1. Taste of Melbourne - September 15 – 18, 2011

Attention foodies: wipe the food off your grubby little mitts and mark this one in your calendar. This ‘Ultimate Tasting Menu’ features cooking demos, wine tastings, food samplings, and plenty of produce and products to buy. Some already confirmed participants include Mahjong Black, Libertine, and Longrain. Advance tickets start from $25 – visit www.tasteofmelbourne.com.au

2. Federation Square Wine Showcase – until August 4

Wine buffs and wine blunderers are both welcome at these events, taking place monthly until August 4. Chat with winemakers, taste their latest drops, and help judge the ‘People’s Choice’ award for best wine. Contact The Atrium @ Federation Square on (03) 9655 1900 for more information.

3. Eat Drink WaterTaxi – until July 31

You know you shouldn’t drink and drive. Did you also know that eating and driving can be hazardous? It’s true: you try getting behind the wheel of a moving vehicle after you’ve stuffed yourself with buttercream. Melbourne WaterTaxis are offering a package that includes lunch or dinner at BearBrass, then a ride on the Yarra to Rod Laver Arena. Packages are $42, which includes a set menu, a drink, and a return WaterTaxi ride. So you can eat until you’re immobile! Yay! Call 9682 3799 for more information or to book.

To view all pictures in this post, click on the title above.

Some things are hard to find. My dignity from a crazy Saturday night. Deep-fried products that are good for you. A TV channel that still plays Samurai Pizza Cats.

And the Melbourne Supper Club.

I knew this place was difficult to seek out, but seriously?? D and I waddled up and down the same street for ages before I caved and asked for help at a nearby theatre.

The girl working nodded sympathetically, and directed me to two doors up. “It’s like a plain doorway,” she said.

I almost didn’t believe her. What, I’m going to just trot on it through some random doorway, not knowing whether it’s the right one? Then I looked up and saw this:

I KNOW RIGHT

Cautiously, we opened the nearby door (note to readers: it is beside a restaurant called ‘The European”). What would be inside? Beautiful, glamorous people?  Wine flowing from the heavens? Wine that was milked from the teats of virgins?

We found a staircase.

After a bit of grumbling (“what sort of place IS this. This is CRAP. I want a BEER.”), we reached the landing, and all was well. The Supper Club was revealed to us, in all of its trendy, cosy, and warm glory.

Spread over several levels, the Club is welcoming and comfortable. Inside there are large couches and massive armchairs: perfect for sinking into and nursing a good drink. On the highest level, outside, there is the piece de resistance: a large partially covered deck with in-your-face views of the beautiful Parliament building. At night, the building is lit up, and the deck is suddenly a very, very special and magical place.

It can be hard to snag a seat, and drinks are expensive. I was dying for a cocktail but had already had a bit of a financial incident earlier that day at Myer. Beer is a little better priced, and the wine list is massive – but again, very pricey. But honestly, with a view and surrounds as they are, a drink or two are absolutely worth it.

The Supper Club is Melbourne at its best: mysterious, comforting, welcoming, and very, very stylish. Now, onto my next search: Samurai Pizza Cats on DVD.

The Melbourne Supper Club

1st/161 Spring St
Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9654 6300

Glick’s Bagels

Casa del Gelato

So exciting you want to wet your pants, right?

To view all pictures in this post, click on the title above

I like being a bit rude to Mother Nature sometimes. When she’s cold and windy, I flip her the birdy and head to Cold Rock for a big cup of chilly ice cream. When she rains, I laugh in her face as I go out running, ignoring the water that runs into my eyes and makes me appear to have sweat patches in very unusual places. And, when it’s damn hot and the sun is beating down mercilessly, I moon her and head to Koko Black.

Koko Black are gourmet chocolate makers, geniuses, and producers of some DAMN fine hot chocolate. We visited the Bourke St Koko Black store/cafe one warm day, as we’d heard very good things about the hot chocolate.

The interior of Koko Black is quite fitting for its dessert-centric menu: warm chocolate hues, plush couches, and wooden floorboards. Since we were getting the hot chocolate, we just had to get food too.We shared a Belgian Spoil ($12.50); a platter that had samplings of chocolate cake, Koko Black truffles, shortbread, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate mousse.

The Belgian Spoil was a lot smaller than I expected. Ok, I realise how much of a greedy pig that makes me sound, but it’s true. In all fairness, the quality was obviously very good, and we fell in love with the chocolate mousse. I likened it to cake batter, and D, ever the eager beater-licker, enthusiastically agreed. Funnily enough the ice cream was a lot like a traditional chocolate mousse, and was icy and whippy. We weren’t too sold on the chocolate cake, and found it a bit dry. The two truffles that were on our Spoil were the Java Crisp, and the Hazelnut. The Hazelnut was amazing – a true flavour explosion, with different textures and tastes appearing with every bite. We weren’t as keen on the Java Crisp, which was a liqueur-based chocolate.

Now – the hot chocolate. You can order it in a variety of flavours (like chili or cinnamon), but we went with the original for $5.75.

Can I just say – if I didn’t know my mother read this, I would be filling the rest of this post with lengthy expletives. Why? Because the hot chocolate is SO (beep) AMAZING. People, you have no idea. It has a unique nutty and complex flavour. The first sip seems very sweet, then – BOOM – the second, creamier flavour develops as you swirl it around your mouth and swallow. It’s this contrast between sweet and creamy that make Koko Black’s hot chocolate moreish, not sickly.

Needless to say we went back the next day – and it was chilly this time. I’ll give you this one, Mother Nature. But rest assured I’ll be heading to Koko Black come rain, hail, or blistering heat wave.

Koko Black

Gourmet Chocolates and Dessert Cafe

Shop 4

Royal Arcade

335 Bourke St

Melbourne, Vic

(also at a variety of locations around Victoria, and Canberra)

03 9639 8911

www.kokoblack.com

Australia, sadly, has sucky bagels. They are bread rolls disguised as bagels. They are imposters. This was my train of thought until I visited Glick’s.

ALL HAIL GLICK’S. These guys make the best bagels outside of the Lower East Side. D ordered a poppy seed bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese, and I went with a simple blueberry bagel with cream cheese, and a vegie blintz.

Coming from Brisbane, where we get about as exotic as having canned Polish cabbage in the supermarket, the blintz was an absolute delight for me to find. Plus, it was delicious! The casing was rich and buttery, yet the vegie-rich filling balanced everything out.

The bagels were perfect, with that chewy-but-soft balance that only a good bagel has. My blueberry had the perfect amount of sweetness. D’s salmon was very fresh and piled generously on his bagel.

We sat in silence while we scoffed our bagels, occasionally giving eachother pained expressions, because we knew soon it would end. We would hop  back on a plane to Brisbane, never to have decent bagels again – until the next visit to Glick’s or North America.

I’m hoping the visit to Glick’s comes first.

Glick’s

Cakes & Bagels

325 Flinders Lane

Melbourne CBD

(other locations throughout Melbourne and NSW)

http://www.glicks.com.au/

03 9614 0533

Slightly panicking, D and I devised a plan: get to Movida at 6pm on the dot. Try for a seat at the bar. If we can’t get one, we’ll go to Movida Next Door. If we can’t get in at Movida Next Door…cry. Cry until someone gives me a goddamn croqueta.

D and I headed out at 5.45pm, confident we’d have plenty of time to make it to Movida – earlier, we’d spotted it just a few minutes away from our hotel. We arrived at Movida just before 6. That is, we arrived at Movida Aqui. The smaller, bar-like version.  Not the original Movida restaurant.

Strike 2.

We threw a few curses around, then decided Google Maps would get us to Movida in time. Except for one little problem. My new shoes were too big for me, and thus my feet were literally slipping out of them. So, I did what any respectable young fashionable girl would do, and I defiantly took off for Movida, one hand in D’s, shoes in the other, and traipsed around Melbourne in my stockinged feet.

Strike 3.

Normally, three strikes would see me sobbing in the gutter and bitterly eating a 7-11 burrito. But not this time. We were going to have our Spanish tapas, goddamn it.

After much indignant stomping through the streets (where I glared at anyone who I thought was looking at my feet), we arrived. At Movida. And were seated at the bar.

Ahhhh.

Was it all worth it? Hell yes mo fos.

Movida offeres very small plates (Tapa) or slightly larger serves (Racion). We selected the croquette and tortilla from the Tapa menu ($3.50 each), and the Bistec tartar de waguy ($18) and a chickpea seafood salad from the Racion menu.

But first, we fell in love with the complimentary bread. My GOD. The crust on one of these loaves was insane – it had like a salty, nutty coating to it. We dipped and dipped them in the good quality olive oil until the dishes arrived.

The croquette (pictured below) was a little fried parcel filled with leek and mahon cheese. The shell was lovely and crunchy, and the rich filled oozed out in a very sensual way. It was a cheeky little croquette.

The tortilla was also a tasty little thing; small yet hearty, the rich potato flavours were comforting. These two tapa were quite rich and heavy despite their size, so they were ideal for sharing.

I can’t remember the name of the salad (below right) and it doesn’t seem to be on the menu anymore, but I remember a fresh and crunchy plate filled with vegies, chickpeas, and seafood.

But the wagyu beef tartar (below left). My GOD. D and I still talk about it. A generous little mound of shaved rare wagyu beef was surrounded by delicate little bagel chips. An egg yolk sat in the middle, and the whole presentation was just beautiful. It tasted crazy delicious. The beef was so flavourful and fresh, had a little kick to it, and was perfect scooped up with the rich little chips. It was hearty yet light, and rich yet moreish. Amazing.

The interior of Movida is Melbourne meets Madrid: warm, cosy, welcoming, yet very chic and exotic at the same time. Service is absolutely impeccable – and this was just from the bar. I know the prices sometimes make people balk, but our food was around $45 (for two), and we were very satisfied. The wine and beer list is extensive, and offers varieties from Australia and Europe, with prices from $7 for beer and $11 for wine.

So, unless you want to be that idiot trotting shoe-less around the most chic city in Australia, book at Movida. Guarantee a seat, and you’re guaranteed to have a fantastic meal.

Movida

Spanish Restaurant and Bar

1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne, Victoria

(03) 9663 3038

www.movida.com.au

Ally

Once upon a time, Ally was a fairly simple girl who dabbled in corporate communications by day and growing her food baby by night. She did this via restaurant, cafe, and bar reviews for www.eatdrinkbrisbane.com One day Ally realised that the empire, and her waistline, must be expanded. After a quick curse at the lucky fools who had already bought eatdrinkmelbourne.com, www.eatdrinkmelb.com was created.

And so the expansion continues…

EatDrinkMelbourne is not a professional food critic site, and thus all opinions and reviews must be taken with a grain of proverbial salt. Ally always welcomes love mail (but no hate mail, please – her air punches in Body Combat may look fierce but she is all talk) via eatdrinkbris@gmail.com

Remember: EatDrinkMelbourne is still in its infancy, so bear with me and my blurry photos, typos, and formatting fails for the moment. She’ll be shiny, sexy, and ready to tell you where to go soon!