the little ox

1405 and I held our wedding reception in St Kilda. We went there this morning to pick up things we left at the venue including our guest book which my Dad bought for us from China. I kid you not it looks like something Confucius used if he was a pimp in the 1970's. It is A3 size, red velvet with gold Chinese writing and red glossy pages. On the drive back we realized we were starving and were delighted to drive past a small cafe that looked like they had exactly the kind of food we were looking for.

We loves flowers.

The Little Ox looks like it's in a place where an old milk bar used to be but has been fully renovated and decked out in modern art and Scandinavian wood tones. It seems like an established local favourite, people come in, nod to the staff and they are rewarded with their favourite coffee, done their way.

We ordered the specials which, while we were reading the guestbook, forgot to record down. So basically it was an egg brunchy dish and a pulled pork sammich.

Poached egg with sausage on corn bread with beetroot relish.

Pulled pork sandwich with iceberg lettuce, tomato and kumara crisps.

We liked it, also we love their cute little name. We also love love our friends and family, and especially my Dad.

The Little Ox
452 New Street

Brighton

9596 6577

pei modern

Continuing our yoga adventures in the city we ate breakfast last week at Pei Modern after hearing it won New Restaurant of the Year in 2012 - how the judges would pick the winner in a town like Melbourne boggles the mind.

We totally bought into the hype and kind of got let down. 

Poached eggs with sardines on marinaded capsicum.

The sardines were kind of sad and limp and the bread, although toasted, wasn't warm. The whole dish could fit into my palm, really. 

Poached egg with smoked salmon and potato rosti.

1405's egg wasn't very impressively poached, and again wasn't warm enough. Maybe it was just an off morning. To be fair, breakfast definitely wasn't its focus (I think we saw a total of 3.5 other patrons from 7.15am to 8.30am). The location is very convenient and means we can attend in a suit after work and not feel like tools. Based on the glowing reviews from our friends, we may be back to try dinner.

Pei Modern

45 Collins Street

Melbourne

9654 8545

mess hall breakfast

We got married! We're back from our honeymoon! And doing all kinds of married stuff. For example, in a brave effort to normalise our waistlines (we're not fat, just cuddly) we have decided, in true married fashion, to take yoga classes together. Not just any normal yoga class though - goddamn 6.15am yoga classes in the city which require us to get up at the hour of 5 and 15 and roll in to do the following postures:

BADASS HEADSTAND!
Image taken from http://theia-fitgoddess.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/i-did-headstand-in-yoga-last-night.html

BOSS SHOULDER STAND!!

Yes, it is as hard as it looks. Especially for someone like me who was FAT AS as a kid (scroll down to the bottom of this post for illustration) so during the formative years I never learned how to do handstands on the oval. In the words of the thespian Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys 2, "Shit just got real." Maybe if we get really good we'll post photos of ourselves doing it!

So we've started to have breakfast regularly in the city. Smiley face.

We found Mess Hall on Bourke Street with cool morning music and decent food. The chai is very good. The sparse (and tense) morning corporate breakfast crowd kills our yoga buzz a little, but if you have suggestions as to where to avoid suit-wearers on a weekday in the city, we're happy to receive your non-existent recommendations.

The sweet options are yummy and surprisingly filling.

Blueberry and ricotta pancakes with maple syrup. Don't be deceived by the pretty berry topping, this is a man's dish. Would feed my whole family, really.

Homemade granola with poached rhubarb and yoghurt

The eggs are gooood. But as 1405's "I have never eaten so much egg in my life until I met you" suggests, I like eggs, most ways.

Poached asparagus with scrambled eggs and shaved parmigiano

One morning they didn't poach eggs. From the waitress' tone it sounded like the chef went on a poaching strike so we got scrambled eggs in a hollandaise dish - it was nice but I was eyeing everyone else's poached eggs as we were leaving. Maybe the chef caved in to the tense suits.

Hollandaise eggs with ham, spinach, hollandaise and dukkah on a sweet bun. Usually with poached eggs.

We have told too many people that we're doing a yoga thing this year to stop going now. I imagine when we're done (although one can never be done with yoga...) with these city classes Mess Hall memories will be forever linked to the sheer sweaty terror of being upside down, in a good way.

The Mess Hall
51 Bourke Street
Melbourne
9654 6800