I had a porterhouse steak with potatoes and mushrooms. It was amazing. Well, there's the shortest…read morereview ever. The place is nice, located in a crowded alley, and the service is great as well.

Brown Sugar Cafe is a little gem in Melbourne's Block Arcade. I wanted somewhere quiet and warm to…read moreenjoy a late lunch on a recent Saturday afternoon. I wasn't interested in the tourist traps and Degrave Street was too full on for my mood at the time. Brown Sugar, whilst busy, had a nice little table at the back that welcomed me in with the warm hand of an old friend. Service was friendly and inviting. I felt like a glass of red, they recommended the Crowded House Pinot Noir (2010), a cracking little New Zealand pinot. The menu was probably a little too broad - at least from the perspective of it being hard to choose something, it all looked so good. I went the beans on cornbread. The beans were creamy and perfectly seasoned. The cornbread an interesting base - a little doughy, but balanced perfectly with the beans and some good bacon on the side. I enjoyed the Crowded House so much I went a second glass, so unfortunately didn't get to try the coffee. But I am sure it would have been good. 4/5

Excellent 5 Senses coffee can be found in this cafe by Anstey Station…read more Nice and spacey, not too loud and free wifi on offer makes it a great place to pull up a chair and grab a coffee. Food wise, if it's huge portions you're craving then your hunger will be satisfied here. From giant slabs of toast to overloaded bagels and burgers, they don't skimp. Unfortunately they are also pretty heavy handed on the salad dressing, and they put a side salad alongside every dish whether you order it or not (even simple toast orders). This leaves all bread items pretty soggy. Worth seeking out for the coffee or if you have a large appetite that needs to be filled with bread!

Strap yourself in and cycle on down to this creative little cafe. By far the most accommodating and…read morerelaxing cafe in the area. Set alongside the Anstey train station it's easy to cycle on by. Don't. Get off your Lycra clad butt, put down the protein bar and take 5mins to enjoy 5Senses coffee. The space is open, bright and oozes a sophisticated steam punk decor. Lots of raw materials and quirky feature pieces. The staff here are anything but hipster. Polite, efficient and listening to some relaxing tunes. Topped off with free wifi and no judgement if you byo work related device. A fairly typical Brunswick menu offers something for everyone. Stay a minute, stay an hour or all day. You'll soon feel at home here.

This café is great. The service is friendly, all the guys are professional but informal and fun…read more Lots of their food is home-made or made on the premises and their colourful salads are fresh. Servings are generous and coffee is good. There's a vast outdoor seating area (more than inside) and the location is right on Bourke Street, near the Queen Street corner. They're open by 6.30am which is fabulous and they always have a smile. Well done.

$3 batch brew, great location, friendly staff, and their $3 batch brew (!)…read more Great new little space at the end of the busy 'food-laneway' entering into Melbourne Central from Swanston St, this Standing Room boasts a quirky layout with lots of wood and warmth, shiny new La Marzocco machines, and a small display of sweet and sticky pastries up the front. Their coffee is great, from the $3 batch brew (heh) to your bog-standard latte, you can't really go wrong. Good coffee for the masses. (Did I also mention their great $3 batch brew?!)

All I can say is that the name of this coffee shop pretty much sums the place up - there is really…read moreonly standing room in here. Anyway this is basically a coffee shop, nothing more, nothing less. In fact it is one of those places where you grab your coffee and you go, there isn't any place here for you to be able to sit down. You can get a bite to eat as well, but their selection is rather small since it is predominately a coffee shop, and a coffee shop that sells coffee for you to take away. As for the coffee, it depends of what you like - it basically has a bitter taste to it, which some people like, and others don't. Also, they tend to be pretty small, which is the case with a lot of coffee shops around Melbourne. It's okay, but not fantastic.

Aside from the free wifi, Rowena parade feels like a time capsule of Milk Bar that used to sit on…read moreevery major Melbourne suburban street. It's probably now more of a romanticised version of a Melbourne Milk Bar, but that's not to say it's not authentic. Rowena is still in the same Greek family (given away by the large Greek mural on the wall) - you can often see several generations sitting at the tables and behind the counter. It still functions as a Milk Bar - you can still buy milk there, but it's probably not the place for your weekly shop. That said, they definitely do have the essentials - and they also stock a some great homemade take-away meals - and when I say homemade, they genuinely do seem homemade. I'm a big fan of the Rowena burger, which has caramelised onion just right. My only gripe with their breakfasts is they don't butter the bread - which seems to be to some people's taste, but not mine. The service can be variable. Very much depends on the people on the day - That said, it's always friendly. You just sometimes need to put up a smoke signal to get served. Also, they won't split bills, so if you've got a large group, be prepared to sort the maths out yourself. Out the back there are some longer tables and a sunny garden. You need to walk though the kitchen to get there - which initially feels a little weird, but rest assured it's common practice.

A very quaint place with retro vibes but unfortunately the service and food doesn't match the…read moredecor. First we're told we will have to leave within 40 minutes for another reservation, which is fine, aside from the fact the waitress told us the food we ordered was sold out after 20 mins of waiting -- instead of telling us ahead so we could choose another item. I ordered an iced chocolate which took a solid 15 mins to arrive, and received an iced coffee which had to be remade. For the price ~$25 for a meal, I would expect optimal service which was not delivered. The food itself when it finally arrived was mediocre at best, a monotonous creamy mix of fish and egg. Don't order the smoked trout here. The one thing they did to make up for the service was to offer free drinks, but in all honesty that wasn't worth the amount of time wasted

Friend: Meet me at Gallagher Place! Me: What's in Gallagher…read morePlace and where the hell is it? Friend: Coffee and you have google maps? When standing in front of Kinship & Co, I am pretty baffled that I didn't know about Kinship & Co seeing I have been to the coffee shop and restaurant to their left and right and I worked in that area for years. You can get here via Little Collins or Bourke Street nestled between Williams and Kings. Cool joint is the first impression. The staff was friendly and the barista definitely caught my eye. There are so much to absorb about this place. There is a wall dedicated just for sneakers like a shrine, I think someone loves their sneakers here. There are also skulls everywhere, including the ashtray and there are skulls sprayed on the curb (cool touch). The coffee is from Industry beans and the cookie in the cabinets looks amazing but I had to pulled myself away from them. Even in Melbourne, I have many experiences with bad coffee (too hot, not hot enough, too strong, not strong enough, too bitter, too milky) thank god, these guys knows how to make coffee. The coffee is great, I have cappuccino so it has a hint of chocolate that I allowed myself to indulge. There are a few tables outside where you can sit, enjoy the sun away from the hustle bustle of the CDB. Great for a business meeting or a quiet catch up. After only 2 visits, I am already in love with this place, you know where to find me. Go get yourself a coffee of two and tell me all about those cookies.

I really wanted to like this place and perhaps high expectations (hidden away, small, lots of…read morepeople lining up) ruined it. Having walked past this place several times and seeing a blackboard sign saying they specialise in Jaffles I told myself I had to try it. Staff were friendly, however the items I ordered were another story. The Chai Latte: bland and small, no hint of spice OR vanilla Earl Grey Doughnut from Dough boys: I have never tried a donut from there but the sign got to me and it looked so pretty...but turned out so boring and way to dense and cake-like. I prefer my donuts with a thin crispier top layer and a fluffy middle. Salami and fetta jaffle: I have never tried a jaffle, and was sad when I looked into my hip paper brown bag. The jaffle was hardly toasted with meager pieces of salami and dots of fetta. It was just a plain, dry toastie. Perhaps I caught them on a busy day, price ways all of this for about $11 AUD isn't bad especially being located in the city but I don't think I will be running back to try this place again.

It's a small cafe with indoor and outdoor seating. Staff was…read morevery attentive and friendly. I got the avocado smash and my friend got the pink smoothie. My food had a big serving but tge taste was just ok. The egfs were done well which I liked. Restroom was clean and there is street parking.

This is a fab little cafe just near greville street. I had had coffee here a couple of times as it…read moreis near somewhere I do some work and it has not disappointed. I also once got a takeaway toasted chicken sandwich which was a bit of a sensation. So today I visited for lunch and had their winter warmer bowl. This involved buttermilk chicken, lots of forms of squash, pine nuts, raisins and spinach and was not only delicious but I believe quite nutritious! I topped this off with a salted caramel brownie. I purposely requested the smallest one to lessen my guilt and that worked well in terms of balancing richness and enjoyment!

We had originally planned to eat at Monk Bodhi Dharma but didn't realize their kitchen closes at…read more3:00pm on weekdays. What! By then, we were starving so we decided to walk down Carlisle Street and pick a random spot. I spotted a bunch of people sitting outside at Wall Two 80 so we stopped and took a look. It wasn't too busy for a Tuesday afternoon (around 3:45pm) so we were able to snag s table outside. Cute that they have a takeout window which you can also order food at. The menu is small with about two dozen brunch options. There's one daily special that's up inside on the black chalkboard. - Avocado on dark rye ($14.00 AUD) - goat cheese, pickled red onion and toasted pumpkin seeds. The avocado was good but not seasoned with anything. The rye was a big over toasted but I did like the combination of goat cheese, pumpkin seeds and pickled red onion. But to be honest, I wasn't very impressed. Very small portion. I was still hungry afterwards. - Lemongrass & tumeric chicken ($14.50 AUD) - cos lettuce, pickled carrot, cucumber, red radish, coriander, sprouts, peanuts and soy lime dressing. This was my dad's order. I had no idea that it was a salad from the description. Again, incredibly small portion for the price. - Crispy bacon ($14.00 AUD) - multigrain bread with roasted cherry tomatoes, sliced avocado, sriracha and sunny side up fried egg. Litaly stated he could make this better at home. We were all pretty underwhelmed with our meal at Wall Two 80. Perhaps it's a better spot to grab a coffee and people watch along the sidewalk. I wouldn't come back for the bland, boring brunch food.

I was disappointed with this place. Wall Two 80 is located on Carlisle street in Balaclava, an…read moreexcellent location for a cafe. The vibe is pretty cool, has an outside area to eat or dink coffee and people watch. The inside has little nooks so you can hide away and read a book, a large table to sit on stools or tables and chairs in a more open area. I came for brunch and was in need of a coffee, when it arrived I wasn't impressed at all with it. Lacked intensity and flavour. I ordered the house made baked beans with chorizo. It wasn't hot in temperature and the flavour was ordinary. It had a hint of chilli which was nice and was topped with fetta cheese that was quite lack lustre. Staff weren't falling over themselves to serve me either. When they say never judge a book by its cover, sometimes you just need to learn for yourself. Won't return.