breakfast

HOT: Small Block, 130 Lygon St, East Brunswick

September 21, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Small Block is a cafe particularly well suited to the urban professional/hip and arty/young parents demographic of East Brunswick. To whit: attention to coffee – the blackboard shows the single origin bean of the day and gives a description of its particular qualities; an extensive all-day breakfast menu which has the locals lining up on [...]

HOT: Bluebird Espresso, 134 Johnston St, Collingwood

September 14, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

You had me at hello. There are some cafes which just grab you by the coat and give you a big bear hug, providing smiles and instant comfort. I loved Bluebird Espresso from the moment I spotted it – a retro blue bike chained to lamp post, colourful tulips bravely wavering against the grey grunge [...]

HOT: Squirrel Cafe, 23 Groome St, Clifton Hill

September 8, 2011 ⋅ One comment

squirrel /ˈskwər(ə)l/ Noun: An agile tree-dwelling rodent (Sciurus and other genera, family Sciuridae) with a bushy tail, typically feeding on nuts and seeds. Verb: Hide money or something of value in a safe place: “the money was squirreled away in foreign bank accounts”. Squirrel Cafe makes the most of its name by taking both those [...]

HOT: Green Refectory, 115 Sydney Rd, Brunswick

August 18, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

There are certain cafes that are the perfect weekend haunts for nursing a hangover. The requisite criteria? Huge servings of hearty breakfast, lashings of coffee, nothing too fancy or complicated and good value for money. I think one of the places that does ‘hangover food’ really well is Green Refectory – and judging by the [...]

HOT: Salford Lads Club, 1 Fennell Street, Port Melbourne

August 15, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

Hip hangouts can be found everywhere in Melbourne and Salford Lads Club fits in the bill in the most unlikeliest of areas – the nether-regions of industrial Port Melbourne. Ex-industrial factory space – check. Stripped back brickwork and exposed beams – check. Wood, lots of it – check. Cool bikes – check. Young and hip [...]

HOT: L’atelier de Monsieur Truffe, 351 Lygon St, East Brunswick

August 8, 2011 ⋅ 4 comments

Three words to cheer up your Monday. New. Chocolate. Shop! Collingwood favourite Monsieur Truffe has opened bigger and brighter establishment in Brunswick East and it has all of the charm of the original plus more. Thibault Fregoni, the ‘mister’ of Monsieur Truffe, has set up his own old-fashioned cocoa bean roaster and bean press, which [...]

HOT: Third Wave Cafe, 189 Rouse St, Port Melbourne

August 3, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

As many of you know, I’m not a coffee-drinker. What’s even stranger in a coffee-town such as Melbourne is that many of my friends are not coffee-drinkers either! Which means that there is a bit of a hole in my reviewing repertoire. Thankfully, my coffee-drinking friend M has returned from overseas and is a ready [...]

HOT: Wallis & Ed, 1 Bourke St, Melbourne

July 18, 2011 ⋅ 4 comments

With so many excellent restaurants to choose from in our city, Melbourne never really had a place in its heart for the Hard Rock Cafe. So the American chain’s prime location on the corner of Bourke Street and Spring Street has now been transformed into the chic space known as Wallis & Ed, named after, [...]

NOT: Julio, 171 Miller St, Fitzroy North

June 2, 2011 ⋅ 8 comments

Last week The Age’s Melbourne Magazine published its list of top 30 Melbourne cafes. Obviously such a list is going to create some controversy but as I scanned the names I nodded in agreement with most of their choices. Then I got out my diary to make a note of the cafes that I had [...]

HOT: Friends of Mine, 506 Swan St, Richmond

May 25, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

Friends of Mine is the culinary equivalent of a friendship circle. Everything in the cheery establishment, from the produce to the artwork to the furniture, has been sourced from friends or friends of friends of the owner Jason Jones – hence the name. Isn’t it great to see a cafe really embrace the philosphy of [...]