Chinta Ria Soul

This place is in Emporium and I remembered that the one in St Kilda is now closed.

At 3pm it was quiet but the food court was busy.

Here I had their Char Kuey Teow and it had that wok hei to it. It also took a while to prepare which is a good sign. Here the rice noodles were great as well as the seafood. It was really spicy and there was loads of msg to it.

But the seafood was cooked well though. There was too much spice to it which drowned out the flavour.

Do come by for Malaysian food if you are shopping in Emporium and cannot be bothered going elsewhere

Goody's burger house

Goody's Burger house is a Greek/American burger joint which is in the greek precinct of Melbourne. They have been getting a few mixed reviews and I have one of my own. I went to Goody's with a friend and he paid for my chips and onion rings and I bought the roll myself.

First of all they have the signs for beer and the beer on the menu and they don't even have their liquor licence yet. What the? When I saw that they had beer I thought that they were all ready.

The staff (with the exception of the owner) were surly. They looked hungover and they were a bit grumpy.

The chips were lukewarm and were a little bit undercooked. They could have done with some of that flavouring such as feta cheese. The onion rings were heavily battered and were not crunchy. I have had better at TGI fridays. My friend seemed to enjoy the chips as he does not know what good chips are. I have had better at Grill'd and TGI Fridays.

But at least my so called Gourmet Vegetarian roll ($8) was much better. With all that mayo and the olives it tasted more like a Subway roll except Subway does theirs much better

Rating: 12/20- prefer TGi Friday's anyday. Sorry.

I can't wait to see what other bloggers think of this and I hope that they improve their food to meet all the other burger competition in the area.

Santoni

Here the place is small, but they have two levels of seating (upstairs and downstairs). Here I chose the seat by the window.

There are only five other reviews and after 2:30pm on a Tuesday I was the only customer there. All the Swinburne students are having their mid semester break and same as RMIT.
Santoni is a pizza place in Hawthorn and this business has liked a lot of my Instagram photos. So I thought it was time to pay them a visit just to say thanks.

The place is right near Glenferrie station

The service was very friendly and the guy actually smiled. It was really casual.

Her the pizzas are yum and I loved the thin base as it is good for me as I am on a diet. I now don't like pizzas with a thick base as it is just too much for me and waaaay too many calories. I had the vegetarian pizza and added some caramelised onions to it for an extra $3.50. The pizza itself was $20 and here they had lots of vegetables and cheesey goodness.


Rating: 15/20- liked this. Would love it better with wine but I am running later on in the day. Do come by for dinner or drinks after your movie session in Lido.

Mid Autumn Festival

The Mid Autumn festival is one of significance in China and Asia and here it is celebrated in Melbourne as many Asian students reside here. And also tourists come for many different things such as the Show and the footy finals.

It has been a long tradition to celebrate this at Crown and bring in the Westerners as well as the Asians. THis strengthens Melbourne's relationship with Asia and ties together all the different cultures. Furthermore the bond between the Australians and the Asians is strengthened through food and performances. This was a free event for all.

Pork sausage

Panda statue

At the dessert stall. I couldn't have any dessert

Costume contest

Ribbon dancing

Here there was the exciting dragon dance on Friday evening at Crown. Everyone enjoyed the atmosphere. But it was even better on Sunday where there were many workshops in which people can participate in. The one that got me the most was Healthyintstudents Zumba workshop. Here participants joined in and we all had fun burning off those excess calories from the delicious food. All the participants got a few free class vouchers.

Speaking of food there were many stalls which sold food for $5-$15. Most of the food was priced around the $12 mark. Much of the food was small hence many of them got lots more. But I didn't need a lot of food to keep me happy. I really liked the roti and the rice cakes, eventhough the vendor accidently left a calamari in there but I did not mind as it was not too chewy. Some of the calamari that I buy outside can be quite chewy. The roti was freshly done and it was like the one I had at Sambal Kampung except it was not too sweet.

On Friday and Sunday there were plenty of samples but Sunday I had more appetite due to running a tough 17km before. Hence I got to try the roti and the protein bar then. The protein bar was just ok.

There was a Buddha stall there but I wasn't allowed any photos sorry!

Anyway do come by to next years one and many thanks to City of Melbourne for this successful one.

Little India in Southbank

Little India has been around for a while now. They are an Indian chain store in a foodcourt. Here you can buy a combo for as little and filling as $10.

The service is so so and the place was dead quiet when I came one dinnertime after training. You order and then pay and they take cash only. The workers there looked sad and I think they were International students with low pay.

The place was clean and small.

Here I got my roti and combo. The Indian rice was lukewarm and the vegetablers were cold. At least they did not put a lot of curryon my plate or I would not be able to finish. The eggplant curry had heaps of spice and msg.

There was a lot of rice on my plate and I struggled to finish all.

But at least their roti was the saving grace and I remembered them for that. It is light and fluffy and not too heavy. Oh and they grill it on the spot which is great.

Do come here for your roti rather than a meal.

Kitty Burns

Kitty Burns is a coffee place just off Main Yarra trail. Here they do the best coffees for walkers and there are dogs to pat. But they do get busy on the weekends inside.

I didn't mind sitting outside. It was at the 6km mark (out of 17km into the city from Rushall) that I decided to have a break from running and have a coffee. I am training for the Melbourne Marathon along with Healthyintstudents blog.

The piccolo was really good but it was a little bit burnt. I still liked it though and it did have a little bit of chocolatey flavour. And it was only $3.80. The crossaint was $5 and a little bit on the pricey side. It was fluffy, flakey and buttery.

The service there was just alright. I haven't been in to try their food yet but I will another day as the ambiance does look good. Oh and I did check out the bathrooms- they're out the back and there are only two unisex cubicles so there was a bit of a queue. I did not like hearing shouting from the kitchen next to the bathroom. I nearly thought that someone was assaulted.

Oh and there were queues for tables. I wonder if they take bookings. If they do that's great for everyone.

Oh well do come here for your takeaway coffees if you are out walking along the main Yarra trail.

Melbourne Day and Harbour Kitchen

Melbourne Day celebrations were on in Docklands and it was free for everyone to attend. Here it was a very sunny day and most of us either walked or took the free tram to Docklands.

It was really fun. There was the Sunday market and then there was the free cruises around the promenade which took about 20mins. I really enjoyed this, however I didn't really enjoy waiting in the long line. Here I learnt about Melbourne's extensive boating history which goes back to 1924. I also learnt that Victoria Promenade is all man made.

I also enjoyed the Sunday market and trying on all the different hats. This is the first time I have been to the Sunday market here in Docklands as it is not a regular market. Everytime I have been into the city this market is never on

There were many food trucks around, however I don't go to Docklands much and wanted to support a local business. So I went to Habour Kitchen a place that specialises in beer. Beer and boating and celebrations all go well together. I ordered a James Squire Pale Ale which tasted appley alongside wedges. I for one do not like to have beer just on its own and did not want to take it into the food truck area. Besides I did not know whether food from outside would be allowed here. So I paid $11 for my wedges which I expected a big bowl after seeing them in Journal.

Instead I got a small plate with chilli sauce. It was the sweet chilli sauce.

Thomas Findlay

Thomas Findlay is a fish and chip shop in the heart of the city on Elizabeth st. Here they serve gourmet fish and chip cones for $10. But I bought a Scoopon for $6 where it also included a drink. But because I am giving up sugar for a month I could not have the canned varieties. I gave mine to a homeless person as there are so many of them on Flinders st. Oh yeah and I ordered a potato cake and gave mine away to someone homeless.

The place is really small and there is not much seating anywhere so people just took away.
The lady there that served me was alright although she did seem a little bit tired.

The tempura fish was heavily battered but still good. The chips were really nice.

Do support the Salvation Army and you can donate here. They do a wonderful job of supporting the homeless.

Senor Churro and free coffee

Today I visited Senor Churro which is a permanent fixture in Knox Lane in Melbourne Central. It has been open for 7 months but I wonder why it is not on Zomato yet or on the Melbourne Central website. I was really hungry for churros when I saw it. I know that they are sweet and fattening but as a runner for the Melbourne Marathon I needed lots and lots of fats. And I haven't been eating much fat lately.

Here a plain sweet churro is $2 and the filled ones are $2.50. I haven't had dulche de leche in a while. Dulche de leche is a sweet Mexican dessert. I liked both of them.

And both of them worked really well with my free coffee from Nescafe. They were outside the State Library.  Here I had their white chocolate mocha which has a lot of chocolate flavour in it. It is mainly subtle. People can also buy their tasting plate ($5 for four coffees and four cakes), but I was not in the mood for one of those.

Many thanks for the free coffee and do check out Senor Churro when you can.

Poolside coffee

Poolside Coffee is a new coffee place in the Melbourne City baths. Here they do good quality coffee and blends which is what RMIT students love.

Poolside and gym lovers will also love the healthy treats on offer. Their piccolo is great and it should be for the price of $4

 The rice paper rolls (3 for $7) were really good and they were freshly made. They were really moist from just being made.

Poolside lovers will also like the friendly service and smiles that come with their coffee. They will also love the free flowing water- both sparkling and mineral.

My piccolo was not burnt and had chocolatey taste to it.

Do come on by and try their marvellous coffees and healthy treats. This is a good place for sugar free september.