HOT: Pasta Al Giro, Mezzo Bar & Grill, 35 Lt Bourke St, Melbourne

After three weeks of non-stop Chinese food on our honeymoon, what a nice way to get back into real (Western) life than to sit down to Southern Italian comfort food with Pasta Al Giro.
What is Pasta Al Giro? A feast of fresh and filled pasta to share with your table for $45 a head, held [...]

NOT: Breadwell, 135 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Breadwell? BreadNOT.
This small café is popular with the lawyer/banker crowd down towards the Paris end of Collins St, and I’m not sure why because the food that L and I had for lunch was pretty poor.

To whit – Breadwell’s ‘famous’ spicy meatballs with pasta ($20) and green lentil dahl with yoghurt and crispy (huh?) chapatti [...]

HOT Chat: Chris Howatson of tropicalhowie

Do you know about Springwise? It’s a great website that scans the world for cool business ideas and it’s how I found out about tropicalhowie. The company’s unique, limited-edition laptop covers were featured recently and I was excited to discover that they were designed and sold right here in Melbourne.
Well, of course I had to [...]

HOT: Izakaya Chuji, 165 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Izakaya Chuji proudly pronounces that it’s been operating since 1989. It must be doing something right if it’s still going strong after 20 years, despite a rather dingy interior (and increasing in dinginess the further away from the window you are) and no-frills service.

At lunch time the 50s diner-like setup is full of office workers [...]

HOT: Melbourne Dae Jang Geum Korean BBQ, Level 1, 235 Little Bourke St, Melbourne

Melbourne Dae Jang Geum Korean BBQ is the sort of restaurant that I would normally avoid in Chinatown. The entrance is manned by a bored tout in national costume wielding a picture menu. Plus as it’s upstairs you can’t check whether there are any patrons inside.
If you make your dining choices in the same way, [...]

HOT: Von Haus, 1 Crossley St, Melbourne

Von Haus. I’m imagining a private club for beardy little men with a penchant for tweed knickerbockers.
The reality is much more cool. Von Haus is a café/bar with an almost invisible doorway on achingly stylish Crossley Street. Step inside and it’s like being in your best friend’s cosy, rustic dining room with perfectly distressed walls.

The [...]

Ask the Doctor: Upmarket restaurants that welcome solo diners

Help me Doctor!: I travel to Melbourne for a few days several times a year (for the shopping/galleries)  and on the past two trips have  had real issues with being a solo diner…

MoVida -was ignored and watched people being sat ahead of me, had to argue to be given a single seat available at the bar.
Gills Diner – ignored, then [...]

HOT: Aix Cafe Creperie Salon, 24 Centre Place, Melbourne

Aix Cafe Creperie Salon is a stalwart out of all of the tiny-perch-on-the-pavement cafes lining bustling Centre Place.
As the name suggests, the café serves crepes and since my last visit a few years ago it has also increased its offering to standard breakfast items (eggs, toast), an expanded selection of crusty filled baguettes and laminated [...]

HOT Chat: Karishma Kasabia of Miss Kish

Regular readers may know that I stumbled upon Miss Kish’s blog a couple of months ago and developed a huge blog crush. Then when I met the lovely Karishma of Miss Kish in real life, I developed a bit of a crush on her too. We’re now working on an exciting new project together! Read [...]

NOT: The Soup Place, 14 Centre Place, Melbourne

Before I have a mob of art school students boycotting the blog in protest at my NOT, let me get a word in edgewise. The Soup Place isn”t bad. It’s just that compared with all of the cafes in Centre Place and the vicinity, I wouldn’t particularly recommend it as a must-visit.

From the bustling alleyway [...]