Melbourne Patron

I've lived in East Melbourne for six months and I am a serial weekend bruncher. My housemate and I are fortunate to have some excellent cafes nearby, including Proud Mary , Three Bags Full , Grocery Bar , New York Tomato and recent Victoria Street addition,  Little Big Sugar Salt . But one of my new favourites is South of Johnston (46 Oxford Street, Collingwood), more lovingly known as SoJo. SoJo is actually quite a bit south of Johnston Street, not just south of it, as the name would suggest. In fact, the restaurant site is just south of Peel Street, but I guess SoPeel doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Or North of Langridge... NoLang?! Mmmmmyeahsoanyway... Reasons I like SoJo It's walking distance from my house. Extremely important when you're a caffeine addict and have no car.  It's spacious, so although it gets quite busy, you never have to wait too long for a table. (Plus, my housemate has a magic touch when it comes to waiting times: n...

I can do nothing but rave about Proud Mary (172 Oxford Street, Collingwood). I visited the renowned coffee-makers and cafe for the first time in August last year, when my sister was in town. I'd heard rumours that it was so popular, it was likely we'd have to wait for a table, so we tried our luck on a Friday morning instead of the weekend and managed to get a decent table fairly quickly. I remember being impressed by the single origin coffees on offer, and eating a delicious mushroom and polenta dish. I think my sister had some kind of pancakes or sweet dish that came with a bitter citrus sauce. (The menu has changed since then.) At that point, I wasn't blogging... so here is my belated enthusiastic amateur review! I've been back for coffee once or twice, but this was my second time for brunch. A friend and I had decided to arrive early to beat the Saturday morning crowds. (Proud Mary is conveniently/annoyingly located a stone's throw from Smith Street, on...

Boxing Day in the Sydney CBD is madness. So, naturally, I headed straight for it. I needed to get out of the house and wanted to reacquaint myself with the guts of my hometown. Boxing Day was probably an extremely silly time to do it, but friends were floating around the city and keen to catch up... so it was happening. Pitt Street Mall, Boxing Day 2012 After fighting for life and limb among the bodies pouring off the footpaths and blocking the flow of traffic, I found my friends at the beautiful Queen Victoria Building, and we headed for the relative quiet and safety of Jet Cafe (G55, QVB Sydney). The crowd-fighting ordeal had left me in dire need of alcohol, and this was one of the few licensed venues open, so we had a glass or two of Stella Bella Sem Sav and relaxed in the air con. Jet Cafe is in a great spot, with curved windows right at the southern end of the building. The staff were hasty and flustered, but who can blame them when they were attacked by grumpy Boxi...