Olive Sundays Melbourne Easter Faves 2016

Luxbite – Easter shortbread biscuits (image via instagram:@glen_yeo)

Easter is near and hot cross buns are about. And I love that fact that I can lather my hcb’s in butter and eat lots o’ chocolate with absolutely no guilt because…Easter! Some of Melbourne’s restaurants celebrate the Easter holiday by creating special treats, putting hot crosses on everything and naming their creations after egg puns. It’s super egg-citing and personally I love a cheesy egg pun egg-specially during Easter. Here are my Melbourne Easter faves this year. Hop to it!

Rustica – Hot cross buns (image via instagram:@rustica_hq)

 Rustica – Hot cross buns. You know Rustica make egg-ceptional bread and because hot cross buns are kinda like little sweet spiced bread buns it’s a no brainer that the hot cross buns will be amazing!

Mork chocolate – Triple choc mork x buns (image via instagram:@morkchocolate)

Mork chocolate – Triple chocolate Mork X bun w dark chocolate pieces, candied orange and a soft chocolate ganache centre. If you prefer a chokky cross bun, Mork has got you covered. Not one, not two, but three times chocolate.

Short stop – Hot cross doughnuts (image via instagram:@melbournemamma)

Short stop – hot cross doughnuts. A doughnut and hot cross bun hybrid. Spiced dough with cinnamon, nutmeg, brandy-soaked dried fruit. Covered in honey glaze and topped with a cinnamon-spiked icing stripe.

Lune croissanterie – Hot cross cruffin (image via instagram:@lunecroissant)

Lune croissanterie – Hot cross cruffins. Lune cruffins have layers of buttery goodness and now they have a hot cross bun version. Hooray two of my favourite things unite. And now with their Fitzroy store I don’t have to wake up at 4 in the A.M. Winning.

Schmucks bagels – Hot cross bagel (image via instagram:@schmucksbagels)

Schmucks bagels – Hot cross bagel. Who needs a hot cross bun when you can have a hot cross bagel. Pair that with some almond milk co butter and an all press coffee and that’s what I call a good morning.

Eat a scroll – Hot cross scroll (image via instagram:@theplateproject)

Eat a scroll – Hot cross scroll. These cute little scrolls have a cute little Easter crosses. Cinnamon scroll topped with Gianduja (hazelnut choc) and a cream cheese cross.

Om nom – Egg-dulgence (image via instagram:@omnom_dessertbar)

Om nom kitchen & dessert bar – The egg-dulgence. Made with banana milk chocolate brownie, chocolate cream, caramel toffee, roasted mixed nuts and 58% cacao chocolate. Love the egg pun name.

Pidapipo geleteria x Baked chirico – HCB icecream sandwich (image via instagram:@pidapipo_geleteria)

Pidapipo Gelateria – Hot cross bun ice-cream sandwich. The hot cross buns are baked by baker D Chirico and are filled with a big scoop of Pidapipo crema and jam gelato. My kind of sandwich.

Doughnut time – The yolk addict doughnut (image via instagram:@doughnut_time)

Doughnut time – yolk addict. This doughnut has a milk chocolate and toffee glaze and is topped with a Cadbury crème egg. Who knew yolk porn could be so sweet.

Pablo honey – Easter shots (image via instagram:@pablomatcarps)

Pablo honey – Easter shots. These chocoaltey alcoholic shots are served in chocolate Easter eggs. I repeat. Shots in chocolate Easter eggs! It doesn’t get cuter than this.

Luxbite – Egg-licious (image via instagram:@luxbite)

Luxbite – egg-licious easter egg. We all know Luxbite have creative flair so we expect more from them. And they never fail to deliver beautifully eggs-ecuted Easter creations. Lemon mousse, stone fruit jelly, chocolate egg cup with strawberry and milk chocolate crunchy pearls hidden inside.

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter spent with loved ones and copious amounts of chocolate.

I heart Easter!

Olives x

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Sabai

Sabai Thai Restaurant – RIchmond

A modern take on traditional Thai food is what Sabai is all about. The husband and wife duo have innovated a new and creative menu that excites. The food is bold, balanced and presented with style. And did I mention totally delicious?

Sabai – Venue

In Thai, Sabai means to be chill. And the relaxed atmosphere supports that vibe where you can pop in to eat for a little or a long time. You can spend time with your loved ones eating and relaxing. In fact this has now sparked my new mantra. Eat and be chill. Yep I like it.

Sabai – Soft shell crab sliders

The soft shell sliders were super cute. The mini buns were filled with crispy soft shell crab and a fresh apple slaw. I was worried I might get full on these because bread, but luckily the buns were fairly light so it wasn’t too filling. A great start to the meal. The only issue was deciding who got to eat the third slider out of the two of us.

Sabai – red curry pork ribs

Slow cooking does wonderful things to meat, which is why the pork baby back ribs were melt-in-your-mouth and were falling of the bone. The ribs were covered in a tasty red curry glaze, which was amazing with the pork. It was absolutely delicious.

Sabai – Duck salad

When the duck salad came out I was in awe of its beauty. It was a colourful rainbow garden of deliciousness. The slices of duck were tender, the vegies were crisp and the herbs were fresh. The sauce had a lovely savoury zing and then there was the caramel popcorn. What? Yes you read correctly, caramel popcorn. It totally worked because it allowed me to add a bit of sweetness as I pleased. Granted I initially want to just eat all of the caramel popcorn on its own, but I found that throughout the dish I could add a pop of sweetness to enhance the flavour. It was awesome.

Sabai – Crispy barramundi

The barramundi was cut into bitesized chunks, battered and fried. It was accompanied with a fresh herb and apple salad and a sweet and sour dressing with chilli and lemongrass. There were lots of punchy flavours; a great balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy.

Sabai – Lamb shank massaman curry

We were impressed when the lamb massaman hit the table. There was a big slow braised lamb shank sitting in the middle. The meat was soft and juicy and the curry was full of flavour. It had potatoes and cashews and a calming cinnamon flavour. It was delish. I liked that it had bold flavours but was light and not overly creamy or sweet. It came steamed rice and roti. Yum.

Sabai – homemade coconut icecream

Now onto dessert. They make their own coconut ice-cream in-house and it’s super smooth and taste like fresh coconut. It’s served with a tropical assortment of jackfruit, lychee jelly and red syrup soaked water chestnuts.

Sabai – Thai tea panna cotta

The Thai tea panna cotta had that lovely sweet condensed milk tea flavour and was balanced with the tartness of the crushed frozen berries, fresh coconut and a little sprig of mint.

Sabai – Affogato w mini magnum

The affogato was unlike any affogato I had seen before. Instead of a scoop of ice-cream, there was a mini Magnum almond sitting in my Kahlua spiked espresso topped with toasted coconut. When you first pick up the mini magnum the chocolate is all melted and it is so good.

Each dish had a modern twist on Thai cuisine but the traditional Thai flavours were all there. It was full of flavour and presented with style.

I heart Sabai!

Olives x

Sabai Thai Restaurant
Address: 460 Church St, Richmond VIC 3121
Website: http://sabairichmond.com.au/
Phone: 03 8528 6884
Trading Hours: Mon-Fri: 11.30am-9.30pm Sat-Sun: 4pm-9.30pm

Uncommon

Uncommon – Street view

Uncommon serve unique dishes using organic and sustainably grown produce. The dishes are created with a combination of ingredients that aren’t commonly used together and the menu definitely excites and sparks curiosity. You will want keep returning to try everything on the menu. Items like salmon pastrami, green apple pesto & coconut bacon will keep you returning for more. The good news is that in addition to brunch they have recently opened for dinner. Hooray!

Uncommon – Venue

The decor is simple with white walls and lots of greenery in hanging pots. Really cute.

Uncommon – Salmon pastrami, whipped honey and herb scramble

Firstly for brunch and currently my favourite dish on the menu is the hand sliced salmon pastrami with a smooth sweet whipped honey on a thin slice of pumpernickel, which is a slightly sweet rye bread. The salmon was cut thinly and the whipped honey was sweet and creamy. Amazing! It was paired with soft herbed scrambled eggs with big pieces of fresh herbs throughout and there was salted kernels and chilli capers, which added good texture.

Uncommon – Greens on toast

The new season asparagus, silverbeet, & avocado is a great combination of greens and was complemented with a green apple pesto and wedges of lemon. It was fresh, had a lot of zing. It also had a creamy ewe’s milk cheese and a beautiful 65 degree egg and was served on toast.

Uncommon – roasted pepperberry duck

The duck was tasty. The tender pieces of roasted pepperberry duck were scattered over a combination of freekah salad, raw pear kimchi, thin slices of radish and a sour barberry vinigarette. There was a fried duck egg on top for good measure. The sour tones in the vinegarette with the duck went really well and the combination of texture made this dish wonderful.

Uncommon – banana and golden flaxseed pikelets

The pikelets are 90% banana & golden flaxseed. And these babies are gluten free. Since there is a prominent amount of banana they mainly taste like mashed banana in a good way though. They were topped with Yarra Valley strawberries, cherries, poached green paw paw, a toasted milk crumb and drizzled with pure maple.

Uncommon – purple sweet potato

Then onto dinner. We got to taste a few of the dinner samples at the launch and it was just as impressive as their brunch menu. They had maple roasted purple sweet potato rounds w sprouted leeks, sorrel, kefir ricotta, smoked coconut & green apple pesto. It was tasty.

Uncommon – cucumber salad

The cucumber was filled with a salad of texture. Buckwheat, roasted cauliflower, kale, chilli & tamari seeds with a tahini yoghurt dressing.

Uncommon – baby free range chicken

The baby free range chicken was delish it was topped with sour onions and cooked in whey, amaranth leaves, lemon and a savoury sauce.

Uncommon – cape grim pure beef

The cape grim pure beef melted in your mouth and was topped with green tomato, a mild chilli & river mint salsa, silverbeet and fresh avocado.

Uncommon – salmon pastrami

Lucky for me they have a dish with the salmon pastrami, whipped honey & salted kernals on their dinner menu. Love.

Uncommon – roasted ginger pear and figs

The roasted ginger pear was sensational it was beautifully poached and was packed with flavour. It was paired with seasonal figs, persian cheese and leaves. Yum!

Uncommon – Chocolate red sauerkraut brownies

Ok and finally for the chocolate red sauerkraut brownie with buckwheat granola and wattleseed whipped yoghurt. It was rich and chocolatey and the red sauerkraut almost acted like a subtle sour cherry and the granola on top added a beautiful crunch element. It was super moist and had a rich chocolate flavour. These were absolutely divine.

Uncommon serve great food and give a care about the environment. The staff are friendly and it’s a great place for brunch and now din dins too. Delish!

I heart Uncommon!

Olives x

Uncommon
Address: 60 Chapel St, Windsor VIC 3181
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncommon3181/
Phone: 03 9510 6655
Trading Hours: Mon- Wed: 7am-3.30pm, Thu-Fri: 7am-11pm, Sat-Sun: 8am-11pm