Saturday 2nd June
Charlie & Co. dined as guests.


How exciting it is when brunch comes to the suburbs, those without tram lines! For years it seemed something of inner suburbs, with limited parking, but here comes Aunt Billies. Located just off Whitehorse Rd, with plenty of parking. Also an easy walk from the station on a sunny morning. 



With a modern interior with airy ceilings, and a trendy vibe it's nothing like no other cafes in the area, one of the very first brunchy places in the area. It was a lovely day and there's outdoor seating too in a no smoking dog friendly under cover area, if you'd like some air. 



We started off with coffee as we pondered what to order, sweet or savory? Classic or something different? At Aunt Billies the menu changes regularly and features a fusion of Modern Australian and Middle Eastern food.






























I personally ordered the mushroom dish (my go to) with a side of smoked salmon and haloumi, though really it's a pretty filling dish, a big breakfast on its own. The classic big breakfast dish isn't on the menu, though quite a few dishes could be that, including this one; where a bunch of great things like eggs (always poached) and mushrooms are combined to create a platter of a dish. 

The flavours were subtle, though the basil pesto added something, textures hit the holy trinity of soft, crunchy and chewy. I would have liked to add a sauce, dip or avocado to make it less dry (not that it's dry, I can't seem to find the word for it - but you know a milkshake would work too). Overall a great selection of brunchy things we love, that's pretty healthy too.











Brunching at Aunt Billies is perfect if you're out in the suburbs and driving (and looking for parking), no longer do you have to travel to Camberwell for brunch if you're in the South East side. There's something for everyone here it's not your regular brunch spot, with that middle eastern fusion, adding a twist to your dish!



For coffee lovers you'll be pleased to know Aunt Billies serves St Ali's. And if you're on the go there's plenty of cookies, and beautiful crumblessly flawless cakes from Little Bertha.










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Wednesday 16th May
Charlie & Co. dined as guests.





On an autumn evening we were invited to dine with 'IL Faro Pizzeria & Cucina' conveniently located on the Kew tram route and main street. Opening just this March on High St in Kew is 'IL Faro Pizzeria & Cucina' a great family owned Napoli style pizza restaurant. 



It's freezing outside and so the 'Italian Hot Chocolate' was the perfect choice (trust me, when I drink my photos are all blurry). A rich thick custardy drink it was perfect to warm us up and some reckon it we should have totally dipped the nutella donuts in it XD The wine list was quite inviting too along with some sodas.





With a fluffy dough this is quite similar to the pizza crust, but with toppings. How cute is the bocconcini? It's tiny! This is the perfect starter to share for a group in anticipation of pizza!



Delicious pyramids with ragu, with herbs & spices this was perfect hitting all the right notes - high recommended. I love good arancini and this one is absolutely the best one I've ever had.





What makes IL Faro's pizzas special is an Italian milled multigrain mix of Italian flours, made via a traditional stone ground method. The 30% whole wheat dough is fermented for 72 hours creating a full flavour dough. 









We started off with the classic margherita, with a beautiful doughy crust that's just right and a topping that just melts in your mouth, the base is quite soft so you may want to hover over a plate. Pizza's always been one of my favourite food groups, and this IL Faro is pretty good, and quite similar to Mother Dough a couple suburbs away.





There's no question as to why this is the signature pizza, a crowd pleaser it has all those things we love about a white based pizza, a margarita like base with smoked ingredients for that beautiful rich flavour and smokiness, while being light, and counting as a serve of veggies (if you eat the whole thing ;).




Living life anything but slow? A calzone would be the way to go, I'd describe it as a pizza turnover. It's spicy! - but my standards are like, toothpaste can be spicy to me, so perhaps don't take my word on this. The cheese melting over everything in there combats that spicy kick.






For those who prefer pasta, gnocchi is just the thing to order, I mean just look at that cheese! This is the tomato based one, and tastes like pillows of soft beautiful dough.







If you don't drink alcohol there's a few Italian sodas to choose from including the ones picture here. Andy had the cola, which was refreshingly lighter than Coke and tasted less artificial.









It's always exciting when an Italian restaurant has more than pre-made generic ice cream and freezer fresh desserts. Cannoli has to be my favourite Italian pastry/cookie, which we're well acquainted with from our college years out west (T Cavallaro and Sons). And these were just at good, if not better. I love that subtle combo of citrus and cheese in desserts, and anything with pistachios is great. I would eat this cream by the pot :P









For quite some years now Nutella seems to be the new salted caramel, in which you can find it almost anywhere. Served warm these doughy slices are the perfect ending when you can't get enough pizza or like to order a dessert to share with the group. The ice cream was great itself, housemade with specks of vanilla bean. 





Though who could go past the donuts? Deep fried and delicious these are unlike any other donut I've had, little balls of dough deep fried and dusted with icing sugar. Decedent and the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee. I'd love to see a variation of these rolled in cinnamon, and another with lemon & sugar.



Everything was delicious tonight at IL Faro, the perfect place in Kew for pizza night, being new they don't deliver yet, but do offer takeaway. Our recommendations? Go in a group and order a few items to share (don't forget dessert!), or for a couple order the arancini, a pizza or gnocchi each (can't decide? go with the signature ;) and the cannoli to share.

Service was very friendly and we can't wait to return soon! 
Excited about this new addition to High St, Kew. 

Check out IL Faro's site for the menu, bookings and to order online.



Open 5.30pm - 10pm // Tues - Sun. Closed Mondays.
321 High St, Kew VIC 3101
P: 0415 448 623

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Charlie dined as a guest. 
Wednesday 9th May



With winter rapidly approaching, hello wet windy, hail & thundery days on the forecast, it's the perfect time to get those coats to the cleaners, condition those gloves, and go out for a hot comforting bowl of soup. 






Introducing Wonder Bowl with their fresh and quality noodle soups at affordable prices in the city (do I have to reference that? it's from their site, and it's true). Located opposite DonDon we've been curious though hesitant to drop by because there isn't much English other than the name, and the sign pointing up stairs. This is why we have jas, he encourages us to try new things that we wouldn't have gone near without him. 









The interior designers of Zumbo South Yarra and Vue de Monde, did Wonder Bowl too. A 120-seater eatery, minimalist with clean white spaces, high ceilings and bright lights it sets a lovely backdrop to the food - especially if you order the spicy soup.



I love anything in a jar! And here we have some fun drinks, including iced matcha lattes, and things we haven't heard of before. On the next page there's coke & all that, if you prefer to play it safe. 



But know that if you're going to get something spicy, that matcha latte is the way to go. *sorry something strange happened with the camera for the lighting, just had it serviced* 



Sides to share? Ticking that deep fried box, though there's also the eggs which aren't deep fried :P Yes these are all the entrees on offer, I love the clean bright very visual menu.



Herbal Tea Leaf Eggs - Hope you got your wet wipes, cause this one's a hands on dish. The flavour is quite nice and light, with a lovely cracked pattern from the tea infusing through the cracked egg shell. 

Deep Fried Fish Cake - Yum! could use more pepper but otherwise I really liked these, esp with the sweet chili sauce. This one's my favourite entree, other than the chicken.













Wonder Bowl is unlike any other soup place in that unlike traditional noodle soups which has a pork/beef/stock, while WB's superior soup uses a seafood base. With thick vermicelli noodles and Chinese rice wine to create something special.

Created by Malaysian-born co-owner and noodle aficionado Steve Tan and friends, inspired by a noodle soup with a seafood base in China’s Guangzhou province, light and delicate yet full of rich seafood flavour. They was inspired and created their own version of the dish
combining thick vermicelli noodles with a home-style seafood broth and Chinese rice wine, the latter being the secret ingredient (and came the creation of the superior broth!). 







There's also a spicy version of the superior soup, inspired by the Sichuan ‘ma la’ hotpots as well as claypot yee mee, dry noodle dishes and crispy egg noodles with a variety of toppings.





The best selling dishes include 'superior noodle soup with drunken chicken' and the
'signature seafood combination with superior soup'. With so many options it was a challenge to pick one, cheated and went with the recommended seafood combo. The noodles were the perfect chewiness and the broth was light though still had flavour. Gawd how do you peel prawns though? With time and two forks, no fingers was my answer. I'll get the chicken next time. :P







We didn't get a picture of the dessert menu, though like entrees there's only a few, a mix of asian desserts and... ice cream. Strawberry toppings and vanilla, surprised there isn't matcha ice cream on the menu as it's the new salted caramel. We had the strawberry one, which was a berry, (boysenberry?) ice cream with strawberry sauce and pistachios.








Wonder Bowl - A Taste of Wonder. A Bowl of Perfection!
Level 1, 267 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Opening hours: Monday – Sunday 11:00am – 10:00pm

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