Operator Diner, Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD

Operator Diner (Shop 2/130 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, tel : +61 3 8395 6341) is an American styled diner in the CBD.

Long black's sour. Flat white was......ok.

Got ourselves a breakfast muffin call Usual Suspect. Went big with the bacon and sausage combo which is topped with poached egg, cheese, their BBQ bacon chutney and a hash brown on the side.

Muffin was too wobbly to eat by hand. Not bad tasting. The sausage was pretty tasty.

Had an order of their Love Me Tender (chicken tenders) because they mentioned blue cheese sauce. Sauce was cheesy but we didn't get any blue cheese flavour and it was pre-mixed. How did we know it was pre-mixed? We asked if they could have it with more blue cheese and they told us so. Pretty disappointing. The tenders and fries were nicely done though.

Some drink called The Big Apple - single origin coffee (not that I could tell), apple juice, spiced chai, brown sugar foam and cinnamon. Not bad.

Pecan pie was too sweet. Didn't think much of it.

Apparently, Zac Efron was here. Filming. Pretty sure they marked the seat he was at just like what was done when Harry met Sally at Katz's Deli. I just never found out which one was it.

Hosted home BBQ

BBQ from friends that hosted us in this trip. There were drumlets and lamb t-bones and duck fat potatoes.

And also the obligatory salad, beans, corn and hotdogs. Those dogs were good.

Picklecore Meal from KFC (Australia)

Came across a limited time pickle-y promotion from KFC. Got the Picklecore Meal.

Which came with a fried chicken sandwich that had pickles and pickle mayo in it.

I liked it. Had a nice tang and wet crunch which mayo in regular chicken sandwiches wouldn't have. Would have been great if there were a few more slices of pickles in it to pickle things up even more.

Their pickled loaded chips came with fried pickles, pickle sauce and popcorn chicken. Not bad but these pickles here appear dehydrated. I was thinking that they'd be fried and crispy.

More popcorn chicken.

More pickle sauce as well. There appeared to be quite a bit of dill in it which I liked.

Their Pickle Pepsi Max came "deconstructed". Basically it was just Pepsi with a container of pickle juice and a couple of slices of pickles.

I wanted to say that one shouldn't knock it before trying it but I think I will withhold that. I liked this. Pepsi with extra tang. Nice. I can make this myself at home too.

This one piece Original was an add on. I haven't had it in years, I don't remember if it was the same as the last time I had one. It's okay.

Morning shots in Melbourne

What we've been getting in the mornings. Shots of beetroot, carrot and pineapple. Thanks Crystal!

Hector's Deli, Little Collin's Street, Melbourne CBD

Breakfast at Hector's Deli (61 Little Collins Street, Melbourne). I hear that these guys are known for their sandwiches so we got a couple.

This was the beef and pickles. The menu described it with "beef pastrami, American cheese, hectic sauce, mustard pickle spread, dill pickles and kraut on light rye". Pretty pickle-y and sour which was the dominant flavour that overwhelmed the slices of pastrami in it. Bread was very crunchy. Not for people with weak teeth.

Their mushroom melt was equally crunchy and also pretty sour. That sour came from the mustard pickle spread. Personally, I thought the mushrooms were sidelined.

Okay-ish matcha.

The sandwiches were pretty hefty so we had to doggie bag half of them. 

The next day......

Here's that beef and pickle again the next day. It tasted noticeably better with extra butter and maple syrup.

Pie Face, Cranbourne North, Melbourne

We were in the vicinity and saw Pie Face (1585 Thompsons Road, Cranbourne North, Melbourne). Bought one of their beef and cheese pies to try. These guys were once upon a time darlings of the pie brands here from what I gathered. There has been some criticism over the quality of their pies in the past years but we didn't know any better because this was our first time getting one.

Quite buttery crust and and chunkier meat than the beef pie from Country Cob Bakery. Didn't taste bad.