OMG YUM @ Tree of Us

Last week I got an email from Christian, of the new Richmond cafe 'Tree of us' inviting me to come and visit. Tree of Us stands out from the formally industrial, now residential area of Richmond, thanks to a great tree and rooster artwork painted on one side of the corner cafe.

Inside, with two walls of the cafe windows, Tree of Us is a  lightfilled and cheery with potted plants hanging from the ceiling, and a church pew lining the solid wall. We were lucky enough to arrive on a quiet Monday morning, and the cafe had a easy vibe, welcoming us to the start of a busy week.

Cost wise, Tree of Us sits perfectly in the Poor Student Eats budget. My omelette sat well at around $14, and you can’t really beat a sit-down sammich for $8.

Although I debated between the smoked salmon and beetroot salad, I thought I'd live on the edge and ended up ordering the omelette with mushrooms, spinach, goat's cheese, and thyme. Omg yum. Textually, the omelette was spot on - soft and light without being firm or rubbery. I hadn't had mushrooms for ages, but this omelette has convinced me to return. Each component in the dish was well and truly present, complementary and flavourful without being too rich. I also enjoyed a substantial amount of goat's cheese hidden beneath the omelette's folds and there was just enough thyme to give a pleasant aroma to the meal. Top notch.

Antonia went for the less conventional pick of the 'chef's choice' sandwich, filled with peanut butter, honey and banana. A passionate banana detester for a long time, I never would have made this call, but a difference in preference is what friends of food bloggers are for. She really enjoyed the sandwich and its kooky combination of fillings, but said it would be nice to have another sweet element there as well, like strawberries for that added punch.

What I really liked about Tree of us is that it kind of bucks the trends most Melbourne cafes are following with vigor. The chairs have backs! The inside is warm and green, instead of cold and industrial! But the basic ingredients of a great cafe remain through their menu of quirky little dishes, great coffee and service that is informed and friendly, but allows for conversational-space too.

The Chef's choice sandwich

Both my friend and I agreed that it was great to see some new things on the menu. After a while, the brunch options from cafes begin to mimic each other - even with the quality ingredients they may contain. Sure, there are breakfast favourites that remain universally popular, but, to quote Antonia when everyone is serving 'smashed avocado with Meredith fetta' you can feel like you've read a menu once, twice, or three times before - but not so here. The simple dishes aren’t too foreign and you should be familiar with most of the offerings, but each is done so in a way that will bring new light to a old favourite.

Still in its first month, I look forward to seeing how Tree of Us grows in the future. They have strong the potential as a young cafe all ready to grow up. Pricewise, it’s spot on for a easy, hassle free breakfast, and I am looking forward to trying their dinner menu soon, and making a visiting their little courtyard for a Sunday session in the coming months. So if you ever find yourself in that strange divide between Bridge Road and Victoria Street, take a short walk down to Tree of Us for some good and wholesome brunchy fair. 

The hanging pot plants were super cute 

TREE OF US 

 

71 CHURCH STREET

RICHMOND  

 

Good for: Easy and informal dining with groups of any size, a solid cup of coffee, cruisy breakfasts, dinners and for doses of sunshine, when the courtyard opens. 
Vegetarians: Will be happy with the selection on the menu as it caters for most eating preferences, with lots of healthy breakfast foods like eggs, mushrooms, lentils, beans and a couple of meaty options.
Wait time: Nil- we walked right on in.
Food waiting time: The perfect amount of time- about 10 minutes. Just enough to time to settle in before eating.
Cost: Good value, and one of the cheaper breakfast options I've encountered in Melbourne. You could easily come home with change from a 20 dollar note. 

SMALL FISH, BIG POND @ Three Bags Full

It’s funny how once you start food blogging, every social occasion becomes surrounded by food. Every catch up is another opportunity for a post, another meal with someone I love spending time with. This is the upside of writing this blog. The downside is that because I have so much on right now, I am eating and working more then blogging and thus, my little patch of internet has not been tended to for some time. I’m going to try and rectify this.

My mum and I went to brunch at Three Bags Full, which sit around that Abbotsford, Richmond area. You know how occasionally in American shows, when a place is really busy, someone will say something like 'It’s like Grand Central Station in here' ? Well, at 10AM on a Sunday, Three Bags Full is Grand Central station, for breakfast.

The vibe of the cafe was good and due the number of people inside and the levels of noise, the pace of the establishment is energetic, maybe even too energetic for a Sunday morning. It's a little dwarfing walking in It's also huge and is spread over the multiple rooms of a converted warehouse. Diners belong to no specific crowd and instead, there are just all kinds of bods, everywhere, on every table, and on every stool, eating, drinking or waiting to do both.

We arrived just- and I mean, just minutes before the cafe got seriously crowded, right on 10am.
 Not wanting to join the line for a table inside, we scooted outside in the slightly windy sunshine. At the rate Three Bags Full fills, if you find yourself in the same situation, I strongly suggest you do the same. You’ll also be able to hear your eating companion talk, which is always nice.

After a while pondering the menu, I ordered the Roasted pumpkin + sage fritters ($16) with grilled haloumi + a parsley, pinenut, parmesan + pomegranate salad, while my Mum choose the Roasted field mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, goats cheese + almond dukkah ($15)

I have to admit, I didn’t enjoy my meal as much as I thought I would. Although it looked great and was nicely arranged, it was lukewarm, and the fritters were dry. For this reason, I suspect it had been sitting on a counter somewhere for a while before it got to me. I love haloumi, I eat it like it’s a magical, wonder food, but halomui cold has the texture of rubber. That was kind of a bummer. - because if all the temperatures had been right, it could have been a great dish. Although for $16, I also expected it to be a little more substantial then it was.

My mum on the other hand, loved her choice of mushrooms. Her dish was sizable, and the mushrooms large and meaty.  You can see from the pictures that the goats cheese was also plentiful and according to her, the meal was a substantial and well cooked brunch.

I don’t quite know what to make of this eatery. The menu is fantastic- versatile, expansive, and presents lots of options for the variable modern day Melbourne eater. And, the coffee was good, but could have been hotter (I seem to be finding this a lot, is this a 'thing' now?)

But organisation seems to be a problem, and getting things from the kitchen to the table quickly was certainly an issue that Three Bags Full needs to work on, especially in the case of my meal, and the coffee we had. I know that Sundays are crazy for most businesses, and I have an inkling this is may be an issue of staffing. The waitstaff in fact, were very friendly and weren’t slacking off by any means - the problem was that there just wasn’t enough of them to go around.

I was disappointed; I've read so many great reviews, and heard so many great things about Three Bags Full that it seems my expectations had been set a little too high. I suppose the obvious answer to this is that everyone else has read these same reviews too, and perhaps peak-hour on a peak day isn't the time to really enjoy this cafe.

THREE BAGS FULL  

60 Nicholson St

Abbotsford

Open daily: 9am- 5pm

Good for: A really great menu. Hopefully next time I visit, it will live up to its promises.
Vegetarians: Have lots of options for interesting and fulfilling meals. 
Wait time: Quite a while - I strongly advise visiting outside regular weekend brunching hours. 
Food waiting time: Quite a long time- Half an hour during peak time over the weekend. 
Cost: Including a latte, my meal sat at $19.50. Had the dish been delivered sooner, I would have considered it better value.


 

MEX-WE-CAN @ Fonda Mexican

A friend of mine had raved about Fonda for a while, and as I hail from the eastern suburbs, I'm a big fan of any place that means I don't have to travel across town to eat. So, on Sunday night, we hit up this fun little Richmond cantina.

I'm not so into fashion 'trends' but I love food 'trends' and Mexican is peaking in Melbourne right now. I remember reading an article a few years ago on food trends, which used the then-current example of how Mexican was everywhere in New York. I found that really hard to believe; what could be done with burritos, nachos and tacos that hadn't already? Since then, I've learned that Mexican cuisine is a lot more expansive then those three menu items, and that they are just the tip of the iceberg. 

Icy horchata made the meal 

Now however, Melbourne has well and truly embraced the innovations within Mexican cuisine.
What was once associated with soggy nachos and stodgy enchiladas, has become a food-style based around fresh ingredients and easy eating. One article even termed Melbourne's version of Mexican food as 'Mel-Mex'. It's easy to see why we've taken to it; the small sizes of each dish, and the shareable nature of Mexican also means the price isn't out of the question for most people. Fonda, which sits somewhere between Mamasita and Touche Hombre, is the perfect place to begin exploring the new wave in Mexican food.

Perhaps it was the effects of a big weekend, but my friend and I weren't particularly daring when it came to selecting our meal. I've heard good things about Fonda's kangaroo burritos, but as I'm back on the (pescatarian) wagon that wasn't going to happen. I settled with one of the fish tacos, and a pickled cactus quesadila. The tacos were really, really good. Fresh, crumbed fish and light mix of chipotle aioli, carrot, onion and cabbage and left you feeling keen and ready for more, probably like a good taco should. At $6 each, I have no regrets.

Ordering more out of curiosity then from the heart, the pickled cactus quesadilla reminded me of a Mexican version of pizza. Although it was hearty, with lots of cheese, beans, tomato salsa and some background spice, it was tasty, but wasn't as exciting as I might have hoped. I still wish I'd ordered the corn, at only $3.50 it was super cheep and looked delicious covered in cheese.

 
My favourite part of the meal though, was the fact they serve Horchata. Horchata is a Mexican drink, similar to a very lightly spiced milk, that I had had once before with Mexican friends in Japan. It manages to be both refreshing without being super sweet and should you have hit the chilli bottle too hard, takes the edge of any spice in your meal. Horchata is delicious and if you like cinnamon, I highly recommend you order one here too, but they also have Jarritos soda, which are cute. 

As somewhere to hang out with a close friend for a casual meal, I really liked Fonda. It wasn't too loud to have a conversation, and the 'vibe' was casual and easy. There was no pushing us out the door, even though the food arrived not long after we ordered. I also appreciated the size of the restaurant, not awkwardly small or dauntingly large, and each table has a good amount of its own space. The staff were also friendly, and food came out quickly, which made it the perfect Sunday night eatery.

These tacos are the best thing I've spent $6 on in a long time. 

FONDA MEXICAN
248 Swan Street
Richmond

Good for; Meeting with friends, dates (depending how busy it gets on the night you are in), catching up for dinner before a gig or going out, take away or a quick bite.
Vegetarian options: Are there, but aren't as expansive as you'd hope.
Wait time: For seating, we walked straight inside to a table at around 6.30 on a Sunday night.
Food Waiting time: Not long at all, less then 10 minutes.
Cost: I think I paid about $22.00 for the taco, horchata and the quesadilla. Although it did exceed the $20 I usually set aside for meals, I really, really loved that they had horchata. Despite the Mexican-food invasion in Melbourne over the last year or so, Fonda are the first Mexican joint that I have seen serving it and I  appreciated this dedication to Mexican eating.