Melbourne's top cafes to tantalise your tastebuds

Finally! Finally! Finally! It was decided; I was going to make it to Australia. Memories started to flash way back from 2010. The Sunday Adelaide central market with the fresh produce. The beautiful fill your day with brightness kind of flowers. The lovely long walks by the river. The cycle ride through narrow pathways to discover beautiful houses. And, yes the culinary joyride. The list definitely doesn't end here. All those culinary experiences have lead to one affirmation. If there was one country that could take the award for world’s greatest restaurant, Australia would bag it, time and again. 

Here are some of my top picks in Melbourne over my short six day visit.

 Short Black Café

My friend suggested perfect morning happen at Short Black. But it was a wet grey cold morning in Melbourne where all I felt was curling up and have warm soup. With a little nudging from my friend D, we finally venture out into the brutality of cold Melbourne mornings. Once inside the café we were in a warm pleasant cocoon. 

Salmon Stack

Lovely on the palate: The Salmon Stack

Latte

A bite of the Salmon stack and you take a walk in fairyland. Gooey yolk, fresh in the pink of health salmon, clean smooth flavors. Just the welcome one needs. 

Church & Main

We left in the morning and headed to Healesville Sanctuary, a short drive from Camberwell. The thing about Melbourne is that you can experience every kind of weather on your short drive. As soon as we entered the sanctuary we were so mesmerized by the birds and the special bird show that we almost forgot about lunch. With not many options available inside the sanctuary we headed out towards the main street. That’s when we spotted the place ‘Church & Main’. It was just a gut choice. Something felt right. Plus we wanted to go back and see the Wombat, Tasmanian Daredevils, the Dingo and much more . Time was running out.

Mango Chicken Crepe on a bed of Rice

Mango chicken crepe over a bed of rice sounded an interesting option to bet on. Simple fresh seasonal produce accompanied with minimal cooking to bring alive all the goodness it has to offer. The subtle mango flavor was just right. 

At Church & Main you are guaranteed a great seasonal menu.

 L’Espresso

Well it was Sunday morning and I was keen to make a good start to the day. Especially after a very disappointing dinner the previous night, where the pancake was topped with half a tub of vanilla ice cream. 

Luscious Eggs Benedict 

So it had to be my favourite combination of eggs benedict & dolce far niente (the sweetness of doing nothing). After all, there is something magical about sitting in a relaxed café feel with luscious eggs benedict and watching the world go by.

 Pancake Kitchen

Melbourne did it again. It became grey and cold all of a sudden in the Gold City, Ballarat.. Suddenly while walking, I spotted a fire place. A real one. It was inviting me with warm open arms. A little peek into the place, we spotted an empty table right besides it. The aroma of pancakes being made in their open kitchen was so inviting that we just settled in without another thought.

Photo by The Pancake Kitchen

TaaDaa! My eureka moment - Raspberry and Rhubarb pancakes. I owe it to Masterchef Aus for adding Ruhbarb to my vocabulary and the fascination to discover Rubarb with all my sensorial. And Pancake Kitchen was making it happen. Well it stood pretty close to the masterchef tasting I had imagined. The R&R pancake was a beautiful amalgamation of sweet and acidic taste with moist melt in mouth perfect pancakes.

The cold definitely brings with it a big appetite and I did try some of the Best breast of chicken Schnitzel pancake from a friend which was good but would have preferred the chicken to be moist.

Victorian at Sovereign Hill

By day, Sovereign Hill is where the gold fields history comes to life. As you step in you feel like you have taken a step back in time to experience the hustle bustle of the main street with horse carriages plying the roads studded by old artifact shops on both sides to where ladies and men parade in their new found wealth. The biggest excitement was for school children at the Red hill digging where one could shovel and pan for real gold. The best part, it is for you to keep once found. I did try my luck at gold digging. Quite an effort though.

Hot soothing Pumpkin Soup

After the extensive and exhausting gold digging manual work, I was hungry. And decided to go with the classic soup and bread combination that most gold mine worker families would sustain on in those times. The pumpkin soup was well seasoned, smooth, creamy, tasty and served hot just the way I like it.

Melbourne did pleasantly surprise me on this culinary journey!