under $20

HOT: Espresso 3121, 98 Balmain St, Richmond

October 28, 2010 ⋅ One comment

Espresso 3121 is a little tucked away cafe in the middle of warehouse-bounded Richmond. It’s not easy to find but it’s testament to its good quality food (and presumably excellent coffee, given its name) that it was a jumping little joint during the weekday lunch hour (note it’s closed weekends). The cafe is housed in [...]

HOT Chat: Owen Thomas of Hipside Guides

October 22, 2010 ⋅ 6 comments

I liked the idea of Hipside Guides as soon as I heard about them – a city guide written by a local to help visitors and locals find the the cool, hidden places of Melbourne. Kind of like MEL: HOT OR NOT, in map form! Today’s HOT Chat is with Owen Thomas of Hipside Guides [...]

NOT: Mrs Noodle, 487 Swanston St, Melbourne

October 20, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

It was a case of mistaken identity. Mrs Noodle and I were not supposed to meet. My date with dinner was bibimbap at Big Mama, but feeling a bit harried in the torrential downpour and spying a ‘Mama’ restaurant sign from the tram, I jumped out and found myself getting drenched in front of Mrs [...]

HOT: Soul Food Cafe, 273 Smith St, Fitzroy

October 15, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments

How many vegetarian establishments can one street sustain? Quite a few it seems, if you operate on Smith Street. Slowly, I’ve managed to tick off my list Trippy Taco, Las Vegan and Friends of the Earth. As I was feeling a bit under the weather on a sunny weekday and in need of some healthful [...]

HOT: Famish’d, 130 Little Collins St, Melbourne

October 8, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments

After my post about macaron tasting at city café Famish’d, I had a heap of people tell me about their great lunches. So I made a goal to try out them out for the food on which they’ve based their core business – fresh, light and healthy breakfast and lunch options. Every day Famish’d make [...]

HOT: Cruzao Arepa Bar, 365 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

October 6, 2010 ⋅ 10 comments

“Let’s have dinner at Cruzao Arepa Bar.” “Areeba Bar? Huh?” “No no, arepa. They’re some kind of South American street food.” “Oh. Not Mexican then?” “Nope. Venezuelan to be precise.” Melbourne seems to have discovered a taste for Mexican street food recently thanks to the heaving Mamasita and the STREAT food cart in Federation Square, [...]

HOT: Yamato, 28 Corrs Lane, Melbourne

October 5, 2010 ⋅ 8 comments

In a city full of hidden laneway restaurants, Yamato is the lane-ist of them all. You head down narrow Little Bourke Street, where you can hardly have two people walking abreast as they cross. Then turn down Corrs Lane, a cobblestone path smelling of various rubbishy odours intermingled with the aromas of different cuisines emanating [...]

NOT: Retro Cafe, 413 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

October 4, 2010 ⋅ 8 comments

THIS BUSINESS IS NOW CLOSED. ITS NEW INCARNATION IS EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN. Despite living close to Brunswick Street, it’s actually been a while since I went for a weekend stroll down the strip. So when a friend visiting from interstate suggested we have lunch there on a sunny Sunday, I couldn’t think of anywhere [...]

HOT: Kartel, 500 Collins St, Melbourne

October 1, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

Much like cheap Chinese restaurants, my approach to cafeterias catering for office workers is to avoid unless armed with a recommendation. After our trip to Sichuan Dining Room, Kat from Spatula, Spoon and Sunday suggested that we next go to Kartel, a café close to her work which she frequents often. I rarely get past [...]

HOT: STREAT Food Cart, Federation Square

September 29, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments

STREAT is new Melbourne-based social enterprise providing homeless youth with their first start into the hospitality industry. Regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of social enterprise and it’s great to see that we can help ‘stop homelessness the delicious way’ (according to STREAT‘s motto). STREAT currently operates two food carts in the [...]