Auction Rooms, North Melbourne

Feeling adventurous, me and a couple of guy friends, Jack and Jerry, headed out to North Melbourne for some brunch one sunny afternoon. Auction Rooms is a cafe which was highly recommended by one of our girlfriends. We got there just before midday and even though it was a weekday, the place was busy, but we managed to get a table. As it was a hot day, we ordered some cold refreshing drinks - ginger beer for Jack, blood orange juice for me and an iced coffee for Jerry.

The menu has breakfast and lunch options. After a few minutes of exploring the menu options, we made our decisions and ordered.

I ordered lamb and rosemary pie with mushy peas, salsa verde, rocket and nigella jus. It was well-presented and the aroma was enticing.

The pie crust was light and crispy and the filling was hot meaty goodness! This awesome pie worked well with the mushy peas and the salad greens. I LOVED IT! It was definitely the best Aussie pie I have had so far!

Jacky ordered the opening bid - free range poached eggs, Andrew's choice smoked bacon, braised field mushroom, grilled tomato and sauteed spinach on dench sourdough (put simply, it was bacon, eggs, mushroom, tomato and spinach on toast) It looked appealing but I don't think it would have been substantial enough for my big belly!

As for Jerry, he ordered the knuckle sandwich - braised pork knuckle with piccalilli, rocket and aged cheddar in a warm ciabatta roll with pickled chilli. He said it was fantastic and extremely satisfying. He offered me a bite but because of the cheese (I am a cheese-phobic), I politely declined.

Final Verdict

Auction Rooms is a great place for brunch, but can be a bit noisy with the music (or maybe I'm just getting old!) We had no complaints about the food and the prices were reasonable - think we spent about $20 AUD each. And I will definitely return one day with Hubby in tow - he loves lamb and he loves pie so he would have loved what I ordered!

Liar, Liar Cafe, Hawthorn

Have you ever been on a double date? It is super duper fun! Hubby and I went on a double date with this lovely couple, Jin and Jessica for breakfast. I chose the time to meet and Jessica chose the venue. She had been to Liar, Liar a few times and had enjoyed her previous visits.

It was a Saturday morning and the place was heaving - that's a good sign for good food!! Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long for a table. A waitress came round to take our drinks order and craving caffeine, I ordered a mocha. The mocha was lovely - a good balance of chocolate and coffee.

My eyes automatically zoned in on this menu item - the Big Fat Liar breakfast which was eggs done the way you like with mushrooms, bacon, tomatoes, spinach and tomato relish. It was definitely right up my street. But alas, I didn't order that. Why? Because we had another double date for lunch in two hours time so I didn't want to over-indulge.

Instead I ordered the BLAT - bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato with aioli on toasted bread.

It was just right. Not too filling for me. It would have been really dry but the avocado helped moisten the dry unbuttered toast. (I would also have preferred a fried runny egg to go with it...hehe)

Hubby and Jin both ordered the French Toast - I had a small bite of Hubby's but I am not a huge fan of French toast so I was not that impressed - but both of them hoovered the French toast up.

As for Jessica, she went for the Pants On Fire - spicy Spanish style baked eggs with pepperonata and chorizo sausage. I had a taste and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't spicy in my opinion - I can eat really spicy foods. But the tomatoey goo tasted tangy and had a slight kick in it.

We had a great time in Liar, Liar - but the only annoying thing is the location of the toilets. To go to the loo, you must ask the waitress for the key, leave the premises, and walk to another building behind it. Okay, okay, it took about 3 minutes to get there, but still!!

Anyway, I think Liar, Liar is a good place to go to chill out and enjoy breakfast.

Review Of Menulog

Menulog is an online Australian restaurant guide and booking service.  When I was contacted by a rep for Menulog to review their services, I jumped at the chance.  Hello, I love eating!!  So I went on their website at www.menulog.com.au to check it out.

Plus Points

• Website is user-friendly - no fancy 'schamncy' stuff
• Choices are Home Delivery, Pick-Up or Dining Out
• Just type in your postcode or suburb and a list of restaurants will show up
• Detailed information about restaurants with opening and closing hours, menus and prices
• Read other people's reviews which I find very helpful in deciding where to eat
• Free to use Menulog and it also offers reward points
• Special offers at some restaurants, e.g. 25% off
• There is also a free iPhone app for Menulog - I mean, how cool is that?!

Minus Points

• Unfortunately, when I typed in my postcode, only 2 restaurants showed up.  A measly 2.  This means that I have a very limited choice of restaurants in my suburb which will offer Home Delivery (BUT it is possible to email Menulog to inform them of any restaurants which are not there - I shall try that later and see what happens...)

After browsing and checking out the options available for me, I decided to put in an order.  It was very easy to do this.  Click on the menu to choose your meal and then choose the time you want the meal to be ready.  Fill in your details and then wait for the confirmation SMS.  

The 2 restaurants which showed up in our area were a pizzeria and a Thai restaurant.  I am a cheese-phobic so we went for Thai food at One Thai.  Hubby and I decided to pick-up our meal at the confirmed time of 18.30, (i.e. 6.30pm).  However, when we got there, our meal was not ready.  The restaurant staff had misread the time and thought it was at 8.30pm (i.e. 20.30).  We waited for another 15 minutes till they made up the meal.  Good thing we decided to go pick-up our meal because if we had been waiting for delivery, we would have been waiting for a long time!

We ordered duck red curry and sweet and chilli fish.

I was slightly disappointed with my Menulog experience although it was not their fault.  I blame it on the One Thai staff member who cannot read the time properly in 24-hour digital format!

Would I use Menulog again?

Even though, my first experience with Menulog didn't turn out as planned, I would use it again because I enjoyed browsing through all the restaurants and reviews.  Plus, with the reward points scheme, it is an added incentive.  Next time, I would like to try the delivery experience and see how that goes.  If I do, I shall definitely review my next experience here.  

Have you tried Menulog before?  Well, now is the perfect time to do so because I have a special Menulog offer just for my readers.

Go to www.menulog.com.au and get $10 off your first order with this code at checkout: 987C33

Details: Available for a user’s first order only, at participating restaurants only (which display the “accepts vouchers”) sign, expires Dec. 31, 2011, min order $20.