Smooch Food: Love Letters to Every Bite

Guzman y Gomez, Melbourne Location: 260 Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Featured Items: Spicy Mini Bowl with Grilled Chicken ($11.40 AUD) plus Extra Avocado ($1.20 AUD), Mild Pulled Pork Quesadilla ($9.40 AUD) Note: Prices are in AUD. Verdict: Closer to Chipotle than Taco Bell. The pulled pork quesadilla is great, and the creamy, spicy bowl is balanced nicely by fresh tomatoes. My goal to try all the spots where the team orders team lunch continues! For an early dinner, we went to Guzman y Gomez on Flinders Street, which is the team's choice whenever the theme is Mexican. This was our first visit. I know I'm spoiled for excellent Mexican food in Vancouver, so my expectations were quite low. I thought GyG would be closer to Taco Bell, but it reminds me more of Chipotle. Hubby got the mild quesadilla with pulled pork ($9.40), and it's great: a crisp, grill-marked tortilla stuffed with melty cheese and tender pulled pork. ...

Halaya, Melbourne CBD Location: 285 Spring St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Featured Items: Beef Short Rib Kare-Kare ($30.60), Rice ($6.00), Ube Champorado ($22.40), Ube Latte, medium with oat milk ($8.10) Note: Prices are in AUD. A 10% weekend surcharge applies on Sundays, plus a small service charge. Verdict: The ube champorado steals the show with its creamy, thick texture and sweet strawberry compote. The kare-kare is good but a little watered down and needs more bagoong. Happy Sunday! It was our first Mass together in Melbourne, at St. Patrick's Cathedral at 8:00 AM. Afterwards, we walked over to Halaya, a Filipino coffee shop with a heavy focus on ube. Of course, I was here for the kare-kare. I know, it's an unusual choice for brunch, but I really needed my kare-kare fix. A Little History: From Ceree to Halaya When I visited Melbourne two years ago, this exact spot was Ceree , and I had kare-kare here too. I thought the kare-kare at Ceree wa...

Melbourne Donut Festival and Queen Victoria Market Location: Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne, Australia Dates: Melbourne Donut Festival, October 17 and 18, 2026 Featured Items: Demochi Matcha Mochi Donut ($5.50), Shortstop+ Australian Honey and Sea Salt Cruller ($7.50), Manny's Doughnuts Hot Jam Donut ($3.50), Gourmet Pies Traditional Plain Pie and Chunky Beef Pie ($19.50 for both) Note: All prices are in AUD. Verdict: The Shortstop+ cruller is the surprise winner, the demochi mochi donut is wonderfully chewy, and the chunky beef pie beats the traditional one. We landed in Melbourne about 11 minutes earlier than expected. Yay! After some trouble with the passport machine, a second queue at another machine, and a very confusing line-up for customs and immigration, we grabbed an Uber straight to our hotel. When I was planning this trip, I knew I wanted to visit Queen Victoria Market, and their website was promoting the Melbourne Donut Festival on October ...

North East China Family, Melbourne Location: 302 Flinders Ln, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Featured Items: Steamed Xiao Long Bao ($14.50 AUD), Pan-Fried Pork and Pickled Chinese Cabbage Dumplings ($14.99 AUD) Verdict: Satisfying but standard, especially if you're spoiled by Vancouver dumplings. The crispy bottoms on the pan-fried dumplings, boosted with chili oil and vinegar, are the best part. It was 12:30 PM in Melbourne, which felt like 6:30 PM to my body clock. After we finished our errands (buying a local SIM card and a few necessities), I suddenly felt the exhaustion hit. I told hubby we should grab dinner (yes, time zones are confusing) and then stay in the hotel for the rest of the day. We decided to stop by North East China Family on Flinders Lane, because my company orders team lunch from there whenever the theme is dumplings. This was our first visit, and of course, I went for dumplings. I ordered the steamed xiao long bao ($14.50) and the pan-frie...

Qantas QF 94 Inflight Meals, LAX to Melbourne Flight: QF 94, Los Angeles (LAX) to Melbourne, Australia (15 hours 55 minutes) Meals Served: Dinner (chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli, or vegetarian pasta) and a hot breakfast before landing Verdict: The tender chicken and the warm garlicky bread win dinner, and the hot breakfast with a cup of tea is a satisfying way to land. I think this is my longest flight ever: 15 hours and 55 minutes from Los Angeles, USA to Melbourne, Australia. Our flight (QF 94) left LAX at 8:30 PM on October 15th, and between naps, the first order of business was dinner. Yes, between naps. I didn't even feel the take-off because I was in a deep sleep, and the only reason I woke up was because I smelled food. 🤣 Dinner: Chicken and Vegetarian Pasta I had no idea what the choices were, but I was sure there would be chicken, so I went with that. Hubby chose the vegetarian pasta. Both meals came with a warm bread roll and a blueberr...