melbourne cbd

HOT: Nuffnang Food Bloggers Dinner, Collins Kitchen, Grand Hyatt, 123 Collins St, Melbourne (Part 2)

March 2, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

As promised yesterday, here’s a blow-by-blow account of our meal at Collins Kitchen in the Grand Hyatt Hotel walking through their a la carte dinner menu. Before I start I should warn you – there is a LOT of food involved. I haven’t eaten that much in a long time! First up, warm house-made sourdough [...]

HOT: Nuffnang Food Bloggers Dinner, Collins Kitchen, Grand Hyatt, 123 Collins St, Melbourne (Part 1)

February 28, 2010 ⋅ 17 comments

There are definitely some advantages to writing about food obsessively. Nuffnang is a blog advertising community which brings advertisers and bloggers together so that advertisers can target their products to blog readers and bloggers can make some money from the advertising – you may have noticed Nuffnang ads occasionally on MEL: HOT OR NOT. Nuffnang [...]

HOT: Funky Curry and Vindaloo Against Violence, 164 Bourke St, Melbourne

February 26, 2010 ⋅ 8 comments

Today’s post is a bit of a mishmash – my views on a serious issue as well as a light-hearted food review. Firstly, you may or may not have been aware that last Wednesday 24 February was Vindaloo Against Violence day. Melbourne, Victoria and Australia has been subject to some shameful local and international press [...]

HOT: In Conversation with Jennifer Byrne: Helen Garner, The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

February 23, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Did you know that Melbourne is the world’s second UNESCO City of Literature, part of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network? So it’s fitting that the city has created a space such as The Wheeler Centre (named after Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet), a centre for books, writing and ideas which launched just [...]

HOT: Gastronomica Slow Food Quiz, Collins Quarter, 86A Collins St, Melbourne

February 22, 2010 ⋅ 7 comments

I’m known as a bit of a foodie amongst my friends. However, at food quiz Gastronomica I discovered that my small font of knowledge was nothing compared to the food nerdiness displayed by the rest of Team Phat Preston, including food bloggers Tummyrumbles, Melbourne Gastronome, Tomato, Eating with Jack, Essjay Eats and Eatnik. In fact, [...]

HOT Chat: Ashley Tell from Golden Palomino Vintage and Darling Clementine

February 21, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Today’s HOT Chat is also a guest post by Poppy, a Melbourne blogger who I met at the Nuffnang Christmas Party and the author of Poppy Gets a Life (which you’ll see is a MEL: HOT Read). Poppy’s blog is all about her move off the corporate ladder into a job where she has the [...]

HOT: Mamma’s Boy, 13 Little Collins St, Melbourne

February 19, 2010 ⋅ 3 comments

I’m not sure who ‘Mamma’s Boy’ refers to, but for me the name of this cafe’s name conjures up images of mothers all around the world urging their sons to ‘Eat up!’ ‘Mange!’ ‘Chī fàn!’. Certainly their cabinet selection of fresh-looking pre-made sandwiches, appetising sit-down lunch menu and cartoon recipe blackboard encourages you to get [...]

HOT: Ramen Ya, Shop 25G Melbourne’s GPO, 350 Bourke St, Melbourne

February 17, 2010 ⋅ 10 comments

After the success of the inaugural Dumplings Fest, a bunch of food bloggers/tweeps gathered for the next [Insert Food] fest – this time in honour of ramen. Sadly, good ramen joints are hard to find in Melbourne (although I’m predicting that they’re the next big dining trend, after izakayas and gastropubs have their time in [...]

HOT: Tognetti’s Mozart, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Hamer Hall, Melbourne

February 16, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

I’ve been a fan of the Australian Chamber Orchestra for years and after a hiatus of two years while I lived overseas, it’s great to hear them play again in top form. From any professional orchestra you’d expect excellent musicality as a baseline. What makes the ACO special in my mind is that they are [...]

HOT: Shoya Japanese Restaurant (Part 2), 25 Market Ln, Melbourne

February 9, 2010 ⋅ 5 comments

After my previous post on dinner at the high-end Japanese restaurant Shoya, many people recommended that I try their more affordable but equally delicious lunch menu. So, to take advantage of a quiet day at the office, I joined my friends J and A for the $28 Shoya lunch set. You get a LOT of [...]