Manchester Press

Bagels. Doesn't it remind you of The O.C?

"Coffee's hot, and the cream cheese is room temperature, 
perfect for shmearing on a nice fresh bagel …"
- Sandy Cohen

Joanne and I volunteered some time ago and decided to devour something tasty after a stressful and sleepy morning of handing out pamphlets. She suggested Manchester Press. It was a wonderful experience sitting in a studio style cafe, with verrry cute waiters, sipping on fresh pineapple juice and chowing down bagels. Hidden away in Rankin Lane, it is one of Melbourne's gems in terms of quality food and service. They are known for their bagels and coffee. If you Google "manchester press" and click on images, you will see a vast range of exceptional coffee art. I did not order a coffee at my time there, but you'd be kicking yourself if you went and didn't order one. 

I didn't take many photos (except of the ones of food) but fortunately Google has everything and supplied me with these images:

As you can see, the menu is on a see through board which made it very exciting to read. It was tedious work to figure out what I wanted to eat because everything sounded delicious. I would most definitely recommend you all to go and pay Manchester Press a visit. Their sweet hospitality and renowned coffee is something that you will smile from and be sure to order the bagels (I ordered the egg bake and it was effin amazing to say the least). It was definitely worth the wait.

Pappa Rich Doncaster

I'm not a huge fan of Malaysian food because there was this one time (not at band camp) I mistakenly ordered a spicy dish from a Malaysian restaurant on Elizabeth Street and almost died because I cannot tolerate spicy food (weaksauce, I know). But contrary to this, due to the blast of Pappa Rich Restuarants, I had to go try it out.

The Doncaster Pappa Rich was nicely decorated, but seemed a bit tooooo fancy in the interior. You'll know what I mean when you walk inside. I enjoyed their ordering system which is a fool proof system that 99% of the time they will get your order right. There is a receipt book and pen where you fill out your own order, and proceed to press the bell when you're done. I was pretty annoyed because they forgot about my order, but the food was delicious and I GUESS that made up for it.

I love Hainanese chicken but this by FAR has got to be the best that I've ever had. The dipping sauces were a bit too strong for me though. The rice and fried chicken meal (pictured above) was delicious! The orange rice was a bit dry which I disliked, but all the flavours went really well together nonetheless. I can't wait to go back and try the meals with roti bread, they looked delicious!

PATS The Philly Way

There was once a young man who laughed at me for ordering a steak sandwich.

"Steak and sandwiches do not go together...", he said. 

"Steaks are better alone", he said. 

I ignored these remarks and adamantly thought to myself that I will, and always will, love steak sandwiches. My love has been reaffirmed the second I stepped into PATS, The Philly Way , located on the end skirts of Bridge Road. Grill'd is two doors down from PATS, and although Grill'd may be a franchise, it does not stand a chance in terms of the quality of food and hospitality. We were greeted by a menu with an extensive list of steak/cheese/chicken sandwiches and a sweet couple who own the amazing joint. With the shock of the earthquake (which I did NOT feel at work), the owner made good conversation that secretly left me laughing with stitches. You do not receive this type of warm hospitality elsewhere, especially not at Grill'd. It was the type of treatment that I needed after a long night at work. They were still really cheery despite us arriving an hour before their closing time (10:30pm is the time they close, definitely good for late night cravings)! The environment and interior of the restaurant is nicely decorated with the theme colours being blue and orange! Everything was clean, organised and interesting to observe, especially the ceiling (third picture below). Try to look at the menu before you go in because you will look like an imbecile standing in front of the cash register with your jaw dropped and drool coming out of it because everything sounds spectacular!

I ordered a Bello Vitello steak sandwich which had eggplant, rocket, pesto among other delicious ingredients that felt like a party in my mouth. We also ordered Philly Hungry (Large chips) and later on received complimentary dipping sauces. It's these businesses that give you an extra warm feeling when you eat (I have felt this in several places such as LuxBite, Jungle Juice Bar and a local pizza place). I was extremely thrilled/happy/content/excited/in love with the burger, although they could have used a little bit less pesto. There was a lot of rocket which I larvvveeee and the chips were crunchy but not burnt, a really good thing to look out for! Tomato chutney and aioli dipping sauces were divine and at a mere $1 each, you definitely must buy them to add with your chippies!

Hospitality and the way that workers/owners approach their customers is so important because our perceptions can be altered so quickly. Word of mouth spreads around rather rapidly, so I really do hope my readers will try this place out and send me some feedback about what they think of the restaurants I post on my blog! I would especially love to hear some feedback about PATS because I had such an amazing experience and I endeavour to go back and eat everything on their menu at some stage! And since the earthquake occurred today, I'm going to attempt to make a joke and rate this place 9.9 on the richter scale of my stomach. Are you cringing? I'm so sorry!

Paesano International Buffet

A relatively new restaurant to add to Wheelers Hill, Paesano International Buffet offers many types of food ranging from Italian, Asian and Indian. They also have seafood for dinner (a big favourite of mine)! I was very impressed with the selection and quality of the food, and I usually don't eat at buffets regularly so this is a pretty big deal.

Wheelers Hill (for those who do not know) is next to Mulgrave or Glen Waverley, and is about a 26 minute drive from the CBD (according to google). I can tell you now that it is worth the drive because although the venue is unappealing to the eye compared to places like Kitchen Workshop, Mesh or China Bar Signature Buffet, the food was delectable at such a good price. Writing this post makes me want to go back and enjoy it a little better because it's one of those places that you can dress casually in and just have a good time. Upon arriving to the venue, there was so much to take in because some of the chefs stand around the buffet preparing food for you, they even make mini pizzas or stirfry! And there were hot chips and dim sims and sausage rolls as well! Win!!!

Unfortunately these are the only photos I could find. As you can see, I mostly took photos of the desserts, but I would have loved to take photos of the actual buffet if I weren't so hungry at the time! The first image is of seafood - if this doesn't ALREADY set a good impression of the place then... I don't know what will. Seafood (and I'm talking crabs, mussels, oysters, calamari, prawns) is the best. I would eat seafood everyday for the rest of my life if I could.

My most favourite thing at Paesano would have to be the chocolate fountain. I heard they bought a bigger one recently which is a bit exciting! Apparently kids stick their fingers in there but it's still good... it's still good................ :'(

Tiramasu!!!