Category Archives: Eating out

Meat on the beach

Nshry 129a Beaconsfield Parade, Albert Park She says Last weekend we went to Middle Park to visit my best friend for lunch and decided to check out Nshry (pronounced Noshery I’m told) on Beaconsfield Parade, right down on the beach. Nshry is in a cute little building wedged between a running track and the beach […]

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Dinner and dessert, but mainly dessert

Lupino 41 Little Collins Street, CBD The other night I had dinner with a couple of friends from school. We wanted to go somewhere nice but reasonably priced in the city. I suggested Lupino and was glad I did, not too casual and not too fancy, Lupino was just right.  I had tried to visit a couple of […]

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Brunching with dogs

Ora Cafe 156 Parkington Street, Kew He says When I was younger I could go out on Saturday night, drink like a sailor on shore leave, and then get up the next day with nothing more than baggy eyes  and the irremovable smell of kebab. Out, damned kebab! Out I say! Unfortunately those days are […]

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Food truckin’

Gumbo Kitchen Check out their location daily on their twitter feed In the last 12 months there seems to have been an upmarket food truck explosion in Melbourne. Food trucks are certainly pretty popular overseas and I’m excited to see more of them popping up here. Gerard and I went on a holiday to the […]

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Hot beef + cold beer = happy hipsters

Huxtaburger 106 Smith St, Fitzroy She says I saw word on twitter  on Thursday that Huxtaburger, the new Smith St burger venture from the makers of Huxtable, had opened. By Friday afternoon I’d worked up a hunger by doing not a lot and thought that a burger would be the perfect end to the day. […]

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Snags in the city

Snag Stand Corner LaTrobe and Swanston Streets, CBD (outside Melbourne Central) He says When I was a little kid I loved going to the Victoria Market solely for the Bratwurst sausages that could be found in the Deli Hall. I can remember it like it was yesterday, the flaky bun, the crispy sausage, the mounds […]

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Last Taco for 13563km

Mamasita 1/11 Collins Street, Melbourne  He says Mamasita is the 800 pound gorilla of the Mexican food scene in Melbourne. If you’ve seen the 68 reviews on urbanspoon, or the daily queue of eager diners outside its unassuming doorway on Collins Street, it’s pretty hard to ignore. It is popular for a reason, but here is […]

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A little Italian between friends

Gorski & Jones 304 Smith Street, Collingwood  Gorski & Jones is yet another new restaurant on Smith Street with a vaguely industrial fit out, and a very pretty vaguely industrial fit out at that. I was going to rant here about how every second restaurant I see these days looks ecclectic and different in exactly the […]

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Quick Chat?

Chat Thai Westfield Level 6, Westfield Sydney, 188 Pitt St Mall Sydney When I’m away for work and I’ve finished for the day, there isn’t really that much to do afterwards. There is no rushing home for a hug from a loved one, or tinkering for hours on your life-size models of The Velvet Underground […]

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Here’s lookin at chu

Miss Chu 297 Exhibition St, Melbourne He Says Miss Chu, the self-proclaimed Queen of Rice Paper Rolls, has (a while ago now) opened up a Melbourne outpost on Exhibition Street. Apart from Trunk Dinner (I know, I know, it’s on THE LIST), and the Telstra Telephone Exchange, this end of the city has about as […]

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Fond of Mexican?

Fonda Mexican 248 Swan Street, Richmond She says It seems like we’re running with a bit of a Mexican (or seemingly Mexican) theme recently but it’s a complete coincidence, I promise. When I saw that Fonda Mexican had opened a week or so ago on Swan Street I couldn’t wait to try, certainly not long […]

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A drink with your dinner?

Naked for Satan 285 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy Last week I had dinner with my friend Wolf from work who recently quit to follow his dream of being a screenwriter. I’m still impressed that he actually had the guts to do it,  I would never be brave enough to do that. Maybe the difference is that […]

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My not particularly mexican cousin

My Mexican Cousin Corner Sturt Street and Southbank Boulevard, Southbank (in the Melbourne Recital Centre building) She says I’d seen a lot of mentions of My Mexican Cousin pop up on twitter in the last couple of weeks. The new collaboration between people behind institutions such as St Ali, St Jeromes and Saint Peter’s (I’m […]

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Tacos in the sun

Paco’s Tacos Level 1, 500 Bourke Street, CBD (corner of William) Do you remember where you were when you first heard about Paco’s Tacos? For me it was momentous, much like Princess Diana crashing, MJ dangling a baby out a window or Kim Kardashian getting divorced, it was the kind of defining moment that I will […]

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Don’t Look Back

Pillar of Salt 541 Church St, Richmond He Says Now we’ve visited some oddly named establishments before, but the name Pillar of Salt is particularly unusual, and by name alone, it could be dangerously inedible. After some good old fashion googling, Wikipedia informed me that it’s either a reference to Lot’s wife from the Biblical […]

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Good Morning Sapa Hills 2

Sapa Hills 2 621 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, Victoria She says The other Sunday I was craving an udon from my local Japanese restaurant Samurai (home of the famous recession busting $15 dinner box with soup, entree, main and milkshake) but then I realised that it’s closed on Sundays. I wasn’t really interested in branching out […]

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Afternoon delight

Burch & Purchese 647 Chapel Street, South Yarra She says Time for a sugar hit. After lunch the other day Gerard and I decided to finally go to Burch & Purchese, the ‘sweet studio’ in South Yarra that everyone’s been talking about for ages now. We’re well behind the trend on this one. We’re so […]

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Another dumpling date for two

Shanghai Street Dumpling 342 Little Bourke Street, CBD (just off corner of Elizabeth) She says: Last Monday night we went to Shanghai Street Dumplings for dinner. The tiny restaurant is on Little Bourke, tucked off Elizabeth between a pie face and a sushi place. The restaurant is really small, it was lucky we got there […]

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Falling off the edge of the world

The Bottom End 579 Little Collins Street, CBD He says: Walking into The Bottom End is like stepping back into a 50s diner that’s been ravaged by The Hatter. It mixes wholesome diner style booths with eclectic mermaid statues and dim lighting that I’d describe as “intimate” at best. The menu has a great mix […]

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To the moon and back

Life on Mars 842 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn He says: I’ve only seen Total Recall once, dubbed over in Italian which unfortunately I don’t speak a word of. Apart from the three breasted stripper and Arnie kicking a lot of evil corporate ass, the only other part of the movie that made any sense to me […]

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A little bit of Luxbite

Luxbite 38 Toorak Road, South Yarra A very little post today.  My birthday was last Tuesday and a friend who was at Luxbite picked me up a little pack of sugary goodness (AKA macarons). The macarons can be bought in person or ordered online for pick up (boxed sets only). Individually I think they are $2.50 […]

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Birthday sparkler with a side of ice-cream

St Katherine’s

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I couldn’t think of a Hardware Societe Pun

The Hardware Societe 120 Hardware Ln, Melbourne She says I’d heard a lot about hardware société and had always wanted to go for lunch but felt like it was just that little bit too far from work and probably way too hard to get a table. In the end I decided that a weekend brunch […]

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You’ve been Axiled

Axil Coffee Roasters 322 Burwood Road, Hawthorn He says: Sometimes I’m just oblivious to the world. I’ve driven past Axil for the last couple of months, and hadn’t noticed its imposing Burwood Road frontage; or maybe I was just trying to suppress memories of the Glenferrie hotel. Once I’d gotten my head out of the […]

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Lunch with a new vue

Vue de Monde Level 55, 525 Collins Street (Via express lift from the Vue de Monde desk in the Rialto lobby) She says: This post is brought to you by express lunches, guest-writer Colin Hill and the number 7. My birthday is coming up this week and so my friend Colin Hill suggested that we […]

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Who Framed Roger Rabbit

The Dip 55 Liverpool St, Chinatown, Sydney (inside GoodGod) If you haven’t already noticed, I have this unashamed love of American style food. Good quality American food, not the three cheeseburgers at the Circular Quay McDonalds kind, but  food that has been carefully assembled, tastes great, but is still a little on the comfort food […]

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The last people (and burgers) on earth

Burger Monster Harbour Town Shopping Centre, Docklands He says: Sometimes you don’t want a Wagyu beef burger furnished with biodynamic vegetables and tomato sauce made from tomatoes only harvested during a full moon. You want a good old fashioned hamburger. Like the one from your local fish and chip shop, except you want it to […]

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Over the bridge and far away

Pint of Milk 19 North Road, Newport Riddle me this: what’s silver, weighs a tonne and has multiple headaches? Answer: my car full of hungover friends last Saturday. Ok, that was a really lame riddle, but I’m struggling to think a little just remembering how tired everyone was last week. My friend Strawberry Fields lives […]

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Sticky fingers on Victoria St

Thanh Tam 172 Victoria Street, Richmond Last Wednesday I went home after work and was all settled in to my E! reality show catch up session when I got a last minute call from my best friend asking if I wanted to go for dinner on Victoria Street. So I dragged myself away from the […]

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The fairest dumplings of them all?

HuTong Dumpling Bar 14 – 16 Market Lane, CBD She says: HuTong gets a lot of praise and is often credited with serving the best dumplings in Melbourne. Despite the hype and my (completely unhealthy and obsessive) love of dumplings I’ve only been to HuTong once before, not long after it opened back in 2009. […]

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Once you Jock you can’t stop

Jock’s ice cream 83 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park She says: Just a little one today, the weather was so nice that after brunch at Mart the other week that we all walked (and yes, by walked I mean drove) down to Jock’s for ice cream. I definitely didn’t need it, but I sure enjoyed it. I don’t […]

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Stopping All Stations to Mart

Mart 130 107 Canterbury Road, Middle Park He says: I must admit, I fell in love with Mart when I first laid eyes on it. Nestled in an old train station on the converted 96 tram route on the outskirts of Albert Park, Mart is picturesque. It’s the kind of cafe that you’ve always dreamed […]

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Pizza worship

Pizza Religion 493 Tooronga Road, Hawthorn East The other day I caught up with a friend from uni C for dinner after work. C works in Box Hill so we normally dinner out there or near my place. This time we decided to go to pizza religion, a pizza place near my house that Gerard […]

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South-side brunching

Cafe Vue at 401 401 St Kilda Road, St Kilda The other weekend Gerard and I caught up with some friends for a Sunday brunch and found that the most central location was somewhere around St Kilda Road. Now there’s not a lot on St Kilda Road as far as food (or anything other than […]

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You have me in stitches

Stitch Bar 61 York St,Sydney Only a couple of years ago, the Sydney CBD was a barren wasteland when it came to small bars.  If you weren’t smashing down schooners whilst watching some kind of sporting event, or raving it up in a large club, there wasn’t really that much on offer. Luckily ,those days […]

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A little bit gourmet

Gourmet Dumpling Restaurant 71 Glenferrie Road, Malvern  Gourmet Dumpling Restaurant (GDR) is my number one dumpling haunt. It has a number of advantages – it’s local, it’s cheap and it’s delicious. They also have an upstairs room where they often sit me when I go with a group of friends so we don’t disturb everyone […]

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It’s starting to feel a lot like summer

D.O.C. Pizza and Mozzarella Bar 295 Drummond St, Carlton He says: The acronym D.O.C. , back in the motherland, stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which translates into “controlled designation of origin”. It’s a label applied to food in Italy which has been certified by licensed inspectors to be authentically Italian. Dominos need not Apply. […]

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No pork for you!

Chin Chin 125 Flinders Lane, CBD He says: Marg and I had been planning on hitting up Chin Chin for a while, and it was with great sadness that I found this article from The Age during my mid Friday morning procrastination. A review in The Age is great for the budding restaurateur, but bad […]

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Down the rabbit hole

Hare & Grace 525 Collins Street, CBD (next to Rialto on King St side, downstairs) Ex-workmate A and I caught up for dinner after work the other day and decided to trek the 10 meters Hare & Grace, an ‘eatery and minibar’. We’ve been to Hare & Grace a lot since it opened back in […]

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Liar, liar pants not so much on fire

Liar Liar 90 Kinkora Road, Hawthorn (just off corner of Glenferrie) He says: Liar Liar has well and truly captured the minds, and stomachs, of the gentrified Hawthornites(?). Sunday brunch was hectic. There were children running everywhere, orbit Baby Transportation Systems falling from the sky, and recently risen disenfranchised youths trying to avoid being seen […]

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Feed me, Migo

Migo’s 289 Flinders Lane, CBD (near corner of Elizabeth) She says: Migo’s is another one of the roughly-half-way-between-our-offices cafes that Gerard and I end up at for lunches on the rare days when he’s working in Melbourne. It’s your typical Melbourne lane-sized cafe on Flinders Lane with a small space and even smaller tables. I’ve […]

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The laziest brunch

Porgie + Mr Jones 291 Auburn Road, Hawthorn She says: I’d been sick all week and busy at work so had been looking forward to making the most of a weekend so when I woke up at 1.30 pm (!) the other Sunday I was disappointed. Disappointed until Gerard decided that we should go grab […]

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A golden odyssey

Golden Fields 157 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda She says: Epic. That is the only way I can describe the dinner that Gerard, K and I had at Golden Fields the other day. I’d been sick all week and flat out at work so I pretty desperately wanted to get home and log some couch time […]

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Bagel time

Jungle Juice 20 Centre Place, Melbourne CBD He says: Jungle Juice, or as I like to call it, “the bagel place”, is one of my favourite inner city lunch haunts. The quirky, pokey interior, really is the embodiment of inner city Melbourne. It’s got to be no more than 3 metres wide, with the patrons […]

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Mexican munching

Trippy Taco 48 Smith Street, Fitzroy He says: Ever since a drunken night in Tijuana, I’ve loved Mexian food (but no longer tequila).  The smell of the spices, the hands on-eating, the mess. It’s feel good food for the soul, and usually without the price-tag. I’ve driven past Trippy Taco hundreds of times on the way […]

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Land of the free (sides) and home of the brave (stomachs)

Gasometer 484 Smith Street, Collingwood She says: There are no two ways about it, Gasometer is one of the biggest hipster-haunts I’ve come across. Possibly one of the highest hipster-to-mainstreamer ratio you’ll find anywhere in Melbourne. Walking into this rehabbed Irish pub though, you can see why. This is a serious a seriously cool space. […]

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Yes, Sir!

Mister Close 246 Bourke St, CBD (inside Midcity Plaza on the Swanston Street side) On Monday I braved the potential rain (and associated hair nightmare) to go for lunch with K at new CBD lunch spot Mister Close. Gerard had been with a friend when he was working in Melbourne last week and (despite forgetting to take […]

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Arrgh, there be treasure on PonyFish Island

PonyFish Island Southgate Pedestrian Bridge, Melbourne CBD Ahoy, matey! Hiding in plain sight from the hustle and bustle of Flinders Street Station, and nestled under the well traversed Southgate Pedestrian bridge, is PonyFish Island. Made up of recycled materials, with funky wooden handrails and shipping container efficiencies, this cafe/bar looks like it’s just washed up […]

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Barney’s burger

Barney Allen’s 14 Fitzroy St, St Kilda He says: Barney, Barney, Barney, what has happened to you? Marg use to rave on and on suggest that you had one of the most underrated burgers in Melbourne. And the first time I went, I was inclined to agree with her. The polenta chips just melted in […]

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A civilised CBD lunch

Merchant 495 Collins Street, Melbourne (next to Rialto, William St side) On Thursday I went out for lunch with ex-officemate-I who recently changed jobs. With me working down the King St (AKA Beiruit) end of the city and ex-officemate-I now working in Southbank our lunch options were a little limited. Given that we don’t see each […]

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