Melbourne Places » Tram Route 78

The Red Door – Windsor

Melbourne — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:32:02 +0000

The Red Door has been operating in the same space for number years. I have seen the red door and the beautiful street art on the side of the wall but never visited until now. I’m not sure why.

A strong recommendation from a colleague prompted my first visit. She went on a week day evening and loved the food. She likened it to tapas and it is a kind of Yum Char that you order from the menu.

She took a bunch of cards while she was there and distributed them around the office. We joked that she was getting commission but she said it was that she enjoyed the atmosphere and the food she wanted us to know about it.
The atmosphere is something else – I haven’t experienced it before. Take a look at these photos.

One of the things I like about Yum Char is seeing the dishes pass-by giving a visual view before you decide to sample. For this to really work you need to go to a large busy Chinese restaurant where they cater for a large number of people. Then you get variety and freshly cooked dishes. A smaller place doesn’t give you the same variety and I think that often dishes go round and round for a couple of hours.

The Red Door is a smaller place. A strange place when you walk in. It is full of Chinese antiques. It is wonderful. Rather like eating in a relaxed antique shop.

We went for Saturday lunch and we chose to eat at a table in the window. If we weren’t addicted to people gazing while we talk we would have had a different experience of being swallowed into a different world by choosing a table in the interior. Well try that next time.

You can see the Red Door Menu here

We chose Prawn and Crab Dumplings, Vegetarian Jiao Zi, Duck Bean Curd Wrap, Northern Chive & Prawn Dumplings.

Vegetarian Jiao Zi

Prawn & Crab Dumplings

For desert we had Red bean and Custard sweet buns.

These Red Bean sweet buns were delicious.

In fact all the food was good and I thanked my colleague for the recommendation that took us to the Red Door. We will be back.
Red Door:-
1 McIlwrick Street,(off Chapel Street)
Windsor
Phone 9510 9658

Opening Hours:-
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Dinner only 6pm-10pm
Wednesday to Sunday: Lunch 12pm-3pm Dinner 6pm-10pm

Web:-

http://reddooryumcha.com/r/

Getting there: -
Train:-
The Sandringham Line to Windsor Station – McIlwrick Street is opposite the station.
78 Tram:-
This tram runs from St Kilda East to Richmond along Chapel Street.

Street Art at the Windsor end of Chapel Street.

Melbourne — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:13:52 +0000

Brighten up a grey winter morning and take in the Graf Art as you stroll along Chapel Street, Windsor. Of course it doesn’t have to be the morning, anytime during the day will do. But the in-your-face colours gives a me lift on a grey morning.

The corner of McIlwrick and Chapel Streets (at Tarlo and Graham)

Most of the art is just around the corner off Chapel Street where there are big flat walls to the sides of the shops.

A lane way off Duke Street 5 meters from Chapel Street

On a cold winter morning it is a flash of colour to lift the spirits. Take a look next time you are in Windsor – that is the strip of Chapel Street from the Windsor Railway Station to High Street.

As seen from Chapel Street

It is hard to know what to call this art. I have heard it called Graf Art, Street Art, Urban Art and I rather like the idea of it being Public Art; that is art that is available for us see as we go about our daily business. We have the chance to admire, criticize, discuss it and ignore it as we walk on by.

Corner of Union Street and Chapel Street.

My only wish is that it could be changed more often – like a shop window. However vivid the piece, you stop seeing it after a while and it becomes part of the background. I want to be startled out of my morning-fog with something new.

There is also this in the way of public art. Check here I always enjoy this on my way to the South Melbourne Market.

Getting there:-
Windsor end of Chapel Street

Tram
78 runs from St Kilda along Chapel Street into Church Street and then to Richmond.
6 from CBD to Glen Iris runs along High Street cross Chapel Street.

Trains
Sandringham Line to Windsor Station

Tarlo & Graham after the fire

Melbourne — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:43:02 +0000

This notice is in Tarlo & Grahm’s current window display – I hope you can read it.

Tarlo & Graham’s windows are always fascinating to me. I have written about them before in ” Tarlo & Graham – view their windows”.

I don’t believe anyone else would decorate their window with objects burned in their fire.

This is their second window onto Chapel Street.

Tarlo & Graham’s windows are one of the best reasons for a walk along Chapel Street, Windsor. They excel themselves with the strange, fun, wacky, ugly, weird, macabre – well you have to see them for yourself. They never fail to raise a smile, a laugh, or a gasp. Try to catch these ones before they change again.

Where:-
Tarlo & Graham
60 Chapel Street
Windsor – phone 9521 2221

Opening hours:-
Monday to Saturday 12pm – 6pm
Sunday 12pm to 4pm
Of course their windows are open for viewing 24/7

Getting there: -
Train:-
The Sandringham Line to Windsor Station They are opposite – on the corner of Chapel and McIlwrick Street
78 Tram:-
This tram runs from St Kilda East to Richmond along Chapel Street.

Website:-

http://www.tarloandgraham.com

Gattica Restaurant, St Kilda East, is all about atmosphere

Melbourne — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:05:02 +0000

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 thought I should visit this Melbourne Place.

Gattica Restaurant, next to the ANZ Bank in Carlisle Street, Balaclava

It is one of the cafes clustered around the Balaclava Railway Station. The morning I visited was grey, drizzly and dreary. What did I think? Well, I would go back for the atmosphere and the coffee.

It is hard to know what creates an atmosphere in a place. This cafe is long and narrow with one side taken up with the bar.

Does good coffee create an atmosphere? Does the pleasure you get from sipping your coffee give off positive vibes?

I have never been able to answer the atmosphere question. Let just say that I love the atmosphere at Gattica. When I entered it felt crowded but there was no trouble getting a table and a paper away from the noise of the coffee machine. People around me were, reading, chatting and discussing business in a relaxed way. I ordered coffee and a breakfast I love. Corn fritters! Perhaps it was an off day in the kitchen but the fritters were not of a standard I have had at other local eateries. See Mart Cafe and Hot Honey Cafe. Perhaps I should have followed my friend’s recommendation and chosen the Hash Stack.

Instead I grabbed the chance to have the corn fritters topped with a poached free range egg. The egg yolk was hard so no chance of a delicious runny yellow liquid to mix with the pancakes which were stodgy and would have been improved with egg yolk. The best thing was the bacon. That was delicious. Keep that in mind if you are there for breakfast you may like to add it to your dish.

The corn fritters were a visual feast – great combination of colours.

Corn fritters come with tomato, basil salsa, bacon, avocado and finished with sweet chilli sour cream and I added a fee range poached egg. The egg on the menu is fried. I asked for poached – perhaps that is where the problem lies.

This may have been a bad day for fritters but as I can get better elsewhere I wouldn’t order it again. However I will go back. As I said, I like the atmosphere. Next time coffee and the paper and perhaps I’ll try Toasted Turkish Bread with seasoned avocado, fresh tomato and feta.

The cafe has a row of tables on Carlisle Street with gas lamps for the colder weather and it flows through to a courtyard at the back that opens on to Charles Street – a tiny street that finishes under the walkway from Balaclava Station.

There’s a take-a-way window onto Carlisle Street where it does a steady business in take-away coffee.

Getting there:-

Trams:-
No 3 and 16 from the CBD stop outside Las Chicas
No 78/79 from Richmond stop at the corner of Carlisle and Chapel Streets.

Trains:-
The Sandringham Line to Balaclava Station

Prahran Market Square, Mojito Cafe and Bar for Sunday Brunch/Lunch

Melbourne — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 09:24:32 +0000

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 those giggling, chatting, careless people who lose it after the first glass of wine. I head to Commercial Road.

I looked for Orange or was it Red or possibly Red Orange Cafe. A cafe I remembered that served a great breakfast. It appears to have gone. It is always a bit sad when somewhere you remember has disappeared without any goodbye. It is like a sudden hole in the ground that you have to navigate around.

I navigated into the Prahran Market and wandered into the Market Square. This turned out to be an ideal place to be on Sunday afternoon.

There is live music, relaxed families, people eating and people who are just enjoying the music.

I shop at the market and have written about it before see here. But this is my first Sunday Lunch/breakfast experience. I say breakfast because I always order breakfast at this time of the day.

Mojito’s had a breakfast special; two eggs any style, three rashers of bacon and two slices of toast for $8.90. I ordered this with the eggs scrambled and my usual flat white.

The coffee was good. The band played. The sun shone. People chattered. The waiter with an Irish accent brought a bottle of water. There was a constant movement of people coming and going. My breakfast came. The scrambled eggs were just right, bacon tasty and the toast thick and firmly toasted.

There are other choices in the Prahran Market Square for Sunday Midday eating. Cafe Egnaro serves focaccia and Prides

Cafe Egnaro

The Beangreen Vegetarian Cafe has salads of various combinations with chick peas and there are interesting looking fritters.

Beangreen Vegetarian Cafe

It was so pleasant and relaxing I was loath to leave but my glass of wine in the city called.
Mojito can also be accessed from Commercial Road. The food is described as Mediterranean, Australian and Italian and they also have wood fired pizza. I can only speak for their breakfasts. It was the scrambled eggs that won me over. So often they can be watery.

Where:
Market Place Prahran Market

Mojito Cafe and Bar 169 Commercial Road, South Yarra
Phone: 9826 6544

Mojito can also be accessed from Commercial Road.

Opening Hours:- Mojito
Every day from 8am for breakfast
Thursday Friday and Saturday until about 9.00pm for dinner.

Getting there:-
Tram 72 from the CBD
Tram 78 runs from Richmond to St Kilda along Church & Chapel Streets

Las Chicas, Balaclava, for breakfast still great eating in Melbourne

Melbourne — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 21:11:25 +0000

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 high standard.

Las Chicas has been its position, by the Balaclava train station, for a number of years.

Las Chicas has expended over the years and now occupies two narrow spaces with large doorways between and a courtyard at the rear. The courtyard is roomy and you can catch the rumble of trains at Balaclava Station – adds to the atmosphere.

Carlisle Street is busy in the weekends. It has become a Melbourne place ‘to be’. Las Chicas is one of the places to eat.

We went early on Sunday morning about 9.15am. By mid morning there is often a queue waiting for seats and even at 9.15am the place was filling up. We wanted to sit in the courtyard but the only seats available were next a heavy smoker which is probably why they were available.

We grabbed two free seats at the window bar. Not quiet as good as the courtyard but in my opinion a pretty good place to be.

My flat white coffee and my friend’s lemon tea came quickly.

The coffee was good but it could have been hotter. I like to begin the day with a hot coffee – no complaints about the strength and flavour. No criticism of the lemon tea.

The menu at Las Chicas is extensive – you could even say too extensive – spoilt for choice, something like that. There are daily specials in the front, a blackboard with more specials and a large vegetarian section before we get to the main section.

My choice was the Bikini Blowout Benedict (BBB), Avocado, bacon, poached egg , bagel toasted and hollandaise sauce – $17.50. This is a great breakfast if you’re hungry. I love Eggs Benedict but I always hate the way hollandaise looks poured over something – too yellow perhaps – but the taste was delicious and the bacon crispy – no grease. I would order this again if I was hungry.

Bikini Blowout Benedict (BBB)

My friend had a special; sourdough multi grain toast, avocado, balsamic roasted tomatoes, crumbled feta and she added smoked salmon – $14.50, salmon extra. All was pronounced delicious except the smoked salmon. She didn’t think the dish needed this and she didn’t think it was very good smoked salmon.

A Special Breakfast

I’m told the Baked Bean Brekky in the vegetarian section is delicious and I will try this next time. It sounds good; house baked pumpkin and polenta loaf toasted, topped with baked beans, spinach and a poached egg.

A work colleague gave a warning about the muffins. You can see them in a display case as you walk in. They look great but when you order the wait-staff heat them. She says it makes them impossible to eat. Her raspberry and apple muffin crumbled so much she had to eat it with a spoon. They served it with butter but it was impossible to spread the crumbs. Her advice ask them not to heat it and it will be great.

Las Chicas Cafe Carlisle Street, Balaclava

The cafe has a window that opens to the rail ramp and there is a take away window also on the ramp side.

Where :-
Las Chicas
203 Carlisle Street
Balaclava
It is on the corner of Carlisle Street and the walk-way to platform 1 at the Balaclava train station.
Phone 9531 3699

Opening times:-
7am to 5pm
Breakfast is served all day.

Trams:-
No 3 and 16 from the CBD stop outside Las Chicas
No 78/79 from Richmond stop at the corner of Carlisle and Chapel Streets.

Trains:-
The Sandringham line to Balaclava Station

W-class Yellow and Green trams icons of Melbourne on route 78/79 are to be replaced so grab a ride while you can.

Melbourne — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:49:44 +0000

W-class trams date back to the 1930’s.

W-class Tram at the corner of Chapel and Carlisle Street

A W-class tram was the first tram I rode in Melbourne. It was before I lived here and in the days when there was a conductor on board.

I clambered up the high wooden step and sat on a hard seat and fell in love with these charming yellow and green vehicles.

Now these wonderful old trams have almost gone. The green and yellow ones on Prahran to Richmond route are to phased out and scrapped. So clamber aboard one of these work horses of the public transport system while you can. They will be history soon.

You can see how badly they are being maintained.

There are some W-class trams that have been painted a dull red for the tourists. They don’t feel like the real thing to me and I haven’t photographed one. The real thing is painted green and yellow!
To take a ride back in time. Take the 78/79 tram from St Kilda to Richmond North (78 during the day and 79 at night). The W-class is still in every-day use on these tracks.

This is one of the few tram routes that doesn’t go through the CBD. It travels in a straight line along Chapel Street and into Church Street.

News reports tell us these trams are for the scrap heap. You can check out what is happening at this web site. So instead of being shaken and joggled on this route in future we can expect to glide along as one would on, say, route 6 which always carries new sleeker models. No charm there.

Grab the opportunity and grab a 78 and slowly progress along Chapel Street, and into Church Street until you get Victoria Street, Richmond – the home of Vietnamese cafes and the Minh Phat Supermarket.

This is not a comfortable ride. People have described the trams as the ‘old green W-class rattlers’. It is the charm of Melbourne’s past you are experiencing. In the recent TV mini-series “Pacific” about World War II, two of the characters flirted on a W-class tram. I wonder if they borrowed one from route 78 for the filming?

Recently a number of the W-class trams congregated in St Kilda – There are 6 in this photo.

Tram route 78/79 is an interesting route to travel. Starting in St Kilda, that is the Chapel Street end of St Kilda, the tram picks up many people who make short journeys – sometimes only one or two stops. Then you cross Dandenong Road and head into Windsor with its eclectic collection of op shops, cafes, designer shops and the fascinating Tarlo and Graham shop. From Windsor it’s across High Street and into Prahran and South Yarra. Chapel Street is packed with cars so the journey is slow. This gives you a change to gaze around. It is a great area to ‘people watch’ – some are walking faster than you are travelling. Across the Yarra and you are into Church Street and the speed picks up. This segment is filled with furniture design emporiums and exotic car show rooms. It is here that you can view the latest Ferrari or Maserati. Finally you arrive at North Richmond where you can take the 109 (always a sleek modern tram) into the CBD or ride back the way you came.

A good place to board a W-class tram is the corner of Chapel and Carlisle Streets. The no 3 and 16 trams from the CBD intersect with it here. The number 6 intersects at High Street and the No 72 at Commercial Road.

What:-
W-Class Trams – Route 78/79
Trams run every half hour – about 5 and 35 past the hour from the St Kilda terminus

Check out the timetables here:-
78 daytime tram-
79 Night-time tram slightly changed route goes to St Kilda Beach

The Oriental Tea House on Chapel Street, South Yarra – good eating

Melbourne — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:20:14 +0000

The Oriental Tea House is something different.

The Oriental Tea house in Chapel Street was once a pub

Yum Cha on Sunday is something I enjoy – watching the trolleys come past, studying the food and deciding ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The frustrating part is that when I have eaten enough I see something new appear from the kitchen, glide past me and I am temped all over again.

At the Oriental Tea House there is none of this. You order your Yum Cha from the menu. It is rather like a ‘Chinese Tapas’.

You can pop in at any time during the day order a tea and a Yum Cha snack.

I ate at the Oriental Tea House on Chapel Street for the first time before we attended a gold class session of ‘Sex and the City 2’ at the Jam Factory.

We went early to give us time to talk, relax and to get into the mood for the glamour and style we were to see on the screen. It was a good choice.

The good thing about the Oriental Tea House is that it severs the same food all the time so we could create our own stylish early dinner.

The name ‘ The Oriental Tea House’ appeals to me. Just the sound is relaxing. The clean white open space when you enter, with the store of interesting teas and other merchandise including Chinese herbs in the front and then the restaurant at the rear, is welcoming and soothing.

I like the emphasis on tea but as we were preparing to watch over-the-top glamour on the screen we decided bubbles were appropriate.

This is what we ordered:-

Spinach Seafood Soup

Won Ton Soup

Vegetarian Buckweat Dumplings with Chilli

Delux Basket (nine different pieces of dumplings steamed in a large basket).

Calamari in Spicy Salt

The dishes appeared haphazardly with the squid coming a distant last. It occurs to me now that each dish may travel from the kitchen as soon as it is cooked – something to think about when you order. If you order soup it is nice to both get your soup at the same time.

The dumplings are delicious. The best I have had recently. As I write this I am still thinking about them and plan to pop in for one of their teas and a ‘variety basket’ of dumplings. At $6.90 it is excellent value

We didn’t try the Tea-Tails – cocktails made with tea blends. The idea of a tea based cocktail served in a teapot is a whimsy that brings a smile to the face – it has to be worth a try.
Here is an example of some that are available:-

Campari Treasure 8.5
Bitter sweet with a hint of orange Campari.
+ Calm & Concentration TEA served on ice

Russian Spy in Shanghai 8.5
This one really packs a punch with Vodka
+ Gun Powder TEA served with fresh lime

Baileys Kiss 8.5
Spicy with a tasty kick of Baileys & milk
+ Chai TEA served over ice

Luck of the Irish 8.5
One to really help you unwind with a warm blend of Irish Whisky
+ Relaxing TEA

Where:-
The Oriental Tea House
455 Chapel Street
South Yarra (opposite Bridie O’Reilly’s)

Phone:-Restaurant 9826 0168

Web site:-

http://www.orientalteahouse.com.au/chapel-street/w1/i1001202/

Opening Hours:-
10am until late – every day.

Getting there:-
No 8 Tram to Toorak. Get off at the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street.
No 78 Tram – this tram runs along Chapel Street from St Kilda to Richmond.

Cakes and coffee at the Special Cake Shop – Chapel Street, Prahran

Melbourne — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:54:34 +0000

The Special Cake Shop at 207 Chapel Street, Prahran is an institution in the area.

Over the years Prahran cafes and food outlets have come and gone but not the Special Cake Shop. It just keeps on keeping on. It was opened in the mid 1950s by a Greek Immigrant and then bought in 1976 by its current owner George Seherlis.

The Special Cake shop is in one of these charming old buildings that are fast disappearing from along Chapel Street

The shop has stayed the same. The inside, which hasn’t changed since I have been buying from it, looks a bit retro but I think it is one of those places that fashion has gone the full circle and is back with it.

The inside is divided into two parts with a wide opening between them. As you enter there is seating to the left, the retail counter to your right and the kitchen straight ahead. The windows are full of cakes and biscuits. They are not all Greek cakes. You can get an English sponge roll and lamingtons. There are some wonderful double chocolate biscuits.

I’m told that they are still making coffee in their 1960’s coffee machine. I haven’t checked this out. I have had coffee there. It was good but not the best I have had.

I usually buy and head for home. The Baklava is good – solid hearty Baklava with lots of nuts. Great for desert.

A few years ago they introduced a spinach and feta scone – if you think of ’scone’ in an English sense you’ll look for the wrong thing. This scone is about the size of a saucer and oozes spinach, onion and feta. They are usually in the window but you can buy them warm from the pie-warmer or if you arrive at the right time – late morning – they are warm from the oven.

This scone is my weakness. Every few weeks I begin to crave one and I need to have my fix.

The Special Cake Shop is a friendly place with family members working there. They are always helpful, pleasant and quick. Many of the customers are regulars and appear to be friends. It would be easy to fit into this companionable vibe. They also serve pies, sausage rolls, filled rolls and gourmet sandwiches.

Where:-
Special Cakes, 207 Chapel Street, Prahran Phone 9510 7689

Opening hours:-
Open every day from 7.00am to 6.00pm

Getting there:
Tram No 78 runs along Chapel Street to Richmond. Tram 6 to Glen Iris leaves from the CBD, get off at the corner of High Street and Chapel Street and walk North.

Trains the Sandringham Line to either Prahran Station or Windsor Station

Carlisle Street in St Kilda East is evolving. Check out the Carlisle Street Bazaar

Melbourne — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:22:37 +0000

The Carlisle Street Bazaar opened just before Christmas adding another retail experience to shopping in the piece of Carlisle Street around the Balaclava Rail Station.
This Carlisle Street Bazaar replaces a store where I often browsed. It was one of those stores that covered an eclectic range merchandise – clothes, furniture, home ware, jewelery, gifts. All this appeared to be individually chosen to give a cohesion to the store. This space has now morphed into the Carlisle Street Bazaar. It is as if the original store has re-invented itself and presented a new face to the world, the cohesion has gone but the atmosphere has livened up.

To me it is an improvement. For one thing the space is lighter and brighter. I found the old space rather gloomy. The variety is better and it is more fun to browse.

Stock moves too. There was a hand created metal pig and sheep when I first walked into the Bazaar and a few days later they had gone. “Snapped up,” I was told. They still have smaller roosters from the same artist. They are the sort of patio/garden object that lift your spirits and cause you to smile.

So far the Carlisle Street Bazaar have been a constantly changing visual feast – new clothes, new displays, new bric-a-brac.

At this point the venture looks successful and it will be interesting to watch it evolve. I like the original art and would like to see more creative works for sale.

To discuss hiring space: – phone 0411598411.
Opening hours: -

Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 6.00pm. The Bazaar closes at 5.00pm on Sunday.

Getting there:

Trams – 12, 3, going along Carlisle Street, first stop past St Kilda Road. 67 Tram get off at the corner of Carlisle and St Kilda Road or a 78 that runs from Richmond to the St Kilda East end of Chapel Street.

Train – Sandringham line to Balaclava Stration