Slowpoke Espresso

Sunday brunch at Slowpoke Espresso on Brunswick street. 

Tasty food, nicely presented. Menu options fairly traditional. Great little courtyard out the back.

St Ali again

Mum's over for our annual shopping expedition and we've come back to St Ali North for brunch

Mum had the apricot and walnut toast with goats cheese and maple syrup - it was very tasty!

Food was amazingly presented, coffee was great! Menu choices are fantastic here - I had smoked salmon, gnocchi, and poached eggs

Young Bloods Diner

Up and at them bright and early and off for breakfast before the crowds.

Young Bloods is newish and one of a collection of fun cafés just off Fitzroy St.

Because we arrived so early I was suspicious about the lack of people but my fears were unfounded.

The food was great and looked amazing!

Messina

OMG best gelato ever!!

Salted caramel and ice cream are the perfect match!

Liar Liar

We're over in Hawthorn to check out the Design Files Open House so thought we'd check out a Broadsheet recommended cafe in the area. There were more than I'd expected so we probably missed out a bit when we were living over this side of town 

Decent coffee, single origin too! The food serving size was massive, but good menu choices and tasty. 

The Hawthorn crowd is definitely very different from the usual Brunswick types!!

Everleigh

Out for dinner tonight at Easy Tiger. Stopping off first at the Everleigh for a pre-dinner cocktail

Tommy's Margarita with the twist - substitute the argave for Cointreau! Yummo!!

Martha Rays

I sat next to a lady on the flight back from Sydney last weekend and her son owns or runs this cafe, so I said we'd come check it out 

It has all the characteristics of the Brunswick cafe, good interior and lighting, nice coffee (Costa Noosa) and interesting food

I had the scrambled eggs & goats cheese special - very tasty

Lemon Middle and Orange

This place is very tucked away deep in industrial Collingwood. You'd never stumble upon if you were out for a stroll.

Interesting menu choices, nice coffee,  tasty food - although lacking imagination. The fit out looks good too, although maybe a bit too clean given the warehouse/industrial location 

Night Noodle Market

Dinner and a wander through the night market before Public Bar comedy

Dinner and a wander through the night market before Public Bar comedy

Barry

Second breakfast!! 

Hungry after several house inspections today we stopped at Barry on Hight St Northcote for a snack and ended up ordering a full meal! 

In keeping with the area Reid had a superfood salad of quinoa and kale and I had a yummy eggs benny with rosti a and apple cider hollindaise

Industry Beans

I came here with high expectations after an  review from a work colleague who lives in this area.

However, the food was pretty ordinary!

My cauliflower and carrot fritters were dry and there was very little yogurt to add any moisture to the dish. Reid's poached eggs were over done and the mountain of cress wasn't the best accompaniment.

The coffee was great, although Reid's second coffee took forever to arrive.

Instantly forgettable

John Gorilla

We came back to John Gorilla to sit outside on this sunny spring day, but it's actually a bit chilly!! 

Still the food was good, if not that well presented - excellent hollandaise and black pudding. My coffee was great but Reid's needed sugar!!

Bills Bar

Stop 4: Bill's Bar

This is a tiny cocktail bar out the back of Huxtaburger. There's an unassuming entrance at the back of the kitchen 

Decor is great - but the cocktails aren't so tasty, I feel like I've been punched in the face by my martini!

Reid thinks he could make a better negroni at home 

Belles

Stop 3: Belle's Diner

Yummy food, including Old Bay flavoured fries

Everleigh

Stop 2: The Everleigh

Fantastic cocktails, beautiful space, great service 

I'd say my favourite cocktail bar

Pub crawl

Saturday night pub crawl 

First stop: The Standard, in Fitzroy

The beer garden is packed so we're sitting inside 

Little Deer Tracks

A newish cafe deep in Coburg. Little Deer Tracks is completely vegetarian

The food was pretty good and the coffee was ok, hopefully one day it will be our local

Macs Brew Bar

Chips & beer at our usual spot in the Octagon on a sunny Dunedin afternoon

Brew

Brew is a little neighbourhood cafe in Musselburgh. It was new when we were here at Christmas and still seems to be going strong - much like the coffee

NZ coffee is a bit more like a punch in the face than Melbourne coffee

Couldn't go last the Belgium slice - yum!

A Minor Place

Back at a old favourite. I finally had something different - poached eggs, with avocado, beans, and tomato. I planned to give the beans to Reid, but it turned out that the beans were under all the other food, so I couldn't avoid them entirely!

It is great to be sitting outside in the beautiful Melbourne spring sunshine 

Form Cafe

Form is a little converted house on Albion street deep in suburban Essendon.

The menu is hanging on the wall on butchers paper and not visible from our table so I had to loiter in the middle of the room to contemplate my menu choice

They use compostable plates - supposedly to cut down on water consumption, but I'm not sure the overall environmental footprint would be evened out once the production of the plates is considered.

The interior and decoration are reminiscent of a trendy Brunswick cafe

The food and coffee is ok

Lolo and Wren

Lolo and Wren is almost within walking distance to our place but we've only just made it here today, and it's pretty good!! The menu options are great, with a focus on local produce, and beautiful presentation.

The coffee was excellent and passed the long black test - no sugar required and came with a pallet cleanser

Plus we could sit outside in the warm spring sun! 

Spring

A glass of vino and some patatas bravas at Cinema Nova on a beautiful spring evening!

We're off to see Behind the Candelabra

The Beaufort

An American dive bar burger joint on Rathdown. It's dark, loud, and loud, but definitely worth a visit

The food was ok - my burger was almost too hot to eat, and a bit too much onion for my liking. It's too dark & loud to tell the quality of the food - I think the beef was el-cheapo! But overall it was tasty! 

Great atmosphere and decorations 

Top Paddock

We ventured all the way over to Richmond to Top Paddock, and were not disappointed!! 

There was a decent queue but we were happy to sit outside so were seated almost straight away (thank you springtime)

The food was beautifully presented and tasted as good as it looked! 

Full points in all categories - great menu choices, clean interior design, friendly efficient service, good coffee, amazing food!

Chuckle Park

A quick vino after Huxtaburger for dinner and before the season finale of the Shelf at the Toff in the Town

Jellystone

Same same but actually different!!

We've been to Jellystone plenty of times and it's always good. But now they've changed the menu and we sat out the back in the courtyard for the first time. I didn't even know there was a courtyard all the way out the back. And when I say the menu has changed - the food is the same, but the names are different. The Middle East eggs are now Sydney Road Eggs.

Three Bags Full

When Three Bags Full opened we still lived in Hawthorn and rode past everyday on the way to work. At the time I thought it was an unusual location for a cafe, but it's hugely popular, there was a 15 minute wait for a table when we arrived today! It was originally opened by a Melbourne cafe heavyweight - Nathan Toleman.

Food and coffee was great! Reid's long black was amazing, didn't need sugar!

I had the corn fritter - it has a dill and sour cream topping that tasted just like McDonalds!! I haven't had McDonalds for years so it's obviously a strong taste memory.

Interior decoration is simple and tasteful 

Choo Choos

Having a quick dinner before going to the Shelf comedy at Toff in the Town

Jackson Dodds

We're back over in Preston to collect our bikes after a service so we've called back into Jackson Dodds.

After a week of eggs and bacon for breakfast in Palm Cove my egg belly is full! But today's brekkie was still yum, I had eggs benny, the hollandaise was great and I liked the variation of bagel instead of toast or muffin. 

I was deciding between eggs benny and scrambled feta. I'm pleased I went with the benny - the people on the next table had the scrambled and it was enough food for two, at least!!