The Whoopie Pie Bakery - Camberwell - review

Ever since I had my beautiful daughter one year ago, I have been completely out of the 'foodie' loop; I wouldn't know what restaurant is hot, what's closed down and what's opened up on my own street. Needless to say, it's going to take me a while to catch up.

Just the other day, I found  myself with some time to spend, and used it to read some of my favourite food blogs. And whilst I was perusing Momo and Coco I was shocked to discover that not only had a Whoopie Pie store opened, but that it was merely a 10 minute drive away! After witnessing a whoopie pie explosion on American sites for so long,  I was so incredibly eager to finally sink my teeth into a whoopie pie, that as soon as my little girl had awoken, I had her dressed and out the door before she could even register that she had indeed, woken up. 

Taking Momo and Cocos review into account, here is what I selected.

Tiramisu

I don't drink coffee but this pie was my absolute favourite. It nailed the tiramisu flavours. The cake itself was that perfect balance of moist yet light and the butttercream frosting was sweet but not cloying. 

Chocolate peanut butter

Mr.M enjoyed this one the most. Whilst it was nice, I felt it could have had more of a peanut butter kick, the flavours were a little subdued for me.

Red Velvet

This was the least successful out of the selection for me, I found it lacked flavour.

Pistachio Rose Water

I was very eager to try this, as I LOVE rose. Alas, this turned out to be my second least favourite of the bunch. The pistachio made the cake a touch too crumbly and it lost its 'softness'. The rose however, was completely lacking. I really wanted that floral note to stand out, but I think, in order to suit everyone, they may have dialed down the flavours on this one.

Apple and Cinnamon

This was my second favourite of the day. The tart apple and heady cinnamon were wonderfully balanced, it was like a mouthful of apple pie. Really delicious.

Chocolate Salted Caramel (the kind owner generously gave me three small samples to try out).

I adore salted caramel, the saltier the better. Whilst the chocolate component was delicious, I felt the caramel could have used a touch more salt. That being said, it was still a delightful pie.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tiramisu and apple flavours, but unfortunately all of the family members who also sampled the goods found all of the pies to be TOO SWEET for them. I didn't think they were overly sweet at all, but then again, I am a sugar fiend.

The store definitely stands out with its vibrant red and white stripes (I am obsessed with red and white stripes at the moment.) Inside though, the decor felt a little too much like a bar/lounge to me with the dark leather sofas. I didn't feel as though I was in a bakery at all.

That aside, the packaging is divine and feels very upmarket.

The service is super friendly to the point that it took a good 20 minutes before I could even ask for the pies I wanted. I wasn't in a rush to be anywhere, so I enjoyed the chat. The counter display still had the previous day's whoopie pies on show which was a little off-putting as you don't know what the actual merchandise looks like (the older pies were dry and cracking and some flavours had sold out and weren't on display).

I, personally, would purchase a pie again, but as none of our company enjoyed them it would only be a snack for moi if I found myself in the neighborhood.

Georges - Camberwell - review

Name: Georges Restaurant Bar Cafe

Address:
819 Burke Rd
Melbourne, 3123

(03) 9882 0777

Food: International, Italian

Average price: $15 - 32 for mains.

Complimentary: Nothing.

We ordered:
Main: Chicken Parmigiana with chips - $23.95

Nanna loved this but she will love any Chicken Parma (hers was the one with ham).

Mr.M on the other hand found it to be an average parma.


Pea & haloumi fritters - $14.95

These were quite soft and full of mushy peas, which was fine as I quite enjoy mushy peas. The haloumi was cubed and therefore still very firm, I think it would have been better grated that way the saltiness would have been evenly spread throughout the pea fritters and the cheese would have been a little melted. The fritters were served with tomato and avocado with a yoghurt sauce and a slice of lemon. The acidity was definitely needed as the fritters are quite sweet on their own. Overall I quite enjoyed this dish.

Dessert: Creme Brulee 

As soon as I saw the topping I knew it wouldn't 'crack' beneath my spoon and I was right. Therefore it failed the first test which is a hard, toffee crust.  The second test is the custard. I prefer a vanilla flecked, not overly sweet, with smooth, not too firm but not too liquid texture. This, whilst gorgeously vanilla flecked, was a touch too liquid for me. Instead of leaving a white space once a spoonful had been scooped out the custard slowly began to viscously ooze into the space. Whilst not a great creme brulee it also wasn't the worst I have had. I still ate the lot.

Lemon tart

Nanna and Madame A both thoroughly enjoyed this dish, having ordered it for the second time.

Cost: $136.50 for 4 mains, two desserts and two cafe lattes.

Service: OK. Food came out pretty fast but we had to ask to have our water refilled.

Atmosphere: Cafe-esque. Despite being one of the more 'upmarket' eating establishments on Burke rd it still has a very typical cafe feel of that hustle and bustle and medium noise level. On the plus side the tables are decently spaced apart and the seating comfortable. The decor is neutrals with mostly dark brown tones and charcoal walls.

Parking: Limited metered street parking, but there is nearby 2hour free parking at Target etc around the corner on Prospect Hill Road.

Website: None.

Hours: Open Daily 10am-11pm

Would I return: Yes - for a cafe style lunch it was rather good and reasonably priced. They have recently opened a more 'refined' and therefore expensive restaurant on the second level.

Magic City - Camberwell

Name: Magic City

Address: 871-873 Burke Rd
Camberwell 3124 VIC

Phone: (03) 9882 7788

Food: ModOz, Thai
Average price: Entree: $3-18, Mains: $20-32, Dessert: $10-14

Complimentary: Rosemary focaccia with two disks of butter. The rosemary flavoured it nicely but I found it a touch greasy and dry.


We ordered dinner:

Entree: Slow-roasted pork belly with vincotto & apple & sweet potato puree - $19.50


This looked gorgeous on the plate. Ryan found the belly a touch fatty but he enjoyed it overall. He also thought it was a bit warm if meant to be a cold dish, or too cold if it was meant to be a hot dish.

Bean & pasta soup - $12


This was nice but I wish the beans hadn't been pureed though as it was a little unappetising looks wise and a touch grainy. A bit too homey for me though and not enough variety flavour wise - too mushy.

Mains: Pan-fried Atlantic salmon, marinated red onion and a chive & radish salad - $26


I didn't like this dish. The salmon actually tasted 'fishy' which I have never experienced before. The onions were OK, crunchy and tangy, the spinach tasted oily which was off putting and the overall Asian-flavoured watery sauce wasn't that nice.

Duo of duck, confit leg and spice roasted crispy skin breast - $34


Ryan liked the confit leg, as well as the sides, purees and soft vegetable, but found the breast too dry. He also thought it was a bit boring with too much meat and not enough side flavours to cut through. Ryan also thought it was a bit on the cool side temperature-wise.

Dessert: Hot fudge sundae with berries, peanuts honeycomb & salted chocolate sauce - $14


Getting the salty balance right is hard. The chocolate sauce failed, miserably. All I could taste was salt, and harsh salt, not subtle salt. Therefore the chocolate sauce was unusable.
I'm not sure where the fudge was, did they mean the berry coulis?
The cream was a little can-whipped, the ice cream was ok, a bit icy, the honeycomb was lovely and the raspberries (4) and puree gave it some much needed flavour but overall nothing fantastic. At least it was plated nicely.

Creme brulee with pedro ximenez figs - $14


I loved the presentation of this, although I'm not sure why it had an asian theme when the dish was not asian influenced...
The texture of the brulee was really lovely, and the sugar crust was perfect. It was flecked with vanilla seeds which imparted a nice subtle flavour but overall the brulee was loaded with sugar, so much so that towards the end I was knocking back glass after glass as my heart had started racing and I started to get that sugar-overload-saliva filling my mouth - a shame as it really didn't need to be that sweet. It was also completely cold.
In terms of the figs, I had one piece, which took me forever to cut through with my spoon. Couldn't taste the alcohol at all, the dried figs were in a sugar syrup and were quite leathery.

Cost: $119.50 for 2 entrees, 2 mains and 2 desserts.

Service: Great. Waiters were great and the food didn't take too long to come out.

Atmosphere: Casual. The decor is neutral but really tasteful with feature windows and ornate ceilings. When the restaurant started to fill up it did become quite noisy though.


Parking: Ample street parking as well as parking open lots not far away.

Website: http://www.magiccity.com.au/html/index.html

Hours: Tue-Thu 10am-9pm, Fri-Sun 9am-10pm

Would I return: No. Food was average and not cheap.