Melbourne Places » Tram Route 78

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

Booktalk Cafe, Richmond– a different style of food-and-coffee-break

Melbourne — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:45:12 +0000

At the Booktalk Cafe, 91 Swan Street, Richmond food, coffee and books seem to be of equal importance. The cafe is central to the ambiance of the shop. The tables and chairs are in the middle of the space and then they wander between the book cases to the back of the room. This is not one of those book shops where the cafe is an afterthought and tucked out of sight.

I like the name. It suggests coffee food and a chat about books we’ve read or want to read. Booktalk has shelves of new and pre-loved books. The mixture of new and used is interesting.

A notice tells you that you can’t take new books to the cafe tables. You can browse these at the shelves and people do.

Another notice tells you that you can bring in your own books to exchange and if you buy a book and return it, you get 50% off the purchase price. A lot of information but it does clue you into what it’s all about.

If you drift in by yourself there’s plenty to read with your coffee. Besides the books they have the daily papers and great selection of magazines.

The atmosphere is relaxed and slightly bohemian. The tables are busy and used by people in heated discussion, people studying, people writing and people chilling out and just people. They are always being used this has to have something to do with the quality of the food and coffee.

New and used children’s books are are available for browsing.

The food is good, well priced and healthy. Their Thai chicken salad $9.50 was delicious and a recent special of the day beef lasagne for $9.50 was a nourishing and tasty meal.

Thai chicken salad

The bacon and mushroom roti, that I would recommend, is $9.80. There are vegetarian dishes as well. I understand the breakfasts are great but I haven’t tried them yet. There are also Vegetarian meals and a Veggie Breakfast. Apple Crumble with a Muesli crumble.

Mushroom and chicken roti

To keep the literary theme many chairs are labelled with a writer’s name. I would like to choose my chair to match my mood; a heavy weight like Charles Dickens on grey overcast day when I’m feeling thoughtful and introspective or, Dick Francis if I’m in a light frivolous mood. This has never been possible as the place is too popular to leave many chairs available.

Agatha Christie

Dick Francis

An inviting and comfortable couch at the back.

Swan Street, has some factory outlets and check out Dimmeys at 140 Swan Street – the lovely old building with the clock tower – you can find some great bargains there if you hit it right. Bargains come and go quickly.

The Booktalk Cafe, 91 Swan Street, Richmond. Phone 9428 1977

Opening Hours

8.00 to 5.30 every weekday

8.30 to 5.30 Saturday and Sunday

Getting there:

Tram 70 from Flinders Street. You need to catch it in Flinders Street not outside the Flinders Station

Tram 78 runs from St Kilda East along Chapel Street and Church Street to the corner of Swan and Church Streets

Parking in Swan Street is metered but there is usually free one hour parking in the side streets.

Trash, Treasure or vintage? It is hard to decide in Womango, 47 Chapel Street, Windsor/Prahran.

Melbourne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:50:50 +0000

The Windsor end of Chapel Street is know as the funky end of Chapel Street, Prahran To me it is the fun end. I often pass Womango and I can never resist the window. It’s a ’stop and stare and stare some more and chat to your friend’ sort of window. It’s a collectors paradise.

Womango’s Window –
Inside it is as crammed with goods as the window. The old saying ‘there is nowhere to put a pin down’ is spot on.

At the entrance there is a notice saying ‘No Big Bags’ and you can see why. Even without a big bag you have to be careful not to send some of the treasures flying.

There’s a yellow and green jug in the window that I like and I can spend ages gazing at the rings that are in a case inside and then there is something about those long white evening gloves of the fifties. What romance they conjure up. Yesterday there was an old wooden ladder in very good condition filling up some of the entrance space.

If you are a visiting Chapel Street for vintage, retro, antiques and treasures from the recent past , I’d start here.
If you are a collector and looking for something in particular the owner knows her stock – that’s a feat in itself. She is knowledgeable and is happy to talk. She is also happy for you to spend as long as you like exploring this visual feast.
Note the opening hours – they are unusual for the area:-
Closed Monday and Tuesday. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 12.00pm to 6.00pm.

You can ring the owner if you need to make contact at other times – 9533 6650 or 0410 750 310

Getting there

Take the Sandringham Line Train to Windsor Station. Come out of the Windsor Station and you are there. Womango is more or less opposite Syber’s Book Shop, by the pedestrian crossing.

Trams 78 and 79 run the full length of Chapel Street between St Kilda and Richmond.

If you are coming from the CBD by tram you need a tram number 8 or 6 or 72. These trams intersect with Chapel Street at some point.

Asian ambience and bargains for the stay-at-home traveller

Melbourne — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:17:03 +0000

Can you go past a bargain shop without popping in? I can if I’m in one of the many shopping areas that have Two Dollar or Bargain cum Gift Shops dotted along the strip. You’ve seen one you’ve seen the lot.

In Victoria Street, Richmond the Two Dollar Bargain and Gift Shops are different.

They can look the same outside. A collection of brooms and door mats and so on parked on the pavement but inside they are a treasure trove. You step into another world. I sometimes go to Richmond just to browse through them. It’s an outing all on its own. I wander over there just to gaze, buy a few things and to remind myself of exciting and happy visits to Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City.

This area is unique in Melbourne and if you were whisked there from outer space you could be forgiven for thinking that you had arrived in Hong Kong, or Ho Chi Minh City.

There would be a moment of disorientation. Only a moment – it is quiet on Victoria Street compared with either of those vibrant cities but the ambiance is the same. The Bargain Shops say it all. There is much to experience.

One of my favourite purchases is this tea pot and mug bought from different shops at a total cost of Just over $18.00. A good bargain.

The tea pot has a strainer inside – the first time I have seen that. I like leaf tea and I can make a pot of tea when I wake up and then drink it as I get ready for work without it stewing and getting that bitter taste that stewed tea can get when the leaves sit in it too long.

It’s my favourite pot for green tea too but I drink that from this lovely yellow chrysanthemum mug.

I keep looking for a tea pot to match the mug. No luck so far. If you see one let me know.

I haven’t bought a lucky tree yet but I fancy one for the front porch especially at Chinese New Year.

Voices in my head tell me if I bought one of these colourful trees it may bring me luck. The same voice tells me that if I bought a lucky a cat with his paw up and waving my fortunes would improve. A more prosaic voice tells me we make our own luck. But there is no harm in giving luck a helping hand. Luck overflows in the Bargain Shops along Victoria Street Richmond. And I am going to buy a lucky tree next Chinese New Year.

Remember to let me know if you see a beautiful chrysanthemum mug – perhaps there is another place in Melbourne I could try.

Getting There:.– Victoria Street Richmond
The 109 Tram from Port Melbourne goes along Collins Street – through the CBD and then along Victoria Street in Richmond.
The 78 Tram runs the full length of Chapel Street from the St Kilda East, through Prahran into Church Street and terminates at the corner of Church Street and Victoria Street, Richmond. This is a great tram if you live along the route.

There’s one hour meter parking in Victoria Street.

Window shopping in Greville Street, Prahran

Melbourne — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:55:16 +0000

Greville Street, Prahran is a favourite street of mine. My first encounter was a few years ago when I walked from the Prahran Railway Station along Greville Street on my way to Chapel Street

The late afternoon sun gave an orange glow and a touch of magic to this unique street. I feel in love.

I fell in love with the funky edgy designer shops, the retro and second hand and places. There was a feeling of being outside the mainstream – a place where exciting, new and experimental things were happening. I felt it strongly then and I still do

The street has changed over the years. Less funky and ‘out-there’ but the magic is still there. Where else in Melbourne would you see a window mannequin wearing a purple dress with fuchsia tights and a pair of yellow Doc Martin boots.

A couple of my favourite shops have closed and disappeared but Palm Beads is still there as it was on my first visit and the Greville Street Bookstore gives personal service as it has for over 20 years. Greville Records has been there for ever and although other shops have come and gone the vibes have re-adjusted themselves and evolved as everything evolves with the time. The street is still one of Melbourne Places that is unique.

This a pictorial stroll showing you what caught my eye during a recent visit.

Greville Street, Prahran is a great place to be from midday onwards and in the weekend. Cafes do open early to catch the morning-workers trade and many have regulars who come at the same time every day. However many of the shops don’t open until 10am or 11am.
Coffee and food is good at most places and people-watching is a fascinating past-time in Greville Street.

Getting there

Train: The Sandringham Line to the Prahran Station and you are there.

Trams: The 72 from the CBD crosses Malvern Road and Chapel Street, get off at that junction and head north. Greville Street is on your left by the Stonnington Town Hall.

The 78 Tram runs along Chapel Street from East St Kilda and Richmond.

Hearty Hungarian meals – Authentic European eating in East St Kilda .

Melbourne — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:58:34 +0000

A cold evening, showers and a chill wind, your heading home and the big question is what to eat. Take-a-ways seem a good idea and you want something quick.

How about The Hearty Hungarian, in Carlisle Street East St Kilda?

The food is ready to go – no waiting around. All you have to do is make choices. The Hearty Hungarian – is right next door to the St Kilda branch of the Port Phillip Library Service so you can roll out of there and step into it..

The first time I got food from there I’d been to the library and at closing stepped from that warm building into the chill of the evening. There it was, the Hearty Hungarian in all its unsophisticated glory – Hungarian colours, bright lights and hot filling food.

The café has been here for a couple for a couple of years and is becoming known for serving up good home cooked traditional Hungarian food. The meals are cooked by a Hungarian cook who has been feeding her family delicious wholesome food for 30 years or more

The food is ‘cheap and cheerful’. There is nothing polished about this place. The tables inside are covered with flower patterned oil-cloth.

A meal, $11.90, is served with a main and two sides. I believe you get enough food to feed two with the one serving but of course that depends on how much you eat and how hungry you are.

$11.90 meal

Tightly filled cabbage rolls ( 2 per serve) are baked with sauerkraut. When you think of a cabbage roll keep the thought of a spring roll out of your mind. These are huge in comparison. The taste is interesting and could well come from the paprika that is used extensively in Hungarian cooking.

My favourite main is stuffed red peppers. They are filled with delicate flavoured rice and mince. The slightly sweetish taste that I love and go back to the Hearty Hungarian for may come from the red pepper and possibly paprika.

stuffed red pepper with sauce and cabbage roll

I have a retro Hungarian cook book written by Kato Frank published in 1963. Kato Frank talks a lot about the heavy use of Paprika in Hungarian food. The stuffed Red Peppers have a great colour too.

A $11.90 meal consisted of two peppers or two cabbage rolls or another main such beef stroganoff or meat loaf and two sides. For side dishes I like lentils and Hungarian gnocchi a very small sized pasta about the size of a pea and it goes well with the red peppers. The lentils are particularly good.

lentils and Hungarian gnocchi

This little food outlet enhances the European feel you get on this part of Carlisle Street St Kilda East.

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.

The café is between Chapel Street and St Kilda Road, beside the entrance to the St Kilda Library and opposite the St Kilda Town Hall.

You can also can take the Sandringham Line train to Balaclava Station and walk towards Chapel Street.

The best place to buy a fresh (that is dead) duck in Melbourne

Melbourne — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:45:53 +0000

I wanted to cook a duck on Saturday. Well two ducks, really – in my experience one duck feeds only two people.
We decided only on Friday afternoon to have Peking Duck cooked at home for dinner on Saturday. Buying the ducks so you can do this is not always easy.

The only ducks available in my local stamping ground were frozen solid. Now you can thaw them in the microwave but this, in my experience, doesn’t improve the end result – it ruins the skin for one thing. I declined the frozen ducks even though one of the shopkeepers informed me that there were no fresh ducks available so I would have to have frozen. I knew he was wrong. I know a place in Melbourne where fresh ducks are always available.

At 9 o’clock on Saturday morning I headed off to Victoria Street, Richmond.

Victoria Street was waking up. Most places don’t open until about 10 o’clock but the butchers were out for the early trade and the fresh ducks were in the display cases.

You know these ducks haven’t been frozen, their necks flop and their heads are still attached to them but the feet have gone. I guess they are sold separately. The ducks are cheaper too than the ones I would have bought frozen in my suburb.

This is my favourite place to buy ducks

You are shown the duck here for your approval. I approve at once. They look much the same to me and I get the head removed, immediately; I don’t like to look at the yellow beak and the eyes. I also get some of the excess fat taken off from the tail area – less fat during the cooking process.

Peking Duck is so easy to make at home and tastes so much better that it does as an entrée at the local Chinese eatery.

In Victoria Street, I found recently pulled spring onions and cucumbers and the best hoisin sauce. The brand we like is ‘Lee Kum Kee’. This is the preferred brand in Richmond – you can buy it everywhere on Victoria Street including the Minh Phat Supermarket where you can also buy the wrappers if you don’t want the bother of making them yourself.

If you decide to make Peking Duck at home you need the ducks to roast slowly on a rack over the baking dish so the fat can drip down. It’s an easy dish to make – sit around the table with plates of duck meat, crisp duck skin, cucumbers, spring onions, wrappers and hoisin sauce in the middle – everyone helps themselves. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly and talk flows.

Getting there; – Victoria Street Richmond

The 109 Tram from Port Melbourne goes along Collins Street – through the CBD and then along Victoria Street in Richmond.

The 78 Tram runs the full length of Chapel Street from the St Kilda East, through Prahran into Church Street and terminates at the corner of Church Street and Victoria Street, Richmond. This is a great tram if you live along the route.

There’s one hour meter parking in Victoria Street.