Food & Drink. Travel. Est. 2005
Where to eat on Melbourne’s and Australia’s famous eat streets.
There are many places to drink wine in South Africa. But there are few wine bars and even fewer that hit the spot like Cape Town’s Publik. It’s a sad state of affairs when rather than visit a wine bar, I prefer to tap into my own cellar at home. But first, let’s look at what we want from a wine bar. In my previous home city of Melbourne, a wine bar would focus on boutique producers of wine (sometimes […]
There’s a new trend in restaurants and cafes. Design it for Instagram sharability. Pidapipo on Chapel Street has done a reasonable job strategically placing its neon so it can be photographed with Hawker Hall’s neon in the background. Match Mylkbar takes it to the extreme, from the neon green finger in its window to… well pretty much everything about the place. The lattes come in all colours of the rainbow from regular to mushroom, pink (beetroot), green (matcha) an golden […]
The irony. Once famed for its Tits ‘n Snitz, the Newmarket Hotel has a new buzzing addition to its basement, The House of Crabs. The new owners of the venue, The Dixon Group, have taken a once slick but barely visited venue and nailed a few planks to the six degrees design, added some cheap backlit menus and a sun umbrella. And it works.
Once upon a time people blogged. And they met up. So here I am eating with Kenny from the west and the blog Consider the Sauce to chew on blogging, social media and the food of Kwan’s Table. Kwan’s is bright and contemporary replacement to Inkr7, a once popular cafe on this corner on Inkerman Street. The food is here is pretty good though not as hot or spiced as you’d find in many Thai restaurants. But the ingredients are […]
Queues who needs them? I’ve learnt to accept the queues for restaurants on Flinders Lane. I’ll pick an unpopular night and/or time for a visit. Or I’ll plan a Negroni or two around the corner for the hour or so I have to wait. Lune Croissant is a different story. People are rising before dawn to queue for croissants (see pics). Not only that they are queueing in the dark and the cold but are leaving empty handed, myself included. […]
A fish dish was the essence of a rockpool. The pullet egg with truffles and mushrooms like a forest floor. It was the evening before opening at Saint Crispin. And the restaurant was already hitting its stride. Chefs Scott Pickett of The Estelle and Joe Grbac, formerly of The Press Club, were working with the kind of seasoned intensity you only find in the world’s best kitchens. Rewind 5 years. Smith Street was all but a culinary wasteland being colonised […]
Moon Under Water, George Orwell, Evening Standard, February 1946 George Orwell: My favourite public-house, the Moon Under Water, is only two minutes from a bus stop, but it is on a side-street, and drunks and rowdies never seem to find their way there, even on Saturday nights. Moon Under Water, Andrew McConnell, Gertrude St, July 2012 Tomatom: First, the public house is called the Builders Arms and it is also close to the tram stop on Gertrude St. The entrance […]
I had to think long and hard about attending this dinner. But the fooderati came and ate. $275 for a Thai meal. That’s 13 courses cooked by David Thompson and pretty much unlimited booze. I’ve never spent so much on what is a function meal but I’m glad I did sitting on the corner of the bar seeing David sweating over the woks and pestle and mortar rejecting dishes that weren’t good enough. Usually when you stuff 150 or so […]
Try a canelé at Pei Modern for #melbwinter In summer we sit on the streets and on the rooftops. But winter in Melbourne is equally specially with plenty of dark warm rooms to hibernate in to eat and drink (in addition to the films, fireworks and footy). I’ve been asked with several other high profile Melbournians including Guy Grossi (Melbourne restauranter), Andy Murphy (DJ), Lauren Brain (Nova radio), Thom Whilton (Melbourne fashion blogger), Tim Blackwell (Nova radio) and Bianca Chatfield […]