melbourne cbd

HOT: Joy Cupcakes, Shop E7B, Southern Cross Lane, 127 Exhibition St, Melbourne

November 7, 2010 ⋅ One comment

It’s hard to think of something that could be more JOYful for JOYce than Joy Cupcakes. OK. Enough with the JOY puns, let’s cut to the chase. Joy Cupcakes sell some of the best cupcakes I’ve eaten so far from a commercial bakery in Melbourne. And I have pretty high cupcake standards given I have [...]

HOT Chat: Natasha Skunca of Make Me Iconic

October 29, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

I’ve been compiling my Christmas presents cupboard recently (yes I’m very organised when it comes to gift-giving) when I came across the Skipping Girl mug and tea-towel I bought from Make Me Iconic Iconic back at the Magnolia Square Market back in August. A business about Melbourne, based in Melbourne – perfect for the blog [...]

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: Diamonds Exchange, Level 7, 267 Collins Street, Melbourne

October 13, 2010 ⋅ 17 comments

**Please note that my HOT was based on my experience in February 2010. It seems that things have gone very downhill since then and the company has gone into administration. Read the comments below for more information.** I’ve never been one for wearing rings – in fact, I find them quite uncomfortable (I think it’s [...]

HOT: Mecca Cosmetica, 150 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

October 12, 2010 ⋅ 6 comments

I’m pretty low-key with my makeup – every day I brush on some mineral foundation, swish some neutral eyeshadow and blush and if I’m not eating straight away, a slick of lipstick. Takes about 2 minutes from whoa to go. My super-speedy routine is ok for most days. Actually, even for black-tie events and weddings [...]

HOT: Tokuya, Basement 236 Bourke St, Melbourne

October 11, 2010 ⋅ 3 comments

Whenever I visit Tokyo I have a couple of places on my shopping must-go list (1) La Foret for six floors of cute designer fashion (2) graniph tshirt store for RM; and (3) Tokyu Hands department store for all manner of useful and cute Japanese household goods. I don’t think that I’m going to have [...]

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: 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 [...]

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 [...]