Liar Liar- Hawthorn

Liar Liar 90 Kinkora Road Hawthorn


A dark, modern swaky cafe situated just off Glenferrie Rd. Clearly a bustling cafe with a wide ranged menu with dishes between 8 and 20-something dollars.


Visited 17th of August 2010 by Scott & Nick   

Las Chicas – Balaclava

 Las Chicas 203 Carlisle Street Balaclava   

Pumpkin Breaky Loaf

 Las Chicas is just under the Blalclava train station. The menu is huge with a wide range of vego options and the specialize in bagels. This cafe is always busy with a really lively atmosphere.    

Visited 3rd of August 2010 by Scott & Nick   

   So this visit is actually one of many, Las Chicas is a favourite but we decided we should review it. The place is always bustling but during the week you should be able to get a table, no worries. Sitting in our booth (after a surprise hello from the lovely Mr and Mrs Skovron) I had kind of just assumed I would be getting some for of hugely satisfying bagel dish, which is all I’ve ever had there. But after careful consideration that I would be reviewing I decided to ignore the bagels. This was hard to do. It hurt my soul a little. But I was rewarded for my adventurous ordering with the delicious Pumpkin, onion and sunflower seed breaky loaf topped with a fresh salsa and crushed avocado. (If you have read this blog you will know about my feelings about avocado). The dish was beatiful and so so filling. And reasonably priced at 9.50, although mine was more as I ordered a side of crushed avocado. That’s right, as well as the avocado that already comes with the dish. As usual the service was fast, friendly and efficient. There was one slight downside, the “Italian Stallion” waiter had a rather extensive butt crack emerging from the top of his pants, although this minor wardrobe malfunction can be over looked- this time. An important note to make when ordering at Las Chicas, no matter what you order it will be filling, you will not need hot chips. However, if you decide you do need chips (which we did) you certainly do not need the full size (which we ordered). No matter how many people are sharing get the half size, the deliciously crunchy crinkle cut chips- DCCCC- will certainly hit an exciting spot if you are a hot chip fan. Another great visit to Las Chicas, but seriously, careful with ordering. We definitely were too ambitious, and it didn’t go un-noticed. As we paid the nosey waitress asked us; “How did you enjoy your huge lunch?”. This successfully made us feel like pigs. But it was totes worth it. (Scott)      

     

     Bagel Rating!     

Scott: 8/ 10- Always great. Good coffee too (no need for a large one either). Lost a point when we were judged upon out departure.     

Nick:      

       

MONK Bodhi Dharma – Balaclava

MONK Bohdi Dharma 202 Carlisle Street Balaclava

Monk Bodhi Dharma Melbourne is a specialist coffee and tea house. Monk Bodhi Dharma also serves sustainable and healing food made from scratch.

Visited 27th of July 2010 by Scott, Nick & Will

We ended up going to Monk on Will’s recommendation, at first it didn’t look like we would make it as Nick has a deep seeded aversion to any breakfast venue that will not serve bacon. But we made it. And I am oh so happy that we did. Monk has a really warm and relaxed atmosphere and my coffee was great. Special note on the lights which seemed to be stolen from the set of the world famous STC Spring Awakening. And the exciting fact that Tina Fey (look-alike) was sitting at our table with her iPad. I had the sweetcorn and ricotta hotcakes with basil pesto and slow roasted cherry tomatoes…

Sorry, i just had a moment. I had this dish about 10 days ago and it still makes me a little happy in the pants. It was soooooo tasty. The hotcakes with crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The pesto tasted like it had been made just moments before it was served. The tomatoes were super tasty juicy and exploded in the mouth. I also had a taste of Nick’s cinnoman poached pear. Yes please! The menu overall was great. But they are vegetarian, and have lots of vegan options. But they definitely treat the food like art and it tastes like it. Nom nom nom. Great breakfast even with a grumpy bacon addict sitting with us. It was also Will’s last breakfast with us for a while, and we also had a pleasant tag along in the form of the lovely Karl. On this particular tuesday I was enjoying life thoroughly. Thank you Monk Bodhi Dharma. (Scott)

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon I LOVE BACON….hmmmmmmmm.

This was hard for me. Like really hard. It is almost to unfair on them if I put my thoughts forward cause I like bacon far too much. And a place that just dosn’t have bacon, well it is a scary thought. The place is very cool. The building is random..walking up to it, it almost seems like it is a ye oldy out house. But inside its pretty cool.

I am sure this is a vegetarians or a normal persons paradise…But i do not think i would personaly choose this independently…but alas it was Wills last day in australia so i didn’t get a choice!

I had the french toast with pistachio ricotta. It was nice! The chai was mexcellent and in a very trendy pot wich i wanted to steal. AND THE CUP CAKES LOOKED AMAZING.

but alas the missing bacon..

A vegos paradise.

Not so much for me. (Nick)

Bagel Rating!

Scott: 8.5/ 10- Good coffee, more importantly the food was spectacular and gave me many ‘moments’ throughout the meal. Greatcafe.org

Nick:I give it a good 6/10. As i said many a time not my thing.

Dead Man Espresso – South Melbourne

Dead Man Espresso 35 Market Street, South Melbourne

Dead Man Espresso is a stylish little cafe situated just off the bustling Clarendon St, South Melbourne. The quaint cafe features a communal table surrounded by the usual smaller seating options. The cafe is furnished beautifully using wood throughout to create a very warming space. The menu is small but the choices excellent.

Visited on the 22nd June by Scott and Nick. Will = FAIL as friend

Anyone with Pork Belly on the menu is an instant winner to me! NOM NOM NOM give me pork of any variety and you are a WINNER! I also think i might take up skiing as the beautiful interior made me feel like i was walking into a wooden (complete with smell) ski lodge when coming in from the cold. The menu is soooo homely with beautiful thick cut breads with butter and a nice selection of foods. I chose to go with the brown mushroom omelet with a side of pork belly. The ingredients were delightful fresh and flavor some. The pork crisp and fatty (in a good way!) and the coffee was nice and smooth. It’s hard writing a review on something you like as it is so much easier to write-up on something you dislike. My only real gripe with the place is I found the staff a little slack. I would have happily gone for another coffee had they asked and I also had to jump up and down from my chair to get my own water. This would be acceptable if it was a busy place but the only had about four tables when we were in. However the whole place is charming and i also notice they had an application in for longer hours, it would make a perfect dinner venue in South Melbourne. I am truly sorry for my lack of wit during this review. – Nick

Please tell me we all picked up on the dirtiness of Nick’s comment- “give me pork of any variety and you are a WINNER!”. BOL. But he is right. Dead Man Espresso was great. The smell of the wood as we walked in reminded me of when I was a lumberjack and lived in a log cabin. The fact that they had a dish simply called Avocado on Toast mad me happy. It turned out top be a huge slice of toast with pretty much a whole avocado served with crispy bacon and the dead man relish, which I think was pineapple. Anyone that knows how I feels about breakfast will know that this combination is pretty much all I need to get by. I was super happy to have it there waiting for me. Service was friendly and relaxed. The water thing didn’t bother me as Nick was closest so he was the one that had to keep getting up. Nice coffee. It was just great to relax in a nice and open place, but still remain warm and toasty. Just a quick mention that the toilets here are weird. Not cool/funky weird. Just strange. -Scott

BAGEL RATING!

NICK: 8.5/10 A beautiful warming place for winter. PORK PORK PORK NOM NOM NOM

SCOTT: 9/10 Massive bonus to look at a menu and see a dish that is pretty exactly what you would want in your mouth. And to not feel like I have to eat egg for it to be a real breakfast. ForthisIthankyouDeadManEating.org

Proud Mary – Collingwood

Proud Mary 172 Oxford St. Collingwood

This boutique coffee house is found just off Smith St. and has a relaxed set out with communal and private seating. Filled with coffee making paraphernalia and quite a large breakfast and lunch menu. Proud Mary sees itself as a coffee specialist, particularly in the art of siphon and clover coffee.

Visited the 15th of June by Scott, Nick and Will

When I look back on my trip to Proud Mary the only way I can describe it is as an emotional roller coaster. Excitement as we arrived, nervousness with approaching unknown realms of coffee making, joy at the excellent menu, fear of a wasp that tried to kill me, sadness with the realisation that there was anchovies on my plate, belly laughter at itchy faced Will and his double meal order, interest during my class on coffee history, anger towards Nick who was being a meany, satisfaction with service, and embarrassment from Nick’s racist comments about our waitress. Seriously, all this and more. - Scott

I must say, right off the bat, we were greeted with awesome service from the girls at Proud Mary. We started with relaxed and fun service from one girl, and then when I nervously ordered a specialty siphon coffee we were visited by a wonderfully sarcastic red head girl who told me that she had an extra special coffee grind available today. We were also told we were more than welcome to come over and watch how the coffee was made while the redhead gave us a little history on coffee making techniques. Amazing. I’ll get back to coffee. For breakfast I had the Crispy Hash- A huge hash brown topped with bacon, spinach and a poached egg. Accompanied by an Italian cream and anchovy sauce. The dish was good, nice fresh ingredients, but when I decided on the dish I had forgotten about the anchovies which grossed me out but it was on the side so was able to have little bits of the sauce without it over powering. Later I had a fresh juice from their juice menu on the board which is totes written in abbreves which a appreciated. I had the Tina- kiwi, apple, pine, strawbs. Totes delish as. – Scott

“Proud Mary keeps on burning… yeah!” Oh Tina Turner, you have never had the lyrics soo right to a song. In a word… AMAZEMENT. Coffee, food service all had me screaming yes, yeS, yES, YESSSSSS. Just like Sally, from when Harry met Sally. You know the one where she has a fake orgasm at the table… But mine was REAL BABY. My experience was so good that I in fact went back on the weekend.

THAT was a mistake. The food and the coffee were both still great, the service a little questionable, and the wait was very, very long. I can understand if you are going to be busy, but there must be someway to combat this? Also I decided to have a Chai Latte… Was very nommy, but extremely annoying at the same time. As they gave me a pot with a very small spout that got clogged with all the leaves, and then it all burst out the top and I was left with a little puddle surrounding me like an untrained dog.

Don’t get me wrong, the place is great… Go there on a weekday so you get the undivided attention of the cool and hip waitresses… and waiters… I think. Amongst all the hip Smith Streeters i felt i was in the ‘IN’ Crowd. So get on Rollin’, rollin’ down the river to PROUD MARY’S…this post is lame… I feel I have lost my mojo… – Nick

P dot S. I suggest at one time in your life you call Scott a liar… You will be extremely entertained by the anger that is generated.

There’s a reason why Mary is filled with pride. And I’m pretty sure it’s because what she provides is pretty darn awesome. We made the trek to Proud Mary’s on a Tuesday morning, and I had no idea what to expect.

Totes the best place we’ve been to yet. Hands down. Arriving, I immediately commented on how small our table was. This led to some light mocking from both Scott and Nick. Luckily, Nick went back to his usual self and we began to let the Frenchy have all of our hate.

I had the crushed avocado and the fruit toast with lemon ricotta. It was just lovely. Uncomplicated, fresh, smooth. The coffee was great. Strong and silky. I like my coffee hot, and that can be a problem with soy, as overheating can cause curdling. But it was totes fine.

The waitress was especially persuasive when helping me decide on my second beverage – a choc-mint milkshake. Thick, sweet, cold, amaze. I was tossing up between that or blue heaven, and I was completely happy with my choice.

But I think the best aspect of the morning was the company. Nick and Scott, you two are pretty funny, even though you both frustrate the be-jizzle out of me. I especially enjoyed Scott becoming a private school student for the day, and Nick’s reaction to being asked if he would like regular or soy milk. BOL.

Totes. – Will

Please note some changes we have made to our rating system, we felt it necessary to categorize our rating, enjoy.

Bagel Rating!

Scott-

Food:7/10- Enjoyed the food but found it slightly bland. Although what I tasted of Nick’s was excellent. I was full jeal of his food.

Coffee: 10/10 - I seriously appreciated the knowledge of the staff and their willingness to teach what they know without arrogance. My Ethiopian origin siphon coffee has changed the way I think about coffee.

Experience: 9/10 - We had a fantastic time. Service and ambiance was great. Nobody seemed upset by the fact that we were acting like annoying little school girls. And no one gave me a bad look for my unfortunately loud laugh, which I sincerely can appreciate. Lost points because I hate fruit flies and was attacked by a wasp.

Nick-

Food: 9/10 Damper me up baby…and a bread and butter pud for breaky…i think so!

Coffee: They are gonna get a 7/10 for the chai… It’s great, but they need to re-think the pots!

Experience: 8/10 for the weekday and a 6/10 for the weekend

Will-

Food: 8/10. Delish. Like Scott, a little bland, but still nice. Well presented, nice and simple healthy food.

Coffee: 8/10. Rich and creamy. Lovely rosetta, bittersweet crema.

Experience: 9/10. Company made Proud Mary what it was on that day.