Manchester Press @ CBD

Rankins Lane

Can't remember was this last Saturday or the one before...

Manchester Press, another awesome cafe well hidden in the middle of a laneway at CBD, nonetheless had enough people to look up this hidden cafe treasure to make it one of the top cafe in Melbourne cbd. It is highly recommended by a lot of people for breakfast and brunch, which I had found out why by having breakfast there a few times before, but this time I was there for a afternoon tea/post-lunch coffee at late afternoon and luckily they are one of a few cafes that open till 5 PM daily (yes not 3PM or 4PM...it opens till 5PM) even on the weekend.

After my not so great late lunch and with a time gap till I have to be at my next appointment, I walked pass a few cafes that I wanted to try/go and they were either closed or closing at that time...



The old vintage deco of the cafe provides a hips atmosphere yet comfortable enough for you to sit around either by yourself (like I do) or with friends (like the others in the cafe). And this place must be well introduced on travel websites, as I could hear Japanease, Chinese, French and some European language that I am not educated enough to pick up around me, for the duration of me being there which was only the time of me consuming a muffin and coffee.

iced latte

Once again i ordered an iced latte. It is just the perfect form of an iced coffee: No excessive milk, No uncontrolable sweetness from syrupy or ice-cream, Not oversized that will make you sickly full after. Just a shot of coffee with a bit of milk and a few iced cube. It sounds simple, but takes a bit of skills to perfect so the end result is still strong and rich, like an chilled coffee, and not a latte that watered down by the ice and cold milk...



Staff are friendly and attentive.(i need to learn more adjective to describe services, tho these words are best to describe their staff)  Greeted and seated once I step into the cafe, bottle of water delivered and menu in hand when I ordered a coffee. In addition, one of the staff from behind the counter had came over to make sure I was ok while I was holding the menu and looking around, which embarrassingly I was just thinking about how I can take photos around the cafe at where I sat...



Ordered a pistachio and berry muffin to go with my coffee. The soft muffin is not overly sweet even though it has got cream on top of it. You can still see and taste chucks of berries in the muffin and it is enhanced with the scent of pistachio, which add another layer to the taste of the dough of the muffin. 
 
Even though this doesn't bother me, I do remember there's a lady asking about this when I was here for breakfast last:  The only problem with Manchester Press is that if you don't like bagel, they don't have other bread on the menu, (although they are famous for their bagels)
They have a variety: open bagel, closed bagel, toasted bagel, plain bagel, bagel with salmon, etc etc but yes they are all bagels, their cakes and sweet on display is probably the only baked goods alternative they have. And speaking of bakes, their baked eggs are also fabulous...

Anyway something simple at a cafe that's simply good, a little muffin and coffee just made my Saturday afternoon....

Manchester Press

8 Rankins Lane
Melbourne, VIC
(03) 9600 4054

Shimbashi Japanese Soba & Sake Bar @CBD

As a lot of hidden food treasure at Melbourne CBD, it is located at a side street.
Yet it is close to Bourke Street and the popular wedding photo location and excursion kiddies sitting spot: The Parliament House of Victoria, and of course, Parliament Station. (See my map at the bottom)
Ever since accidentally discovered this place, when taking a short cut to Parliament Station, had always wanted to try it for its specaility of Soba, the traditional japanese buckwheat noodle. 

Grounding the buckwheat

There's a growing number of Japanese restaurant and Japanese style cooking/cuisine at Melbourne, but handmade and with the stone-ground machine in store, Shimbashi not only is an authentic japanese restaurant but also possibly the only soba specialist at Melbourne.

Once sat down, I ordered a can of iced green tea to cool the "sweating me" down a bit, while they have given me a small complimentary salad as a starter. Being a 30 degrees day, I have ordered the chilled soba, Seiro, a popular way to eat soba espeically on a summer day, although you can still order in it in soup. Nonetheless, other than the specialising soba, there are all sort of Japanese dishes, from sushi to sashimi to beef tataki (which i ordered as entree and ate and forgot to take a photo...well yes it was really good and yes i was really hungry) and other japanese tapas, so don't worry if you are not a fan of soba or noodles.

I have ordered the Tempura Seiro,which consist of a plate of Tempura (Prawn & Veggies including my favorite sweet potatoes), soba noodle and its dipping sauce, with some wasabi & spring onions as extra seasoning if needed.

A light,sweet soy based dipping sauce to dip a chopstickful (if it is a word) of soba and then just slurp it. It is a light and refreshing noodle dish as it is chilled, just have to be careful of the sauce not going onto your shirt, if you do occasionally slurp the noodle a bit too hard/fast like i do.






Shimbashi is also a sake bar, as stated on their door sign along with "soba", so assumingly they are as proud and specialised in that as well. A variety of cocktail, beer and sake listed on the wall. The cocktail they offered is named after different bands and pop group.

Along with the menus, the wall is full of old posters and japanese style deco, with the wooden/bamboo furniture and fixtures it has successfully set it mood to create a izakaya,japanese taverns, sort of atmosphere. It was further enhanced with the number of japanese diners at the restaurant, which also is a good indicator of the taste and
authenticness for the eatery.

Shimbashi is a great cultural and dinning experience that you don't find everywhere at Melbourne. It would be great for a few friends to catch up, enjoy some japanese food and a few drinks. But probably best to book a table due to the size of the restarunt.

And they open for lunch at 11:30am till 2:30pm, which is great for a early lunch (like i did) and re-open at 6 for dinner.

street view from Bourke Street

Liverpool Street

Shimbashi Japanese Soba & Sake Bar 

Location 
17 Liverpool Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
Phone
9654 6727

The Bourke Street Tram stop is actually closer to Spring street
or maybe Liverpool Street should be further down...

Mr Tulk @CBD - Tuesday with Brekkie

 

Yes it took me a while to sort this all together and it is a story of my Tuesday.

Having to head to the CBD to get a few things in the morning before work, which means I have to be quick as it takes an hour to get to work on public transport from CBD, Mr Tulk had suddenly became my first choice over the other cafe that morning basically for one reason: its location.

It is right opposite to Melbourne Central, located on the side entrance of the State Library of Victoria. Surrounded by trams and next to a train station (See my map at the bottom), it is conveniently located and accessible for any pedestrian and passenger going to CBD and don't be bother walking anywhere more than 50m from Melbourne Central for a decent cafe/food.

Being honestly with you, I forgot the name of the cafe or maybe didn't even know the name of the cafe till I finished my meal. All i remember was that there's a cafe right under the state library.

The cafe area is not overly big, but reasonable size with a communal table in the middle surrounding by a few smaller tables and a couch at the dining area.

Serving alcohol as well and open for happy hours and dinner on Friday, it has a rather spacious bar/pub like area around the cashier

Being in the center of CBD and early morning just before office hours, there's a good mix of business looking people and people with a I-have-got-something-planned-today sort of face with a number of causal breakfast eater at the cafe. One table with three man in suits were even having a breakfast meeting there.Nonetheless, whether they were staring at their Mac, reading their Financial Review, trying to do the Sudoku or having a post-workout breakfast wearing Lorna Jane, they all seems to enjoying their coffee, which always a good sign.

a business man covered his face so i can illustrate my point
without the trouble of awkward photos

The decor of the place is typical Melbourne cafes these days: modern with some sort of arts around. Though doesn't have that vintage or retro mood that some cafes try to create even though it is attached to the century old State Library. It is also reflected on the menu with a good selection of classic small breakfast treats such as muffins and banana bread to something more unconventional like cornbeef hash (something i had last time) and of course the good old egg on toast with extra sides at your liking

The wall of old books/arts work that
reminded me of The Sedlec Ossuary

The usual deal when get into the cafe: greet by a friendly waitress, asked to sit wherever you like and sit down at the communal table as I am just by myself and get a glass water and order a coffee to start.

The staff are very friendly and generally attentive, but the one who sat me down had forgot to give me a menu after I order my coffee. However, the food was relatively quick once I ordered and that's when the attentiveness was shown, when I got a menu from another staff whom realise i didn't have one.

Not a huge list of choices but a good mix of a variety with one or two unique and special items, which is the way i preferred, rather than having a long list of breakfast items which often are just a mix-n-match of same ingredient combination. Hence at the end, I decided ordered something that I don't usually see at other cafe and which I was glad that I ordered and tried it.

something quick and small and on the go with your coffee

Just the usual Latte with no sugar, nothing too fancy

It is a nice place with decent food and coffee with a comfy environment and a super convenience location, but probably by yourself or one or two friends due to the setting of the table and the size of cafe.





Coffee Price:  Regular $3.7  Large-$4.5

MR TULK
Location:  328 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC, 3000 (enter via Latrobe Street)

Opening hours:  Mon - Thurs, 7am–5pm Friday, 7am–8pm Saturday, 9am–4pm  

Phone:  03 8660 5700
(Yep copy and paste the contact info from their website...)

The thing that I ordered: some pastries thing with eggs and tomato relish plus extra salmon

in case you haven't notice, map is not in scale...but fairly close....