Auction Rooms ~ North Melbourne

103-107 Errol St

North Melbourne, 3051

(03)9326 7749

Let the sunshine in! The best thing about the Auction Rooms all year round is.....the coffee. The best thing about the Auction Rooms in winter, is the fact it's on the sunny side of the road! Warmth in winter! Hooray!

Choosing where the sun hits when you dine with your dogs is important this time of year!

We were also very lucky that we arrived in peak hour at the Auction Rooms, but everyone was waiting for a table inside. Sitting at a little table street side, surrounded by bench seats of hungry patrons awaiting their tables inside, we were served our stellar coffees in record time. 

Poppet on crowd control

Observations tell us though, if you were planning to visit here don't be deterred by the crowds swarming outside. Traffic moved really quickly and the dogs met a stream of people over our brunch who only had a short wait before being shown to their tables inside. 

coffeeeeee please!

The menu may require you 'googling' a few ingredients, but that is the beauty of such a simple, yet complex menu. Discovery.

We chose a sweet and savoury dish. The poached quince on brioche was to die for. 

Free range eggs with a beetroot relish was also, simply delightful.

The girls had a wonderful time, complete with lots of human interactions (including a little man on his first legs!) and a few toast droppings washed down with water from the dog bowl out the front. 

One thing for sure is, the sunshine truly made our morning. Head on over to the Auction Rooms in the colder months when you can appreciate the beautiful sunshine. The dogs will love you for it!

Chicco ~ Seddon

77 Charles St 

Seddon, 3011

ph (03) 9687 7194

We are so pleased with the fresh, new vibe of this café space in Seddon. The staff are down-to-earth, accommodating and friendly. The coat of white paint has brightened up this café, which really reflects the whole vibe of the new management and staff. It’s bright, funky and innovative ;)

This particular morning, we got up early to watch the Olympics. Our coffee and mocha did the trick to perk the humans up, but the pugs were still not happy! They love their sleep-ins, especially in winter!

Gypsy couldn’t even bring herself to look at the camera, let alone give us a smile! 

Definitely not a morning pug!

I’m sleeeeeeepy! I want to go back to bed!

Whilst the pugs weren’t too happy with our early morning start, the humans accompanying them were more than content with their breakfast choice of eggs on the menu. With delights such as ‘beetroot relish’ and ‘minted eggplant’ alongside eggs, it was hard to steer away from these menu items. However, it must be noted, that if you are after something sweet, this café has a wonderful selection of cakes ;)

We requested our Free Range Eggs to be scrambled, and the chef was obliging. We were extremely happy with our friendly service, and were blessed with the rare, yet welcoming stream of sunshine that hit our table to keep us warm!

Have you ever seen these beautiful brown eyes so sad! 

I will never wake them at 4:30am again! Grumpy!

We will definitely revisit Chicco, next time a little later so we are leaning more towards the ‘unch’ not the ‘br’ if you get our gist!  We have learnt our lesson, that our pugs do not do early mornings!

Till next time!

The Boathouse & Maribyrnong River Trail

7 The Blvd

Moonee Ponds 3039

ph (03) 9375 2456

Perched on the banks of the Maribyrnong River is The Boathouse; a haven for dog lovers and those who love the great outdoors.  

'The Boathouse is a collaboration between Gary Mehigan judge and co-host of Channel Ten’s hugely successful MasterChef series and partner Steve Bogdani with a vision to share life’s simple pleasures done really well.

The Boathouse is dog-friendly in the sense that it caters for dogs by providing an area to leash them, but they are not permitted in the actual alfresco area. We usually have the dogs right at our feet, so even though we sat on the seats right near the leashed area, I would've felt more comfortable if they were right with us as per our normal cafe experiences. Many people always approach our dogs wanting to meet them and as responsible pet owners, we want to facilitate that meeting so the dogs (or humans in some cases!) socialise appropriately. I found myself continually leaving the table, weaving under the balcony and to the leash area for this. When they weren't meeting and greeting new humans and dogs, the girls were happy rummaging through the sticks and leaves ;)

Gypsy's lead is attached to a long wire which she can move up and down on right in front of our table.

We met one lovely reader of our blog who approached the dogs and she was as excited to meet the dogs as they were to meet her ;) It is always lovely to meet people who appreciate our blog. We love sharing dog-friendly places with families with dogs and importantly, we feel a strong passion for spreading awareness about animal welfare issues also. 

Back to the Boathouse brunch.....

River Run Breakfast

Breakfast Pizza

Brunch at the Boathouse finishes at 11:30am on Sunday, so don't sleep in then venture out for a 'Lazy Sunday' brunch, expecting to be served eggs later in the day here! It is not unlike us to be venturing to brunch closer to 'lunch' on Sundays, so fortunately we made an earlier start on this particular day, and were able to be served eggs in the form of poached on the 'Breakfast Pizza' and scrambled on the 'River Run Breakfast' plate ;)

After brunch, we ventured along the Maribyrnong River Trail near the Boathouse. We walked a lovely circuit along both sides of the river, alongside many other dogs ;) Gypsy loved springing like a rabbit in and out of the river reeds along the bank and Poppet of course, was walking close by us on the pathway ;) 

If you don't like leaving your dogs leashed up, opt for a take away coffee @ The Boathouse and enjoy the river trail with your dog. Alternatively, we did see others leave The Boathouse with fresh muffins to eat on their bench seats overlooking the river ;) 

The Boathouse is pinned. We followed the Maribyrnong River up to Riverside Park where there is a walking bridge to cross to the other side. We then followed the River all the way up to Raleigh Rd.

Miss Marmalade & Gilpin Park

Upon recommendation, we ventured to Brunswick to sample the delights of 'Miss Marmalade'. Stating on their website that dogs are always welcome on the terrace, we felt relaxed knowing we were visiting a dog-lovers cafe! We were reassured when we saw three other dogs brunching with their owners. It is wonderful to see so many people out and about with their dogs on the weekend. Doggy brunching is trending ;)

Drinks arrived promptly. We had a case of envy when we saw the Bloody Mary menu after we had ordered. One arrived at a nearby table and looked amazing!

Gypsy and Poppet were brunch dating with their cousin Rufi today. 

Here is Rufi getting a kiss on both cheeks from the pugs.

Rufi in a pug sandwich!

The breakfast menu was fantastic. So many choices and we love a cafe that put a twist on staple breakfast items. Like pancakes. 

Wait for it.....Gingerbread hotcakes with poached fruit, Tahitian vanilla bean and maple mascarpone and chopped pistachios! 

The only negative in ordering something this decadent is if the pugs catch a glimpse of it first......then eating becomes a sport of not giving in to guilty eyes that cry 'please, please, please'.....

We are sure we read pancakes on the Doggy Menu!!??

Is any of that for me?

The other menu choice that was popular on our table was Jacks cheddar on organic sour dough with vine ripened tomatoes and rosemary with a hash brown and bacon.

View the breakfast menu here:

Miss Marmalade Breakfast Menu

Or better still, head on over there for brunch today! ;)

Gilpin Park

Albert St,

Brunswick

Rufi showed us one of the many off-leash dog parks in Brunswick. Gilpin Park is close to Miss Marmalade and a lovely haven for dogs and their owners surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Brunswick. There is nothing manicured about this park, it felt more like we were in bushland and for dogs who love exploring, what more could you want?!

Gypsy and Rufi playing fetch. 

For the humans, there were wide walking tracks, but we have been blessed with sunshine over the past few days in Melbourne, so the grass wasn't too wet and we enjoyed the 'discovery trail' just as much as the girls did. If your dog loves puddles though, be prepared!  There are plenty here! Mud baths for dogs! Gypsy loves planking. In puddles. It's her sport. As you can see below, Poppet hates getting her paws wet. She will crazy yoga style reach over water to not get her paws wet. Bless her heart.

There is a dog waterbowl on the walking track. We only spotted this one but the park is small enough that you reach the waterbowl on a quick ten minute lap.

Poppet met another pug called Murphy. Pug kisses. Aw! For Pug-lovers, Murphy's Mum informed us that there are five pugs in the area that regularly visit the park. 

Here are a list of other off-leash parks in Brunswick, as noted on the Moreland City Council webpage. Check your council webpages for further information and advice on visiting off-leash parks.

A G Gillon Oval, Hope Street. Melways 29 E6

Balfe Park, John Street.  Melways 30 A9

Clifton Park, Victoria Street. Melways 29 E7

Fleming Park, Victoria Street. Melways 30 A8

Methven Park, Methven Street. Melways 29 K8

Reaburn Reserve, Pearson Street. Melways 29 E7

Roberts Reserve, Harrison Street. Melways 30 B6

Another day, another brunch and park visit. 

Tough life being a pampered pug!