Hobba Coffee + Kitchen on Malvern Rd

We visited a cafe that recently opened on Malvern Rd, Prahran. We loved the environment inside - kind of warehouse-like with wall textures without finishing (you gotta love those earthy brick walls!). The coffee was good as it matched our liking... not too bitter to my taste. The cafe is located near corner of Williams Rd and Malvern Rd, opposite of Budget Car Rental and a car dealership. Opens 7 days a week, from 7 to 5.

A Weekend Afternoon Excursion to Half Moon Bay

You know that feeling that comes over the weekend, when you want to go somewhere, but can't think of anywhere to go because you think that you always go back to the same places?  Well, whenever that happens, remember that there is always somewhere new to discover!  We love going to the seaside, and sometimes, just driving by St Kilda Beach and Port Melbourne is already a good enough excursion for us.  Last Sunday, we wanted to visit the beach and the sea (again).  We didn't want to go as far as Frankston, and we've visited St Kilda, Brighton Beach, Port Melbourne and Williamstown many times already.  So where did we turn to for options?

This! Our Melbourne "Go Explore" box of cards.

Based on the card, we chose to head to a place called Half Moon Bay, a bit further down from Brighton Beach.  The card also mentions that there's a Fish & Chippery there.  So the expectation: definitely be at the seaside, eat some fish and chips, and enjoy a cup of hot coffee in the cool breeze.  Thankfully, the weather was beautiful that Sunday.

This little area is actually called Black Rock.  There's a jetty called Black Rock Jetty, a small jetty that you can walk or cycle on, and see people unloading their boats into the water.  And yes, we found black rocks too on the on the edges of the water (where the place gets its name).

There's a small cafe there, where we bought our coffee and calamari & chips.  They were pretty good too.  It's a really nice atmosphere to have our food, coffee, being outdoors and just relax with the scenery.

There's a parking area with meter available on site.  To get to Half Moon Bay and Black Rock Jetty, you can refer to this map.  It's about half-hour to forty-minutes

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So next time you're along Beach Rd, remember to head down to Half Moon Bay.

Sunday Coffee in the City

We went to the city today.  Then drove round and round and round looking for a free parking.  As it turned out, all were full!  The unsuccessful search for parking had cost us more than a half-hour of time (and fuel), and at last, we gave up and decided we needed to have a coffee break.  Lucky enough, we found a 1-hour parking spot right in front of a cafe.  The books by the window were what attracted us to go inside.  Can anyone guess where this might be? :)

IndoLicious @ Lygon St

Last Friday, while it was raining, we walked through the winds to have lunch at a new place (such an effort to walk outside in the wet and cold!).  IndoLicious is located at Lygon St, next to Lazzat.  I suppose the restaurant isn't that new because the owner said that they have opened for a year (or maybe they just recently opened 'there', I didn't ask).  WWM hasn't visited any new halal eateries for quite a while, so I was thrilled to visit it and have lunch there (thanks to friends who asked me to join them for lunch).

Prices for ala carte are pretty much similar with other Malaysian/Indonesian restaurants.  They do have Nasi Campur (sorry, didn't get the price).  We wanted to try the ala carte menu, so IndoLicious recommended us to try their Nasi Iga Penyet - that's rice with deep fried beef spareribs and sambal.

There it is!  Looks delicious, right? Yummy...  The serving of the ribs were very generous I would say, and they were very tender, so you'd have no problem eating them with fork and spoon.  The sambal could've been spicier for my liking (suka pedas2!), but it was still good. 

 So if you want to try out IndoLicious, it's just a walking distance away from the CBD.


Indolicious is located on 114 Lygon St, Carlton.



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Mama Wong's Kitchen @ Corner of Flinders St & Exhibition St

We visited Mama Wong's Kitchen back in May, after a Khatib at RMIT informed the Friday Prayer Jama'ah that it is another Halal restaurant in the city. The photos have been in my iPhone, and I really thought that I've uploaded them, but actually, I haven't (lucky that they're still there!)

Mama Wong's sell a range of Chinese and Malaysian food. You can check out their website for more details. Go to http://mamawongs.com.au/

So here are some images from our visit.







Mama Wong's Kitchen is located at the corner of Flinders St and Exhibition St - exactly at the corner and it will be pretty easy to spot.




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BBQ Chicken @ Clayton

We were around Clayton area today and stopped for lunch at this eatery called Clayton BBQ Chicken. We don't have a long list of Halal eateries for southern part of Melbourne yet, so this was a good stop to add into our collection, and to share with other Melbourne Walk-Walkers.

Like the name, Clayton BBQ Chicken sells a range of roasted chicken, fried chicken, chips, fried rice, fried noodles, schnitzels, burgers and salads.


The price is pretty affordable. My quarter chicken bbq with chips cost AUD6.50.





Here is their opening hours:


Clayton BBQ Chicken is located at 375 Clayton Rd, Clayton.


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Norsiah's Kitchen

What's the best food that a Malaysian could ask for lunch in this cold weather? You got it: Nasi Campur served hot! So if you're looking for very affordable Nasi Campur in the CBD, Norsiah's Kitchen is the place. You can get a rice meal + 2 meat dishes + 1 vegie dish for AUD 6.50.











Norsiah's Kitchen is located on Swanston St nearing Melbourne Uni.


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Secret Recipe @ Chapel St.

Finally, we visited Secret Recipe at Chapel St. Secret Recipe is a well-known cafe-restaurant in Malaysia, famous for its cheese cake and other range of cakes. But they also have meals on their menu - food for breakfast, lunch and dinner alike. We asked them before sitting about serving Halal food, and they said that all the meat and cakes are Halal, which makes everything in the menu Halal. We also found this article on their opening and Halal status online.

You can easily identify Secret Recipe located on 247 Chapel St., Prahran.



We like the spaciousness and light-filled interior.



You can find a selection of Malaysian and Western dishes on the menu. It's a bit pricey, I must say.



Nasi Lemak with Rendang Ayam, no sambal. Rendang Ayam was tasty :) I was delighted to see the banana leaf.



Nasi Goreng and Satay. Nasi Goreng was so-so but we enjoyed the Chicken Satay.



All in all, there's a lot on the menu to try... tom yum, lamb shanks, and more.

Secret Recipe is located on 247 Chapel St, Prahran.


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Madam Kay's Platz Cafe @ 139 Londsdale St

Through recommendation from a friend, we found yet another Halal Malaysian eating place in the heart of Melbourne city.

Meet Madam Kay's Platz. It's conveniently located on Londsdale St, between Russell & Exhibition St (only about 10 minutes walk from Melbourne Central). We quite like the size of the cafe as it's not too big.... "very cafe like". Cozy decor with warm lighting design makes it look a bit classier and very suitable if you want to bring special guests for a Malaysian lunch. The cafe is not too formal so we think it'll definitely suit families with kids as well.




They have a limited but pretty good range of Malaysian cuisine such as in the menu below. Prices are a little bit higher than the eateries at Swanston St, but the food that we tried were tasty. They also sell a selection of pastries and sandwiches, coffee and tea, and a selection of Western breakfast menu.




These are the two dishes that we tried... BBQ Chicken Spicy Sauce with Rice,


and Nasi Lemak Sambal Petai.


Yes, they do have Teh Tarik and Teh Ais upon request :)


Madam Kay's Platz is located on 139 Londsdale St (between Russell & Exhibition St).

Currently on weekdays, they open from 7.30 am until 6.00 pm; and on weekends they open at 8.30 am until 6.00 pm.



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Chocolateria San Churro - Experiencing Churros

We've heard of Spanish donuts, and we've seen these pretzel-like food that people eat (looks like a huge 'maruku' doesn't it?) They are actually Spanish donuts called 'churros'.

Chocolateria San Churro is a Spanish Cafe (that looks like any other coffee shops) and they can easily be found around Melbourne. They serve coffee, chocolate drinks, and now we know how good churros are! Churros are basically made from flour, margarine/butter, eggs, salt & sugar, the fried in hot oil. They are eaten with chocolate dip.

In Melbourne CBD, Chocolateria San Churro is located on Swanston St at QV Building.



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Old Town Kopitiam Mamak @ QV Building

Another familiar Malaysian coffee shop in Melbourne. Mamak is a typical restaurant in Malaysia operated by mostly Indian-Muslims. One of the great things about Mamak restaurants is that they usually open till very late at night, and some even for 24 hours, and they sell a range of food at affordable prices - food ranging from roti canai, to mee goreng and to tom yum. It's great to finally find a very familiar and an almost-home feel at Old Town Kopitiam Mamak. Here are some of the updated photos of menu we've tried. So far so good and we really hope they maintain the quality of the food that we truly enjoy.

Cendol (shaved ice served with coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, red beans and jelly-like green cendol)

Kopi susu ais (iced white coffee)

Soya cincau (soy milk with grass jelly)

Prices were considerably fair according to standard prices of meals in the city

They even have kicap (soy sauce) and pepper on the table for those times that you'd want to have poached eggs

Mee Goreng Seafood (fried noodles with seafood)

Old Town Kopitiam Mamak is located at the center courtyard of QV Building in Melbourne CBD opposite of Max Brenner.


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* We have emailed Old Town Kopitiam Mamak to get a clarification on their Halal status, and they've replied "Yes, we got the halal meat supplier certificate at QV".

* However, Old Town Kopitiam at Chinatown (Little Bourke St) is NOT Halal.