Melbourne Patron

Ramen, udon, pho and all things Asian-noodley have been far less prominent in my life since I moved from Sydney to Melbourne. Finally, it seems the awesomeness of tasty, cheap Asian food is filtering more into Melbourne's foodie radar, and there's much more choice around town these days. Shop Ramen (329 Smith Street, Fitzroy) is tapping into the trend, with great ramen on offer, endorsed by the hordes of hungry punters at the door. Front door, punter-free... this changed within half an hour Shop Ramen's roots sprouted in February this year as Shophouse Ramen, a staggeringly popular, 10-day pop-up at  Storm in a Teacup . The brainchild of experimental foodie and blogger , Pat Breen, the pop-up's success led to its new, permanent residence up the road (just south of Johnston Street). Owners Breen and Lydia Wegner travelled to Japan to master the art of ramen, adapting its traditions into a compact yet flavour-filled menu. The three ramen dishes currently on...

A new kid on the Victoria Street block, Little Big Sugar Salt  (385 Victoria Street, on the Abbotsford side) seems out of place. Hey, I'm not going to lament another cafe within walking distance of mine, and I'm all for diversity. I'm hoping its arrival heralds the start of a subconscious social upgrade to the notorious drug centre of Melbourne. I don't always feel safe walking around the area, and believe a few classier shops and restaurants could raise help the bar. Upgrades to the Hive shopping centre and The National pub are also steps in the right direction, IMHO. But more on that another day. Maybe a rainy one. Let's season the shit outta this Fortunately, it seems LBSS has classy in the hand. Once you wrap your head around the name (c'mon guys, it may sound cool, but dayum, it's a mouthful), and associate the rather vague "LBSS" fluoro script on the corner of the building with the cafe you're actually trying to find, you can be...

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...

Heading towards the Palais for a Neil Finn/Paul Kelly concert, we wanted to grab a bite to eat in St Kilda first. Being somewhat broke, I wanted somewhere near the theatre, cheap and filling. A quick Google search revealed the convenient proximity of Joe's (formerly Greasy Joe's) - a St Kilda institution that I'd never been to. Joe's Bar and Diner  (64-66 Acland Street, St Kilda - near the McDonald's!) was rebranded from "Greasy Joe's" just recently, and now seems to be aiming for a clean, fun, American vibe. Burgers are a large feature of the menu and, happily, they hover around the $13 mark. Between 4.30 and 6.30pm is special time: any beer and any burger for $15 - apparently served with chips, as seemed to be the case when we were there. I don't drink beer so couldn't really take advantage of the deal, but I think my chips were thrown in as a gesture (or by accident). I went for something different: the "Lady of St Kilda...