ikea, lunch and an injured cat

Just a few photos from my phone of the weekend that has been.

A few of my workmates and I headed to the newly opened Ikea Springvale last Friday lunchtime. It was crazy! The place is almost as big as an airport, apparently it has been reported to be the size of two MCGs. We by-passed the showroom section as there was just too many people, however we went through the marketplace and I picked up some cute purple crockery for my desk at work, as well as stopping by to grab a free hot dog on my way out.

My weekend lunch – which consisted of a toasted sandwich with oven baked crumbed chicken with cheese and sweet chilli sauce, and roasted pumpkin and chickpea salad – yum! I truly believe that almost any sandwich is made better by toasting it – I love my sandwich press.

Bailey seems to have sustained an injury from somewhere unknown. The places are limited since he is an indoor cat, bar the occasional trip outside onto my deck (which is fully enclosed, so he’s not wandering off anywhere). It doesn’t seem too serious, however he is looking a little silly with all of his fluff gone above his eye.

How did your weekend go?

perth: day one

Last night I headed to the airport for my flight from Melbourne to Perth and I couldn’t be more excited – four days off, at least over 2o degree weather each day, and catching up with family and friends (with a 4k run in the middle there somewhere). The flight on the way over was without issue, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t bring my laptop with me, so I managed to finish my August book in one sitting (Time Traveller’s Wife - highly recommended read).

This morning I awoke at the crack of dawn (well 630ish), still being on Melbourne time, but it was comforting staying in bed whilst thinking I would usually be at work! The morning was busy with things to get checked off my to do’s – I got a much needed trim of my hair at my old favourite hairdresser, grabbed all the bits I need for my City 2 Surf run here on Sunday, and managed to pop in Floreat to get a book for my flight home (Catch-22) and grab a bite to eat. I had insisted to Mum before I came over that I would like to visit Delish for Lunch – they have the most amazing range of sandwiches, and one particular toastie that I just love:

my amazing Tex Mex Chix toastie – not exactly sure what is in it (I think chicken, avocado, cheddar, cream cheese and some sort of tex mex flavouring)

mum’s beef and caramelised onions sandwich

and james’ (couldn’t be patient enough for me to take a snap first) chicken and avocado sandwich.

I am sure there are many places that have popped up in Perth since my absence with better food – but this food just reminds me of when I lived here, so it is always a required re-visit.

After the delicious lunch, a much-needed nap was taken (how come you always sleep so easily on holidays) and the rest of the day was spent relaxing at home before another requested meal – fish and chips from my local fish and chip shop. Good fish and chips is just something I haven’t found in Melbourne, probably as I live in the North, so it is another must eat when I am back home.

Today is likely to be catching up with friends – but we’ll just see how the day turns out.

a working lunch

Yesterday, just for a change of pace, I had lunch out at a Restaurant nearby work with some colleagues. Considering I work out in Mulgrave, there is pretty slim pickings on fine dining experiences, however the lunch at Sette Bello in Glen Waverley was absolutely divine.

I had:

bruschetta with pumpkin – oh so delicious

calamari – haven’t had calamari in ages and this was just perfect

The lunch was absolutely superb, but having to go back to work after such a big meal was difficult!

big dish – thornbury

After a very successful shopping trip to northlands – thank you  30% off at cue! Phil and I headed out for a mid afternoon lunch break. Using my cheap eats app to find something close by we headed to Big Dish in Thornbury. Big Dish was on a quiet street in Thornbury and had a great variety of seating outside – which was perfect since it was a beautiful day. We picked up the menus, which were nestled inside vintage children’s books:

 

Phil ordered a chicken burrito,

and I had a toasted chicken schnitzel sandwich.

Both were delicious! The cafe had great atmosphere and was perfect for a leisurely Saturday afternoon (well until a wasp came round and started investigating our food…)

sugarbeat lunch

For lunch on Saturday Phil and I headed to Sugarbeat in Ascot Value before heading to the zoo for the afternoon (more on that later). They had a short but delicious sounding menu, with breakfast being served into 3pm. Phil and I settled on some organic juices – yum – and a chicken panni for me and a chicken quesadilla for Phil.

It was a beautiful lunch for a beautiful day!

a weekend of food

I love weekends that are filled with new food adventures.

On Saturday I went to visit my sister down in St Kilda and we had lunch at the vegetarian Soul Mama. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse so we weren’t able to dine on the veranda - however the tastiness of the food definitely made up for the storm brewing outside.

vegetarian quesdillas

buffet selections

Then, last night, Phil and I headed out to Japanese in Moonee Ponds at Chiba. The serving sizes were massive! So we over-ordered slightly – however everything was delicious.

okonomayaki

japanese croquettes

my tonkatsu

phil’s bento box

and the uber delicious banana tempura!

The stomach is certainly getting a warm-up for Christmas!

the mess hall

After a spot of attempted christmas shopping in the city yesterday, phil and I went to lunch at the Mess Hall at the end of Bourke St. It was a tiny cafe/restaurant with Italian based food. The menu was quite extensive for such a small restaurant, with a breakfast menu running until 3pm and lunch menu of pizzas and pastas.

We ended up going for two pizzas to share. The top pizza is sausage, spinach and mozerella and the bottom was salami, chilli and capsicum. Both were delicious, however the salami one was my favourite. We also ordered a side of polenta chips – just to try something different – they too were delicious, crunchy outside and soft inside.

With the whole meal coming under $45 for the two of us – I was very impressed. A great finish to a disappointing shopping day.