Operator25

Address: 25 Wills St, Melbourne 3000 (Off Latrobe St, Between Queens & Williams St)
Phone: 03 9670 3278
Website: http://www.operator25.com.au
Twitter: @Operator25cafe
Facebook: here
Instagram: @operator25cafe

Foodie Partners: Ting Tangy

After you finish your morning’s shopping at the Queen Victoria Market, why not drop by this heritage listed building and enjoy some good coffee and food?
Back in the early 1900s, this heritage listed building was used as Melbourne’s first telephone exchange – but now behind these cobblestone walls is Operator25 – a cafe with a modern rustic ambience.

To start our mid Sunday morning brunch, my dear cousin Ting Tangy started off with a Koko deluxe hot chocolate, whilst I settled for a house blend flat white.
Ting Tangy enjoyed her hot chocolate – it wasn’t overly sweet nor was it overly rich. A perfect balance for my cousin.
At Operator25, they use Code Black Coffee beans. The first flat white I had for brunch was a seasonal blend: 50% Kenya Wakulima & 50% Guatemala El Pilar. It was very smooth and velvety.

Valerie who hosted us, recommended a few dishes for us to try. The first dish that Ting Tangy and I shared was the Cold Smoked Tasmanian Salmon, Rye Toast, Lemon Crème Fraiche, Piccalilli & Crispy Lilliput Capers.
The dish itself screams out SPRING! A visually appealing dish, with different flavours and texture. Valerie, who is one chefs at Operator25, told us that the Tasmanian Salmon is cold smoked rather than hot smoked as it stops the salmon from being mushy. She was right – the smoked Tasmanian salmon tasted fresh.
The rye toast were thinly sliced and toasted until very crisp. What I loved most about the dish was in fact the piccalilli which is an English interpretation of Indian pickles. It’s tumeric which gives it the bright yellow colour. The vegetables used in the pickle were cauliflower, celery, pears and cabbage. It really works the tastes buds! The other interesting element of the dish were the crispy lilliput capers. I like how the capers were fried until crispy – it still maintains the flavour of the capers, but less overpowering then if you were to eat the fresh capers.

The next dish that Tingy Tangy had was the open steak sandwich. When it arrived, Ting Tangy and I looked at each other and thought “oh no! not another food coma!” Luckily we didn’t end up in a food coma as we shared it.
This steak sandwich was epic – huge and full of fresh ingredients! As you can see in the photo below, the steak was cooked perfectly – The steak was juicy and tender. Ting Tangy and I smothered a good layer of the horseradish cream to give it a kick!
Whilst we were eating, Valerie introduced us to Felipe who is one of the chef at Operator 25. Both Valerie and Felipe have held positions at Bacash (awarded one hat in the good food guide), and together they have designed a menu that makes you sit there thinking for a very long time! All the dishes sound very appealing!

By the time we finished our steak sandwich we were feeling quite full, but we still had a “dessert” dish to try. We told Valerie to hold off the dish for a bit, so that we could digest our food before trying it. Whilst we were resting, I was very lucky enough to have a chat with Randy, who is one of the business partners. He introduced me to Mikael who is their head barista. Randy told us that Mikael is a part time model who previously worked for Manchester Press - so if you want a hot guy serving you coffee, Operator 25 is the place to go ;)

Whilst we were chatting, Randy brought over a Single Origin Flat White for me to try. I really love this single origin blend – it has blueberry & acai notes, giving it a fruity taste. I preferred this over the house blend.

The last dish Ting Tangy and I shared was the Tonka Bean and Coconut Sago with Mango, Citrus Curd and Pistachio Salted Caramel Crumbs. This dish is located under their breakfast menu – you can treat this as a breakfast item or you can have it as dessert.
Prior to visiting Operator25, I stalked checked out Operator25′s instagram, and saw this dish, and I knew that I had to order, it;s just too pretty!  So many layers of happiness! This dish is a very refreshing and healthy dish to try.

The first layer consists of a citrus curd, pistachio salted caramel crumbs and strawberries. The citrus curd has a real tangy taste and opens the palate for the rest of the dessert, whilst the pistachio salted caramel crumbs gave it texture.
The second layer was filled with freshly diced mangoes! The serving was generous and very fresh!
As for the final layer it was made up of tonka bean and coconut sago. Very light and lightly sweetened.
Ting Tangy kept talking, so I kept eating and then I just grabbed the whole glass and ate the rest of it because I liked it that much LOL.

After finishing this dish, I stayed for an additional 2 hours chatting to Randy about the business and the amount of work placed into the cafe. Being a food blogger, it really has opened up the opportunity to understand and appreciate the amount of effort and work required to keep the business up and running.

Melbourne’s weather is slowly picking up with more summery like days and with summer around the corner, so I would highly recommend my readers to give Operator 25 a try. It’s located near Flagstaff gardens. Operator25 offers sophisticated and presented beautifully dishes, along with service that is friendly and attentive.

Disclaimer: Peach Water and Ting Tangy dined courtesy of Operator25. All reviews on www.peach-water.com are honest and purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality at the time of visit

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