A quick bite to eat here one day while in Melbourne on business. It's was just around the corner…read morefrom where we had been and was an easy choice after I read fellow yelpers reviews. We got the express lunch for $20 as it was light and quick to come out and came with a pot of beer which hit the spot as it had been a testing day. My calamari salad was good. The calamari was crispy and light while the large salad was quite nice and refreshing. My partner had ravioli and that was only a small serve but was also quite good for a quick lunch. The staff were courteous and quick to attend to us. I didn't look over the whole menu as time was limited but going by the food we had I'm sure the rest of the menu would've been quite nice.

This was a gem of a find. Set off the street and up a flight of stairs, the bar has a very nice…read morecovered outdoor area, well heated, large tables, great for groups large and small. The beers ranged from cheap to expensive, and seemed to vary depending on who served us :-) Lots of seating both inside and out. Have not tried the restaurant, but the fries we had with our beers were rather tasty. If I'm down that end of the city again I will definitely be visiting Slate.

I feel compelled to write this review as someone previously had given them 1 star and I feel like…read morethis is more of a 3.5 star experience. While I agree the food is not exceptional (and it really needs to be to survive in this area), the friendly staff and decent wine and craft beer list help a lot. The fit out is the best part of this place. I'm a sucker for well designed cafés and restaurants (this is both), and was blown away by the cute design and use of space. It's very photogenic and will be great in summer, sitting on the front deck drinking Campari spritz or In winter tucked away out back with a glass of red wine. There is also a bluestone cellar with a large pool table hidden downstairs! Not many of these left in modern pubs around this area! All in all this place has a lot of room to improve but the foundation is there for a great addition to Collingwood.

We stumbled upon this little place as the last of our mini bar/food crawl for the night. It wasn't…read morevery busy but it was the allure of espresso martinis for $12 that did it for my friends. We were seated in a booth up the back - not great for atmosphere but it was late (for us) so we were happy to just be with our own company. I was very happy to find they had Starward whisky on the menu - stoked, my favourite! The staff were very friendly and great with the recommendations - we had some food and I don't know if it was the late hour or the glowing review the staff gave it but it was absolutely delicious. We had one item that was like an arancini ball but it was crumbed mashed potato with a beautiful truffled mushroom ragu in the middle. I shared one with my friend but could easily have eaten another two to myself! The fried artichokes were also tasty but the balls were the best.

Because Amsterdam Street Café is tucked away from the main Church Street foot traffic, its pretty…read moreeasy to just go by and not notice this gem of a find. Being surrounded by furniture stores, advertising companies and creative agencies however keeps this great little café on its toes all week. But unlike other more well known cafes in the vicinity, Amsterdam Café tends to keep a more down key (read: affordable) character which is appreciated completely. One of my favourite places for breakfast when I used to work on Church Street, Amsterdam café keeps its meals interesting and low priced - which is far form what other places in this mixed use area can claim. Try the Mushroom, goats cheese an thyme omelette - it's a delicious rendition for the senses. Or if you have a sweet tooth (like I do) you must have the French toast - generous portions of thick cut bread which are deceivingly light and satisfying. Maple syrup comes on the side so you can choose how sweet you want your breakfast to be.

Amsterdam St is one of my go-to cafes in Melbourne. I've yet to have a bad meal or a bad coffee in…read moredozens of visits. They are also one of the cafes that regularly stock Sugadeaux Cupcakes. (Definitely try the Red Velvet cupcake). You can't go wrong with their poached eggs. I also regularly have the the BLAT... But, as I said, I've never had a bad meal here, so it's definitely a menu you can explore.

To be honest, I am more a fan of progressive cuisine and this is the complete opposite so maybe it…read moreis unfair to compare but, if I look at the worlds best 50 I prefer Gaggan (Bangkok) or Andre (Singapore) any day above Dinner. That being said, the 5-course lunch was executed well: it had some unique elements and the service throughout the experience was excellent. The stand-out dish of the day was for sure the Meat Fruit, I was kinda hoping for the mandarin but that day they served the plum. The pate was super delicious, one of the best I ever had! The first dish of the day, Hay Smoked Kingfish was also flawless, it showed restraint and was perfectly balanced. The entree, Chicken with Lettuces was very tasty but I found that the garnishes were better than the protein itself. That being said, I found the Meat & Flesh on the salty side and for a 38$ appetizer I find the amount of meat, two tiny pieces about the size of my pinky nail, unacceptable. In addition, I asked the sommelier for a cocktail suggestions and specifically stated that I did not want a sweet cocktail. He suggested the Mint Rickey which was way too sweet for my taste. Overall a good experience, would go back for the Meat fruit and the atmosphere was excellent but I wouldn't call it a flawless experience and isn't that what you expect for this type of restaurant?

Awesome, the best meal I've had this year…read more The Meat Fruit is too beautiful for words. The 4 mains we tried were just amazing. The tipsy cake is superb. Fantastic tasting food, with exquisite presentation, and delivered with outstanding service.

I love these aesthetic coffee shops, but then again I love the cluttered ones as well, but it is…read morethe aesthetic nature of this place that I quite like. It isn't a huge coffee shop, and it is nowhere near as crowded as some of the other ones around the place, which is also pretty cool. The staff are quite friendly, and the coffee wasn't all that bad either. However, what I really liked about this place was just the relaxed atmosphere, the quiet surroundings, and the aesthetic design.

Seddon is lucky enough to have a new cafe join the westside party after The Little Man opened on…read moreVictoria St this morning. It's a beautifully designed little place, taking over the convenient corner space previously belonging to the Seddon Post Office. An all day breakfast spot, The Little Man offers the standard array of eggs, though someone at a nearby table ordered the 'Little Man's Burger' ($16 with chips or salad, one of three lunch options) and it looked freaking delicious. Will definitely give it a go next time I head there. They're clearly catering to the young family crowd in the area, with egg & soliders and nutella/jam crepes on the menu for the kiddies, as well as a doorway ramp practical for the ever growing size of prams these days. With HEAPS of lovely natural lighting and a huge share table in the front window, it seems like it's going to become a really great place to grab a coffee, do some work on a laptop or meet friends for breakkie. Latte was really smooth & nice, and while it was always going to be tough to live up to the coffee standards of their neighbour Common Galaxia, they're not too far behind. Give this adorable little place a few weeks to relax and settle in and it will no doubt become another well loved addition to the ever growing Victoria St.

One of a few melbourne bars where one can sit outside at street level, their signature beer is…read moregood. Pizza looks amazing. Music can sometimes be a bit dark and brooding but perhaps its intentional..

This was a pretty cool bar that we discovered as we were wandering through the city one afternoon…read more Actually, it happened to be straight across the road from another store that I was visiting, and not having been here before I thought that it would be a good idea to go and check it out. Well, this place turned out to actually be pretty good. Sure, it wasn't the biggest of places, but it did happen to have some charm about it. Yeah, this place was quite cool actually.

This is quite an odd but rather delightful little restaurant. Décor wise it feels like you've…read moreaccidentally wandered into an very rich old person's living room. They've gone for cabinets full of classic art and antiques, antique style furniture and lots of dark brown and dark green. I've never been to anything quite like it. The food was pretty good. I ordered the roast beef and vegetables from the Christmas menu. It was tasty but the meat was a touch dry. The steak sandwich my friend ordered looked amazing. I'm very keen to go back to give that a try.

The cafe situated within the Roy Morgan research building produces quality food. I was fed…read moredifferent sandwich varieties at a function held at their function rooms, and the cafe was responsible for preparing the food for hungry delegates; myself once again included. It wasn't too bad. People were coming back for more as the ingredients hit the mark and the focaccia's did take some punch; although there was a slightly bland aftertaste. The vegetarian varieties were the best with just the right amount of eggplant, carrot, sun-dried tomato and pesto included with quality soft drinks on offer. I cannot comment on their coffee or other menu items as sandwiches (focaccia's) were served as refreshments. I cannot get over how soft, dense and fresh the turkish bread was to accompany those delicious and appropriate fillings. The servings overall tended to accompany the decor of the elegant 20th century function room which reminds you of elegant tea parties, even though the energy in the room was quite dim. This could have been why people were helping themselves to seconds more often; and/or the subject matter discussed at this convention could have made us all hungrier than anticipated. A great place, however I am not too fussed to try any other items on the menu as there is a lot to appreciate in Melbourne.

Where do I start. This place was so disappointing on so many levels…read more Firstly, let me just say what a great location, on the edge of the botanical gardens. A thrive of activity with families, couples, young - old, local and visitors occupying and making the best use of a beautiful spring day. BUT that's where the dream ends, once you enter the world of Jardin Tan the clouds grow over and very quickly turn black. Jardin Tan looks like it has three sections. The main restaurant, the cafe out the front and a very stylish ice cream cart. We opted for the cafe, for the reason that we thought it would be quicker, how utterly wrong I was. The line was long, not massive just long. So we join the queue. This gave us an opportunity to look over the menu. Pretty basic but still looked inviting. Rice paper rolls, poached chicken coleslaw, Asian salad, pho just to name a few. We waited and waited and waited and waited. The line was moving at a snail pace and I couldn't understand why. It wasn't until we got to near the front the picture was starting to develop and the story it was telling was one of complete mismanagement and lack of any type of team work. Two staff working, sorry I should clarify that, one staff working and one staff member cleaning the coffee machine, wiping down a small section of the bench, then back to the coffee machine giving it another clean, not once doing any sort of customer service. The other staff member taking orders, getting drinks, getting food and taking payment. If they had both worked as a team, with one taking the orders and the other getting the food (which is pre-packed) and drinks, then maybe the service would have been far quicker and they would have less disgruntled customers. Service indeed, is a big part of any business but so is the product. We ordered the pork rice paper rolls to be told they had ran out so we order the tofu, the poached chicken coleslaw, the beef pho with a baguette and three Moo Brew pilsners (the pale ale also out). The poached chicken coleslaw came in three seperate containers. The salad, the chicken and the dressing, which was a great idea if the ratios are correct. I would say there was a quarter of a small chicken thigh which was over cooked and a very small container of dressing and when you put it all together became a dry bowl of Chinese cabbage and a spring of coriander. The beef pho lacked flavour. The beef looked like it had been processed at Coles and had little to no vegetables in it, it also was missing the baguette, but to be honest didn't want to join the queue and wait another 45mins to get my baguette. On the upside the rice paper rolls did look and taste great. The beers, one word, FLAT The third part to Jardin Tan is the ice cream cart. The ice cream looked great and people seemed to be happy with the taste so we thought let's save this lunch with a really good ice cream. I'd really like to say the ice cream was creamy and full of flavour, but I can't and the reason being, unlike the cafe, had no one working it. Was it closed, had the staff member taken a toilet break, not sure and either was the group of people waiting to buy an ice cream. Who, like us, gave up and walked away. Its a real pity because this place has so much potential.

Great food, fried chicken is very flavourful. Open and spadeful eating area…read more Friendly waiters who were very helpful and always easy to get their attention. Food was quick to come out. Small selection of beers though