Manchester Press and La Belle Miette

At Federation Square, a view of Flinders St. Station

 

St Paul's Cathedral

Main entrance into Flinders St Station

Today, the weather is all dreary grey. Last Friday was a beautiful Friday. It was all sunshine and brightness. I took the day off to spent time with Miss Lawyer who was back in Melbourne for a visit and any day off work is a celebratory day.

Today, is a different story. Today, there wasn't enough work for me, hence, I stayed home. Yeah. LOL. Either I am too efficient or...

Have I ever mentioned before how Melbourne is teeming with cafes and especially quaint ones that served really good tasting coffee? Well, they do and it's usually located at tiny, quiet looking lane ways that hide them pretty well.

Either get a local to bring you about or you can easily Google or find a list on Urbanspoon!

Hence, Miss Lawyer, Josh and I decided to have our brunch at the much talked about Manchester Press (MP) situated at an unassuming lane way (no surprises here) at 8 Rankins Lane off Little Bourke Street.

I was hoping to show Miss Lawyer the coffee art MP is well known for. Unfortunately, the barista did not wow us with a man in tie or a bunny or even a nice fern coffee art atop the froth!

Oh well. One thing that never changes and is always interesting to look upon are the interior deco of this cafe. It's different. Wouldn't say it's quaint but it's definitely pretty artsy fartsy in a cutesie manner.

There are fire extinguishers dolled and lined up in a row like babushka dolls. You'll see a robot body up against the wall with a light bulb for a head. Menu was a piece of plastic board with labels of food served including the pricing. 

Baked eggs that cost about AUD16.50 (I think)

I was looking forward to baked eggs after my first baked eggs encounter at Bluebird Espresso on Johnston St. early in the year (darn it! just realised I've yet to blogged about this awesome baked eggs place!!). The baked eggs at Bluebird tasted similar to bolognaise sauce with chorizos but with more herbs to it, topped with two poached looking eggs. 

However, the one here in MP was a bit of a let down. Maybe 'a bit' is an understatement. It wasn't anything similar to my first experience, that's for sure! 

Basically the baked eggs at MP tasted like omelettes with a pricey tag. Bummer.

Well, the mocha more than made up for it. Some places makes their mocha either too chocolatey or the bitter coffee taste, a tad too overpowering. But MP's ratio of coffee and chocolate was just right. 

Miss Lawyer had salmon on toasted bagel and she enjoyed it. According to her, it isn't the best she's ever tasted but the salmon sure was fresh.

Well, I guess baked eggs aren't exactly their forte. So, perhaps, next round, I'll try whatever is their top favourite. This place can get really busy and often than naught, it is likely you'll have to share tables with other Melburnians.

After our super filling brunch, we walked about the city and came across the below scene of a dented Mercedes hit by a tram accident. As seen, it looks like it was the Mercedes' driver's fault for perhaps, trying to cut the tram when he/she should have just waited for their turn. 

Oh well. If this was Malaysia, there would have been lots of people taking pictures or getting the plate number to but the lottery. LOL.

 

I bought for Miss Lawyer a box of beautifully tasting, delicate macarons from La Belle Miette for her birthday. This quaint shop is located on Hardware Lane which I'll blogged more about with pictures of the place another time. Have been introducing this place to friends and bringing visitors here.

Of all the flavours, salted caramel has got to be my absolute favourite! 

One piece of macaron is just never enough. With just a few bites and it's gone leaving you wanting for more. But an expensive sweetness to savour costing about AUD2.50 - 2.80 a piece.