Hammer and Tong, Fitzroy

Hammer and Tong is one of those cafes that has been on my wishlist for a long while after hearing lots of raves from fellow foodies. Owned by Dennis Ferreira and Simon Ward (formerly at Vue de Monde), it has gained attention not long after it opened with their deliciously unique brunch dishes such as their popular breakfast ramen, soft shell crab roll, ox cheek benedict and the duck egg and candied bacon waffle. And heck, who doesn't love an all day breakfast menu?  

Long black

Housed at the former spot of Brix, the venue has that minimalist decor with the use of grey as the main colour. Although we arrived quite late, the atmosphere was still busy and lively. Thankfully we got a table very quickly since we arrived past peak lunch hour (lol). By this time I was on my 3rd long black coffee of the day. Still needed more energy heh.  

Chilli Scrambled Eggs

Chilli scrambled eggs was F's dish pick due to her love of spicy food. Didn't try much but from what I can recall, it had a nice balance of flavours with the chilli sauce on the main dish and the avocado on the side to ease the heat. Not sure if this is still on the menu as of now though.

Breakfast Ramen

Both CC and I had our eyes on the ramen as well as a few other dishes. Eventually CC was the one who settled with Hammer and Tong's signature dish. This consisted of 62c hens egg, bacon, mushrooms, spring onion and bacon dashi. We enjoyed watching our waiter pouring the broth into the bowl in a timely and delicate manner. The broth itself was light and the egg was well-cooked along with the al-dente ramen noodles. Would love to come back again for this dish.  

Soft Shell Crab Burger

After spotting this in many photos about this cafe, I was equally eager to try the soft shell crab burger. It may look small but it felt quite filling. Plenty of crispy, fresh and juicy soft shell crab to enjoy packed into a fluffy and toasted brioche bun with shredded sesame slaw, coriander, spring onion and sriracha mayo. This is certainly one of the best soft shell crab burgers I've had mainly because all those ingredients worked so well together in terms of its taste.   

Out of all the cafes I've been to in Melbourne in the last 3 years, this is definitely one of my top picks of places to go. Satisfied with the food and the service seemed decent for us as well. If I ever live in Melbourne, this would be one of those cafes I would be keen to go back every now and then.

Hammer and Tong
Rear 412 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
(03) 9041 6033
http://hammerandtong.com.au/
 

Eating My Way Through Europe Part 3

In this final part, we've checked out some of the more unusual dishes that you don't see as much around Sydney (Czech cuisine) or have just gotten recent exposure (Pintxos in Spain) which has all been a mad journey for the taste buds.

Czech Republic

From this time onwards, I was pretty much hungover every night so I did not do as much sightseeing as before. However I did make the time to try several of their sweet and savoury delicacies that is hard to find elsewhere (possibly because of its hard-to-pronounce names). The food here was definitely one of the more unusual and fascinating cuisines as it isn't something you would normally see as much as Asian, Italian, German, French or American 'dude food' to name a few. While there are restaurants, it is the street food that won the hearts of locals and tourists.

Eating My Way Through Europe Part 2

Still so much to tell but it's already been over a month and a half since I got back. Around this point, my camera got damaged. Thankfuly I brought a spare one along (sorry about the photo quality). For a country like Italy, there is so much to try and not much time left to try them all. Then there is Greece and Austria where you educate yourself on what the local cuisine really is and there were a few surprises.

Florence, Italy


Italian cuisine is one of my favourites in Europe. I go weak at carbs and the 5 nights spent in Florence, Rome and Venice was packed with pizza slices, pasta dishes and so much gelato. It is no surprise that food plays a major role in the Italian lifestyle. Like France, the cities in Italy (Florence, Rome and Venice) are packed with restaurants on every corner. The locals told us to try and avoid the pricey restaurants aimed at tourists but with so little time, we just went for the most convenient (and less pricey) one when we were starving after all the walking. Notably, restaurants in Italy often adds a service fee on top of the food which can be pretty annoying if the restaurant service was not enjoyable.

Eating My Way Through Europe (and Singapore) Part 1

11 countries in 6 weeks...impossible? Of course not! A bit rushed though but the experience was still there. If SBS Food Safari has taught us anything, it is that food in Europe is diverse not only between each country but even within certain regions of the country itself. For example, Italy and Spain have their own unique food cuisine based in the North, South and the coastal regions. For six weeks, I have travelled across Western Europe, Great Britain and Singapore with my friend AC and 49 other travellers who are hungry for adventure. As I was travelling with Contiki for most of it, there was sightseeing, eating and lots of drinking and partying! Some of the food we had was incredibly amazing and there were others that were pretty average and somewhat repetitive. Did I mention there was a lot of drinking?

Update so far

At the moment I will be very busy away from blogging as I am currently in Europe and I left my cable back in Australia for uploading awesomely delicious food pictures. I will be back in Sydney on 30th June but knowing how jet lagged I will be, I will try to post something around the first week of July. So far I have tried food from Singapore, UK, France, Italy and Greece; and will also be heading to Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands and Spain. However I have been missing some Sydney food action particularly the Sydney Food Trucks which have finally arrived.

See you all in July!