Melbourne Places » Prahran

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.

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

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

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

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

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.