Veggie Bar 2.0

Ellya Sam:

Can I get a hollah for vegetarian desserts please!! I can never get enough of Veggie Bar, really. Not only does it make me feel good, it's actually.. really.. good. I decided to skip dinner and just go full head on to desserts this time round. Came here with my beautiful cousin after a night out and we were so impressed! I've always wanted to try the desserts at VBar, but never found the space in my tummy after a meal here. Excellent plan to just jump right to dessert for this occasion! The desserts did not only look scrumptious, it tasted scrumptious too! AND it was vegetarian! Flourless Chocolate Cake with a side of Soy Ice Cream $7 This was so yum! Rich and decadent with generous amounts of cocoa in the cake. It was topped with a shinny chocolate glaze which had a bitter taste and it worked so well with the sweetness of the moist cake. The soy ice cream was also a steal! Very yummy! And gluten free! Berry Cheesecake with Greek Yoghurt $7 This baby was plated up so beautifully! Look at that! The berries were nicely plump and fresh. The base of the cake was buttery and tart. It complimented the cheesecake filling which was so smooth. It had hints of berry in it  which gave a sour pinch. This cake definitely stole the show! Impressed Ellya is impressed 8.5/10 Check out my FIRST Veggie Bar post! : Veggie Bar Veggie Bar 380 Brunswick St  Fitzroy VIC 3065 (03) 9417 6935

Le Petit Gateau

Ellya Sam:

I've been on quite a French Food frenzy lately. I stopped by this place with JoshPui and Chong for a bit of a pick me up after such a stressful week in between my Dancescape Season and I was so happy I did!

This place has been all the rave with a lot of my friends and I caved in to a have a bit of a nom sesh. 

Solely a dessert/ cake place, this place definitely know how to serve up a cake! Unfortunately, the space is very small, so if you are unlucky, you might need to takeaway their cakes (which is what a lot of people do, anyway).

Brownie and Passionfruit Chocolate Gateau

Brownie base, praline, passionfruit custard and chocolate mousse

$8

This cake had my name the second I laid eyes on it. I knew it was mine to devour. It had beautifully well proportioned layers of yummy goodness and when eaten together, it made my tastebuds jump with excitement! I took my first cut of the cake with my fork and I could immediately feel the texture of the cake. It was divine. I felt so excited just at the prospect of this cake entering my mouth. Ahhh. Enough to make me salivate right now, just thinking about it!

The brownie base was tart and it had a buttery saltiness to it. The praline was bitter which accompanied the citrus-y passionfruit custard layer. And the chocolate mousse was so airy and decadent! 

A must try!

My thoughts: 

8/10

Le Petit Gateau 458 Little Collins St  Melbourne VIC 3000 (03) 9944 8893

Dessert Story

Ellya Sam:

To be honest, I am not a big fan of Asian Desserts in general. I don't like the fact that they're always so soup-like, unsweetened and hot. Eurgh. That is why I've never felt the need to hit up this place immediately when it became such a hype almost a year ago. It was until a good friend of mine convinced me to give this place a shot and then I thought to myself, "Yeah, why not? Won't die lah right." Wow, was I a changed person after having one bite of their delicious dessert.

This place serves close to a million kinds of Taiwanese and Hong Kong desserts. LOL. Not literally, but you get what I mean. Pretty damn wide, their selection of desserts. Mostly, to my surprise, served chilled. YAY :)

Luckily, my friend was there to recommend me something good to eat. Saved me the time- trouble of  having to decide whether I wanted red bean or mango or sweet potato or grass jelly.. (so on......)  in my dessert.

I had their Herbal Jelly Signature Selection. Which consisted of peals, taro balls, herbal jelly and some random stuff I dont even know. Whatever it was, it all tasted pretty damn good. They even tasted good mixed together, which was probably Dessert Story's intention anyway. :P  $6.50 (if I remember correctly).

Now, despite my lack of 'craze' to Asian desserts, I do enjoy and indulge in the occasional Asian drinks. I think I actually might consider myself an avid bubble tea person. I have one like almost every week. See, I'm pretty picky with the texture of my pearls. I like mine chewy, but not to the extent of it being.. like rubbery. These ones I had at Dessert Story were near perfect. Even their taro balls were magnificently textured. Chewy with a bit of a sponge-like munch. Everything in that little black bowl that was served to me was just so good, as I type this, I am literally salivating with the intention of getting some more NOW. 

What a new outlook to Asian desserts for me. 

Also, the good thing about this place is that it's a pretty big franchise. You can find this place almost anywhere now in Melbourne. 

Me gusta. Can't wait to go back and try their Mango with Sago Pearls (also a recommended dish).

8.5/10

Dessert Story

195 Little Bourke St  Melbourne VIC 3000 (03) 9650 8887

Domestic Goddess: Dark Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

Ellya Sam:

I LOVE MUFFINS. Crispy top ones with a dense cake consistency at the bottom. Yum.

I cannot get over how awesome the mix of dark chocolate chips with raspberries taste like. The bitter-sweetness of the dark chocolate and the sour raspberries make an awesome marriage. Who knew? Made these babies when a few friends of mine came over for a Star Wars movie marathon, and we went through this in like 5 seconds. :)

Anyway, this is my recipe on how to make the most mind- blowing mix of muffins. EVER. Period. Totally cannot go back to blueberry muffins ever again.

You will need:

2 1/2 cup self raising flour

1 tbs caster sugar 

3/4 cup milk 

1 egg, beaten lightly 

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

1 tsp vanilla extract  

1 cup frozen/ fresh raspberries 

1 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

 Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 170C fan- forced
2. Line your muffin pan with silicone or paper cases
3. Combine your flour, caster sugar and brown sugar in a mixing bowl
4. Make a hole in the center of your mixture and add in your milk, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix until combined
5. Once combined, FOLD in your raspberries and dark chocolate chips
6. Spoon 1/3 of the batter into your silicone or paper cases 
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden or firm to touch
8. Let it cool in the pan for 4 minutes
9. Transfer to a cooling rack for further cooling

Enjoy! 

If you do happen to try this recipe, let ProofThatDancersEat know how you went with a comment down below! Alternatively, you can instagram us a photo and tag @ellyasam and @mealors! :) 

Also, click onto Domestic Goddess on our labels section on the right hand bar for more recipes. Feel free to suggest recipes as well!

Rice Queen

Ellya Sam:

I needed dinner. As do most people. Rice Queen sounded pretty cool, so I decided to have a nice meal here on a relaxing Saturday night.

See, I pass Rice Queen everyday to and from Uni and every time I pass by that place, I feel drawn in because of the amount of people waiting outside. This is classic me assuming that the food here is good. When there are people clumping around something, there will be good food. Or cheap food. Whatever.

It being an Oriental Bar and all, I expected well.. more asians. To my surprise, there were none. And then there was me. LOL. But all good, no hate on who God create. I was just surprised that's all.

The atmosphere when you walk in is pretty chill. Lots of chinese, japanese and korean memorabilia on the inside, hanging on walls. Even the plants.. asian- like. Very true to the theme of the place. Pretty cool I might say. It also had a western feel to it. Mainly because, well, everyone inside were caucasians and there was a big bar on the side which is sooo what you won't find in Asia.

The food, was needless to say, pretty good. I wouldn't say it was authentic Asian cuisine, like the ones you'd find back home (for me), but still, pretty good for something you'd find in Melbourne.

We started with their Korean Fried Chicken. Crsipy chicken ribs which tasted like cayenne overdose (good thing). I liked how it wasn't oily. Also, the onion bits were delish. The mint sauce was unnecessary though. The ribs were nice just on it's own, but that's just me. Some people like their sauces.

Seven spice crispy chicken ribs tossed with onions and dried chillies. Served with mint sauce ($8 for 5 pieces, $15 for 10 pieces)

Slowly after, our mains arrived. We had their Pad Thai, and Salt and Pepper Chicken Salad which was on special. LOL totally almost wrote "which was on sale". HAHA. 

Their pad thai was tasty. Then again, you can never go wrong with pad thai. The noodles were a bit sticky, so hmm.. yeah. Their chicken salad tasted pretty alright too. Crispy chicken and some greens. Nothing can go wrong, really. Although the sauce kind of reminded me of Yee Sang which you can get in Malaysia. Weird. Reminded me of home for a second there.

Right: Pad thai noodles (chicken, vegan or vegetarian) with chicken, egg, peanuts, bean shoots and spring onions. ($17)

Left: Salt and peppered chicken on a bed of bean shoots, mint and coriander. Dressed with soy and sour sauce. ($16)

After having the mains, my friend and I decided to try their desserts. They were very well described on their menu and it was just way too tempting to deny. Needless to say, the steal of the night were the desserts. 

The pandan sago was delicious. Because of the coconut sorbet on top, some of the sago pearls were a bit frozen which made the texture of the sago just.. ah, it was a party in my mouth. It was also well-complimented with the gula melaka and crispy, toasted desiccated coconut. Definitely a MUST TRY. 

Pandan sago with coconut sorbet, drizzled treacle, crowned in lime syrup. ($9)

Probably named wrongly because the 'treacle' should really be called Gula Melaka in this context, and I didn't taste the lime syrup AND they forgot to mention it was sprinkled with toasted desiccated coconut. Urgh. 

We also had the coconut cheesecake which was very nice. You could actually taste the cheese in this one. Which I like. The texture was so smooth it was unbelievable. After passing through the smooth top, you hit the crumbly pastry below which is just heaven. Very nice dessert. Although if you're watching your weight, probably skip this one. The cheese in that is enough to clog everything.

Coconut- Lime Cheesecake with mango ($7.5)

Didn't taste like mango. Awks.

Despite the 'errors' in the desserts which ticked me a bit, I had a good time. Amazing atmosphere and good food. All in all, a very nice place. I would love to come back again.

7/10

Rice Queen

389 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.

VIC 3065
P: 9419 6624

Domestic Goddess: Chewy Coffee Infused Caramel Slices

We were madly craving for some caramel slices like the ones you can get from the caf at VCA and what better than to mix in two of what we love at the caf: COFFEE and CARAMEL SLICES. Also we wanted to share these babies at uni so.. yeah.


Chewy caramel slices are always the way to go when in need of a yummy snack, and infusing coffee in it will definitely be an eye- opener. Literally. This dessert is not necessarily the quickest to make, but still. Totally worth your time. It tastes amazing.

As you can see above, we have the necessities. Plain flour (we used wholemeal), caster sugar, butter (we used salt reduced, but feel free to use any kind), golden syrup, skimmed condensed milk, dark chocolate pieces and a nespresso pod. To make these without coffee, simply.. omit the coffee. Simple. And if you dont have a nespresso machine, just use any kind of coffee. 

--

You will need: 

Pastry

• 1 cup of plain flour

• 1 tbs nespresso shot or 1tbs coffee shot

• 125g butter, melted

• 3/4 cup caster sugar

Caramel mid-section

• 1/2 cup golden syrup

• 125g butter, melted

• 400g condensed milk

Chocolate

• 200g dark chocolate

• 2 tbs vegetable oil

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C fan forced.
2. Place half the flour, butter and sugar into a bowl and mix till it reaches a crumble- like consistency. 
3. Add in the nesspresso/ coffee shot and add in the rest of the flour and mix.
4. Place the crumb-like mixture into a flat baking pan lined with baking paper and use the bottom of the cup to flatten it out by pressing it into the pan.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and place into the fridge to cool.

1. To make the filling, mix in the butter, condensed milk and golden syrup into a saucepan over very low heat. Keep stirring and allow it to thicken slightly for about 5-7 minutes. The caramel should turn a light golden brown.
2. Immediately pour over the COOLED pastry you just made and back for another 20 minutes or until it has reached a slightly more darker gold colour.
3. Refrigerate until cooled COMPLETELY.

1. Place chocolate and oil in a double boiler. (Simmering water in a saucepan and a heatproof bowl on top ) The chocolate should be on the heatproof bowl and the bowl should not be in contact with your simmering water to prevent the chocolate from burning. Stir until it has reached a melted, glossy and smooth consistency.
2. Pour on top of cooled caramel. Its kind of tricky to get it even so, just play around with it. I just tilted mine till no tomorrow and that worked. It got into all those knook and crannies. Also, it looked sort of.. home made. Which is the point, really.
3. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

We are done. Enjoy your chewy coffee infused caramel slices! 

If you do happen to try this recipe, let ProofThatDancersEat know how you went with a comment down below! Alternatively, you can instagram us a photo and tag @ellyasam and @mealors! :) Hope this recipe helped you make awesome chewy coffee infused caramel slices!

Also, click onto Domestic Goddess on our labels section on the right hand bar for more recipes. Feel free to suggest recipes as well!

Little Creatures Dining Hall

After a long Friday, and finishing with choreography, we decided to go to Little Creatures Dining Hall for some de-stressing and also a little bit of a catch up sesh.

It's a pretty neat place. It looks a lot like a warehouse on the inside, which is pretty cool. It is however, a bit dark so if you're old and need reading glasses, and struggle reading in the daylight... DON'T come here. Otherwise, it's hip-and-happening, yo. Place to be on a Friday or Saturday night.

The drinks here are what you'd expect of Little Creatures. They brew their own stuff, so that's always interesting. 

We had the Pipsqueak Apple ciders to start off with.

Very yummy. A must try. 

Our dishes came really quick. We had the hand- cut fries with garlic aioli which was just.. God-like. Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Just how we like our fries.

Then slowly after, our main arrive and we devoured it like two hungry men. We had the pumpkin pizza with dukkah, caramelised onions, feta and spinach. A really awesome main. It's not too big.. about 6 slices on a pizza. Just enough to fill a bunch of dancers up, especially since they also destroyed a bowl of chips just before hand. Yeewww! 

We ended our meal with a nice dessert. The chocolate tart. It was infreakingably amazing. Seriously, it was THE SHIT. The chocolate was not too overpowering and the pastry was nice and crumbly. 

In all, a really good experience and we're glad we chose this lovely place to wind down on a Friday night. Totally worth your while the next time you are on Brunswick Street.

Our thoughts: 9.5/10

Little Creatures Dining Hall
222 Brunswick St  Fitzroy VIC 3065
P: (03) 9417 5500