Melbourne Places

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 [...]

Melbourne is changing!   “Well of course,” I hear you say.
I know this happens all the time but it came as a shock to me when I found a place I knew well was to change.
Yesterday I drove past a corner I used to live near.  As I waited at the red traffic light 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 [...]

St Kilda Night Market up-date.
This popular market was put on hold at the end of last year because of  problems with the organizers’  negotiations with the Port Phillip City Council.  Things have changed and I found on my return to Melbourne from holiday that this wonderful market was again operating.   If you don’t know the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]