When I first went to Melbourne a few months ago, I noticed that the local coffee scene is very different than Malaysia, and very vibrant.
Every other corner is a cafe, mostly locally owned and operated with some international chains like Max Brenners. Restaurants and breakfast places like too usually serves excellent coffee (MART 130 is an absolute must visit). It is a land where Starbucks aren’t doing well at all with their, as some agrees, watered down coffee.
breakfast set (blergh), flat white (awesome)
After getting spoiled with good coffee from down under, Mellissa then decided that we should hunt for the best coffee in KL, and her housemate Jun Wei happened to know just the place we need to go. Le Passione Cafe at Hartamas Shopping Center.
Other than 2 cups of flat whites (they are similar to latte, but served in ceramic cups), we also ordered a breakfast set and a baked potato during that particular late afternoon snacking session.
coffee with proper coffee art. KY & Mellissa
The coffees were excellent, smooth, creamy, and very flavorful. They’re worth every sen of the RM 7.95 Le Passione Cafe charges (with 10% service). A piece of biscotti and a shot of cold water accompany the coffee too.
The food however, were rather disappointing. The eggs were nice, but turkey ham and those canned mushroom were pretty miserable, baked potato wasn’t anything to shout about either.
For really good coffee around town, go to Le Passione Cafe, but eat at your own risk.
Address:
Le Passione Cafe
K9, Plaza Ground FLoor,
Hartamas Shopping Centre,
Sri Hartamas, KL
GPS:
3.163548, 101.656076
Tel: 012-882 0717
Before I go to Melbourne, I received quite a few suggestions on restaurants and eateries that should visit from friends and blog readers alike. Among all the suggestions, the one place that I was pestered to visit over and over again by Jessica was MART 130.
“You must go to MART 130, they serve the best breakfast!”
“If you don’t go there, I will kill you!”
“Take a taxi, take tram, take whatever, just get yourself there!”
MART 130, Zehan & Mell
So on the 2nd to the last day at Melbourne, Mell, Zehan, and I took the 96 St. Kilda tram to MART 130 after stopping by the city early to buy the tickets for Wicked the musical (which was very awesome and worth every penny of the $85 ticket.)
MART 130 is actually a reverse anagram of TRAM 130, which is only apt because the restaurant is converted from an old tram stop. Which also means that getting there is a short 20 minute ride and you don’t actually have to walk more than a few stops after getting off the tram.
flat white & latte, ham hock and cannellini beans
The restaurant is busy but relaxing, old but clean, and simple but sophisticated. Furniture consists of well maintained old wooden chairs and tables, with most diners seated at the semi alfresco area on the side not facing the track. Whole side of the wall is made up of transparent plastic that can be reeled up when the weather cooperates.
Mell ordered a glass of flat white and while I asked for latte (apparently they are basically the same except that flat whites have a slightly higher caffeine content.). The coffee arrived in a very aesthetically pleasing form that is well in line with the great taste. Now why can’t our local baristas do that too?
Zehan with her french toast, Mell’s scrambled egg and Portobello mushroom
After much deliberation, we ordered 3 breakfast from different category in order to have a bit of variety. I asked for the Ham Hock and Cannellini Beans since there’s pork in the ham, of course. Mell ordered Scrambled Eggs and Portobello Mushroom, while it’s the French Toast with Orange Syrup for Zehan.
The ham hock and Cannellini beans ($15.9) came with organic sourdough toast with crumbled goat’s cheese, I’m normally not a very big bean person, but this was very tasty and wholesome. The sourdough toast fresh and very delicious too.
Mellissa and the friendly owner
The other two sets were, in some ways, even better than what I had since they provide a slightly more varied ingredients. The scrambled eggs ($9.9) were done to perfection, with spinach, mushrooms, and fetta cheese (add $3). You can also have grilled bacon, goat’s cheese, and sausages (add $4)
Zehan’s French toast ($15.9) was pretty interesting, the mixture of orange syrup, with organic brioche and pistachio mascarpone (I didn’t know this is yet another type of cheese) was very delicious, according to the eccentric girl.
MART 130 is at tram stop number 130 on 96 St. Kilda line
Over all it was a very good breakfast experience and certainly a place I wish to visit again. The prices might seem a little high (for Malaysian standard anyway,) but the ambiance was very good, quality of food excellent (organic & free range), and above all, it tasted great.
The place is opened from 7:30 to 4pm everyday, so you don’t even really have to wake up that early to enjoy their breakfast.
Address:
107A Canterbury Road,
Middle Park 3206,
Melbourne, Australia
GPS: -37.850103, 144.965608
Tel: 03-9690 8831
After lunch at Red Silks in Chinatown, like most people who has nothing better to do, we look for a cup of after meal coffee and a place to chill out. We headed up north a couple blocks to QV (Queen Victoria Building), a rather popular hangout area that houses several restaurants and a couple grocery stalls
Max Brenners at QV
Coffee drinking is actually quite a big thing in Australia. The annual coffee business amounts to some $3 billion, that is plenty of coffee for a population of some 21 million people. The market is a lot more mature than KL, with plenty of privately owned businesses and a few international chains.
In Malaysia, you’d go to Starbucks or Old Town, but in Melbourne, the defacto choice is Max Brenners (although you can find Starbucks, and actually even Old Town Kopitiam!), it is just convenient that there is an outlet located right in the middle of QV with a nice outdoor seating area that is sheltered from sun and wind.
milk suckao and cappuccino
The place is almost perpetually full, we actually had to wait for a couple minutes before landing ourselves a table. Since I was basically a tourist and Max Brenners is famous for their chocolates, Mell ordered a Milk Sukao for me, and from their website:
Suckao is the espresso of the chocolate drinks. It is a small, dense, concentrated shot of rich chocolate. The term “Suckao” is made up of two words that describe the utensil and the unique drink it contains: Suck – to draw the dense liquid through the metal tube. Kakao – the Spanish word for cocoa beans from which this rich chocolate drink is made and which determine its quality.
It is basically fresh milk (refillable) warmed by an aroma therapy size candle with chocolate chips on the side to mix. The quality of chocolate was rather high and I really liked it, not bad at all for $6.
latte, KY, milk chocolate
Mell got herself a milk chocolate ($5) that comes in a “HUGMUG”. The cocoa used is originated from Venezuela, creamy and tasty. The hugmug is specially designed for chocolate drinks at Max Brenners, to be used for hugging with both hands, perfect for the rather chilly weather when we were there.
Carol, Margaret, and Mellissa with her hugmug
Carol and Margaret got themselves Cappuccino and Cafe Latte ($3.30 each), and both the drinks were better than the same offered by the likes of Starbucks or Coffeebeans in Malaysia. Part of the reason being that the milk used here is so much fresher and tastier.
We ended up going to Max Brenners a few more times, meeting up friends and sampling different types of drinks along the way (the coconut + lychee drink was awesome, and the magic waffle balls very interesting). It was sort of a meeting point for Mell and her friends there, for obvious reasons. Good drinks, nice environment, affordable prices.
Max Brenners is located at the heart of QV
Max Brenners has over a dozen branches in Australia, a couple in New York, Philippines, Israel, and there’s even one in Singapore at Esplanade Mall on Raffles Ave.
Address:
Max Brenners
Queen Victoria Building
25-27 Red Cape Lane,
Level 2, QV Square,
210 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
GPS: -37.810657,144.965587
Tel: +61 3 9663 6000
