Snow Pony - [Not too shabby]

Snow Pony
95 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn, VIC

I adore banana bread. I am normally not a huge bread fan, but bananas just make the bread awesome. I tried baking them a couple of times myself, but I still haven't got the texture right.  In search of the perfect banana bread, we headed to Snow Pony. Snow Pony is the sister store of Porgie and Mrs Jones. I've never been to Porgie, but I think Urbanspoon likes the Pony better. The cafe is very spacious (even has a back courtyard!), but it was packed when we arrived. Nonetheless, it's a nice and cosy place for a lazy Sunday brunch to catch up with friends, or just, you know, stare into space. :)

note: Life size snow pony!!!

First up --> the coffees...

Mocha 
verdict: the mocha they served today was a bit burnt, leaving a bad aftertaste in my mouth. No wonder they were advertising for baristas.

Chai Latte
verdict: I have had better Chais around. Not memorable. 

 
Second up - The real deal
(p.s. forgive me i forgot the actual names of the dishes) 


Banana bread with pistachios, berries compote and mascarpone cheese -- aud $14.90
verdict: Nice! Arguably nicer than the one in Las Chicas. I thought the banana bread was almost perfect. It was fluffy and moist, not too sweet, with the right amount of banana. I felt the pistachio and berries added a lot of textures and layers to the dish. The only thing is the small amount of mascarpone cheese didn't contribute much to the dish, I'd like to see more of it sandwiched between the bread.

Lemonade scone with chantily cream and jam -- aud $3.50
verdict: Well made scone but I must say I did not taste the 'lemonade' explosion that people have been raving about. My theory of scone-indulgence is to eat it with a huge dollop of cream and jam on top. ^___^ I really liked the cream...but $3.50 for a scone? Hmmm I may have to think about it next time. 

Scrambled eggs with goats cheese on toast -- aud $12.90
verdict: Loved the way the eggs were cooked. Together with the goats cheese it was thick, smooth and very satisfying. The bread was a bit too hard for my liking and  I'd love to have tasted more herbs/spinach on the dish.

Conclusion: I'd definitely come back for the banana bread and eggs, but Snow Pony is not a place for good coffee. I'll give it a 7.5/10. 

Mamasita

My only encounter of Mexican food was a couple of years ago at Bluecorn in St Kilda. I don't know whether the food there was authentic but I didn't like it at all. Every dish tasted similar and too many beans were used. I stayed away from Mexican food since but the Mexican food that Top Chef Masters finalist Rick Bayless cooked looked so amazing I decided to give it another chance.

Mamasita is a Mexican restaurant bar and grill at Collins street that opened last year. The restaurant received great reviews from The Age but only mixed reviews from the general public.

We went at 3pm for 'afternoon tea' as we heard service can be quite disorganised during peak hours. The interior was simple, but I was not too sure why they picked that particular photo to put on the wall - a lady from the ?60s wearing bikini, with a funny dent on her abdomen. Hmm.

We ordered only three items. One of which is the "Street Style" chargrilled corn with queso, chipotle mayonnaise and lime. Queso is a type of Mexican cheese. It was the white stuff that coated the corn.  I actually had no idea what it was when I ate it as there wasn't the typical 'pungent' smell that normal cheeses have. I felt that the flavours worked very well together (especially the lime and queso) and we really enjoyed it. Cost aud$3.80 per cob.

The tacos on the other hand were nice but not fantastic. We ordered the pork and the fish taco (was too busy eating I forgot to take a close up photo of the fish one) and they cost aud$5 each. The menu said that the pork taco had roasted pork, pineapple, coriander and white onion, but I felt the flavours didn't really come through and was a bit bland. The other taco had grilled fish with lime, achiote paste & red onion salsa. I felt the latter tasted better but both tacos weren't very memorable. The accompanying salsa, however, was really good! (sorry didn't take any photos of it). I liked it more than the tacos.

Overall it was a nice snack and I really liked the corn. A bit too expensive for a snack (total of $13.80) and don't think i can be full even after eating 4 tacos (haha I'm a big eater :D). Will definitely go back and try the mains sometime.