D'ORET PATISSERIE & CAFE

Finally, managed to upload some pics from Istanbul trip. This is where we had our very first breakfast in Istanbul. We stayed at a lovely apartment in Cihangir (promise, more on this later!) that's only a two minute walk away from d'Oret Pâtisserie & Café. Runs by two lovely girls, it is cutely located at the left end of rows of apartments in Cihangir Caddesi, just a short walk up the hill from our place. We woke up that morning really hungry, not knowing what to expect in the surrounding and in desperate need of coffee. I can get really cranky in the morning without caffeine, like everybody else :P

Ambience of the cafe is really laid-back. I could imagine myself coming back here with an empty tummy and a good book. Loving the bits and pieces of furniture and accessories here...especially the "stamped" timber flooring and that long console table in turquoise.

As I mentioned earlier, this patisserie is run by two lovely girls. One of the girls helped us to understand the breakfast selections because I had suspicions of why the traditional breakfast menu for 1 person had such loooong description and since we were really hungry, we just wanted to make sure if we should order one or two traditional breakfast. And then it came...small plate by small plate filling up our entire table. It's what I could only describe as a feast of happiness in the morning! I've never had such elaborate breakfast before, I mean like these entire items are indeed meant for one person's first meal of the day.

Had to ask like 3 times just to make sure that the sliced meat weren't pork and made sure she understood what I was enquiring, she was surprised when I asked and said "No, no, no!"

Fresh cherry tomates and cucumber in olive oil goodness with herbs

Peanut butter, Nutella, sundried tomato paste, sugar frosting, name whatever spread you want..but I am in LOVE with this marmalade-cream cheese spread!

 Boiled to perfection

Mom and I just pointed whatever we saw in the cookie jars and stands...all too tempting!! Here are the crescent moon shaped apple pies, nut cookies (reminded me of polvoron), and savory sesame seed ring shaped cookies

Coffee was surprisingly good (or maybe it's just the Turkish coffee in general) Hmmm,cappuccino!

 A novel.....not

Ta-da! Another cute bill holder!

Other than the photos above we also had Borek and some other pastries...all very lovely. Verdict? I would definitely come back in a jiffy. With better Turkish, of course. Or at least a better dictionary ;)

d'Oret Patisserie & Cafe

Cihangir Cad. No 1/A | Cihangir, Beyoğlu

Istanbul, Turkey

SHAKESPEARE AND CO.

When you're in Abu Dhabi's The Souk Central Market be sure to stop by this cute cafe called Shakespeare and Co. Cafe & Restaurant! It was recommended by the then-groom-to-be few nights before when we stopped by on our way for fitting his suit. He told me that every piece of the furniture in the space is related Shakespeare's stories. I didn't pay too much attention to this when I was eating there because we were rushing like mad to catch our bus to Dubai (I could only describe the process of eating as shoveling food to our face). So when you stop by, do lemme know what's the story behind the furniture :)

The space is located at one of the corner of Central Market, on the side area (okay, that's vague enough). But surely you won't miss it because their shabby chic Victorian chairs will definitely catch your attention. One could say that the interior is such an eye-sore or eye-candy because there's too much to see in every inch of the cafe. I figured most of the customers must be female although I spotted some guys in kendouras and keffiyeh sipping coffee outside. Interesting view :P

 They have branches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and RAK

 Cozy sofa setting reminds me of the familiar FRIENDS' Central Perk cafe

 This one especially...I really could imagine Ross, Monica and the rest of the gang would walk into the space at any second and hang out here!

 A superbly ornate corner

 Did I mention this place is very ornate?

 Mocha. The symbol of my loyalty to Melbourne memories haha. It was nice, the right amount of bitersweet. Mom's cappuccino was also nice too.

 Complimentary butter cookies

Halal eggs benedicts. Loved everything in this dish except the hollandaise sauce which was a bit too runny for my liking.

Mango lassi and Love potion

 And your bill comes in this cute folder!

 Oh yes, of course they made it to Time Out Abu Dhabi!

 Some of their cakes selections

 Managed to save something for the trip to Dubai...

 ....which was totally forgotten along the way and I ended up eating these on the evening.

 Caramel, pistachio, chocolate, rose and vanilla

The rose macaron was a bit dry while the rest were still okay. I'm not sure what LuxBite has done to me, but I still found their macarons to be the best that I've tried haha

THE PARLOR

Hummingbird cake

BLT

Potato bravas

Corn fritters with avocado salsa & tomato relish

Benedict

Love the relaxed homy ambience. Love the friendly staffs. Love the food....just.hate.how.far.it.is! It took me 1hr from home to go there by tram, train, and finally bus. If it wasn't for a good friend of mine and the three of us are leaving soon, I wouldn't even bother.

But hey, the trip was worth it! Although I reckon there's no harm in increasing the quantity of food servings, the ingredients are fresh and the presentations are delightful. Heard the buzz that they serve the small milkshake in milk-carton-like-glass with cute stripe straws, and was happy that it really was what I thought it was as I've seen it before at Myer's Basement....and creme de la creme to that was...the aforementioned friend bought me one yesterday...YEAY!! :)

The cute milk pint glass

Lil corner towards the back room where they display all these cute items (they are for sale, and so does the adorbs milk pints!)

Cute little tags for your gift (update: these are actually small bottles of herb seeds with tags)

The back room is where the three of will 'open' the farewell weekend *sobs* it is initially A's farewell drinks session and Y and I just hopped on board and voila! It's ours too now lol. To 'close' this weekend, we're gonna have a Sunday brunch at, what better place than, my fave *drum rolls* Mess Hall although A will have left Melbourne by then.

The back room: where the farewell will be held

Lovely wall piece made of torn strips of cloth in chic patterns

Melbourne, it's one week to go......

The Parlor Milk Bar & Kitchen

40 Weatherall Road, Beaumaris VIC 3193

(03) 9515 4514

A PEEP INTO HOBBA

By 'peep' I mean really this is not a review (not like I've been writing good, solid cafe reviews anyway...because I am mainly intrigued by the euphoric smell of coffee and the design of the space rather than the food) so this is just a quick overall look of Hobba Coffee + Kitchen. We were there for take away coffees on our way to Mornington. Half sleepy, I couldn't resist crossing the street from the place we rented the car from.

Set in a converted garage, Hobba still has that industrial looking elements in the space like the perforated metal counter, aluminum high chairs (okay, to be fair you can find them everywhere, but they enhanced that industrial-garage-feel here), to the bare brick walls and their seats.

Hello there, pretty lady :)

There were lots of white collars (despite it was a Tuesday morning) and also mums with their prams. It was quite packed that morning and there was quite a long queue for the take-away coffee.

Been hearing the buzz of Hobba from few friends that said their food is fresh and great. Coffee wise, the mocha that I had was quite decent to my taand my cousin loved her soy latte. Judging from the crowd (every time I passed by it's always packed), I bet it's a good place to start your day with.

Hobba Coffee + Kitchen

428 malvern road, prahran
p: 03 9510 8336

Mon-Sat 7-5 / Sun 8-5