Aeropress @ Grandpa Joe

So, I own an aeropress and while it has made me some excellent cups of coffee, making sure that I can get the coffee to brew just right before it leaks through the filter has always been a challenge. That was at least until how I saw them do it at Grandpa Joe.

Push the plunger in to make a seal, invert the whole apparatus, put in your coffee and water and let it steep. Then when you're happy, attach the filter spin it back around and press out a beautiful cup.

The one I got at Grandpa Joe was good, but it was just a step on the road to my mastery of aero pressing.

Reuben and Horchata @ Twenty & Six Espresso

With a lunchtime flight interstate, I felt I needed to pre-game with a sandwich that was better than what Qantas was going to be offering me. So prior to taxiing out to the airport I stopped for a coffee, a Ruben and an iced Horchata at Twenty & Six in North Melbourne.

My Ruben came on a delicious rye with pickled onions, lashings of house made sourkraut, a delicious Russian dressing and a side of pickles and salad. The coffee was strong and nutty and my Horchata was just sweet and rich enough to take the edge off my morning.

Twenty & Six also has a lovely range of breakfast and lunch options (though trending more toward the 'lunch' end of the spectrum as most of North Melbourne seems to be. The pastries and the staff are also great and I'll definitely be back.

Breakfast @ Grigons & Orr

Grigons & Orr (Grigsons and others if their name is a law report citation joke as I suspect it might be) is a pleasant little outfit in North Melbourne that I often frequent when I am wandering the area with friends.

On this particular morning I enjoyed an excellent coffee along with the 'Salmon and Rosti' eggs (two poached eggs, smoked Tasmanian salmon, spiced potato Rosti, smoked aioli, pickled carrot and cress) while my friend had the 'Italian Stallion' jaffle (Italian prosciutto, spinach, sundried tomatoes, a mixture of hard and soft Italian cheeses, toasted on white in a jaffle iron with a side of pesto).

My dish was really nice, the eggs were perfectly poached and richly flavoured. The smoked salmon was fresh and flavoursome and offset the smoky, garlicky, richness of the aioli very nicely. The Rosti could have gone with a little more flavour or kick, but as absorbent base to the dish it picked up many fine flavours from the other components. The cress was good but the carrot added... not much really.

My friend enjoyed his coffee and found his jaffle quite satisfactory. He had wanted something sweet to begin with, but went for the jaffle because the flavour combo appealed to him and his verdict was that it worked just as well on the palette as it did on the menu.

Grigons & Orr is well worth a visit if you're over the more mainstream North Melbourne joints. I will say though, it seems like their menu has shrunk and focused more on lunch than brunch. So perhaps the long predicted death of brunch is finally upon us. Snowcrabnebula will keep our eyes peeled for any other harbingers and report the, as we see them!

Coffee and antipasto @ A25

My friends and I, all being foreign policy tragics, were originally enticed into A25 at the Yarra end of Chapel Street because of the prominent photos of former Italian President, billionaire and noted sex pest Silvio Berlusconi as well as a selection of quotes from the 'great' man that adorned the walls.

It was fortunate that we chose to go in as they brewed a damn fine coffee and offered up some great antipasto to go with it.

Along with our long blacks and lattes we shared a platter of fine imported small goods and cheeses as well as a delicious herb focaccia.

The coffee was excellent. A25 use Dukes coffee and the blend they chose made for a great cup while our charming Italian waiter pulled us a series of great cups.

The antipasto platter was also fantastic. We enjoyed some fantastic bresaola, salami and perfect prosciutto. In addition there was a fine gorgonzola as well as a collection of hard cows and sheets milk cheeses.

Finally the focaccia was freshly baked and had a great chewy texture with a crisp base. It went very well with the platter.

If you're venturing down to the cooler end of Chapel, A25 is highly recommended.

Quick burger @ Dikstein's Corner Bar

Dikstein's generally makes me my morning coffee (along with some of Melbourne's finest and most interesting muffins - Blueberry Crumble or Bread and Butter Pudding anyone? Oh yes!)

So I thought I would try one of their lunch offerings. I wasn't disappointed.

I got a waygu beef burger (Turkish roll, Gruyere, fried onion, bacon, and all the usual trimmings).

The patty was absolutely wonderful, moist, flavoursome and fresh tasting - no smelly beef here. And the rest of the burger was delicious.

It was a little expensive at $13 (but then so is everything they sell - other than the cheap pizzas to draw the Barristers in for a bottle of Wolf Blass or five), however I would recommend a visit.

Baked goods @ Prospect Espresso

I stopped in for a quick coffee and a snack at Prospect Espresso while with a friend in Camberwell. I've been before and was generally impressed with their coffee so I was looking forward to my return.

I must say my long black was a bit disappointing. It had almost no crema (hence no photo) and the flavour was a bit sour and unpleasant.

The dark chocolate and orange muffin that I coupled it with was however more than enough to compensate. It was crisp on top and beautifully moist inside. I really enjoyed myself.

My friend's lemon and lime cupcake was also apparently quite delicious, and her long mac was apparently up to par.

I'd go back, but I might be a little less confident that I'll be satisfied with the coffee side of things.

Photo of the week: Croque Monsieur @ Creperie le Triskel

So in at work over the weekend (fun!) I decided to wander down to hardware lane and treat myself to something nice for lunch.

I had been to le Triskel many years before and been satisfied with what I had had there and so decided to give it another shot.

I ordered a Croque Monsieur and a hot chocolate and was very satisfied by both.

The hot chocolate was rich and velvety with a generous infusion of an excellent bittersweet chocolate.

The sandwhich arrived quickly and was lovely. The toast was crisp, the melted Gruyere on top was melted to golden perfection and the center was a lovely combination of fresh ham and a gooey, cheesy bechemel. The salad around the outside I could take or leave, but for lunch in a rush and on a weekend at work I was very happy.

Quick dinner @ Hakata Gensuke

So like any good salaryman I enjoy a quick bowl of ramen on my way back from work. So one night recently I decided to join the line of eager people waiting for a seat at Hakata Gensuke the "Ramen Professional"'s first outlet in Melbourne.

This place has been incredibly hyped and though it did me a nice enough bowl of noodles I don't think I'll be rushing back.

I got the black Sesame soup base along with charsiew and egg.

I was pleased when ordering that I could customise almost every aspect of my dish from how long I wanted my noodles cooked to the specific combination of garnishes on top. However I was less happy about the fact that almost each aspect of the dish excluding the soup, noodles and spring onion was an optional extra that came with an additional cost. The base bowl was like $11 as eaten it was $15 and had I wanted a more complete bowl it may have pushed over $20.

$20, for a ramen? That's definitely on the steep end of the ramen price spectrum. And it wasn't even very good. Like at best it was ok. I much preferred Mugen and obviously DonToo is my gold standard.

In short, I wouldn't recommend it. I have no problem with paying for quality, but when you charge through the nose you need to deliver and Hakata Gensuke really didn't.

Burger and beer @ 1000 Pound Bend, Lt Lonsdale

On my way back from work and in need of a quick dinner, I stopped in to meet a friend at Thousand Pound Bend for a burger and a beer.

I had the Wagyu beef burger and a Pint of Ruby Tuesday Red Ale.

There isn't too much to say on it to be perfectly honest. The burger was ok, the patty and cheese were nice, the salad, bun and mustard/mayo/sauce combination I could take or leave.

I've always loathed the over produced faux hipster vibe of Thousand Pound Bend and the half good-half average performance of their burger didn't change my thoughts on it too much.

The beer was lovely however, and given not many places have it, I suppose I'll go back if desperate.