Melbourne Brunch Favourites Part #1

My two favourite brunch haunts of late. They're both restaurants which are generally a bit too pricey for a student, but the brunch menus are reasonable.

The European, Spring Street, CBD
Close to Parliament Station or take any tram up Collins or Bourke
I think weekday brunch ends at 11 or 12, but goes til 4 on weekends.
Favourite Meal: Turkish Eggs $18
The European is stylish, classy, and way out of my student budget for anything other than the breakfast menu. It's a popular lunch venue for business people of Collins Street... the Paris end, that is. I was once waiting for a friend and the waiter gave me the wine list to peruse, there was a bottle of French wine for something crazy like two grand. Me: " Tap water, please".

Manhattan, Toorak Village,

Catch the No. 8 Tram towards Toorak

I went to Manhattan for the first time a few weeks ago and have been back four times since. The waiters are lovely and the menu is great.

Favourite Meal: Flat Iron Eggs around $17

Give me a second, I need to get my story straight.

Today I met my lovely friend, 'Mountain Range', in the rainy CBD for a very book-themed day. We started off with lunch at Della Nonna at QV. They do delicious pizzas. My favourite pizza is the Al Capone, it has tomato, rosemary, smoked mozzarella, and potato. The waiter was also very cute and that never hurts... unless they're too aware of it and act as if they're doing you a favour by allowing you to gaze upon them while you order. Then it hurts.  While eating we updated each other on our ' love lives' and over-over-analysed everything. We pretty much just agreed I am confusing.

After lunch we had a quick look at the 'Love and Devotion' exhibition at the State Library. It seemed interesting, but there were too many people and I hadn't been able to let go of the over-analysing so I didn't take much in.

Then we skipped, and by skipped I mean huddled under my umbrella and carefully walked, down to Collins Steet to find a library I had read about. The library is in the Athenaeum building, which has been there since 1842, it is a lovely setting and a great place to escape the rain or kill some time in the city. It's also a great place to browse book shelves and internally over-analyse things, like a sucker. Sometimes I am such a girl.

It's so cold in my apartment. I'm drinking wine in bed to keep warm.

Lately I've been re-watching Dawson's Creek. I'm halfway through the second season. It has the strangest effect on me. Every time I watch the opening credits, and hear the theme song, I am hit by nostalgia. Okay, 'hit' doesn't describe it well enough, more like I am almost brought to tears by a sledgehammer smash of nostalgia. It instantly sends me back to when I was eleven years old and only recently arrived on the Gold Coast. Fuck, I was so innocent. Youthfully oblivious. So that's it, I want to cry at how oblivious I was and I also want to cry that I will never be able to be so naive again. Then I want to punch Dawson in the face because he is such a little bitch.

Trotters, Nova, and The Emerald Peacock. Celebrating with Lick.

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Yesterday Lick and I met up on Lygon street to see an Italian film. At cinema Nova all Monday screenings are only $6 before 4pm, and $9 afterwards. That pretty much knees all other discount cinema days in the balls!

Before the film we had lunch at a restaurant called Trotters. The food was great. The service? not so much. We had a sullen waitress, which I can accept - not all hospitality workers have to be all smiles and sunshine for me to enjoy myself... but when we went to pay the girl working the register scowled at us when we asked to split the bill as if we'd asked to pay it all in five cent coins. Considering the three seconds it took her to punch in our orders separately I'm not sure it was worth the further contribution to her frown wrinkles. Oh well, it has inspired me to not be so short-tempered with my own customers in the future.

The film we saw was called Ages of Love. It consisted of three (loosely intertwined) films about love, narrated by a teenage, arrow-wielding, cupid. Lick and I enjoyed the last short the most. It starred Robert de Niro as an American historian living in Rome who meets a younger woman - played by the stunning Monica Bellucci . I preferred this section because, unlike the other two, it didn't have an element of unfaithfulness. It seems that whenever Italian films are classified as ' Romance' there is always cheating. Just quickly thinking I can come up with three Italian films I have seen which portray infidelity: Cinema Paradiso, The Last Kiss and Remember Me. I find the cultural difference between Italian romance and American/Australian/British romance very interesting. Lick and I agreed that had the plot been the same but in English, set somewhere other than a European country, we probably wouldn't have enjoyed it. Italian films (and also French and Spanish films) don't seem to worry too much about having likeable protagonists, whereas if audiences can't root for the main characters of American films they won't bother watching them. Anyhow, I can't say I would like to sit through Ages of Love a second time, but it did make me think about different cultural appreciations and reminded me why I like to watch foreign films.

After the film we decided to celebrate our thesis marks with an afternoon drink and headed to Section 8. Sitting uncomfortably on a crate, sipping my cheap beer, I was reminded of being there five years earlier, celebrating the end of my first year uni exams. I wore a terribly uncomfortable pair of heels that night, and ended up stuffing half a roll of toilet paper and whinging all evening. I also patted the head of the bouncer and pissed him off by almost poking him in the eye and telling him he looked like Heidi Klum's man, Seal. Oh, to be nineteen again.

After our drink I wanted to check out the rooftop bar at The Emerald Peacock on a quiet day (the last time I went was Friday evening). It was lovely up there, a few groups of people relaxing in the sun, no crowds, and only a handful of business people who were game enough to start drinking on the first day of the working week. I can't wait to go back there on another sunny afternoon to try their food menu.

At Trotters: My favourite meal - any time of the day - Eggs Benedict.

 Lick got the Bella Pizza

The Emerald Peacock on a Monday afternoon. Practically our own private rooftop bar.

Brunch at Trunk Diner with Lick and musings about other things such as chocolate tomatoes

I am currently going a little podcast crazy. I bought an ipod classic with 160GB. Since my entire itunes library only takes up 39GB I have a whole lot of room to swing a cat around in there. I am downloading several 'learn Spanish' podcasts this very second. I have realised that in order to get my (realistic) dream job, I should probably work a bit harder at becoming bilingual. Oh hi podcasts. Whether I will actually listen to an entire lesson from start to finish, when I have the power of the skip function, is waiting to be seen. At least in an actual class you are trapped into learning. I like learning, but sometimes I have to trap myself in it. It's amazingly easy to trick yourself into getting an education when its something you desire. I am talking total rubbish.

Today was a perfect food day! I met Lick at the State Library and we walked to Truck Diner which is on Exhibition Street. I'd been wanting to try brunch there for ages but as they're quite strict about brunch ending at 11.30 I'd missed out a couple of times. We were in there before 11am though, and it was rather quiet. We both had french toast with berries which was delicious, and at $10 pretty well priced.

After our second coffee we had a walk around the shops and lamented the excess of people in the CBD. Screw you, Christmas. After I had put poor Lick through the trauma of helping me find a strapless bra (functional shopping is never fun) we headed to Workshop for a snack. Since I went there with Flower I have wanted to go back during the day to try their $6 pizzas. We had the pumpkin, fetta, and pesto pizza - it was delicious. I also had an iced tea, which wasn't on the drinks menu but the bartender said she could whip it up. Homemade pizza and iced tea are winners. There were a couple of customers who came in on their own to have a drink and do some study. I love places where people feel comfortable just sitting by themselves and relaxing, it reminds me of being overseas and all the times I sat in European cafes writing frantically in my journal. **random European nostalgic interlude**

I should make myself some dinner. I have just been munching on some tomatoes I bought from the supermarket called choc cherry. They are cherry tomatoes which are streaked brown. A tiny part of me was hoping they'd be some kind of science experiment which gave cherry tomatoes a chocolate taste. Alas. They taste like good ole tomatoes, no willy wonka business.

 French Toast at Trunk Diner

Pizza at The Workshop Bar

An evening in some Melbourne bars and beer gardens with Flower.

Friday I met up with Flower, who has recently returned from some overseas adventures, to reacquaint ourselves with Melbourne's beer gardens. We went on a bit of a beer garden hop, crawl, skip, jump.

We started with The Workshop Bar which is next to a discounted book store (yay! discounted books) on the corner of Elizabeth Street and A'Beckett Street. The entrance is understated, which I have come to expect from the most interesting bars in this city. We were there rather early, just before five, and there were plenty of people enjoying an early drink before the nine til five crowd hit. We both opted for the cheapest cocktail - which at $9 is pretty damn good for Melbourne! I don't remember what it was called, but it was very sweet....not much alcohol, perhaps. The crowd there was quite mixed, all ages and types. Travellers, hipsters, a few business people,  a sweaty student who sat behind me and rubbed his soggy back all over mine. With the exception of sweaty back dude, I really liked this place. I'd love to go there again earlier in the day for one of their cheap pizzas and to watch people from the balcony.

The next place we went to was Match Bar and Grill. From down on Swanston Street, next to the state library, the Match balcony looked very appealing. We went in about half five and the business crowd were already there celebrating the end of the work week. Flower and I both had G&Ts which were $8.50 each. A little steep, we thought. We found a place to sit and chat and decided that we both felt a bit out of place in our summery dresses and flats. Match, after 5pm at least, is clearly a popular suit hang out, not a budgeting uni-student-on-holiday place. My first impression of the bar was that it could be a nice place to have a drink in the afternoon but isn't really one of those special Melbourne places which just exude character. Might go there again.

We then went looking for The Emerald Peacock which is on Lonsdale Street, just after Swanston. Despite being packed, this was definitely my favourite for the evening. I had an $8.50 glass of Sangria, which took me back to my days in Spain. The first floor interior is dim and sexy, and just upstairs there is a stylin' balcony/rooftop area which was very crowded. We found ourselves a spot and settled in to enjoy our drinks. The crowd was mostly business slaves, but there were also a few traveller types and older European male model look-alikes. There looked to be nobody under twenty-one, which is something I am increasingly beginning to appreciate in bars. I will definitely go there again, perhaps not on a Friday evening though - way too cramped in the beer garden.

Looking for something to eat we went downstairs to E:fifty five on Elizabeth Street between Flinders and Collins. Not a beer garden, it's underground! This bar is also an internet cafe. The customers are a real mixed bag but it's definitely not popular with the business crowd. All the better for us (not that I don't appreciate a hot man in a suit). The last time I was there the place was full of stoned young men and travellers, this time there was a bunch of tradies drinking copious amounts of cider, dreadlocked men who are probably musicians or tattoo artists (way to generalise, T) and a few well-dressed young couples who looked a bit out of place. E55 has a funny smell. It's a mix of musty and sweaty. You get use to it though, and it's not enough to put me off going back there, in fact, it's part of the underground laid-back charm. The toilets are pretty horrid, but since I enjoy the tatty couches and the reasonably priced food and drink I can't really demand a fancy bathroom.

Our final stop for the night (after a short Myer drunken shoe shopping interlude) was somewhere I have been to a few times and always forget which street it is on - New Guernica. It's on Little Collins, by the way. You could walk into New Guernica on a sunny evening and suddenly forget about the bright weather outside. There is no natural light at all. It doesn't actually have an outside beer garden, but the entire place is themed somewhat like a garden. The interior of New Guernica is great, a log cabin, gazebos (I can't believe that's actually how you spell gazebos), fairy lights, and spinning wicker chairs. It's such a novelty and I love taking people there for the first time. They had a Friday evening drinks special on until 10.30pm - 2 for 1 spirits and $15 jugs of Sangria. We got both!

All and all it was a very fun evening and the company was pretty good too! I can't wait to discover/re-discover more places in my city this summer. Just have to keep putting money into my cocktail budget. I wish I could include some better photos, but my camera is a bit shit to be honest. Here are some blurry shots of New Guernica, which I suppose are accurate representations of how I felt after an entire jug of Sangria.

The Rooftop Bar and a sunny Melbourne afternoon

 Yesterday was everything a Spring day in Melbourne should be. Lovely company, sunshine, and cider at the Rooftop Bar at Curtin House. It could only have been improved by hay fever tablets which actually work. Eff you pollen, eff you.

My Photo

La Mirada film festival

Last Thursday I went to the opening night gala of La Mirada Spanish film festival at ACMI....and oh MY a good looking boy just sat down opposite me in the library (yeah, no internet in my new diggs still).....Anyhow, back to the gala: the ticket included the opening night introductions, a film, and the after party. I'd been looking forward to the night for ages; a mature excuse to get dressed up, drink, and dance rather than 'let's get spaz and crunk, yo'....which none of my friends seem to respond to positively anymore.

The speeches were, as speeches often are, not too riveting. Although, an adorable Basque (I think he's Basque) actor made a short, but smile-inducing, comment about thinking he saw baby kangaroos climbing trees whilst drunk - he was drunk, not the kangaroos. His accent was cute. It made me miss Spain. Wow, good looking boy has excellent posture - anyhow, there were also pre-recorded introductions from Antonio Banderas and the director of the film, Gustavo Taretto, who was hilarious. The film was called Medianeras, which means side walls; it was a sweet story, set in Buenos Aires, about two ideally suited loners who keep missing each other in their search for love. Sounds cliché but it wasn't. After the film everyone was herded downstairs to the after-party. We found a spot next to a tapas table and held on to it for dear life as the food was quickly ravaged. Luckily there was no shortage of alcohol. The crowd seemed to be mainly mid-30's culture critics and beautiful gay men (who may have also been culture critics). We entertained ourselves by giving people nicknames - 'tortured boobs' wore a top so tight she had the boob version of muffin top...titty top, perhaps. She was also wearing, and stroking, something that had once been alive. It may have had a face. I did not like. There was also 'wavy locks' who Em thought looked like a dethroned prince, and later, Roger Federer. Lots of laughs. We ended the night after dancing to retro tunes. We danced like no-one was watching, well aware there were probably people watching. All in all mucha diversión!!

Sadly all my photos have me in them.

High Tea at the Hotel Windsor.

Don't panic, folks. I kinda, sorta, almost have an Honours topic. Phew.

I had forgotten that I have lots of Melbourne-ising updates to do. First up is High Tea at The Hotel Windsor. It was $59 each (we went on a weekday) and though that's rather steep for a few cakes and tea in a stuffy old hotel - it was so worth it! My only issue was that it was after the 1st of Jan and the Christmas tree was still up.

The service was fantastic (and cute, even if the dudes were fake tanned) and the atmosphere was great - most people were dressed up and my oh my there were lots of old people (makes High Tea more authentic if you're surrounded by aging wealthy women with clip on earrings). We were greeted at our table by Macaroons! Approve. We were then served champagne. Approve. Then the three tier tray of sandwiches, scones, and cakes arrived - even my approve approves.

We tried to fit it all in, we really did; we hadn't eaten all morning, we timed ourselves before starting on a new tray and took our time with the tea and coffee. Alas, we were unable to finish everything, two lonely cakes remained. Doggy bag? I was too full (and honestly feeling quite ill) to attempt smuggling the leftovers into my handbag.

I know the Windsor is more expensive than most places that serve High Tea in Melbourne, but what you're paying for is the elegant building and the tradition. Get your snob on.

New Gold Mountain.

Last month I finally got to visit a bar I have had my (online) eye on for a while now: New Gold Mountain. I basically did a 'Melbourne CBD laneway bar' google search and New Gold Mountain was definitely highest ranking in terms of intrigue - mine, that is. A door with no signage down a laneway; it just sounded so damn Melbourne.

NGM is right next door to its cousin? sister? mother? bar, Double Happiness, so in reality it wasn't really a mission to find - since I knew it was there. I took snobby Melbourne pride in the fact that tourists would not be stumbling in and making the bar feel tacky by taking a facebook album's worth of photos(which left me to do so undisturbed). For cute bartenders: A+! The cocktails were fantastic, but my student budget could only stretch to one. Sadly an eighteen dollar minimum for cocktails doesn't seem to shock Melburnians these days. Oh I miss the days of free-pouring Spanish bartenders.

After our first cocktail we headed up-stairs, where we were 'seated' (so effing posh, yo). There is no drinks menu upstairs, you just tell them what you want and voilá...it's created, and you can't afford to eat for a week. While we waited for our drinks we took numerous spazzy photos posing under the flowerbed ceiling (photos will explain).

Another bar visited and crossed off my ever-growing list. For me it was more of a novelty, the kind of place you take friends from out of town and nonchalantly say 'oh well yeah, I guess this place is okay' all the while gloating that they surely don't have anywhere near as cool in their lame-o town.

After our mature start (except for the spazzy photo-taking), we threw sophistication to the wind and headed to The Rochester Castle in Fitzroy. I danced 'til the lights came on at my favourite indie night: Black Night Crash.

Trunk Diner. What you gonna do with all that junk? All that junk inside your trunk? Im'a get, get, get, get you drunk.

A-strizzle and I went to the NGV the other day. It was closed though, so we didn't get past the water feature. Note to self (and others) NGV. Not. Open. Tuesdays. We ended up at Trunk Diner, I'd heard they do a great brunch - we were too late though, so lunch menu it was. It was packed when we first arrived, and due to our table being right next to the counter we got to witness the chaotic lunch hour. Kitchen was busss-ay. Waiters were rushed off their feet (but adorable). Food was running out left, right, and centre. We ended up waiting close to an hour for our meal, and by the time it arrived there were more sparrows feasting in the diner than snobby businessmen. I had a burger and 'strizzle tried a pumpkin salad. My burger was delicious, gone in half a minute, but delicious. I'd definitely go there again, I'd avoid the lunch rush though, the food and ambiance were lovely but not really worth an hour's wait.

Mamasita Restaurant and Bar. Mamacita. Oh my god I think you're on fire. Do you want me to get your water?

I have a friend who can eat hardly anything! Bless her. So, with my googleskillz I did a search for restaurants in Melbourne which offer gluten free food and came across Mexican Resturant and Bar, Mamasita. The entire menu is gluten free.

The title lyrics are by Pharrell by the way, I don't want to burn down the restaurant. The location is charming, interior is trendy and the food was great, especially the papas; the plates are ideally for sharing, so the bigger the group the less it will cost to split. The waitress scared us a little, but you can't win 'em all.

I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque

This crazy Melbourne weather!

This blog is off to a slow start, mainly because I seem to have fallen out of the habit of taking photos when I'm out having fun. Will fix that, pronto. I have been visiting some cute cafes/bars though - like Horse Bazaar in the CBD and Miss Jackson in St Kilda.

I dropped in to the Horse Bazaar on a weekday afternoon and we were pretty much the only ones there, all the better to have private conversations, my dear (that rhymed). The interior decorating is pretty damn cool, I kind of wish it were my house.

The staff at Miss Jackson were lovely - very chatty and attentive - and I had the most delicious ricotta pancakes. A-strizzle and I were already halfway through destroying our well-presented breakfasts before I remembered I wanted to take a photo, we decided it was too late. Fail.

So many plans for the Melbournian Summer. Oh, it is Summer now - officially, and all. Apparently this bi-polar weather is set to continue until Jan, so I guess my hair will just have to stop its childish bitching and embrace humidity as a challenge...how many ways can you style a frizzball? Anyhoo, back to Summer plans: dancing; drinking beer in beer gardens (screw you weather); high tea at the Windsor; Rooftop cinema; gigs, gigs and random gigs; giggles; books( I WILL start honours reading ....after some Historical Fiction, that's kinda educational); Byron Bay (okay, I know that's not in Melbourne but cut me some slack - our weather sucks!).

I'm ready.

Photo: Peter Guenzel