The Foodie Post - Breakfast at the Margaret River Bakery

A visit to the Margaret River Bakery is always a must whenever we find ourselves down south, so after deciding spontaneously to take a (very) short trip with my family this weekend, of course we had to stop by!

It's such a cute, quirky little place with mismatched furniture and an eclectic mix of colourful crockery, fun table numbers and of course fabulous food!

While they have a great selection of pies, rolls and yummy sweet treats, their breakfast menu is always my favourite. I was torn between choosing a number of the items - like the Avocado smash (which my mum had and loved), the Canadian pancakes or French Toast, but ultimately settled on their Granola with greek yoghurt and berries, which was not only delicious but also had the added benefit of being particularly photogenic ;)

Their Mango smoothie (that was actually green) was a winner too and my little sister Bella had the breakfast smoothie which she thoroughly enjoyed. My Mum tells me their Kermit Green Smoothie is also a good'un.

Tom had a long black (which was "okay but nothing to write home about" - although do note that Tom's a bit of a coffee snob!) and a pepper steak pie (their pies are always delicious!) 

Delicious food, a lovely relaxed atmosphere and getting to spend time with some of my favourite people - a pretty good way to spend a Saturday morning :)

If you've never been before, The Bakery is definitely a place to add to your list (just keep in mind that they're closed on Sundays!)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

My Style Diary - Anniversary Celebrations at Meeka Restaurant

Good morning and Happy Sunday!

As usual I'm up at a ridiculous hour for a Sunday (but  I love it) and I'm sharing with you photos from last night. Yesterday was Tom and my 7 year anniversary - seriously how has it been seven years?! - and to celebrate we decided to do our usual thing and go out and eat! We had been meaning to try out  Meeka Restaurant for ages (the menu has been up on our fridge to remind us for months) and we figured our anniversary was a perfect excuse to go out for a lovely meal. 

I wore one of my favourite dresses; white and floaty, this Zara number is always a winner in my books, and as it was a little chilly, threw on this relaxed boyfriend-style blazer. I love the look of blazers but rarely wear them as they tend to make me feel too dressy, but tonight the oversized look of this one felt perfect paired with the feminine dress.

Tom also dressed up a little, wearing a checked shirt from Trenery. I love the colours and it's nice to see him in something other than a t-shirt every now and then ;)

We definitely weren't disappointment when it came to the food (see below for photos). The restaurant is middle eastern/Moroccan style and everything we ordered was absolutely delicious. 

The dishes are designed to be shared so we started with a few plates of Mezze; Pumpkin hazelnut falafel pockets, Hummus 3 ways with Meeka mixed breads, and Dates stuffed with goats feta, candied walnuts, lemon rocket shallot salad and toasted pepitas. The dates were my particular favourite - you had the sweetness of the dates mixed with the savoury, slightly salty cheese, and then the textures added a whole other dimension. The chewy dates were wrapped in a sort of crispy noodle type thing (no idea what it actually was) that added a lovely crunch. Every bite was just. so. good!

We then shared a vegetable Tajine served with Couscous and finished off our meal with a pretty awesome dessert; Meeka Doughnuts stuffed with salted caramel, cardamom sugar, chocolate hazelnut caramel swirl ice cream, hazelnut praline, macaron and rose petals. It was a good as it sounds. The only part I wasn't a huge fan of was the Persian fairy floss which was perched atop the icecream. It looked beautiful, but there was something about the flavour/texture I just couldn't quite wrap my head around. (This was a very minor thing and Tom seemed to enjoy it so it's probably just my weird taste buds!)

In addition to the lovely food the restaurant was beautifully decorated and atmospheric and the service was top notch too. If you're in Perth I recommend checking this place out - we'll definitely be back again. 

So that brings me to the end of todays post. I hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

My Outfit:

Dress - Zara

Blazer - Zara

Bag - Jigsaw

Heels - Country Road

Tom's Outfit:

Shirt - Trenery

Jeans - Calvin Klein

Boots - ?

The Foodie Post - Rabbit in the Moon

A few weeks ago, Tom and I (along with our trusty breakfast buddies), headed to Rabbit in the Moon, a little place in North Fremantle, for a delicious Sunday brunch. 

It was our first time at this cafe and I have to say I was pretty impressed from the moment I walked in - all the decor is just so bright and fun!

Aside from the lovely interiors, I was also pretty pleased with the breakfast selection (which is really the important part) - as it had a few slightly different options, along with the usual eggs/bacon/avocado (you know, the standard breakfast situation).

I have to admit, I chose my meal - the Coconut Mango Chia Pudding - based on the gorgeous pics I'd seen on Instagram, and luckily I wasn't disappointed, either by the taste or the presentation - just look how pretty that thing is - almost too beautiful to eat!

Tom was also very happy with his choice of the Kaya waffles - "American style waffles with creamy kaya puree, sweet maple, popping candy mascarpone topped with seasonal fruits" - Popping Candy?! Yes please! :)

Our friends chose the more typical breakfast of Eggs Benedict and the Baked Eggs, and both received the thumbs up.

I have to say that the service was great too, with all the staff being really welcoming and friendly, (and I didn't feel too awkward taking so many photos!)

We haven't been back yet, but it's definitely somewhere we'll return to and I recommend checking it out if you're looking for a new breakfast spot in Perth!

Hope you're having a great day!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

The Foodie Post - A Healthy Chocolate, Banana and Strawberry Smoothie

Hello hello :)

Today I have another "Foodie Post" to share with you!

I literally just whipped up this smoothie about an hour ago, and it turned out rather well (if I do say so myself), so I figured I should document it before I forget the recipe! 

(Plus I had a punnet of fresh strawberries from the farmer's market and couldn't resist the opportunity to photograph them - strawberries are just so photogenic!)

I used almond milk for this recipe (I've been trying to eat a little less dairy lately) and it tasted great! I find almond milk works really well for smoothies and gives them a nice, slightly nutty flavour. I also used frozen bananas so the smoothie would be nice and thick without needing to add any yoghurt. 

The cacao powder adds a nice chocolatey-ness, but needs a bit of sweetening so I threw in two dates which worked perfectly. Obviously you can adjust to taste - this is just what I happened to use today.

Ingredients:

 (Serves 2)

*2 frozen bananas

*A handful of fresh or frozen strawberries

*2 teaspoons of cacao powder

*2 dates

*Approx 300ml almond milk (adjust depending on how thick you want your smoothie)

*Cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Blend together, sprinkle over a little cinnamon, and there you have a yummy, chocolatey fruit smoothie!

Hope you enjoy - let me know if you give it a try :)

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

PS: You could even turn this into a healthy version of ice-cream if you wanted to just pop it in the freezer for a while!

The Foodie Post - Tropico North Beach

Today's scrumptious looking food photos are from a restaurant called 

Tropico North Beach

After seeing many mouthwatering, hunger-inducing photos on Instagram (thanks @BreakfastinPerth) we decided it was about time we checked this place out.

So on a rather rainy Sunday morning, Tom and I headed out for a drive and met up with our usual brunch buddies to test out this much hyped breakfast spot (they also do lunch and dinner, but as you know I'm all about the breakfast food!)

With a great menu to select from, a lovely atmosphere and amazing food that tastes just as delicious as it looks, we weren't disappointed. 

I struggled choosing my food (there were so many yummy sounding options), finally settling on the Sourdough toast, smashed avocado and lemon curd, on the proviso that I could also share Tom's Banana bread with spiced banana, honeycomb and vanilla meringue. Both were delicious and it was particularly good to have the mix of sweet and savoury so I'd definitely recommend sharing if you can! 

Their Pineapple, coconut and raspberry smoothie was also very yummy and tasted basically like a non-alcoholic Pina Colada (which is always a good thing in my book)

Our friends had the Tropico breakfast trifle and the Waffles with strawberries, dried grapes and mascarpone with a side of crispy fried chicken (sounds like a weird combination but I had a bite and it was yum!) as well as the Mango, passionfruit and raspberry smoothie and they seemed very happy with their choices. 

Good food and good company - a pretty perfect way to spend a Sunday morning :)

The only downside that I found was you really need to get there early or you could find yourself waiting a good half an hour for a table.

For us it is a bit of a drive, and considering how busy it gets, it requires a bit of pre-planning in order to avoid anyone getting too hangry (something that we don't often do when going out for breakfast - it's usually a last minute decision) so Tropico won't become one of our regular hangouts, but we'll definitely be going back again at some point (there's still so many things to try!)

If you can plan ahead or don't mind the wait, its absolutely worth the drive and I definitely recommend checking it out!

I hope you enjoyed!

Let me know if you've checked out Tropico and what you thought of it.

Also, on a different note, does anyone have any recommendations of things to do in Melbourne?

Tom and I are heading there next week and would love some suggestions!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

The Foodie Post - Typika Artisan Roasters

Hello Hello :)

Today I'm sharing one of mine and Tom's favourite brunch haunts which we always turn to if we're stuck for ideas. Typika in Claremont never disappoints, and these photos are actually from a few different trips so you can tell we really do love this place!

As you'll see from the photos  there's clearly a favourite go-to order - Tom can never go past the Wagyu Beef Burger (which I'm always happy about because it leaves me free to try new things and still get to have a few bites!) It is seriously one of the best burgers out there and the kimchi filling adds a special little flare. The bun is just that perfect mix of soft but still crunchy and there's something about it that reminds me slightly of a Hungry Jacks burger (but a really amazing, delicious, and good quality Hungry Jacks burger!) The chips it's served with are also lovely with some sweet potato ones thrown into the mix to make it even better.

The pancakes pictured above are just as delicious as they look, served with vanilla custard, poached pears, strawberries and a nut crumble sprinkled over the top. It's just a slight variation on the ones in the photos below which are actually hiding under a very generous amount of vanilla custard. The ones below are the Cast Iron Pan - cakes "a doughnut style pancake cooked in steaming hot cast iron", which gives them a delicious puffy crust . I'm not sure these were available last time I was there but they do change up their menu now and then so we'll just have to wait and see if they make a comeback.

My friend Alex is an Egg's Benedict connoisseur and we've actually joked that he needs to start up an "Eggs Benedict of Perth" instagram account he's tried that many places. The Typika Eggs Benedict get's the thumbs up from him so you know they're going to be pretty good.  

Pictured right down the bottom is their Vegetarian Bagel with roasted pumpkin, capsicum, dukkah,  caramalised onion, aioli and spinach. A very nice bagel and another good savoury option (but it doesn't quite match up to the burger or pancakes for me!)

Another of their staple dishes (which I don't have photos of unfortunately) is their Golden French Toast. This one is seriously rich - "french toast served with maple candied bacon and lashings of salted caramel sauce". A delicious one if you're feeling indulgent and have a particularly sweet tooth. I'd recommend sharing this one if you can and maybe having some sort of savoury option on the side!

Ok enough about the food, let's talk about the drinks.

Considering the name of the place is "Typica Artisan Roasters" it's not a surprise that they're mostly known for their coffee which they roast on site. I can't really comment on the coffee myself (I'm just weird and don't actually like coffee) but Tom tells me it's pretty good. 

For those like me who are not so fond of coffee, they also have a pretty decent selection of smoothies, juices and of course chocolate-y drinks - in particular their Ice Chocolate which (in my opinion at least) is the best ice chocolate in Perth.

I usually always start slurping it down as soon as it's placed in front of me, so haven't been able to get an amazing photo of it but as you can see from the quick snap I did get (pictured below), it's served in a mason jar (oh so hip these days) with a scoop of ice cream and a good sprinkling of chocolatey goodness on top. As I mentioned in my last Foodie post, I'm a pretty tough critic when it comes to ice chocolates and this one is seriously the best. None of that over the top sickly sweetness you can sometimes get, just perfectly chocolatey and yummy.

Seeing as we're heading into the cooler months I might be switching up my ice chocolate for something a bit warmer soon and I highly recommend their Deconstructed Hot Chocolate. Served on a platter with a glass of warm frothy milk, chocolate flakes and melted chocolate it's also a winner. 

For those coffee drinkers out there wanting something a bit different, they actually also do an interesting Cold Brew which is served with a beaker of sparkling water and a glass of ice. This one's a favourite of Tom's in summer.
(I don't have a photo of these two at the moment sorry!)

In terms of the service I've read a few unhappy reviews on Urbanspoon,  but personally I've always found the staff to be really friendly and helpful and for us the food has always arrived pretty quickly. The one downside is that it can get quite busy on weekends, so there is usually a bit of a wait for a table. We've never found this to be too much of a problem though as there's usually somewhere to sit and you can always order a drink at their espresso bar if you're really starving! 

Hopefully you're enjoying these posts - they're a bit of a change from my usual ones but it's fun to mix it up a bit. I'm not sure I have many Perth readers so these may not be particularly helpful or relevant, but who doesn't love looking at mouthwatering food photos anyway? ;)

I hope you've had a great day! Let me know what your favourite breakfast food is!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx