finally getting around to blogging about a celebratory Sunday brunch in April. Yes, four months ago.

Given the new circumstances as well, there's likely to be a bunch more cooking rather than restaurant reviews appearing in the blog which is both good (hooray practical) and bad (less impressive food). Without further ado though, let's recap a fun meal at the Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill in sunny Oakland, CA.

Firstly, what a location right by/on Lake Merritt. No photos unfortunately, but ask for a table by the window for full effect. When we arrived for our reservation, we were promptly seated in a quiet two person table along one side of the restaurant, and settled in with a glass of sparkling while we peruse the menu.

On to the food. As the name suggests, there's a focus on seafood dishes. There are also non-seafood options for those that prefer steak, pasta, burgers or chicken.

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Before getting into the taste of these, can I just say I love the presentation. I'm not sure I've ever seen seaweed as a purely decorative accent and even though the deviled eggs had nothing to do with the sea, it was still a fun dish to have arrive at the table. The eggs themselves were nothing to rave about although I did like the 'pop' of the roe. A restaurant meal is about taste and presentation, so this comes dish out about even.

Local Rock Cod Ceviche Verde

The cerviche was a much more interesting starter. With green herbs, shaved radish & cucumber, avocado, jalapeno and a bucket load of lime, this definitely delivered a kick of flavour. Unfortunately, the textures clashed and the tortillas were a little dry, so this dish still wasn't a winner.

The mains were fortunately an improvement on the starters.

Organic Chicken with Spring Asparagus & Truffles

I love truffles, so that probably biases my judgement of this dish but luxury ingredients aside, I thought this was a good dish; the chicken was tender and slightly sweet, and the asparagus was crisp and fresh. A great interpretation of spring in my opinion. Such a pity that spring was so long ago, and autumn is slowly creeping up.

Pan Roasted King Salmon

The salmon with clams had both good and bad; the shellfish-based broth was well flavoured, with an enjoyable kick of curry chilli, but the salmon was unfortunately dry. Once again, it was a decent dish, but nothing spectacular.

Bread Pudding with Lemon Sorbet

To end on a sweet note, we shared a bread pudding with lemon sorbet; a mix of indulgence and refreshment and which was definitely satisfying. Something to replicate at home perhaps?

Overall we had an enjoyable meal; the atmosphere was lively with beautiful views, with great service, but the food was only average. Nothing great, and nothing terrible. So if you're just after a fun meal at a reasonable price without caring too much about top-tier dishes, then the Lake Chalet is a decent option.

Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill

, Oakland

Mon-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri 11am-11pm, Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 10am-10pm

Brenda's French Soul Food

It's always a challenge finding a place to take out-of-town visitors for brunch when you still don't know the city yourself very well. This time though, I outsourced location-finding duties to the said visitors, mainly because I knew they'd be both thorough in their research, and interested in finding good food.

So we ended up at the very well reviewed Brenda's French Soul Food for a weekday brunch. A busy day was underway so I was thankful to start with a large cup of black coffee.

Community Coffee with Chicory

The coffee was more interesting than the usual fare I've been drinking with the hints of chicory, but my opinion that Melbourne does a better coffee is thoroughly in place. Still, caffeine is caffeine.

The first section on the brunch menu are beignets; New Orleans flavoured donuts. They were incredibly tempting but this was one day where a sugar-rush would just not do. An order for a return visit perhaps? 

The remaining sections of the menu are more standard brunch options with plenty of egg dishes, pancakes and french toast, and sides including grits (ground-corn) and biscuits. 

Having never had Creole food before, I played it safe with a Creole Veggie Omelette (which made me feel like I was branching out a little, but not so far as to have crispy oysters for breakfast).

Creole Veggie Omelette

Creole Veggie Omelette

With plenty of vegetables in the form of corn, tomato, bell peppers and spinach, it was light but satisfying. I opted for an omelette without cheddar cheese so the omelette itself needed quite a bit of salt/Tabasco. I think it would have been great with the cheese though if that's your thing. 

On the side were breakfast potatoes (great and crispy) and a biscuit (not so great being too sweet for my liking).

One of my dining companions ordered 'Two Nice Big, Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes' and that's exactly what arrived at the table.

Buttermilk Pancakes

These are monstrously sized pancakes by my standards but they were incredibly fluffy and so didn't sit too heavily. With some maple syrup and a size of bacon they were a great pancake dish.

My other dining companion ordered the egg and bacon tartine with grits on the side.

Egg & Bacon Tartine

With bacon, scrambled eggs, gruyère and tomato-bacon relish on toasted french roll, this was a proper breakfast open-face sandwich. It's hard to go wrong taste-wise with crispy bacon, creamy scrambled eggs and melted cheese. A side of grits adds a serving of almost-vegetables, making this a complete meal. 

Overall I was impressed with Brenda's French Soul Food and certainly intend to return for brunch and to try the interesting donuts. The place was cosy, with high quality food, large servings and efficient service. It can get pretty busy though, so if you plan on going, plan on waiting in line for a while.  

Brenda's French Soul Food

Mon-Tue 8am-3pm, Wed-Sat 8am-10pm, Sun 8am-8pm

La Méditerranée

It's been quite a while since I've had decent Middle-Eastern food. We're royally spoilt in Melbourne with our delicious 24/7 purveyors of gyros and mezze plates within the city and out of shifty-looking food trucks that seem like the greatest idea in the world at 2am.

Berkeley doesn't quite run along the same lines. Indeed, I went to La Méditerranée for a lunch on a Saturday in much more respectable surrounds at a much more respectable time. In this case perhaps, respectability means a less delicious meal.

Heralded as the best Middle-Eastern restaurant in Berkeley, it's been around for 30 years and has won numerous awards. My friend who brought me here, raved about how much she loved it. The menu looked very promising indeed - mezze plates, kebabs, and fillo plates galore.

My friend ordered a chicken kebab plate with a side of soup (not shown), while her husband ordered a chicken kebab plate and salad.

Chicken Kebab

The serving sizes are nothing if not generous! Two full skewers of chicken on a bed of rice and a few pieces of fresh fruit. Both of them enjoyed their meals heartily.

Perhaps my expectations for the lamb kebab I ordered was too high, because I was disappointed with the end result.

Lamb Kebab

Maybe I'm just used to fattier cuts of Australian lamb but I found the meat tough and dry here. The salad was miserable in my opinion and I would probably have been better off with the soup as well. The hummus was delicious however - silky smooth and perfectly creamy (without even the tiniest bit of cream). 

While I was disappointed with my meal, it was perhaps more due to my expectations rather than the actual quality. The food is reasonably priced with large serving sizes, and the service is fast. The fillo pastries look decadently tasty, so those seem worth a try. 

As for myself, I'm unsure whether I'll return here, but at least I know what I'll be getting for dinner the first night I'm back in Melbourne.

La Méditerranée

, Berkeley

Mon-Thu 10am-10pm, Fri-Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 10am-930pm

The Butler & The Chef

During the first few months of moving to San Francisco, every day was full of sunshine and warmth. It's perhaps unsurprising that I thought this was 'typical' SF weather and that rain would be a mere afterthought. Of course, little did I know that what I considered to be wonderful was in-fact drought weather.

The weather-gods seem set on making me see that yes, it does rain in California, and when it rains, it doesn't stop. None of the heavy rainstorms that Melbourne sees, what we get here is non-stop drizzle. Drizzle that causes water to flow noisily through the drainpipe all though the night.

It's weather like this that makes you thankful for weekends where you can be depressed by the weather, but at least you don't have to work. I took the opportunity to catch-up with a friend over brunch, even if it meant braving the weather.

We ended up at well rated The Butler & The Chef in the SOMA area. Fairly busy, it's a noisy bistro/cafe serving a variety of brunch dishes including salads, hot sandwiches, baguettes and French crepes. To warm up, I ordered a (boring) coffee while he ordered a mug of hot chocolate.

Hot Chocolate

A mug is probably not the right descriptor, it was more like a bowl of hot chocolate - perfect for the wintery weather.

Unfortunately, their griddle was out of action which meant that non of the hot sandwiches were available (and the Croque Mademoiselle was looking particularly attractive before we found out about the situation). I ended up settling for a classic Niçoise Salade.

Niçoise Salade

The best bit about this version were the chunks of rare tuna that are a considerable step up from the usual tinned tuna found in Niçoise salads. With fresh mixed greens, a few potatoes, crunchy green beans, soft-boiled eggs, tomato, and deliciously salty olives pulled together with a light olive oil vinaigrette, it was a pretty good salad. Perhaps not as filling as I would have liked, it was still a perfectly respectable brunch dish.

My friend went for a savoury crepe instead.

La Parisienne Crepe 

A buckwheat crepe, with organic egg, ham, and emmenthal cheese, it was beautiful in its simplicity. It's hard to go wrong with a french crepe and with a choice of ham, chicken, smoked salmon or vegetarian versions on the menu, they're light but also filling.

If you're looking for a quiet cafe to catch-up over coffee, don't come to The Butler & The Chef. If you don't mind a bit of noise, then you can expect fresh food that arrives at the tables astoundingly fast, friendly and efficient service, and a price that matches the location (which is to say, reasonable, but definitely not cheap). 

The Butler & The Chef

155 S Park Ave, San Francisco

Tue-Sat 8am-3pm, Sun 10am-3pm

Orange Windsor

Sometimes the Melbourne weather is so spectacular that you don't really care where you end up. Such was the case that a small group of friends wandered down Chapel St and into the unassuming little restaurant/cafe, Orange Windsor. 

Orange Windsor

Being seated in the outdoor area out the back had its upsides and downsides; the early spring weather was gloriously warm, but it meant that the waitstaff had a tendency to forget about us. Which meant waiting so long for water that I ended up walking up to ask the staff again, and a fairly long wait for our lunch to arrive. 

The menu itself is an eclectic mix of Modern Australian, with Italian, Spanish and French influences thrown in for good measure. Fairly key to an Australian menu however is a good steak burger/sandwich and this one was fairly impressive. 

Steak Sandwich

With Black Angus minute steak, Gruyere cheese, onion jam, snowpea tendrils and pimento aioli all encase in lovely, soft turkish bread, it is a winner even before you decide to add in the bacon. 

Steak Sandwich

There are a lot of flavours going on in this, but sometimes that's a good thing. You can't call this burger subtle though. 

For those after lighter fare, the roast chicken salad was approved by its consumer.

Roast Chicken Salad

I did think the serving was a bit small, and the salad greens seemed half-hearted, but the pickled carrot and radish added interest.

The dish I ordered ended up being significantly smaller than I expected. 

Pumpkin Gnocchi

I'm not usually one to put prices on this blog, but $20 for this tiny plate of gnocchi seemed a rip-off! I understand that gnocchi can be fairly filling, but this was nowhere close to the size I'd expect for a main. Admittedly, it was tasty, but that doesn't make up for the sizing sin. 

Last but not least was the calamari.

Calamari

This dish was cooked well with tender calamari that weren't stringy at all, coated with a suitably light batter accented with pimento and schezwan (I feel the urge to add 'pepper' to the end of that for completeness, but what they have on the menu is what they have). This at least wasn't a bad deal in terms of size vs. price ratio.

While we enjoyed our time at Orange Windsor, it wasn't without its faults. The service was friendly but annoyingly slow, and the serving sizes were smaller than expected for most of the dishes. While well made for the most part, I can't see Orange being a place that you'd actually plan to go to. 

Orange
124 -
Mon-Sun 730am-1am