Melbourne Patron

Want Melbourne Patron blog posts delivered straight to your inbox? Click the "Subscribe" button at the top of this page and follow the simple instructions. Magic! Hana Restaurant A seafood tribute to Hawaii in Melbourne - with cocktails  One day in the middle of Melbourne winter, I went looking for Hairy Canary. I remembered a long, dark venue with cocktails, somewhere on Lt Collins. In its place, I found Hana (212 Lt Collins Street, Melbourne), a new restaurant I'd read about but hadn't realised it had replaced the long-standing Canary. I was intrigued, because HALLELUJAH, here was a new restaurant in Melbourne that was NOT yet another fried/slow-cooked/smoked/overdone tribute to Americana. Though technically still American, Hana celebrates and proffers the exotic flavours of Hawaii. Which basically means a lot of fish. Which is good. Because fish is good for you. And delicious. So anyway, cut forward a few weeks to when my equally-foodie-friend is...

When I first arrived in Melbourne five years ago, I became good friends with Meyers Place in the CBD. It housed favourite haunts of mine, Lane's Edge and Waiter's Club , plus the small-but-funky Meyers Place Bar , the Deco-style  Lily Blacks and, at the laneway's end, on Little Collins, the ever-charming Bar Lourinha . Corner of Loop building on Meyers Place Halfway down was a bar I could never quite recall the name of, dark grey and moody-looking, with a few outdoor tables hosting mysterious, straight-faced smokers. After a few nights out in the area, I ventured within its walls, and discovered a cool, dark space with unfailingly grumpy-looking hipster staff, low cushioned seating and sections that could be reconfigured via roller curtains attached to the ceiling. More often than not, a private function was taking place at the back, making use of a small screening room, or beats were playing late on Saturdays, with colourful graphics thrown around a large screen. ...