Wednesday 28th October 


A long day with a series of bad decisions. It started with a trip to the hairdressers, then make-up session then threading. Yes in that order, in hindsight make-up goes last. Would you like to thread your cheeks and sides with that? The answer is no! Whoops, that'll be an extra $20 on top of what you actually came here for. 


N2, what do you mean you don't have the pumpkin one?! I can see a picture of a pumpkin! On the other hand I did find out where Short Stop Donuts live. :)



Spent 35mins going to the other location then 15mins waiting to order. Was it worth an hour of my life? No, it was also $9 and a long wait. 

So now we're in an unfamiliar town. Looking up my list of things to eat this week Smith Deli is close by. How close? I got lost and the cops pointed me in the right direction. 


Unless your name is "Eat Vegan" please don't have that as your signage - unless it's a subtitle or something. I walked past it but couldn't find it as that wasn't what I was looking for!!





Inside it was hot and humid. Outside it was 27. Smith Deli sells lunch and desserts. This week cakes and cookies, tarts too. $7 brain cupcakes are a rip off. $10 grave cakes look pretty cool, but I'm not fond of chocolate cake, especially if it's that's big. There was skeleton gingerbread by Fred too at $5 a cookie. This place is expensive! I was hoping everything was very small and came as a pack so I'd get everything. We were wrong, but left with a delicious pumpkin tart at $8. 



This was small but intense and oily (the base, well pie crust was butter + crushed savory cookies). To be shared between two, jokes. XD Jas got a couple bites only as I wasn't intending to share but it was too much on my own. 

It was awesome! I'd get it again at $8, but this time ask for it to be cut into halves to share.


Here are all the treats the deli offered, prices start from $8. Yes that is the Fred cookie cutter. The grave tomb cake is quite big and $10-12. 

So we're still in a strange town and there isn't enough time to go back to the office and come back in time for dinner. Dinner was on the other side of the massive block, the next suburb over. So we chilled out at the library till dinner.


On the main street there was a toy shop with beautiful costumes and larger than life Miffy lights! Both cost in the hundreds. I love anything bunny themed and sparkly!





Krispy Kreme - BOGOF. We were disappointed they only looked like Halloween but the flavours were the same old, rather than pumpkin spice and other limited ed. flavours. 



Over at Dextrose you could pick a trick or treat card with purchase, and the one I picked was treat! We got a free drink.

Overall Halloween week was a week of indulging in all things pumpkin themed. :P I do love Halloween, though here it's just an excuse to drink. Looking forwards to going trick a treating again!




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Monday 26th October



The post where Charlie posts a whole lot of stuff she doesn't understand. :P

A four course Italian x Wine Pairing event started our Monday, at Vapiano. I did invite morman but he was busy with a meeting (legit). Lola who's a wine loving adult joined us tonight. As a white cloth restaurant hostess she knows wine. 

We started with an antipasto platter with a selection of meats (prosciutto & salami), grated Parmesan, buffalo mozzarella, mixed olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and bruschetta.

Accompanying the platter was a tumbler of Sauvignon Blanc Two Valleys Marlborough 2014. Passionfruit, melons, nettles and fresh herbs. 

Smells Citrus to me. 

Lola says "Shorter legs compared to the later ones we sampled. Sat for a while in the barrel. Don't pair with marinated food. Seafood good pairing. Parmajarna."

The day after this event, salami was announced as something that causes cancer. Along with sausages (NOOO!!) and bacon, along with processed meats. 





Carbonara was next on the menu with campanelle pasta, ribbons rolled onto cylinders. Because the bacon was in the sauce I got the vegetarian version which was drizzled with oil and some herbs. It wasn't dry but it was plain. 

I wasn't the only one who didn't eat pork (there were vegetarians there too) and so I felt that it was badly catered for vegetarians. Should have offered them different dishes. 



Served with the Carbonara was Pianot Gris 2015, Petaluma WL. Lola says "Longer legs than 1st fermentation more unique way.  1st stronger zip hence shorter legs - no longer. Subtle aftertaste. No tanion aka burn." Actually it did burn.

Another simple pasta dish followed, a simple tomato pesto on the chewy side, pasta needs to be softer. We are having a bland night. 

Paired with Sangiovese 2014, Luccio, a meduim red/ "Hardly any legs. No tears didn't sit long. No zing. Acidity not strong. Good w fatty foods and things in strong oils. Smells very strong." - Lola

Next was another red, 2014 Eden Valley Shiraz.  I didn't like it. Smells medicinal.






Pizza followed. Salami for lola, vegetarian for me. Thin based, chessey and average. I really like Crust, and Domino's custom range. 


Moscarto is a dessert wine and tastes just like a slightly less sweet soda! I like it! I don't actually like wine, and have tried it a few times at events, it always burns. I prefer fruit juice, cold apple juice. Summer snow's pink lady is my favorite. Is wine just fruit juice for adults that costs a lot?




An Italian style chocolate cake to share, if you don't share you'll die, as it's very rich. Chocolate frosting and a strawberry finished it off. I like it but it's not my style. Chocaholics would love this. My style is cream cakes with a very light soft and fluffy sponge with strawberries.

I only liked the last wine. The guy serving the wine was very friendly and descriptive. :)

A carb load night out, two days after a ramen party, good thing we had a salad for lunch! I'm slightly disappointed that they didn't have seafood spaghetti or risotto tonight. I've tried a few dishes and the mushroom risotto while pricey at $22 is delicious! And the best thing I've had there, pasta for me is good though I prefer to pick my own sauce and toppings, and I don't like the pizza.





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Saturday 24th October



How long do you think it takes to get from Vermont South to Ascot Vale? 2.5hrs. Tram, train, bus, train, tram. Combine a place on the other side of the city (up north, maybe more west) and brunch hours means we need to plan in advance. A couple weeks. But one weekend we finally made the long trip to a very popular brunch spot, not on a strip but randomly on the corner in between residential places. Where they're bound to be upset about people parking in/close to their driveways. 
















Invoking the romance of bushlands regenerating after fire. Soft smoke is balanced with fine tannuns and citrusy Eucalypt. A combo of organic orange pekow, lapsang souchong and lemon myrtle. 

Jas picked tea over the milkshake and had the bushfire bkfast tea, which was very aromatic and very nice, the spices didn't come though and the flavours tasted more of the two teas; if you like eng bkfast you'll like it, it's a more aromatic version. The milk that accompanied tasted cheap and like powdered or skim.





Strawberry milkshake! I normally don't get the strawberry but this one had mascarpone! Also it was called the 'cheesecake'. At $6.50 it was reasonably priced, unlike my local fancy pizza restaurant which has $8+ milkshakes.

Made with flavoring like most places, as strawberry milkshakes made from the real thing has a seedy texture to it and the flavours isn't that strong.

The milkshake was awesome! The foam, you gotta start off with that, eat it with a teaspoon. Yum! I'd recommend it and get it again. The only way to improve it is with a strawberry perched on the rim. No cream needed thanks to the awesome foam.







Sporting a 70s style with a lot of new wave/mystique orange, Ascot Food Store used to be a house but was been converted into a casual restaurant, with booth like seating. There's plenty of seats, for the solo fox to groups. Outdoor seats, a communal table, bar height tables, typical cafe tables in the back room and booth like seating in between, with a set up that reminded me of a caravan. Good placement of windows meant that we sat in the hallway but still got good pictures. 

Complete with a fireplace this place reminds me of grandpa's house in Malibu, which still has an orange sofa.





The fritters were served with a poached egg that looked like paper but tasted normal, with a lovely runny yolk. A few watercress leaves accompanied the egg and fritters, with a tablespoon of a hot sweet chili sauce. To me the dish wasn't dry but needed that something sitting in a bowl on the side - smooth creamy buttery avocado. But I'm allergic. 

On urbanspoon the 62° eggs were popular so we went with that and the corn fritters.


Unlike St Ali Ascot Food Store isn't known for their corn fritters, that look nothing like pineapple fritters. But their fried chicken wings and 62° eggs.





Served on a wooden board that jas got a splinter from, was/were four buttery beautiful thick slices or soldiers of bread, under a snowfall of cheese that was across the board. The bread sticks weren't to be dipped into the runny soft boiled egg. Instead you'd pour the egg on top of the toast. Which slid perfectly out of the eggshell.



Runny soft boiled eggs, warm thick buttery bread and cheese. Was a basic ideal/dish but very yummy/satisfying. Just needed some salt, which there were vials of in a beaker. I do prefer a grinder though.












The service was good and on our way out they still had quite a few syringe donuts. I'd get the eggs again but not the fritters, it was good but not amazing. 

Will we be back? If we lived closer and I made more $$ I'd say yes. But it's way too far as we're on the other side of the city, also it's a tiny bit pricier than how much we normally spend. 

I'm glad there's no lines though, at least not when we got there around 2.15pm. Definitely recommending this place to Lola who loves breakfast and is a morning person.







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