2009 October | MEL: HOT OR NOT

HOT: Shocolate, 3/296 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

October 31, 2009 ⋅ 12 comments

It appears that Melbourne’s appetite for artisan chocolate just keeps expanding – Shocolate is a shiny new chocolatier that has just opened in my hood, near the corner of Brunswick and Johnston Streets. On a steaming hot Saturday the outdoor tables in the teeny front area where all occupied, but anyway we wanted to escape [...]

HOT: Peko Peko, 199 Smith St, Fitzroy

October 30, 2009 ⋅ 10 comments

The strip between Johnston and Gertrude Streets on Smith Street is takeaway heaven. Slowly RM and I are taste-testing our way down the street as our workloads increase and cooking-energy levels decrease. Peko Peko is billed as a Japanese cafe and it seems to be a popular local haunt. The small, relaxed place is decorated with [...]

HOT: Migo’s, 289 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

October 30, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

I normally bring my lunch into work so that I have time to fit in a gym session in my lunch hour. However, when I’m disorganised about my lunch, I tend to use it as an excuse to be disorganised about the gym too. So today, lunch-less, I abandoned my gym gear for the second [...]

NOT: The Boys are Back

October 29, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

The Boys are Back is director Scott Hick’s (Shine) latest film about family, fatherhood and boys. The movie is based on ‘The Boys are Back in Town’ the 2001 memoir of The Independent columnist Simon Carr, and it was shot on location in South Australia, turned into an almost unrecognisable romantic landscape of swaying golden [...]

HOT: Malaysian Oriental Wok, The Causeway, Melbourne

October 29, 2009 ⋅ One comment

My Vietnamese friend’s Malaysian friend and the Malaysian friend’s Singaporean friends all agree that Malaysian Oriental Wok serves one of the best Hainanese chicken rice in town. At this strictly no-frills joint, for $9.80 you get a pink plastic plate of rice topped with soy-drizzled chicken, a sprinkle of spring onion, a small dish of spicy sambal and [...]

HOT: Grossi Florentino Cellar Bar, 80 Bourke Street, Melbourne

October 28, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

And it’s a…..GOAL! After the disappointing misstep of Grossi Florentino Grill, Guy Grossi’s empire has redeemed itself on this blog by delivering the goods at Grossi Florentino Cellar Bar. The waxed wood interior of the Cellar Bar is a beautiful narrow space straight out of la dolce vita Italy but note that it is really [...]

HOT: T2 Tea Too, 340 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

October 28, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

As my regular readers will know, I’m getting married soon – and as a Chinese bride it is traditional to have a Chinese tea ceremony. So, another thing to tick off the wedding to-do list was to find a tea set. I wanted something that was vaguely Oriental, without any gaudy gold leaf or dragon/phoenix [...]

Ask the Doctor: Cheap dining in Chinatown for a large group

October 27, 2009 ⋅ One comment

Help me Doctor!: One of the grads at work has asked for a recommendation for a restaurant in Chinatown for their grad dinner (informal plus because we’re a public body… cheap). Dinner will be for about 20 – 25 people and if there’s a banquet option (or some easy ordering option), that would be good. [...]

HOT: Mr Price’s Foodstore, 502 Queensberry St, North Melbourne

October 27, 2009 ⋅ 5 comments

The first time someone wrote to me ‘looking forward to meeting you IRL’ I had to look up what IRL meant. Ah – In Real Life! Since joining the Twitterverse a few months ago, I’ve been collecting followers and following others. Most of the people I’ve never met IRL, despite knowing all about their likes, [...]

HOT Chat: Gretha Oost of 321 Water

October 26, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

As many of you know, I have a real penchant for water bottles and a real beef against bottled water. Now there’s a stylish Melbourne-designed bottle which is aiming to encouraging us to drink tap water and preserve a precious resource. Did you know that it takes three litres of water to manufacture one litre [...]