Gypsy & Pig | Meet Fresh
Gypsy & Pig
Shop 3
391 Little Lonsdale St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
03 9640 0731
GoogleMap
There’s one thing I realise about my blogging style. More often than not, it isn’t me who carves out the pathway of where-to-eat. It’s usually my friends who do that for me.
This visit was decided by Fakegf, whom I now acknowledge is definitely more of a foodie than myself *gasp*. I remember I-Hua and Agnes blogging about this place recently, but it just did not stick to my mind. Probably a result of subscribed-to-too-many-bloggers syndrome – reader screenflood! But Fakegf remembered, said she wanted to go, and of course… I did my auto-yes!
We came here for lunch on a Tuesday. Being the brunch-o-philes that we are, we arrived all hungry at 11am, only to see they’re still shut! But the friendly waitress came out with a big smile to greet us and said they’ll be opening shortly at 11.30am.
Gypsy & Pig is a cute little space, with not many tables at all, the main feature being a central counter area where you can sit and watch all the prep work being done. There, you could watch the chef stealthily slicing pieces of silky fresh Kurobuta pork right in front of you.
That afternoon, I learnt why the restaurant’s named so, it’s all about good pork. The succinct lunch menu mostly featured different ways that Kurobuta pork can be cooked. And it’s served bento-style with rice, salad, miso soup and small condiment dishes.
Kurobuta is a rare breed black-furred pig that originated from England, we’d probably know them better as Berkshire pigs. They’re prized for their juiciness, tenderness and high levels of marbling. Dare I say it’s the Gucci of the pork meat world?
Ton-Katsu $20.00
Deepfried Crumbed Kurobuta Loin
And lo and behold… a magnificent bento box! Fakegf’s crumbed Kurobuta loin was wonderfully buttery soft and really really flavorsome. It was also deepfried to perfection without any hint of old frying oils. Amazing. I secretly wished Kicci (who recently guest posted Rockpool) was here to try this and comment about it, him being a carnivore who really knows his meats. And you should also note that I’m generally not a fan of deep fried foods (including tonkatsu), but that piece of pork was… wow!
The other components in the bento were also very good. In particular, the miso soup. It had an exceptional smokiness that can only come from dashi made from real konbu (kelp) and katsubuoshi (bonito) flakes. No powdered, rehydrated nonsense here.
There’s also other meats and seafoods on the lunch menu, the deep fried crumbed chicken (not in picture) was cutely named as “Chikin-Katsu”. Aaaaaa… so kawaii!!
The other thing I liked about this place was how all the sauces are served on the side. How many times have we been served a perfectly good dish only to see that it’s been drowned in too much sauce?
Here, the sauces were delicious, and you get to choose how much or how little dressing/sauce you want with your dish.
Shoga-Yaki $19.00
Pan Grilled Sliced Kurobuta w/ Special Ginger Soy
I did a common food blogger’s mistake of ordering something different just for the sake of the blog. I had a hunch that the ‘special ginger soy’ in this dish would probably be on the sweet side. True enough it was.
The pork was once again of good quality, but I wasn’t that keen on the sweet soy sauce. Fakegf liked it’s gingeryness though. But I definitely enjoyed the finely julienned mountain of salad we each had. It went nicely with the ponzu-like vinaigrette. And guess what? Currently for lunch, you are welcome to ask for top-up salad, miso soup and rice… free of charge!
Gypsy & Pig served such a good quality lunch. Every aspect of that simple meal was cooked and served with that wonderful Japanese sensibility of giving thought and attention to detail. I’m really keen on coming back.
Meet Fresh
147 Swanston St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
meetfresh.net
GoogleMap
Dessert isn’t offered during lunches at Gypsy & Pig, so we had to find somewhere in the city for our fix.
Remember how I said it’s the people around me who clues me in on where to eat? Well, once again, it was Fakegf who told me about Meet Fresh. Gee I’m really so not ahead of my game, haha!
I believe Meet Fresh is a chain of Taiwanese dessert stores that has taken Sydney by storm. And this is the first branch ever in Victoria. Looking at Urbanspoon reviews, this flagship store is doing badly (54% rating) at the time of writing. But I don’t trust Urbanspoon anyway, especially when it comes to Asian food.
Lotus Seeds Tofu Pudding $5.20
Herbal Jelly No. 3 (Red Beans + Peanuts + Pearls) $5.50
When we visited, the dessert store was so newly opened that they gave a free Taro Ball Special dessert with every dessert ordered. I wasn’t a fan of the large and oddly chewy-hard taro balls though.
Meet Fresh is a promising Asian dessert café in Melbourne’s CBD, a good option if you’re bored with Monga and Dessert Story. But it’s a very small café on a busy stretch of Swanston St. I suspect it’s going to be a quite annoying trying to get a table during peak hours. And realistically speaking, I also have this feeling that, like many Asian places in Melbourne, service and food quality is likely to go up and down. I’ll keep revisiting during quiet hours though, I love my Asian desserts too much! =)
Yes more pork and more Izakaya please!!!!
It’s great to see good Japanese places in Melb. :)
Having had the fortunate experience of taiwanese desserts in taiwan, I have been on an eternal hunt for good replicas outside of taiwan. I found Meet Fresh to be fairly decent on that scale, though I haven’t tried their taro balls yet. At least their pearls are a lot closer to the real deal than any of the bubble tea places!
Celeste@berrytravels recently posted..Eating Out: Zedz Cafe @ Adelaide Central Market, Adelaide
Haha I am not use to the big taro balls’ texture. But will keep visiting to see if they keep up with their quality. I hear it isn’t the same standard as it is in Syd.
Sigh I love Gypsy and Pig! I didn’t quite enjoy Meet Fresh as much maybe I’m really not an Asian dessert person!
msihua recently posted..Guillaume Brahimi’s Paris Mash Recipe – Silky Smooth Goodness
Gypsy n pig was so good! I’m waiting for u and Agnes to publish Double Nama before I do so. =)
I’d forgotten reading about Gypsy Pig but I remembered again once I saw the photograph of the pretty pig ornament, and you mentioned the pork they use. Definitely a place I’d like to check out.
As for Meet Fresh I’ve seen it but not tried yet. There are so many Asian dessert places in the city now, I don’t know where to start!
leaf (the indolent cook) recently posted..bundo raya: padang indonesian food, prahran
It’s a good place, prob book a table if you going there for dinner, cos it’s a small restaurant :)
That japanese place looks beyond cute! I must visit there sometime soon and I still haven’t gotten around to visiting Meet Fresh either! So many places to go
Catherine recently posted..San Telmo
That’s the eternal quandary. Too little time, too many places to visit. Have to prioritise. =)
Asian dessert places really are the “in” thing, aren’t they?! I still remembered when I was in my 1st yr in melb how ppl kept suggesting to go to places like Max Brenner’s or Koko Black… Aih! Asian desserts def tickles my fancy even more. My Meet Fresh experience in Sydney was rather disappointing but I can see how this would be more promising, fingers crossed! And so THAT’S the restaurant that those gals kept talking abt that day… Have to try now haha!
Winston recently posted..Wince’s Faves: Ume Sushi House & Brother Baba Budan, CBD
The Asian dessertplaces have only started taking Melbourne by storm 2 years ago. I remember in my first year of blogging, I was like you. Can’t think of dessert places at night. Now we have quite a few, yay!
There’s been a lot of hype about gypsy and pig recently, and I have to admit that their tonkatsu looks amazing, served on the traditional wire-rack and everything! It seems a bit pricey though, especially given the size.
That tofu lotus pudding looks lovely, and it’s something you can’t seem to get too often, but I’ve always had issues with the name ‘meet fresh’ – it sounds way too much like fresh meat! D:
Ming @ sweetandsourfork recently posted..Dessert Story (Glen Waverley)
Didnt know there was a buzz about Gypsy & Pig. But I know I liked it.
For that quality cut of Kurobuta and amazing cooking, its def worth the slightly high price tag. :)