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...

On a 39-degree day, two days before Christmas, I wisely set out on foot (!) to find a half-decent cafe in my new 'hood. The one I'd aimed for, New York Tomato, was shut (boo hiss) and the next closest I knew of (proximity being the key factor when walking in 39-degree heat) was Three Bags Full (39 Nicholson Street, Abbotsford). Technically, I'd walked through three suburbs to get there (East Melbourne, Richmond, Abbotsford), so I was pretty adamant I wanted a table, water and caffeination ASAP. Fortunately, being on my own meant no waiting time as it is much easier to seat one patron than two, even at a place as regularly busy as Three Bags Full. (I should drop a 'four' in here somewhere, but frankly my brain won't extend that far today.) Happily seated at the window in brisk air-con with ice water at hand, I started feeling better. Much more so when my delicious 45ml shot coffee arrived, neatly accompanied by a sugary shortbready biscuity thing (possibly for...