Minimo Café

Famous for its shepherd's pie, this café located on Sydney Road is bustling with people from all walks of life. However, if shepherd's pie does not take your fancy, there is a daily specials board which offer a range of pies, casseroles, risotto, pasta as well as a variety of breakfast dishes such as poached eggs, potato roesti and the likes. Apart from that, the freshly baked pastry and dessert is simply amazing. I tried the potato roesti with spinach and poached eggs covered with hollandaise sauce. In short, it is Eggs Florentine on potato roesti instead of English muffins. My friend had the chicken casserole served with savoury rice. A slice of blood orange cake was shared for dessert.

On another occasion, I tried the shepherd's pie, which was served in a terracotta tagine base, freshly removed from the oven. A layer of mashed potatoes topped with melted cheese shields all the ingredients that makes Minimo's shepherd's pie taste absolutely delicious. Beneath the layer of mash lies a mixture of minced lamb, diced onions, carrots, celery and red pepper. Sweet quince, capsicum and tomato chutney accompanies this dish.

Apart from hot food, Minimo Café also serves freshly baked homemade cakes, muffins, croissants and bread, which are laid out on the countertop, all waiting for anyone who walks in to grab one on the go.

Atomica coffee beans are used and the coffee here is decent. With plenty of newspapers and magazines lying around on the shelves, this place simply invites you to stay for dessert and enjoy a few more cups of coffee while leisurely reading your favourite magazines or browsing through the weekend papers.



Restaurant information:
Minimo
822 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056
Phone: (03) 9383 2083

Opening hours:
Monday, Wednesday - Friday: 7.30am - 4.30pm
Saturday & Sunday: 9am - 4pm

Blue Train Café

This is one of the few places suited for all occasions, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or even just dessert. Strategically located along the banks of the Yarra River, this restaurant overlooks the river and Melbourne CBD. There is a wide variety of different cuisines that one can choose from, ranging from pizzas to steaks to salads to chicken curry to Moroccan spiced lamb to grilled salmon with asparagus and mashed potatoes. The dessert counter never fails to offer either. The Toblerone cheesecake is Blue Train's dessert specialty. The apple crumble is worth a try too for those who do not fancy cheesecake.

Blue Train Café serves items on their breakfast menu till 3pm and there is also a daily specials board. Also, don't forget to check the specials menu on your next visit there as I must admit that I usually order from the specials board on most occasions. The daily specials usually consists of a pasta, pizza, soup, a fish and meat dish as well as drink offers. Apart from that, breakfast and lunch specials are available on weekdays. The $4.75 breakfast special will get you a cup of coffee and two slices of organic sourdough toast with eggs. Five choices of $10 lunch meals are available each weekday and these dishes vary from week to week.

Unfortunately, this place do not take table reservations. However, there is a lounge area with couches as well as seats at the bar to allow people to enjoy a drink while waiting for a table. Blue Train also has an extensive list of cocktails, beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages at reasonably affordable prices.

If you are ever feeling peckish and up for a light snack, I'd highly recommend the eggplant chips with sweet chilli mayonnaise or the trio of dips with hot stone bread. For mains, one of my favourite dishes is the grilled salmon laid on top of asparagus and creamy mashed potatoes, which is one of their daily specials. My favourite dessert would be none other than the Toblerone cheesecake. Why not give this place a shot if you're looking for somewhere to dine in a casual, relaxed atmosphere?



Restaurant Information:
Blue Train Café
MR5 Mid Level,
Southgate Landing,
Southbank 3205
Phone: (03) 9696 0440
Website: http://bluetrain.com.au/index.htm

Opening hours: Daily (8am - 11pm)