Welcome to Thornbury

We got fun, games AND foodtrucks. 

What's better than buying delicious food out of a truck? Try having a permanent grounds for trucking finding them! With beer! The wheels of my imagination were in motion when I heard this bad boy was opening up so close to home. Admittedly one word in particular sprung into the engine room with impressive horse power; hipsters. We checked out Melbourne's new hottest foodtruck park on Wednesday & were not disappointed on this somewhat emotional journey.
First impressions are pretty rudimentary especially when Welcome to Thornbury isn't just about creating food; but creating a community. The space is fabulously designed with the capacity for 700 patrons, including a  200 seater bar. My favourite aspect is the enclosed nature of the park allowing alcohol in all areas meaning you can wander amidst the elements, with a beer in hand sampling foods and meeting friends. There's protection from the elements and, wait for it...dogs! So many cute pups wagging tails beside owners. The park is easy to drive to, and even easier to take public transport or ride a bike along, with bike racks at the ready (repeat; hipsters). Ok, yes. And quite a few hipsters. But the night had more of welcoming out & proud feel to it than a "we've loved foodtrucks before trucks were even driven" vibe. Well behaved hipsters functioning within a pretty encompassing kind of atmosphere. So first impressions; tick. Food? I'm going to save you the trouble & give this place the thumbs up now.

I sampled the most delicious toasted sandwich my taste buds have ever come across from Toasta (http://www.toastafoodtruck.com.au/ there is a cute little waving piece of toast on the website worth checking out) titled 'Charlie' featuring swiss, shredded chicken, bacon, basil and walnut pesto, roast capsicum.

I feel like we were all pretty close to tears by the time the hot, buttery toast melted on our palates. Accompanied by locally brewed Bicycle Beer and pull out the handkerchief. Brunswick East Temple Brewing Company (http://templebrewing.com.au) have nailed this fresh, crisp summer ale on the head. Annnnnd back to Toasta for dessert. We did play with the idea of trying out a different food truck but with waits of 20 minutes (it was pretty full by this point) we knew we could trust our friends to deliver. The sticky date bread and butter pudding WITH custard was the perfect way to end the night. 

Last impressions are almost as important as the first ones, and I was left with this; cancel my dinner plans for the rest of the week, dinner is served. Welcome to Thornbury is not just a place to eat; it's a community. To see the truck schedule & keep updated check out https://www.facebook.com/welcometothornbury/timeline . I'll see you down there everyday this week. 

Hopetoun for Greatness

Please excuse my shakey-slightly-out-of-focus-salivation-shot. But I almost died when I walked past the display at Hopetoun Tea Rooms.

If you're looking for deliciously decadent desserts washed down with a pot of hot flavoursome tea; this is your kind of place. If you love impersonating the Toorak side of Melbourne with pinky protruding from your teacup; look no further.

It seems like half of Melbourne stops out the front of this tearoom to take a pic of the vibrant display; and the other half is waiting in line just to get in. Timing is certainly key; if you wait that extra ten minutes you might find yourself 20 meters away down stream drowning in your own saliva. 

My sister & I beat the lunch rush and settled in for lunch at this gem of a place. We shared a burger (which for a place we specifically went to gorge on cakes was bloody delicious; brioche bun, wagyu beef, curly fries...très gourmet) to line our stomachs with something savoury first. Being the tea devour-ers we are, we each took a pot of earl grey; Marquise Grey & Mademoiselle Grey (lavender & rose petal). At this point I feel it's important to shout out "Serendipitea" (http://www.serendipitea.com.au/) for their amazing loose leaf tea with real lavender & rose petals; the flavour is so naturally beautiful it's hard to comprehend how other tea shops can sell anything but this pot of relaxation. 

And for the all important cake choice; I demolished a piece of apple & blueberry crumble and the sister a raspberry tart, both in expert timing. Will definitely head back to try another.

I'd wager that only about 10% of the customers at my time of dining were actually the posh upper class we middle class expect to see at such an establishment, and the other 90% were doing their best to impersonate them with heads thrown back in high pitched yet controlled rich cackles. 

Worth mentioning is the disapproval of phones inside the tearooms; leave your selfie sticks out the front (;