Cafe Melba

I got pretty excited when Ailing told me about this new cafe over at Goodman Arts Centre. It is right in my hood - would have been the perfect place to chill over nice weekend brunches at... Haiz.

Anyways.. so I arranged a double date for B, myself, Sis and hubby to have saturday brunch and on first impression it looked great - place looked lovely - nice comfy seats and a cool vibe. Unfortunately, the food and service left much to be desired.

My eggs florentine was served without spinach and when I asked about it, they told me it does not come with spinach. "It's written on the menu" I said. The waitress just shrugged. WTF. The portions were miserable and whilst the eggs were well poached, the hollandaise sauce was erm.. tasteless.

B's "big" breakfast looked pathetic. $24 for this?? The picture says it all.

The pancakes we had to share did not fare better. At $18 (or was it more), I could have gone to Macs for better pancakes. Seriously a massive letdown.

I think my bro-in-law's roast beef might well be the best dish for that afternoon. But again, portions were too small. What kind of business are they running?

Not happy. Over-priced with unenthusiastic staff - they better act their act together or else.. Such a good location, I'm hoping a new better-run cafe with (at the minimum) DECENT food takes over the spot.

Masa Steak and Hamburg

B is a big fan of beef so for our 8 month non-anniversary (it's a long story), we decided to check out this relatively new steak place at Robertson Walk. It's just beside Orihara, the sake bar, so when making reservations I made it a point to ask about corkage - it's $20 for wine and $30 for sake (per 750ml bottle).

The decor of the place was simple but welcoming - soft lighting, dark panelling and cosy booths. The price of the steak was not cheap so we both decided to just go with the hamburgs plus some appetizers. B popped next door to buy a bottle of his choice of poison - sake. I had glasses of the house red and white wine which were quite palatable. The red wine - Three Rings Baroosa Shiraz in particular, went well with the hamburg, portions were generous at $12. 

We settled in quickly and waited in anticipation. Luckily, the food did not disappoint. The Masa salad and steak tartare were perfect for starting the meal off with. B has a high standard for beef tartare (I am indifferent) so when he says it's good.. well, trust the meat man.

The french onion soup we had to share was also very tasty. I loved the cheese flavour and the soup was robust, full of onion goodness. Definitely will order again.









The star of the meal were of course the hamburgs. We both had ours with a sunny side egg and B added garlic chips as an add-on. I had the demiglace sauce and B had the traditional. We compared sauces - definitely go with the demiglace. We didn't try the ponzu though.

At $28 for a 200g patty and $38 for 300g,  this was definitely good value hamburg. The hamburg was perfectly done and it was just such an enjoyable meal (excellent company aside). I am definitely going back to Masa!