A few weeks ago S and I went to Melbourne for a fun weekend (mostly filled with food and shopping). This is what we ate on a Friday night, in case you’re stuck for where to go! 
I’d definitely recommend Melbourne for a weekend away if you haven’t been before – especially if you like eating and shopping! For some reason, everything was on sale at the shops…I mean, there were sales in Sydney too but not like this! As S and I joked – everything was practically free! For dinner on our first night, we’d planned to go to Wonderbao but unfortunately we didn’t do our research properly – they close at 6pm!
Sad faces all round, but after a quick look on Google Maps we found the Little Ramen Bar. I’d never heard of it but it’s kind of exciting doing foodie things the old way – no social media to tell you whether a place is hip and trendy, you’ve just got to go and try it out for yourself! 
Turns out it’s a super popular spot and we were lucky to just nap a table on the crowded bench! Plus with the extra cold Melbourne weather compared to Sydney’s winter, ramen was the perfect meal for our evening. S had the Hokkaido Ramen -mixed vegetables, minced pork, corn, butter and a slice of BBQ pork with a miso broth. I love having butter in my ramen – I know it’s probably bad but it’s so yum!
I decided on a lighter broth option (I tend to go for the tonkotsu usually!) and got the Shio Ramen – lighter, slightly salty clear chicken broth topped with beansprouts, seaweed, bamboo shoots, spring onion & BBQ pork. To be honest, I still prefer the tonkotsu ramen broth and this wasn’t quite as tasty, but definitely a good option if the heavy soup freaks you out!
On our way walking into town we walked through China Town on Little Bourke Street. For those interested, we stayed at the Ovolo Laneways which I would highly recommend! Not only because they give you a complimentary snack pack upon arrival – they also have a complimentary mini bar and complimentary breakfast with some super tasty pastries.
On our way back we walked past Dessert Story, the Taiwanese and Hong Kong dessert restaurant! S and I got way too excited thinking about what would be inside, so we had to pop past on our way back from dinner.
Umm who doesn’t love Tang Yuen?! Okay, I admit I don’t love the ginger soup (although it is quite therapeutic and warming). But those little balls of glutinous goodness with that black sesame paste! Unfortunately I found the skin of the tang yuen a bit too thick and the soup wasn’t warm enough. But otherwise it was still a lovely dessert!
S went for a Taiwanese dessert. I forget what it’s called but it was a combination of shaved ice, mochi, tofu and syrup. Sorry, that’s a weird explanation but I’m sure most seasoned Asian dessert eaters reading this will understand what I mean! She was thrilled with her dessert – so glad we went to Dessert Story. Most posts to come on what we did for the rest of the weekend – so stay tuned!
Little Ramen Bar
346 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
http://www.littleramenbar.com.au/
Dessert Story
195 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
http://www.dessertstory.co/
