DINNER OUT

Sunday dinner at our local pub, "The Old England" Hotel in Heidelberg. A lovely evening in civilised, quiet surroundings with tasty food.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

HIGH ST, NORTHCOTE

High Street in Northcote has in the last few years woken from its torpor of the previous two decades and is developing into a vibrant, bohemian, rather trendy part of Melbourne. Always fun to walk there and go into many of the quirky shops or have something to eat in the numerous eateries or cafés. A little bit scruffy in parts, but also quite likeable.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

AT BRUNETTI'S

In Lygon St, Carlton's Little Italy, it's almost a sin not to go and have a coffee and cake or lunch at Brunetti's Classico. I remember this small unassuming Italian Café from my student years at the Univeristy of Melbourne around the corner, but it is now bigger, better and more amazing, with the quality of the coffee and food even better.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

A NIGHT OUT

Melbourne is bustling at the moment and huge numbers of visitors have come to watch the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. Needless to say the night venues all around the City are full of crowds and COVID be damned! Here is Southbank looking festive and crowded.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

AT BRUNETTI'S

Brunetti, the Italian restaurant, café and pasticceria, is a famous Melbourne institution on Lygon Street, Carlton. It is large, yet cosy; noisy and busy, yet intimate; crowded, yet efficient; popular, yet delivers consistently good quality. I've lived in Melbourne long enough to see it growing and growing, but whenever I go there I remember my student years at University and the endless cups of espresso we consumed there, in the then small and intimate premises... 

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

FITZROY CAFÉ

Brunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, live music venues, quirky shops, street entertainment and alternative fashion boutiques. Brunswick Street runs north-south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end, crossing Alexandra Parade, and continuing until it reaches St Georges Road in Fitzroy North, near the Edinburgh Gardens; there, its former northward course is continued by a much smaller residential street named Brunswick Street North. Tram route 112 runs along the entire length of Brunswick Street for part of its journey.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

COFFEE BREAK

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Best meme

EATING OUT POST-LOCKDOWN

Melbourne prides itself on its multicultural ambience, its arts and fashion leadership, its sporting tradition and of course its gourmet restaurants serving a variety of cuisines from around the world. Many businesses, but especially restaurants have had a hard time during the successive lockdowns we had to have. Unfortunately many did not survive, but some favourites have fortunately managed to keep open and are coming back with a vengeance now...

A favourite restaurant in one of the Melbourne lanes, called “Gingerboy” survived! It is located at 27 Crossley St, off Bourke St in the City and the style of food served is inspired by Southeast Asian very genteel street cuisine. The food is delicious and while spicy, never terribly hot, very tasty, sometimes surprising and always extremely well presented.

The restaurant has a wonderful ambience and the décor is very modern, yet draws on classic Asian materials and themes. Bamboo and rich red fabric feature prominently, but there are some surprises. For example, the bamboo-screened walls and ceiling are lit with hundreds of tiny lights giving the appearance of a starry sky. The tables are wooden and there are some interesting light fittings that are Asian retro (like something out of the “World of Suzie Wong”).

There is a bustling vivacious feeling in the place but at the same time there is warmth and intimacy. One just has to love the place in terms of both food and décor.  What to have? Well the restaurant prides itself on banquet-style food presentation with much sharing occurring on each table. Theoretically, one may have three courses with entrées, mains and desserts served. For an Asian restaurant, I am pleasantly surprised there with desserts (not the strong part of the menu in many other such restaurants).

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CAFÉ CULTURE

Brunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, live music venues, quirky shops, street entertainment and alternative fashion boutiques. Brunswick Street runs north-south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end, crossing Alexandra Parade, and continuing until it reaches St Georges Road in Fitzroy North, near the Edinburgh Gardens; there, its former northward course is continued by a much smaller residential street named Brunswick Street North. Tram route 112 runs along the entire length of Brunswick Street for part of its journey.

As we negotiate our way out of the COVID pandemic, life is beginning to slowly go back to more-or-less normal. People can go out, have a coffee or meal at a café, meet friends and socialise. Erring on the safe side of caution, of course...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

MELBOURNE LANE

And we try to live as normally as possible with COVID-19 still around...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

BLOCK ARCADE

Christmas in Melbourne's Victoria Era Block Arcade is almost normal. We still wear our masks in enclosed spaces, except for when we are eating! 

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

ON THE HIGH ST

Northcote is the suburb I live in, and like most suburbs in Melbourne there is a main road through it, which in many cases is called "High St". A couple of days ago we went for a stroll and it was good to see life slowly returning to "normal". A good idea outside a pub was a designated area for "posting bills" - i.e. posters advertising venues, performances, artists, etc. This counterbalances the "Post No Bills" areas where no posting is allowed. In any case the bills make for a good mosaic!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

SOUTHBANK AT NIGHT

Promenading, watching the coloured lights of the City reflected in the Yarra River, wining and dining in the multitude of cafés and restaurants, and living the dolce vita oblivious to all else happening elsewhere...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

MELBOURNE COFFEE

Melbourne’s fascination with coffee began with the advent of the Italian immigrants after the Second World War and since then it has taken off! Whether you’re visiting or working here, you’re in luck because Melbourne’s coffee scene is unmatched anywhere else in the world! In fact, in a survey done by booking.com, Melbourne emerged as the city with the world’s best coffee, beating titans like Rome, Vienna, and even Sydney.

You don’t have to be a coffee connoisseur to know the difference between good and bad coffee. Coffee has the effect that the good stuff propels you through a slow day and horrible coffee just adds to the blues of a bad day. Some of the best Melbourne coffee shops are these. One of my personal favourites is Brunetti's in Carlton.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CAFÉ SOCIETY

At the Block Arcade in Melbourne one can shop, enjoy seeing the sights, eat lunch, drink coffee, meet friends, take in some culture, and immerse oneself in the Victorian ambience of the ornate beautifully maintained surroundings.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

AT BRUNSWICK ST

Brunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, live music venues, quirky shops, street entertainment and alternative fashion boutiques. Brunswick Street runs north-south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end, crossing Alexandra Parade, and continuing until it reaches St Georges Road in Fitzroy North, near the Edinburgh Gardens; there, its former northward course is continued by a much smaller residential street named Brunswick Street North. Tram route 112 runs along the entire length of Brunswick Street for part of its journey.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

AT BRUNETTI'S

Brunetti, the Italian restaurant, café and pasticceria, is a famous Melbourne institution on Lygon Street, Carlton. It is large, yet cosy; noisy and busy, yet intimate; crowded, yet efficient; popular, yet delivers consistently good quality. I've lived in Melbourne long enough to see it growing and growing, but whenever I go there I remember my student years at University and the endless cups of espresso we consumed there...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Macro Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

IN THE RESTAURANT

Restaurant interior at Melbourne's Southbank, a neighbourhood well-known for its eateries, bars, hotels and entertainment precinct.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

DINING BY THE SEA

It is very good now and then to go out and have a lovely meal with compatible company in a restaurant where the food and service are good and the milieu is agreeable. Such was the case recently when we went and dined in Melbourne’s “Waterfront Port” Restaurant. The restaurant is just outside Station Pier (Melbourne’s passenger ship harbour) and the picture windows face out over the port, where one can watch the ships sailing in and out and the seabirds scrambling for tasty seafood morsels. Meanwhile, the lapping of the waves outside and the companionable hubbub of fellow diners inside make of the experience an extremely pleasant one. Obviously, seafood is very much on the menu, but not only.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.