Melbourne Patron

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 ...

As you may have gathered, I tend to stay northside in Melbourne. This is due to several factors: I'm very lazy. The coffee northside is waaay closer to my house, and I can't operate until I've been caffeinated. I don't have a car and who can be arsed PT-ing when you don't really have to?! There is a BUCKETLOAD of Awesome on the north side, and  I came to Melbourne from Sydney for a different vibe - why would I visit the side of Melbourne that is most like Sydney?! (On a side note, I find it quite hilarious how there's a north/southside divide in Melbourne, much like in Sydney... Waterways, eh? They could cause wars!)  HOWEVER, on the very odd occasion, I venture out of my comfort zone to other suburbs (hey, sometimes even other CITIES! I know, right) and whilst there, I try to milk said unknown area for its best coffee/food/venues available. Recently, I spent a night in St Kilda prior to a weekend day trip, which meant that early one Saturday morn, I w...

My Mum's meatballs are pretty awesome. Mine are... okay. Considering they are effectively just lumps of meat, it's hard to see how anyone could turn them into AMAZE-balls and make a whole restaurant out of them. But add Wine, and I'll give anything a go.* The original Meatball & Wine Bar on Flinders Lane opened roughly a year and a half ago (? CITATION NEEDED! -- oh shit, this isn't Wiki ) to a strong reception, and still seems to be going well. I have heard a few "Meh, it's okay"-s, but equally as many, if not more, positive responses, and was keen to sample these balls. (By the way, it's near impossible to write or talk about this place without sounding naughteeeeee... but you can have a lot of fun with it.) Fortunately, MWB recently opened a second venue at 105 Swan Street, Richmond - so close to my work, I had no more excuses not to play ball. (Okay, that was bad, sorry.) I don't know what the city venue's like, but the ...

*This venue is now closed*  I'd been looking forward to this dinner for a long time - not only for the company, but also because I was keen to try Mercy Bar + Eatery (31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne), formerly known as Virginia Plain (see my previous blog post here ). PINK ! In its former state, I'd tried the degustation with matching wines and been quite impressed. Word on the street was that, although Mercy Bar is still run by the same crew (owned by Marco Santucci, with Andy Harmer as chef and Mat Beyer running front-of-house), it was revamping in response to what the people wanted: a more casual eatery, with a 'less austere' ambience. It's still a great venue, but I'm not sure it has hit its mark just yet. Sure, it's a little more colourful, with street-style art by Steve Cross and touches of bright neon lighting, but I was expecting more bar, less eatery - well, less 'restaurant' style eatery, anyway. I was kinda disappointed to ...

Ocha (3 Church Street, Hawthorn) is something of a suburban legend. The Japanese restaurant built up a huge following at its original location in Pakington Street, Kew - so much so that it relocated to its current location in the revamped Beehive complex in 2010, effectively doubling its cover size from 35 to 70 plus. Comfortably settled in next door to schmancy gastro-pub  Barkers Wine Bar  (old-man-pub the Beehive Hotel in another life), Ocha is still notoriously difficult to get a booking at. I haven't tried their degustation ($120.00 per head), held on the last Monday of each month - but I imagine it, too, would be very popular. Ocha has even released its own ranges of dressings and sauces for home use. MERCH! My, that is confidence personified. Bottled. Whatever. There to celebrate a milestone birthday, five of us rocked up on a Thursday evening, armed with lots of nice wine (of course). A delightful young chap was our waiter, most smiley and helpful, and he even remem...