Melbourne Patron

I'm so glad this is the only place I'm blogging about in this post, because FAR OUT BRUSSELS SPROUT, it deserves it. Gingerboy's main room: dark bamboo and changing colour end wall It was my birthday last week, and I am fortunate enough to work for a small company that celebrates its staff members' birthdays by treating us all to lunch. Having tried to coordinate previous birthday lunches unsuccessfully at Gingerboy  (27-29 Crossley Street, Melbourne), the anticipation (on my part, anyway) had been building for months. I really wanted to see why this restaurant so frequently tops 'best restaurant' lists in Melbourne. Surely it couldn't be that great?! I was dubious. I'm happy to say I was pleasantly surprised. This place is fantastic. Or, to use an expression I'm rather fond of at the moment, it is AWSBALLZ. Again, housed on a laneway off the top end of Bourke Street (I promise I don't spend ALL my time in that part of town - sometime...

One of my best friends and I had polished off a bottle of champagne (a relatively normal Tuesday for us...) and were in dire need of food. It being mid-January, my local pub was still closed for summer holidays, so we headed down to Victoria Street in Richmond and basically chose the first open restaurant we saw (after one we'd already been to). The lucky winner: Oriental Spirit (54 Victoria Street, Richmond). It had been one of those appalling 35+ degree days, but was starting to cool down, so the front had been opened up, allowing a pleasant airflow and a nice closeness to the passing Vietnamese nannas and friendly local dealers. There was also a non-offensive view of the bank across the road. Score! I was a little tipsy (surprise, surprise), so can't say that I really noted what sort of cuisine Oriental Spirit offered; I just assumed, like many other restaurants along Victoria Street - and especially because of its vague name - that they served pan-Asian cuisine. A b...