Treehouse Lounge

Treehouse Lounge, you are a charmer. Perhaps it was the cozy ‘Tarzan-like’ feel that it alluded, with it’s wooden accents and tracery of delicate green vines and leaves. Or maybe it was simply just the fact that the place was so warm and welcoming, the perfect spot to hide away from the cold.

Coffee

But first, coffee. A cappuccino and flat white was ordered stat to wake us up.

The Mexikent

Motivated to choose a dish I would not normally, I went for the Mexikent – a spicy salsa of black beans, avo smash, tomato, sweet corn, coriander, sour cream, smokey chorizo and poached egg a top toasted corn bread. You know you have eggs to look forward to when, with just a gentle nudge, it wobbles. Unfortunately, the corn bread was little too crumbly and dry for my liking, though the fiesta of toppings alleviated this well.

Bruschetta

Set before Melbourne Girl was her monstrous bruchetta. A thick slice of crunchy dark rye toast with smashed sweet potato, feta, avo, red cabbage, spring onions, herbs and cherry tomatoes finished with a drizzle of sticky balsamic glaze. An incredibly generously sized dish that filled her right up.

Service was friendly, attentive and ready to please and food and coffee were served in a flash. Though the food did not knock my socks off, Melbourne Girl and I had a wonderful time at Treehouse Lounge. Now to go watch some Disney movies. 


Treehouse Lounge

263 - 265 Carlisle Street

Balaclava, VIC 3183

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Joe's Bar and Dining Hall

Who is Joe ? And where can I find him ? Located in the heart of St Kilda, Joe's Bar and Dining Hall celebrates the tastes and techniques of traditional Texas barbecue, and offers what I like to call 'dirty food' - the good kind of course. And who better to feast with, than with two of the hungriest boys I know. 

Joe’s Famous Fried Chicken (JFC)

A basket of Joe's Famous Fried Chicken was one of the first to arrive, piping hot from it's swim in the deep fryer. Juicy tenderloins soaked in buttermilk, deep fried to a crispy exterior and then tossed in addictive spices. Followed by a squeeze of lime and dunked in chipotle mayo, these were finger lickin' good. 

Texas BBQ Spare Ribs

Highly recommended, we also tried Joe's signature dish - the Texas BBQ Spare Ribs. With so many other dishes on the way, we decided to go with the half rack (which was still enormous).  Dry rubbed with creole, smoked over fragrant applewood and served with Texas mop sauce, these pork spare ribs looked amazing. We were excited to gnaw away on what seemed like delicious juicy ribs, however found it dry and quite underwhelming.

Buffalo Wings

We also ordered a basket of Buffalo Wings, half with buffalo hot sauce and half with Black Label BBQ sauce. Using our hands (of course), we dug straight into the tender chicken wings. Smoked over applewood and smothered in sauce, it was a messy and delicious affair. The buffalo hot sauce covered wings were the clear winner here.

Baja Fish Taco

Served on a soft six inch tortilla came a fillet of chilli beer battered fish, dressed with ranch fennel slaw and littered with crispy popped capers. A vibrant combination of zesty flavours that had me wanting the whole taco to myself.

Poutine

We also demolished a basket of Canadian's staple food - Poutine. Golden springs of curly fries, topped with cheese curd and doused in sausage milk gravy. Oh man, these were so good.

Bananas Foster

To finish off, we indulged in the Joe's decadent Bananas Foster. Drenched in dark rum, the bananas were flambéed to perfection and submerged in warm butterscotch sauce. This was accompanied by two scoops of vanilla bean ice-cream, and topped with walnut praline crumble. Amazing is an understatement here.

If you're in the area, do head on down to Joe's Bar and Dining Hall for a taste of the South. Among the hustle and bustle of St Kilda, it's a decent spot that will tame any junk food cravings. Do be prepared to use your hands !

confessions of a little piggy was invited to dine as a guest of 360 Immerse Agency and Joe's Bar and Dining Hall

Joe's Bar and Dining Hall

64-66 Acland Street 

St Kilda, VIC

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Galleon

All aboard since the 80's, Galleon is an original neighbourhood institution - from the boat tables, the mural on the bar to the classics on the menu. A rather busy afternoon, A and I joined the waiting list and absorbed the old school vibe whilst checking out what people were tucking into.

House Baked Banana and Date 

Two chunky slices of banana and date bread came with a generous dollop of vanilla bean ricotta. The bread was moist, dense and naturally sweet -  which paired well with a schmear of light vanilla bean ricotta. 

Galleon Burger with Fried Egg

I seem to be craving burgers a lot these days, and I thought this one would satisfy my hankering. But, as the burger was placed in front of me, my heart sank.

The patty was much too small for the bun - hidden among a jungle of trimmings, it looked as if though it was wearing a ridiculously oversized turkish bun as a hat. It was however, done with a nice crust of char and worked well with the crispy strip of bacon. But, despite what some people say, size does matter.

Super Sailor

A felt like eggs and was immediately drawn to the Super Sailor - smoked salmon, spinach and a poached egg on 
100% rye bread with a dob of chive mascarpone. A enjoyed the flavours, though mentioned that the salmon was on the mushier side and her rye bread was a little over-toasted.

We didn’t dislike the food at Galleon, but it was nothing to shout about either. I guess it just didn't quite float our boat.

Galleon

9 Carlisle Street

St Kilda, VIC

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Little Thai Cafe

Little Thai Cafe is the first choice for many of my friends local to Bentleigh. This little spot has popped up in our conversations countless times, and I decided it was about time I see what all the fuss was about.

Mini Thai Spring Roll

For entrees, we went for the Mini Thai Spring Rolls. Served piping hot, these Little Thai homemade spring rolls were filled with minced chicken. We crunched and munched on these dipped in sweet chilli sauce as the other dishes rolled out.

Satay Chicken Skewers

Our next entree were the Satay Chicken Skewers - a generous serving of six hefty sized chargrilled chicken skewers marinated in coconut milk and satay flavours topped with a thick homemade peanut sauce. I found the chicken to be a little on the tough side, and rather stringy, whilst the peanut sauce was too sweet for my liking. Tough I was assured by S that the skewers that we had that night were not the delicious bites she was accustomed to on her regular visits to Little Thai. Unlucky for us - perhaps it was just one of their off days.

Pad Thai

Now, who goes to a Thai restaurant and does not order Pad Thai? Certainly not me. Wonderfully chewy noodles with good smokiness from the wok was tossed among tofu, lean chicken, bean shoots, spring onion and a nice spritz of lemon. Topped with crushed roasted peanuts, and you have yourself a satisfying plate of good old Pad Thai.

Penang Curry 

S recommended the Penang Curry, which was her number one choice for curry here. A sweet and thick  coconut based curry coating slices of capsicum, carrot, broccoli and chicken. I shovelled steam rice on my plate before dousing it all in this rich Penang Curry - yum !

Pad Khing Tofu

For something to cut the fried factor of our mini spring rolls and the richness of the curry we opted for a more simple dish of vegetables. The Pud Khing Tofu was an asorrtment of vegetables and bean curd stir fired with ginger and onion. Again, I found that the chefs had added a little more sugar than I would have preferred. 

To me, Little Thai Cafe is just another one of your typical local Thai restaurants. You've got your spring rolls, curry puffs, Thai green curry and everything else you are familiar with. The prices are affordably prices and whilst I question what the uniform the staff are required to wear, they are friendly and efficient. However, the flavours I found were were too westernised, resulting in dishes being much to sweet for my liking. But having a look around, majority of diners were Caucasion, and so I guess they hit the nail on the head.

Little Thai Cafe

99 Centre Rd 

Bentleigh East

And of course, we finished the night off with some refreshing froyo. Toppings of choice this time round were blueberry compote, fresh strawberries, pineapples, and strawberry popping pearls with good old original frozen yogurt.

Yo-Chi

292 Carlisle St 
Balaclava

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Yo-Chi

Having spent the night lazing around, and craving froyo, my friend and I headed down to Yo-Chi.

We could spot Yo-hi from a distance. The bright lights shone onto the dull street, illuminating the deliciousness that was awaiting us inside. Compared to all the other froyo joints I've been to, Yo-Chi was much larger than I had expected. I loved the design and layout, it was just such a chill place.

Yo-chi is a self serve, choose your own flavours and toppings, and pay by weight frozen yogurt kinda place. For 100 grams for $2.80 and with 8 frozen yogurt flavours, and over 30 toppings and sauces to choose from, things can get a little wild. 

Our eyes bigger than our stomachs, we wanted everything. Luckily, the staff were happy to give us taste testers. Flavours ranged from Hazulnut, Green Apple to Honey Soybean. The Hazulnut was nice, however, I found it lacked that creaminess that I love in hazelnut ice cream. In the end, we went with the Original and Coconut flavours.

And finally, the end result ! 

For toppings, we went for fresh strawberries, mango popping pearls, stewed apples, crumble and boysenberry sauce. The original frozen yogurt was perfect- a little tart, a little sweet. Matching well, the coconut were spoonfuls of tropical paradise. Altogether with mango explosions and the likes of apple crumble, this was heaven. Weighing in at 303 grams, this champion came to $8.50.

So so good. The coconut froyo + crumble + stewed apples will definitely be my choice the next time I visit. 

All natural, and 98% fat-free, what's not to love ? Having Yo-Chi with Yo-Best Friend was the perfect way to finish off the night.

Yo-chi
292 Carlisle St 
Balaclava, VIC 3183

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