Melbourne Places

The Grosvenor Hotel was lit up on a cold rainy night and on a whim we went in for an early meal.

Grosvenor Hotel
We arrived shortly after 6pm and for a good three quarters of an hour we had the Bistro to ourselves and the waiter’s full attention.  We needed this attention.  The Bistro has an [...]

Gattica  Restaurant on Carlisle Street,  Balaclava is a favourite place of a friend of mine  who lives in Fitzroy North.  He is delighted when he has business around St Kilda East so he can head to Gattica.  His is always talking about the coffee and the Hash Stack he has there.
With such a recommendation I [...]

I joined friends for lunch at the Terrace Cafe in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens on a wet weekday morning.  It was a long standing date and we went despite the rain.
The easiest way to reach the Terrace Cafe that overlooks the ornamental lake is to enter the gardens from the corner of Anderson Street and [...]

I’m in Chapel Street South Yarra  at 1.30pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon when I remember that I have to meet a friend in a city bar for ‘catch up’ drinks at 3.00pm.  Trams are easy but the last time I ate was a slice toast at 6.30am.  I need food or I will become [...]

One of my favourite breakfasts in Melbourne is at Hot Honey in Armstrong Street, Middle Park.  I eat breakfast there about three or four times a year and I always choose the same thing. I never eat anything else.
Recently we were there again and thought we needed to  study the menu and move on.  We [...]

Acland Street is  a street alive with people and activity.  When you’re in Acland Street the vibes are positive and you know that the world is still revolving.  Acland Street is a street that brings you alive.  That’s how I feel about Acland Street.

My first visit to Acland Street was about 10 years ago.  I [...]

My first visit to Shakarhari, the vegetarian restaurant at 201/203 Faraday Street  in Carlton, was a few years ago.
I was with a vegetarian  friend who was visiting  from overseas and I  wanted to give her a experience of fine dining –something more than the  average vegetarian fare which often seems to include beans or Dahl.  [...]

When a cafe has been operating for a few years it may seem a waste of time reviewing it – others have done so before – but I believe Melbourne Places needs to visit and talk about the old favourites.  Not everyone knows these places.  Not every well known cafe lives up to its original [...]

Batch!  Why do  people chose the names they do for their businesses- I’m always curious about that?

Batch in Carlisle Street, East St Kilda !
When Batch was first mentioned to me and I heard that the owner was a New Zealander and that he uses a sort of Kiwiana  decor I immediately thought of New Zealand’s [...]

Georgios has been there forever.  That is probably too grand a statement but I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t there.   During the years I have known it, it has remained the same and become an Armadale icon if not a Melbourne icon.  The decor is rather like a sophisticated cafe and doesn’t appear [...]