Grace the Establishment

Hi everyone!

I'm terribly sorry about the lack of posts recently. Quite frankly, I've had nothing to post about and I didn't think it was worth boring you over my everyday life! Term 2 has finished and I am lucky enough to have a 3 week break. There is SO much school work to be done, however all my teachers have stressed that it's important to go out and have a good time to balance out all the hard work, so my friends and I have a whole list of places we hope to visit before the end of the three weeks!

Today, three of my friends and I visited Grace the Establishment for lunch before catching a movie. I've heard so much about this place so I was pretty excited to try it out!

 It was divided into 3 sections; the restaurant (above), the beer garden and the bar (below).

 We chose to sit in the bar area today.

Condiments and bar food menu

 The food!

We had a pretty hard time deciding what to get so we narrowed it down to a couple of items to share.

 Fried Chicken

Cajun Spice, Bourbon Whiskey Jam  $12

"That's really not much for $12" was my first thought when this first came out. I didn't love this but I still enjoyed it. I liked the combination of the chicken with the jam, and I usually enjoy anything with cajun spice!

 Smoked Coca Cola Pork Ribs

Apple Slaw $18

SO GOOD! The meat was so tender and the sauce-y glaze was so rich and delicious. I didn't detect much of a Coca Cola flavour, though. They weren't overly smokey, which I liked, and were complimented very nicely by the apple slaw. I'm not usually a fan of coleslaw but I actually really enjoyed this one. I definitely recommend giving this a go!

 Korean Pork Bun

Kim Chi, Chilli, Mayonnaise $9

Mini New York Style Hot Dog

Schultz Bacon, Pickles & Cheese $9

(Top left) Chilli Fries with Aerated Cheese $7.50

(Bottom right) French Fries with Tomato Ketchup $6.50

With their 'Sliders & Buns' deal, 2 sliders and/or buns with fries cost $18. We ordered two so that we'd all be able to try a bit of everything. I think these might have been my favourite item out of the whole bunch. The buns were so delicious, soft and not too dense - just the way I like it! The pork was so tender and juicy and tasted amazing with the kimchi and mayo. The hot dog was great but I think it was the pork that definitely won me over. I definitely recommend trying both!
The fries weren't overly special but thoroughly enjoyed by all of us.

Mac & Cheese $8

This photo is SO deceiving. It looks quite large but the portion was so tiny! If you scroll back up to the photo of all the food, you'll notice how small it is compared to everything else. We all still enjoyed it - very warm, creamy and cheesy! Worth $8 though? I don't know...

Dessert! 

Grace Salted Caramel Chocolate Bar

Nougat, Peanuts, Milk & Dark Chocolate $7.50

Too be completely honest, this tasted like a slightly fancier version of a Snickers bar with salt sprinkled on top. However, the salt did add a nice touch to it and we all enjoyed it! Splitting into 4 was so difficult because the nougat was almost rock hard, making it an absolute pain to cut through! I thought $7.50 was a bit too expensive for this, though. 

D.I.Y Donuts

Cinnamon, Aerated Chocolate Sauce $10

I love this idea! It was lots of fun (and very messy!) playing with the syringes and injecting their contents into the donuts. However, I personally didn't love how it tasted. The donuts were really dense and that made it hard to inject more of the chocolate or raspberry. The donuts also had a strange taste - almost bitter. My sister also had the same experience the last time she dined here. So basically, I think this is a really fun idea and it would be even better if the actual elements of it tasted better. 

Though I didn't adore the food as much as I thought I would, I still think it's a great restaurant. I love the atmosphere and how the decor really adds to it. The bar area is very relaxed and I liked how the large tables made sharing lots of food very easy. The restaurant looked so gorgeous and I liked the use of natural lighting. Also, the staff were super friendly which made our visit much more pleasant. I found it a little annoying how the advertised opening time is 11am, yet the kitchen only opened at 12pm. We were left waiting for an extremely long time (~ 40 minutes) with only a jug of orange juice. That would probably be my biggest complaint. 

One day, I'll have to come back and try the restaurant food, as well as take advantage of some of their specials deals like 'Taco Tuesday', 'Rib Night' and their Happy Hours (when I'm legal, of course :P). 

Overall, 8.5/10

Vy 

xo

 

Top 5 songs of the moment

Hello everyone,
Hope you're all well.

So week 1 of term 2 just finished and I have to say, this year is going WAY too quickly! There are only 6 more weeks until my mid year exams, and just over 20 weeks until I finish year 12! Wow.
While I haven't been out at all since school started, I still wanted to keep my blog active with other sorts of posts. Today, I thought I'd bring you a post about my current favourite songs.

I'm an avid music lover. I love all sorts of music - I've played the violin for 12 years and the piano for 11 years so I absolutely love 'classical' music. 'Classical' is in inverted commas because it's the general, socially accepted broad label given to any music before the contemporary era. Specifically, I love the Romantic era!
Recently, I've also developed a love for old school jazz. It's so relaxing and perfect to listen to while I study, if I ever feel the need to have something in the background.
I'm also a big fan of music that is 'different'. Don't get me wrong, I love jamming to a bit of Bruno Mars now and again, but I love artists such as Kimbra (who I had the pleasure of meeting last year!) who aren't afraid to stand out. I also love Radiohead, who's songs are just brilliant, and The Sundance Kids, who broke up at the end of last year but will always remain as one of my favourite bands.
I also don't mind a bit of K-pop!

I honestly could go on forever about my loves in music but I wouldn't be able to stop myself writing a novel! So, let's just get straight into it.

In no particular order,

1. Get Lucky
    Artist: Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams.
    Album: Random Access Memories

Oh my goodness, this song. I have been a fan of Daft Punk for such a long time so when I found out that they'd be releasing this song, I was ecstatic! It's been sooo long since they've released anything, but this makes up for the wait. I saw the Coachella preview and let me tell you, I couldn't stay still in my seat! I love the vibe this song gives off - like a 70s dance track. It's just a general feel-good song and I can't get enough of it. Also, I think Pharrell's voice suits the song very well. Get Lucky is slightly different to their older songs, but I still love it. I'm very excited for the rest of the album to be released later this month!

2. Q.U.E.E.N
    Artist: Janelle Monae ft. Erykah Badu
    Album: The Electric Lady

The first time I watched the music video for this song, I immediately fell in love. Every single aspect of it appealed to me. Firstly, I think Janelle Monae's voice is incredible. I really love the slight edge in her voice, though it sounds like she's speaking-singing sometimes. I think the song is lots of fun and the beat is great! Also, the subtle synth sounds in the background for the majority of the song which carries the main melody also adds a nice touch.
I love how the main colours of the video are red, white and black. The striped dresses that the back up dancers are wearing are FABULOUS! I really want one! Also, kudos to the makeup artist/s. Janelle's simple look consisting of a bright red lip, simple lined eyes, highlighting, contouring and flawless skin suited her extremely well and she looks gorgeous. However, what really caught my attention was the back up dancers' makeup looks at 1:45. I loved how the makeup artist emphasised their eyes with the cut crease using black liner and applying white eyeshadow to the lids. Amazing!

3. Let Her Go
    Artist: Passenger
    Album: All the Little Lights

I must admit the first time I heard this song, I didn't really take any notice of it. However, my sister went to Ed Sheeran's concert where Passenger was a support act and she couldn't stop raving about him, so I decided to give this song another go. What also really helped was that this song was often played on the radio so I'd hear it when I was driving or on my way to school. I really like how different his voice is, and how it actually couples quite nicely with this kind of song. I love the melody and how soothing the song is.

4. Crave You
    Artist: Flight Facilities ft. Giselle
    Album: [single]

Ever since I discovered Flight Facilities last year, I've been absolutely obsessed. I listened to their singles so often that I was scared I'd get sick of them, but they're so difficult to dislike! This year, Flight Facilities released I Didn't Believe featuring the vocals of Elizabeth Rose but it just doesn't have the same appeal to me as Crave You, released back in 2010. I love the clever lyrics and the vocals against the chord progressions in the background. Overall a very chilled song that's infectious and extremely hard to get sick of!

5. Carried Away
    Artist: Passion Pit
    Album: Gossamer

I LOVE this! It's such a fun song but the lyrics hint at difficulties between two different people but are still trying to maintain a relationship (my interpretation and also from what I've read online). I haven't been a huge Passion Pit fan for very long - I actually stumbled upon them while watching Rage one morning. However, I have to say that this is one of my favourite songs by them. I find it impossible to not sing along whenever I hear it! Also, I think Sophia Bush is gorgeous in the video and had a really fun character to portray.

Thanks for reading everyone! Hope you enjoyed a taste of the kind of music I enjoy :)
Much love as always.
Vy
xo