I’ve had four wonderful days in Melbourne thanks to these two gorgeous young people who have just moved to this great city.
We were their first visitors so were treated like royalty being picked up from the airport in one of Melbourne’s Flexicars. There are many locations around the city with cars you can rent for just a couple of hours. All the cars have names for easy identification. ‘Danielle,’ our trusty Toyota got us from the airport to their lovely apartment in South Yarra for $40.
With so much to catch up on the next 24 hours revolved around food and conversation starting at ‘Top Paddock’ for breakfast. In South Yarra, this delightful brunch haven was within walking distance of the apartment and despite us getting there by 8 30am we were queuing, but queuing for food is what Melbournians seem to like to do.
Highly recommended.
We might be foodies but we are also piggies. We all ordered a dish, but also wanted to try the blue berry and ricotta pancakes so ordered a fifth meal we could all dig into it!
This is the blueberry and ricotta pancake – don’t leave without at least tasting it.
In this spacious restaurant there is plentiful seating inside and outside. Here’s a sample of what we ate.
Heirloom baby carrots with pistachios, mint, fennel, goat’s feta & poached eggs.
Cured king salmon, baby cos lettuce, pickled and raw radish, buttermilk and dill
Kale & cauliflower salad, almond hummus, seeds, avocado, miso & a poached egg.
And if that wasn’t enough we headed to St Kilda to the first of the ‘Matcha Mylkbar’. restaurants.This establishment has been so successful, with all the food sprinkled with Matcha, ground green tea, the owner is looking to franchise it. It’s truly vegan (with look-alike eggs made from plant material). I’m far from a vegan so my expectation weren’t great, but it was incredible. The highlights were the chicken burger and pancakes… OMG!
Soy chicken burger, mushroom bacon, avocado, beetroot kraut, matcha bun with beetroot hummus and sweet potato fries.
Matcha pancakes, lychee, pear, berries, passionfruit, white chocolate sauce, nut crunch, lemongrass & macadamia ice cream.
Feeling full we headed back into town and after a short reprieve at the apartment we caught the train to Flinders Lane and put our names down at ‘Chin Chin’. The queue was out the door and half way around the block and took a good 20 minutes just to leave our name and a phone number.
Queuing for food seems the norm in Melbourne.
Knowing it was going to be several hours we went to Siglo, a roof top bar above the Melbourne Supper Club. It has a great vibe and good bar snacks, but not surprisingly we refrained. Enjoyed the ambiance and Melbourne summer evening we generated some enthusiasm for the third big meal of the day.
Can’t complain about the cocktails at Siglo.
The Asian fusion flavours at Chin Chin are some of the best I have tasted with crisp, clean flavours of which the kingfish sashimi marinated in lime, chilli, coconut & Thai basil was the most memorable.
So if you are heading to Melbourne, try these three restaurants. They were the best of our fours day extravaganza and it’s just coincidence we ate at them all on the same day.
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