Originally recommended to me by a Carlton local, Zingarella is a great place for a meal with…read morefriends. The food is good, it's away from the crowds, and it's reasonably priced. On my most recent visit the service left a little bit to be desired until all the food and drink arrived and my mouth was promptly full of the delicious Grilled Mushrooms. Served with bread and Balsamic vinegar, they are a tasty starter. The Agnello wood fired pizza sealed the deal as a great meal for sharing - filling but not overly so, traditional thin style and so very yummy! Inside lacks in atmosphere a touch but better than eating outside in the dark. Highly recommended for a quiet meal.

After spending a week in Melbourne and dining out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I stumbled…read moreacross Zingarellas. Food was superb and the dessert even better. The service was A+. I will definitely return here on my next trip :)

Best takeaway and delivery pizza near Central Park by far. Capricciosa is superb ie at Kensington…read morePizza level. Not a dine-in location.

Southbank's little secret - Blondie, on Southbank Boulevard, is the perfect place to come for some…read moredelicious food and drinks before a show. From salty, crunchy edamame beans to hot, steamy dumplings, bring some friends and share some tasty offerings from Blondie's very qualified chefs. Situated smack-bang between Melbourne Theatre Company's Southbank Theatre, Melbourne Recital Centre, Arts Centre Melbourne and the National Gallery of Victoria, this is the place to meet pre or post show for theatre goers, performers, and workers in the area. A large and interesting selection of wine, beer and cider is available, both on tap and from the bottle. The coffee is also great. Probably the best in this theatre-district area. Don't be scared to sit outside in the winter - the huge street heaters burn all night and keep you surprisingly warm! Just a short walk up to the Malthouse Theatre, ACCA or into the city, make Blondie your priority drinking location for a night of Melbourne culture.

Situated in an awesome location out the front of the Southbank Theatre and Melbourne Recital Hall…read moreBlondie offers and a drinks and a feed before your show. During the day they operate much like a traditional cafe with coffees, cakes and some light food. The venue as expected has a great arty feel and would be great for those 2 or 3 people catchups where you are looking to find your own little space to chat. The tables are also quite well spaced which would suit mothers with prams etc. Although here for a quick caffeine hit on a quiet weekday morning I found the quality, service and cleanliness all a little lacking. Coffee was a bit watery and the food sitting on the counter was poorly presented. I suspect the purpose of Blondie is to be arty and inviting without been intimidating to the a diverse set of customers they must receive given their location. Nearby I would recommend the Malaysia fusion cafe 5 Solars for a better coffee and Testing Grounds for a pre show drink.

The best food The variety…read more The atmosphere is amazing In the summer you can sit outside

Situated in an old fire station, The Firehouse is one of the most upscale dining experiences East…read moreof the city. As the Urban sprawl envelopes the area, it's only logical that the demand for places like The Firehouse would pop up, and from what I've seen, the place is in high demand. Every time I have been here it has been fully booked up, and deservedly so. The food is fantastic, the service is quite good, and the menu boasts dishes you won't find anywhere else in Ringwood. For an experience such as this however, there is a cost. The Firehouse is also one of the most expensive places to eat in the area, with a lunch consisting of one meal, one drink and a coffee chalking up an easy $40. I was there last week, and had the omelette for lunch, with a beer and a coffee. The omelette was sensational, full of Italian cheese and sautéed mushrooms. Not oily or overly salty, it was a good lunch size and left room for me to check out the superb dessert menu. With a group of 8 of us, I must note that the service was great until the desserts came out, and we were given another tables order. This left a couple of us with no dessert, and the staff were forced to come and apologize, then leave those without dessert waiting until well after the rest of us were finished until they received theirs. We were compensated with free coffee though, which was nice.

The name definetly of this place caught my eye while browsing places for lunch. We were greeted…read morewith a smile and headed to a booth. Staff were friendly offering menu's promptly and ensuring we were aware of the specials. The two of us shared a Cheese burger and Pulled Pork burger with a side of fries. The food was delicious with the serving sizes quite generous. They also serve a variety of desserts including ice cream sundae's and cakes/pastries/donuts. Great find on a mid week food adventure!

Moving to the High Street area around the Thornbury / Northcote border, this place originally…read morecaught my eye because of its name. That was back in June and I've only just had the chance to check it out. Not being a fan of eggs or avocado (blasphemy in Melbourne, I know!), I rarely venture out for brunch but with an interstate visitor in town, it was time to test out this awesome sounding cafe down the road! We were lucky enough to arrive when there were a lot of free tables (NOT the case by the time we left!) and chose to sit at one of the booths. After drooling over the menu and specials offering I was left with two options and sought assistance from our waitress. Here I encountered the honesty you don't expect from an employee - she informed me that one of the options I was choosing between was actually quite a large serving and therefore if I wanted to share with my dining companion, that would be enough to satisfy the two of us. However, my friend had her heart set on her own different menu choice so I thanked the waitress for her advice and went with my other choice which was a delicious bagel. As it was, I couldn't even finish half of it and ended up taking the second half home for a late lunch / afternoon snack (and it was still so tasty the second time around). I loved the staff, I loved the food and I loved the coffee. I'll definitely be back!

Staying at the hotel next door. Was happy to find this little gem. Wide variety in the menu, with…read moreplenty of seafood choices. Reasonable prices. Have eaten here five times and always good. Favorite so far is the Simply Grilled fish. Oh, and the delicious cakes! They also have twenty kinds of pancakes, which i haven't tried yet. Friendly service, choice of porch or inside seating. Entrance is just after The Clarion on the corner.

I am so happy to have discovered this place - it's probably the best meal this end of Chapel…read morestreet! I have always found the restaurants and eateries surrounding Jam Factory to be slightly disappointing, not to mention overpriced. Whenever I go to see a movie or I'm near Chapel for an appointment, I'm always slightly disheartened by my bleak choices for a bite to eat. Queue Roll'd - the answer to all of my Prahran food related problems. Delicious and fresh, it never fails to supply me with a satisfying lunch. They have a pleasing array of Vietnamese food to suit any taste, and a great selection of lunch deals to boot. The soups come in small and large sizes, making them the perfect snack or meal. If you're on the run just grab a few of the rice paper rolls and eat 'em on the go. My favourite part? It doesn't break the bank! Don't forget the peach iced tea - so good in summer. This is what fast food was always meant to be.

This is not located on Little Lonsdale rather a laneway off Little Lonsdale…read more We love Squires Loft in the Docklands (we both work near there) and thought we'd give this location a go because we had an Entertainment Book offer. I even braved the Melbourne rain for the promise of a great steak. Alas the steaks were a little dry and didn't have as much basting as the Docklands. It felt like the staff members were quite new to the restaurant, they were quick to serve us but they didn't listen fully to the order such as a request for no dressing on the salad. They did however provide a second serving of bread which my husband was quite happy about.

A nice tucked away location. A spin-off of Squires Loft…read more Even though not so much a fan of basted steak, I thought to give it a go. Nope, still not a fan...although, this is just my personal taste and has not altered my review. Steak was cooked perfectly. Plates/sizzling plates are way to small, and my friend an I both felt cramped - my chips were constantly falling off the plate. peppercorn sauce didnt have any peppercorns in it. They also had to be reminded to bring an extra we ordered for the baked potato My rating of 2 is purely based on the well cooked steak (which is the main thing) otherwise, they would have recieved a 1 The Barolo was greatly enjoyed! Menu's look old and out dated.