The Life Of Mr And Mrs Ng: Long Weekend In Melbourne

Ahh Melbourne. The city has always had a special place in my heart ever since the time Mr Ng and I first went almost ten years ago for our very first holiday away together. I truly love it there - everything from the food to the atmosphere to the shopping..But I haven't been for close to two years now and so we took advantage of the Labour Day Monday public holiday at the beginning of this month and headed on down for the long weekend.

As usual I shall start with some food pics this time at Laksa King in Flemington for a very late dinner:

still busy at almost 9pm

Mr Ng's chicken curry laksa

a disappointing chicken rice to share

my assam laksa

We both had REALLY high expectations for this place considering all the rave reviews I had read online as well as the fact that one of Mr Ng's colleagues from Melbourne declared it to have the best laksa in town but I have to say we were both a little disappointed. Ok, so the laksas were good (but not great - Mr Ng said he still prefers the one at Malay Chinese Takeaway on Hunter Street in the city) but I tend to judge places by their chicken rice and the one here was just so very bad. I suppose that's why the restaurant's called 'Laksa King' and not 'Chicken Rice King' though so if I ever go back, I will stick to the laksa.

It was then off to check-in at the hotel and this time we again decided to stay at The Blackman in St. Kilda, mainly because we were renting a car and didn't want to pay the exorbitant valet parking fees at hotels in the city centre and also because we were really quite impressed with the hotel the last time we stayed here back in 2010 shortly after it had opened. I'm happy to say it was just as good this time round as it was back then:

our spacious deluxe studio suite

great view from the balcony

Our first morning in Melbourne always starts off with breakfast at The European on Spring Street in the city and this time was no different:

Mr Ng's mandatory mocha

the European breakfast for the man

hands down the best pikelets I have ever had in my life

The rest of the day was then spent at the pub for the AFL grand final for Mr Ng and hitting the shops in the city for me, a very good arrangement indeed ;)

It was then on to dinner at Ezard on Flinders Lane, another very late dinner since we had booked quite last minute and so only managed to get a 9.30pm reservation. Thank goodness we decided on the three-course fixed price menu as opposed to the degustation as we were falling asleep by the second course..

amuse bouche to start

char-siu quail starter for Mr Ng

potato gnocchi starter for me

chinese style roast duck main for the husband

my john dory (I regret not going with the snapper or barramundi)

a side of fried kipfler potatoes - a must!

Mr Ng's honey crunch ice-cream dessert

my fromage frais pannacotta

I think the dishes you select if you go with the three-course menu here will really make or break Ezard for you. I enjoyed each of my dishes enough but will most definitely choose other items on the menu if I were to go back. Mr Ng on the other hand said that this was definitely one of the better meals he has had at a fining dining restaurant so perhaps his choices are the way to go.

The next day started off with breakfast at Cumulus Inc. also located on Flinders Lane:

busy Sunday morning crowd

This was the first time here for both of us but I don't think Mr Ng was too impressed given the lack of 'sausage, bacon and eggs' on the menu. But whatever, I enjoy this kind of breakfast more than fatty bacon and egg ones.

Topshop was next on the agenda (although I think the Sydney store kinda blows Melbourne's outta the water), followed by a bit of wandering around Chadstone and then it was an early dinner at Carlton Espresso on Lygon Street:

my new favourite non-alcoholic drink, now if only I could find it here..

Ok, I had really been looking forward to this place since Mr Ng kept on going on and on about how he had heard from so many people that this was one of the best Italian restaurants in town but the pappardelle was so crunchy it actually got stuck in my teeth! The spaghetti was better but still a bit harder than I would have preferred..or perhaps truly authentic pasta should be crunchy and not al dente and maybe I've been eating poorly cooked pasta all along?! Anyways I am willing to re-visit this place simply because the service here is lovely and it was almost a full house and everybody else seemed to be enjoying their pasta so maybe it was just ours.

For our third and final breakfast we again decided to try somewhere new, this time The Hardware Societe on Hardware Street in the city. And I think this is now my favourite breakfast joint in Melbourne:

fantastic hot chocolate

Mr Ng was very impressed with his mocha as well declaring it to be one of the best 'modern' mochas he has had

yay for healthy breakfasts! well mine was anyway

And then after a bit more walking around - which included stocking up on 1kg of Famous Amos cookies lol - it was on to a final lunch at Laksa Bar which wasn't too bad at all: