Smooch Food: Love Letters to Every Bite

Imperial Hotel Location: 2-8 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Featured Items: Chicken Parma ($35), Lemon, Lime & Bitters Schooner ($7.50) Note: A colleague-recommended pub meal, enjoyed on Melbourne Cup day. Prices are in AUD. Verdict: Very tender, flavourful chicken. I still prefer the tomato sauce at the Duke of Wellington. It is Melbourne Cup day, which is a great excuse to hang out at the Imperial Hotel for the chicken parma a colleague recommended. We have been here since 11:00 AM watching Monday Night Football (yes, I am in Australia watching American football, haha). The Imperial is a historic pub at the top end of Bourke Street, with roots dating back to the mid-1800s. You walk in through the original Australian red cedar doors, and the rooftop beer garden overlooks Parliament House. Chicken Parma ($35) For anyone new to it, the chicken parma (or parmi) is an Aussie pub classic: a crumbed chicken schnitzel topped with tomato sauce and m...

Lune Croissanterie Location: 16/161 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Featured Items: Butter Croissant ($7.80), Cheese & Vegemite Scroll ($10.90), Kouign Amann ($10.50), Flat White ($5.90), Mocha ($5.90) Note: Expect a line, and we were happy to join it twice. Prices are in AUD. Verdict: The butter croissant is the best I have ever tried, and the Kouign Amann is amazing. The Vegemite scroll was my least favourite. Happy Tuesday! It is a public holiday in Victoria for Melbourne Cup, so we woke up later than usual and decided to walk to Lune Croissanterie. Our tour guide yesterday called it the best croissant in the world. Bold claim! He also mentioned that the founder, Kate Reid, used to be a rocket scientist, so the same discipline has been applied to croissants. To be precise, she is a former aeronautical engineer who worked for the Williams Racing Formula 1 team before training as a baker, which is close enough for me. Our first round at Lune: bu...

Melbourne International Dumpling Festival Location: Queen Victoria Market, 513 Elizabeth St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Featured Items: Apas Canteen Bhutanese Beef Momo (5 pcs, $15), Dimmie Den Dinkie Dim "OG" (3 pcs, $10), Dapur Lokal Melbourne Indonesian Siomay (7 pcs, $16), Parilya Barbecue Filipino Siomai (4 pcs, $15), Parilya Barbecue Filipino Pork BBQ with Rice ($21.50) Note: Come hungry and plan to graze from stall to stall. Prices are in AUD. Verdict: The Indonesian siomay with peanut sauce was the standout. The beef momo came in a close second. Our tour finished at 1:30 PM, and we asked to be dropped off at Queen Victoria Market, where the Melbourne International Dumpling Festival was happening today. Lunch and dinner were both going to be here, which meant eating as much as we could. We have the BC Dumpling Festival near Vancouver, which we adore, so we were excited to see what Melbourne had to offer. Apas Canteen: Bhutanese Beef Momo ...

Shrine of Remembrance Cafe Location: Birdwood Ave, Melbourne VIC 3004, Australia Featured Items: Anzac Biscuit ($5 AUD), Brown Butter Biscuit ($5 AUD), Lemongrass & Ginger Tea Note: There are no savoury options here, only sweet treats and drinks. Buying a snack helps support the Shrine of Remembrance. Prices are in AUD. Verdict: A small, sweet way to support the Shrine. The coconutty Anzac biscuit was my favourite. Happy Monday! We booked two tours with Go West , and the Ultimate Melbourne Experience came with a free city tour, which we did today. We started the morning watching our Whitecaps win 5-1 against our rivals, the Sounders. Afterwards, we hurriedly ran to the Immigration Museum for our tour. One of our stops was the Shrine of Remembrance. I have been here before, so my priority was food. Anzac Biscuit and Brown Butter Biscuit ($5 each) They do not have anything savoury, so we had to settle with a crumbly brown butter biscuit and a chewy Anzac...

Penguin Parade Visitor Centre Cafe Location: 1019 Ventnor Rd, Summerlands VIC 3922, Australia Featured Items: Egg & Chive Sandwich ($15 AUD), Ham, Cheese & Pickle Sandwich ($15 AUD) Note: A quick grab-and-go dinner before the evening penguin parade. Photos of the penguins are not allowed, so none here. Prices are in AUD. Verdict: Quick and convenient. The egg & chive was the better of the two. Our tour had a little hiccup today. The suspension (?) for one of the wheels broke and the bus was unsafe to drive, so we arrived roughly half an hour late to the Penguin Parade Visitor Centre. We got there around 7:30 in the evening and rushed to find dinner. We quickly grabbed a couple of sandwiches from the cafe. I got the egg & chive while hubby went for the ham, cheese & pickle. Ham, Cheese & Pickle Sandwich ($15) Hubby's sandwich was stacked with sliced ham, mild cheese and tangy pickle on soft white bread. It did the job when we wer...