ABOUT GFGM

gastronomy
ɡaˈstrɒnəmi/
noun
  1. the practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food.



Good Food, Good Mood was established after I realised how often I was asking myself the difficult question of "Where and what should we eat today?". The Melbourne food scene truly makes us spoilt for choice, so I am hoping my honest reviews can act as a guide for any occasion - from cheap eats to fine dining, to burgers and pizza on cheat days, to fresh and healthy on cutting days. Recommendations on places to try and review are always welcome, just leave a comment.

All photos are taken with my Samsung Note 4 or Sony NEX-F3 unless stated otherwise. Thanks for dropping by!

- Lisa Pizza xo


P.S. Shoutout to my friends and family who dine with me - thanks for not picking up your cutlery when the food comes out so I can take all my food photos... y'all know my camera eats first haha.

Auction Rooms


Hello loyal readers!!!

Thank you for being patient with me during my super long blogging hiatus! Please expect an influx of food posts now that I am on HOLIDAYS, woohoo. To be frank - I actually finished exams on the 14th of June but I've been extreeeeeemely busy working everyday since! Due to my laziness, I'm starting to regret not bringing my camera along with me because I've been to many 'new' restaurants in the past couple of weeks and iPhone 4s photo quality is deplorable. 

I want to start off my holiday posts with a lovely visit to AUCTION ROOMS. Located just 5 minutes from my workplace, I decided to fill my stomach there because I finish work early on Fridays. My, my, my...... it was certainly a pleasant surprise. 


Think - open spaces, friendly service and aesthetic food presentation. What more could you ask for? The list of positive describing words is never ending. My favourite part of the eating experience was the brewing techniques that Auction Rooms has implemented in their menu for avid coffee enthusiasts like myself. When my best friend and I entered, we were expecting a long wait as the place was bustling with people ranging from families to businessmen (and businesswomen) to couples and friends. It's such a great place to meet for coffee and there is plenty of street parking surrounding the old industrial-looking warehouse. The wait to be seated was around 20 minutes and I would have preferred it if they had handed us menus (like Mamasita's system) so what we wanted to eat was pre-determined before we sat down. I was wishing in my head that I wouldn't be seated at the two seaters right next to the door way because I really don't like it when people stare at me while I'm snap snapping away at my food *rolls eyes, another Asian taking photos of their food*. In the end we had a choice of either sitting in the back room THAT HAD A TREE or on the bench where coffee magic was being created. The best friend chose to sit on the coffee bench and I'm so glad we did! We were greeted by a lovely barista who moved to Melbourne from Adelaide and we were just chatting away about coffee and the way he was preparing it... through SYPHONS! I had an idea what a syphon was, only because Vietnamese people prepare drip coffee in a similar way... but watching the fire, the glassware and the entire process was rather enchanting. 

The normal barista area behind us. 

Beef Cheek with fried egg (sunny side up) and raddish.
This was a bit salty for my liking but it sounded so delicious on the menu. Auction Room meals are always seasonal (this time last year they had beef cheek in a sandwich) so you need to go and try or you will miss an opportunity! I probably wouldn't order this again because although the cheek was extremely tender, the dish on a whole was plain and dry.

"The Shady Deal" - shakshouka with poached eggs and sausage.
Now that we are in the midst of Winter, I am always looking out for soups and hearty foods to keep me warm. Egg noodle soup with duck is currently my favourite thing to eat. This shakshouka looks smaller than it actually is in real life. Well proportioned, good balance of flavours and the whole notion of dipping is so fun!

Sarah's photography skilllls haha. 
Now finally! Introducing the syphon! I know many cafes around Melbourne already incorporate syphons into their menu but it was fun to be able to sit at the bench and watch the magic happen right before my eyes. The barista was extremely friendly and helpful. In my opinion, service and hospitality from the employees is so important. On my trip to Proud Mary, I found the waiters very rude and people who arrived after us who happened to be the waitresses friends were seated first. Talk about shit service! Never going there again.

My coffee! Filtered GOLDEN TICKET!
It was too strong and sour for my liking. I can never drink black coffee without adding milk or condensed milk. It just felt like drinking tea because the flavour was tangy. I'll probably stick to a normal coffee on my next visit, I just wanted to see how it worked and take photos with the pretty tea set.

Every coffee comes with an information card for more avid coffee lovers than myself. The aroma of coffee when you walk in to Auction Rooms just hugs your insides and makes you want to see what the fuss is all about. 

Winter Fruit Salad (to share)
If only I had the time and patience to prepare this for myself every day... I would be the world's biggest fruit eater! The fruits ranged from golden kiwi, strawberries, green apples, oranges, feijoa, pear and pomegranate with yoghurt and sesame snaps. The feijoa was BLOODY SOUR!!! The first time I ever tried it was in a spread for my scones at Lady Bower Kitchen. The rest of the fruits were pretty average.  I much prefer summer fruits!!! Will have to go back here in a few months time to try the summer fruit salad :) 
Find more images like this on Instagram! @badasiandriver :)
Sweets at the register that you don't even see unless you enter from the other door. There is an eat in side and a takeaway side for coffee on the go. Auction Room is the type of cafe that I would recommend to ALL my friends.


Auction Rooms
Address: 103-107 Errol Street North Melbourne 3051
Contact: 9326 7749
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm, Weekends 7:30am - 5pm.
Price: $$-$$$ish
Website: http://www.auctionroomscafe.com.au/

Auction Rooms on Urbanspoon


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