Melbourne Patron

It's the place that was made infamous by the ' chopsticks incident ' last December, where a young Richmond Tigers AFL player drunkenly threatened to attack a woman dining nearby with his chopsticks. But of course, Mr. Miyagi had already developed a cult following well before that. LOOK OUT... CHOPSTICKS Opening in October 2013 on the ever-so-hip Windsor portion of Chapel Street , and tickling nostalgic fancies with its reference to 1984 classic  The Karate Kid , the restaurant has enjoyed a steady stream of customers since. I remember stopping by with a friend one Thursday night mid last year to enquire about a table, and we were told it would be a two-hour wait. Well! Either this place is really good, I thought, or really good at hype. Always a queue at the front desk I made a calculated plan with friends to score a table there on a Friday night recently. I rocked up nice and early, 6:45pm-ish, and put my name down for a table. They advised the wait would ...

It sounded cool. Pizza - which, as everyone knows, can be amazing when done properly - in a favourite old haunt of mine in Collingwood, just one block down from Smith St, with fluoro lights and even a disco ball, to boot. But there were a few things about Lazerpig Pizza Parlour (9-11 Peel St, Collingwood) that just didn't sit right with me. Occupying the site that used to house a great (albeit quiet) little pub, the Star , halfway down the notorious Peel St, Lazerpig is in a fairly accessible Collingwood spot. Its corner entrance is clearly marked by a fluorescent flying pig overhead. I'm yet to find a good explanation of the restaurant name (possibly something to do with gaming?!) - but it's certainly memorable. Lazerpig is the newest venture of the Grace Darling crew, which I found surprising, because I thought the Grace Darling was a fairly classic operation, and I didn't get the impression Lazerpig was being run very well, when I was there. Service was ...

Over the last few years, I have had the pleasure of attending the odd gig as part of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival . I'm not generally a big listener of jazz, but I do enjoy it live - either a more traditional style, or something a bit more unusual and challenging. Years ago, after a relationship break-up, I took to listening to ABC Classic FM , which ran a late-night jazz show (possibly still does). In one particularly glum mood, I heard the alternately freakish and dulcet tones of David Liebman 's saxophone. It inspired me to buy one of the more unusual albums I own, a collection of his songs named after various colours (including the one I'd heard on the radio), aptly named Colors . It has kept me company in some of my oddest moods - because there is some music out there that magically fits those miniscule flashes of undefinable feelings that flit through our psyche. Ever since then, I have been much more open to trying different kinds of music, and in ...

So apparently Korean food is 'the next big thing'. I had never really tried it and, considering myself an early adopter (plus, being local to Collingwood), I was keen to try out BistroK  (366 Smith Street, Collingwood) as soon as I could. I'd read a review that described it as inexpensive, with cheesy music. Sold! Not a fan of the name. I originally read it as "Bistro OK" - let's put that down to excitement rather than stupidity or deteriorating eyesight - and I'm going to assume the "K" is to do with "Korean" - perfectly legitimate, as is the "Bistro" part. It's just not very exciting or memorable though, is it? It's a bit pissy. Doesn't really match the strong standard of food, service or decor provided within. I coerced a willing friend into a midweek meal and we wandered north of Johnston (the dead zone of Smith Street) into basically an empty restaurant. It's all red brick and sexy designer lighti...

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...