The food was amazing as was both the service and the ambiance. Highly recommended if you are at the…read moreState Library Victoria.

3.7 A cold Monday…read morenight in Melbourne but it was lovely and warm inside The Moat. The decor was warm and inviting too. It's predominantly a sharing menu here. We had the beef ribs then roast chat potatoes with rosemary and aioli. Then we had a serve of chicken and feta meatballs served on a crunchy coleslaw. All dishes were tasty and exactly as described on the menu. Nice wine list too. I had a Chain of Ponds rose which went down well. While the restaurant wasn't well patronized on a Monday night, the staff remained impressively upbeat. Our server was both pleasant and stylish. This is a lovely warm space for a meal before or after seeing a movie as we did at Melbourne Central. It's a nice restaurant.

Borsch, Vodka and Tears is somewhere I've been wanting to try for a while. I finally got my chance…read moreyesterday. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. It's not huge inside, so if you really want to go there for a particular meal/event, make sure you call ahead and make a booking. The decor is European style, I suppose, but the table they sat us at, was right next to an open style kitchen and I hate that. It's not fun looking at them cooking the food, and to me, it just ruined the aesthetics. We were there for brunch, and I ordered the Potato Blintzes, because I LOVE blintzes. But they were NOT blintzes. They were potato pancakes/latkes. I was so disappointed. The description in the menu itself described the dish perfectly, but given the heading, I must not have registered that the description and name of the dish were a conflict. I wouldn't have ordered that dish. Having said that, the food was flavourful, but the pancakes/latkes - NOT blintzes - were very oily and I couldn't finish them because I started feeling queasy. The service was good and the staff were friendly, but you know what? I've tried it, and not been swayed to go back again. If a restaurant can't get the food right, well ... there are other places to go to.

This was the first restaurant I ever went to in Melbourne, and I've been in love ever since! It's…read morefairly small so if you're planning on dropping by on a weekend, you might want to organise it ahead of time or head in early. As I'm a creature of habit, I usually order the same thing every time: pierogi and a Bloody Mary. The pierogi are amazing, served up with minted sour cream and a ton of diced pickles. See, I usually wander in on a Sunday afternoon, slightly hungover, so the dark interior paired with the Bloody Mary and hearty comfort food is honestly the best cure I could ask for! If you're in for dinner all of the platters are pretty amazing. Meats, pickles, cheese, vegetables. Each plate is fantastic, and VERY filling. Fantastic. My boyfriend and I ordered one as an appetiser and I seriously think it could have been the main event! I've never really had any vodka other than whatever's in the Bloody Mary, so I can't really speak for that. The menu is pretty impressive, though! The wait staff do have a habit of being a bit too cool for school, but I'll forgive them simply because there's nowhere else in the city to get decent Ukrainian food.