The Grounds of Alexandria

so happy today (: this is going to be a long post. for those of you who have seen photos, it's an explanation here (:

first time driving on the harbour bridge and to the city today! it's not as hard as i thought, i just thought going into the right lanes would be annoying, but i guess after going to the city everyday on the bus, you observe the other lanes/where they go. buses are easy, they have a bus lane. 

went again with my uncle, cousin and mum to the grounds of alexandria. i thought it would be one of those over rated places, but it's not! it is so worth the drive and your time to go. parking is pretty bad, even though the street is really long, a lot of street parking are taken by workers since that place is very industrial. there's is close to none public transport there as well, no train stations etc. also, you have to wait over 20mins for a table, even though it's actually quite big inside. they have those beeping/pagers things to tell you when a table is available. think about it, we went on a working/non school holiday friday, but it was packed inside and out. according to my cousin, it's always that busy, but there's plenty of things to keep you occupied.

everything is real here. like the vines stuff have real grapes, and real flowers all around the place.

tables outside for people to have take away/wait to get a table inside. it's so nice and relaxing. there was lemonade, charcoal bbq stuff, coffee and some cakes/tarts outside but some weren't covered and flies were on them...

kids area.

kevin bacon and bradley the sheep. if you didn't know, they were kidnapped just a few weeks ago, but then they were found in victoria.

bought lemonade and took a photo behind the stand. i'm not actually that tall, hehe.

rose lemonade-$5

this was so good! we bought one to share. nice hint of rose, and freshly squeezed lemonade which wasn't too sweet or sour.

on the market days, they have ice cream, florist, petting zoos and more. apparently they have yoga and coffee making classes.

take away side. some stuff you can't get from the restaurant side but only from the take away section, and you have to go outside to eat the takeaway stuff. it's much cheaper than dine in, and more varieties in sandwiches etc.

can't see from this angle, but their kitchen is massive! on the right of this photo is their baking section.

the food/drinks had extravagant names, and i don't remember the prices (too much to remember...) but i'll do my best (: btw, food here isn't cheap, but you come here for the experience and atmosphere. service is pretty good. once you have waited over 20mins to get a table, the food doesn't take too long to come out. and once you get a table, you sit for a while (: that's why the tables are so slow moving...however, people still came to have lunch at around 2.30ish, where it's slightly less busy.

apple, pear and mint juice, grounds chocolate milkshake, and two banana smoothies with around 5 other ingredients.

i like how the juice was very clear in terms of flavour, and not too sweet, chocolate was a bit on the sweet side, but no as sweet as mainstream chocolate syrup. it wasn't as thick as other people have said it to be, but maybe that's cause i only had a sip. the banana smoothies had some nuts in it, love the texture. maybe i should add nuts to my smoothies as well (: i really love these drinking jars. apparently they sell heaps of them in hk for super cheap, need someone to get me some...

typical overhead shot. on the left and going clockwise, duck and pear salad, prawn linguine, smashed avocado, the grounds burger, and also added an extra side of chips w/ chilli mayo.

more pear would have been nice in the salad. i like the duck, it's a good change from the typical flavoured asian duck. salad was a tad on the oily side, but it had heaps of barley which was an interesting and healthy addition. the prawn linguine is new on the menu. it had chilli in it, but i could tolerate it! it does give it a nice kick. the pasta was on the oily side for me. the smashed avo had a thick slice of cheese which i found slightly odd, and served on bread (forgot what type), but it's not crunchy like you would expect, it's slightly chewy. the pesto was spot on, a big hit in terms of flavour. the grounds burger's (some type of beef) bread and patty was sooo soft. it kind of reminded me of high class big mac. the chips were soooo good as well!! the chilli mayo with the chips was also very nice, gave it a nice kick (:

fooood

cappuccino

i love this photo! i already drove all the way out here, and even though i was really full, i had to try their coffee. decided to share with mum. i love this photo! feels so natural and that slight out of focus background stuff. i really love their teal colour! their coffee was spot on. so smooth and delicious (: for those who don't really like bitter coffee, this coffee is good for you. it's not too bitter, but the coffee flavour is still there.

from the top: pear, lemon meringue, strawberry and cream, blueberry cheesecake, pecan and salted caramel, blueberry macarons.

favourite is probably the lemon meringue and strawberry. the pear was a bit plain (but super easy to cut and share), cheesecake isn't too dense nor sweet, the pecan one wasn't very heavy on the salted caramel-i thought it would be super sweet but luckily it wasn't. the macarons has real sweet blueberries sandwiched/placed neatly between the shells, but after a car ride home, they didn't really survive. tasted like blueberries since it had real blueberries.

we had to wait an extra 10ish minutes since by the time we were going, they were all sold out. so out tart was literally fresh, since you could see the guy put the meringue on and blow torch it. also, we ordered these at our table, but asked them to take away for us. so buy the time they packed took down the order and packed it, all the brûlées were gone! so sad. that person recommended it us, and even though my cousin has been here a million times, she hasn't tried it either. next time i go, i will defs try it. will make sure to buy it before rather than later.

all the food, drinks and dessert cost $155. yes, it's not cheap for people like me. but hey, it's my uncles' shout. according to him, it's only $30ish pp and not expensive. i really don't know what's not expensive for him...but the grounds is so good! definitely recommend you all to go in this break. so, so thankful that today didn't rain, or else the atmosphere and walking around the grounds wouldn't have been as amazing. only started to rain when we left the city, and so glad it didn't hail. btw, going out of the city is slightly more annoying. my face has exploded since i've been eating out these past few days...

my mum surprised me with a gift today.she asked my uncle to help me buy a branded handbag when he was in america, and they full planned it behind my back, and managed to get the bag with it's massive box into the house without me noticing. the other day i said i never received a graduation yr 12 present unlike other people, but i really didn't mind since my parents have already given me so much, but my mum kept her mouth shut since she had already bought a handbag for me and was waiting for my uncle to come over from hk to take it here. wow, i think this is the 2nd biggest surprise gift for me.

and i passed physics! i only attempted 1/5 questions properly, and guess most of the paper, but i still manage to pass somehow. but i'm actually most worried by optics...but as people have said and i'm telling myself, i should enjoy life and worry less.