Melbourne Places

Degraves Street, Hardware Lane, ACDC Lane, Centre Place, Crossley Street, Hosier Lane, Myers Place and Degraves Street.
This is a list of some of the more well-know laneways in Melbourne’s CBD. I have begun and finished with Degraves Street because it’s my favourite laneway.   I like its grunginess and dinginess.  Its vibe and its people.  I [...]

Saloop Cafe is in a little neighbourhood strip that is mainly used by locals. The long narrow entry opens out into a larger space at the back.  The atmosphere is friendly and casual and the service somewhat slow.  This would matter if it served a different population.
We were there for lunch.  It was freezing and [...]

Brumby’s Bakery in the Albert Park shopping village has taken street art to a new level.

This is a unique way to enter their shop – a couple of hops, a couple of jumps and you are there.
It is a way for the kids to entertain themselves after they have finished their Baby-Chino at a neighbouring [...]

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 [...]

The smell of food cooking leads you to the Suzuki Night Market.   The smell is delicious with the main ingredient being the aroma of barbecuing.  This is strange because when you get into the market there is an incredible selection foods – a chance to eat your way around the world with food from many [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Last week I had lunch at the buffet in the Melba Room at the Langham Hotel, Southbank, for the second time.  It proved to be as good as my first visit about nine months ago.

The grand staircase leading to the Melba Room.
On this cold, bleak, winter Friday the dining room was almost full.  [...]

You don’t have to be a railway buff to enjoy a stop at the Victorian Railway Arts and Antiques – the place that is like a museum.
Ride the 96 tram that’s the light rail, to St Kilda and get off at the Albert Park Station.
From the platform you walk into the old, red, brick station [...]

Sunday. The sun is shining and the part of the world that is South Melbourne is buzzing.  A good place to take in all this buzz is at an outside table at the Red Star Cafe. On a cold day a window table inside would do just as well.

This cafe is right opposite the main [...]