The French Lettuce - Vanilla Slice

Rolled down to Fitzroy with Michelle, Grace, and Yogi today for some bargain hunting and Vanilla Slice from The French Lettuce; a little patisserie and bakery down Nicholson street.

It's a rather long walk from College Square. You'd have to walk all the way down Elgin street till you hit nicholson street, then turn left and keep walking straight for a couple of blocks before getting there. Alternatively, drive, or catch a cab, though honestly? It's worth the walk. (Despite bad weather and insane winds. This would be one of the times i'm thankful for being fat, it allows me to brave all elements to get to more food. *w*)

The bakery takes a minimalist approach to it's decor, but the wedding cakes sitting in the window are anything but minimalist. Pity i couldn't get a photo cause of the sunlight reflecting off the glass panes. But here's a photo of some other pastries and cakes they had inside.

When i go there, i almost always have a single purpose; the Vanilla Slice, so i haven't actually tried any of their other cakes, but the next time i go, perhaps i'll pick up something else. Initially i thought it hadn't changed from last year and was still 5 dollars a slice, but they increased the price to 6 dollars (there was a moment or two of rage then). They also served it with a side of raspberry sauce. 1 EXTRA DOLLAR WELL SPENT, I SAY. The slice itself is a rather simple, unassuming morsel, though i must say, my photography does nothing to spruce that up.

The icing sugar, flaky crust, and vanilla flavoured custard combine to form this explosion of creamy goodness in your mouth and the tartness of the raspberry counters the potential for it to be too creamy. It's quite large, so it's reasonably filling, even so, the feeling that there wasn't enough will smack you around the head. YEAH, IT'S THAT GOOD. *w*. I particularly liked the dense, but relatively fluffy custard with crust flakes mixed in, and i'm not even a huge vanilla fan. OM NOM NOM.

I loved that the kitchen was just behind the counter and the few tables, the atmosphere was pretty personal,it didn't feel quite as mass-produced as Brunettis. Comparatively, lesser people, less bustle, more peace and time to enjoy the pastries.
 

"Best Vanilla Slice in Melbourne"? No shit.

Here, have an incredibly bad photo of one of the glass panels outside. I think you can vaguely see some of the wedding cakes i mentioned earlier. ANDDDD the address + website, so no one has to go to the trouble of googling it:

The French Lettuce

237 Nicholson Street

CARLTON VIC 3053
Telephone:
(03) 9347 7105 
(03) 9347 7311
Fax: (03) 9347 9150



I KEEP TRYING TO TYPE LIKE SOME SOPHISTICATED FOOD BLOGGER (NO I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW OR WHAT TO SAY) AND FAIL. WHATEVER, I WILL INSERT MY OM NOMNOMS AND RAMDOM TROLLERY EVERYWHERE. 8D

This is why i'm fat.

I CAN'T NOT THINK OF FOOD.

Wake up (in the morning feeling like P. Diddy):  think of what to eat with the usual green apple in the morning

Breakfast - lunch: think of what to have for lunch, plan what to have for dinner, snack on a couple of water crackers

Lunch - Dinner: think of what to bake next, think of what to buy for baking, think of how to prepare dinner.

Dinner - Midnight: plan to bake a whole lot more, snack on some fruits or water crackers, wonder if a late-night trip for a touch of grocery shopping is necessary.

FAIL EPIPHANY IS FAIL.

Even when i go to the market with no intent on buying anything to eat, i end up eating. To be fair there was some Asian festival going on. Overpriced spring rolls, okonomiyaki, and curry galore. Joy and rapture. ONE SATAY 3 DOLLARS. WTF RIGHT.

If i wanted a massive amalgamation of chapalang asian food, i'd go back to Singapore, or Malaysia. CONFIRM PLUS STAMP AND CHOP, GOT EVERYTHING. DEFINITELY CHEAPER TOO. Though i was pleasantly suprised at the fact that asian food =/= only chinese food, there was indian curry too. (FOR ONCE. OMG. EVERYONE THINKS ASIANS=CHINESE ONLY, IT'S RIDICULOUS)

ANYWAY, managed to snag myself some lunch.

That's an entire potato on a stick. AN ENTIRE POTATO. In addition to being a really cool way to fry potatos, these things are tasty. They're like huge fries. On a skewer. Just a lot tastier than actual fries.

They were also featured on Thisiswhyyou'refat.com. *RAGE*

I felt like such a sinner after eating them. It's one thing to know you're eating a whole deep fried potato, it's another to eat a freshly deep fried potato while they plop more into hot oil right next to you. THE AMOUNT OF GUILT COULD'VE KILLED A WHALE.

Then, yesterday after having thai food for dinner, we indulged in Freddo's gelati. WHEN YOU HAVE ICE CREAM THIS GOOD, PAYING 4.80 FOR 2 SCOOPS BECOMES IRRELEVANT.

Some berry mix on top of the strawberry flavoured one. The ice cream at Il Dolce Freddo is incredibly good, especially their durian ice cream. It tastes like someone took a whole lot of durian flesh, melted it down and froze it. I usually get the fruit flavoured ones, it's really a personal preference, chocolate, caramel, or nutella flavours are a little too cloying. Comparatively the fruit based ones are lighter on the palate, BUT THE DURIAN FLAVOUR, OH THE DURIAN FLAVOUR. I guess you'd have to be a big fan of durian to have this flavour there though, the texture is dense and the durian adds to the creamy taste. *W*.

I barely ever eat ice-cream though. PARTLY CAUSE I'M A LITTLE TOO CONCERNED ABOUT MY WEIGHT, AND IT'S TOO COLD TO EAT ICE CREAM HERE. Lemon sorbet, however, is an entirely different sphere of fantastic.

AAAAAAAAND. This was lunch. I originally wanted to order a steaming plate of fish and chips to drown in the tears (and oil) cause tickets for Adam Lambert's Glam Nation tour in Melbourne have been sold out, but, well, seaweed inari sushi (with a side of salad stolen off Grace and Yogi's plates.) Did i mention that sushi size in melbourne is insane?
They're like, Grawp in comparison to Hagrid, in comparison to, idk, Harry or something, in terms of size. Sushi from random roadside stores in melbourne would be Grawp, Sushi from actual japanese restaurants would be Hagrid, and the sushi in Singapore would equate to Harry.  Unfortunately, there isn't actually a picture to illustrate the sizes, but i'll get around to it.

Korean BBQ for dinner here:

A tiny double storey restaurant located past the Dracula cabaret and the end of Lygon street. They serve killer Ja Jjang Myuen too. K, so i haven't actually tasted Ja Jjang Myuen in Korea yet, BUT IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME. OHYEAH.

also, EVERYONE LOVES HALF-PRICE MONDAYS. WOO. CHECK OUT THE SEA OF MEAT.
Our waiter was a little standoffish and appalled that we didn't want to order rice (sorry, man, meat FTW).

Then i rolled home to bake a Custard Pecan Tart. Inspiration courtesy of Adele Stackhouse's post humous pecan pie on Trueblood. Apparently there wasn't enough sugar, evidently my choice in reducing the amount of sugar was ill-advised. Ahwell.

Conclusion? Blogger is a an epic glutton. That is all.

kthxbai.