The inside guide to eating and drinking in Melbourne. Since 2005.
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Cheap eats

Journal Canteen: eating and drinking out of our discontent

by Ed

It’s a little know fact that Journal Canteen – or Rosa’s Kitchen as the hidden neon sign on the first floor of the Centre for Adult Education (CAE) Building on Flinders Lane says – is now open on Friday nights. Up until I discovered that, I had only ever eaten lunch – for which bookings [...]

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Slippery, furry and cold, I also ate terrific little scrotums of flavour at Din Tai Fung

by Ed

This is one of the most memorable and best value dishes I ate while briefly in Sydney – the $6.80 Tofu with pork floss and 1,000 year old eggs – at Din Tai Fung at World Square. I think it was even better than the Shao-long bao, which has become so fashionable at Yum Cha [...]

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The Abyssinian: freedom fighter food in Kensington

by Ed

There’s a lot to be said for ethnic restaurants. They usually offer big, cheap hearty meals often cooked from the heart. They also often offer the chance to reacquaint oneself with monosodium glutamate, fluorescent strip lighting, surly service and dodgy lino. Then there’s The Abyssinian (277 Racecourse Road Kensington, Victoria 3031, 03 9376 8754), run [...]

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The Espy’s Ichi Ni rocks St Kilda

by Ed

I instantly like it: Ichi Ni (03 9534 1212), the Izakaya, a Japanese style tavern/pub with food, which opened last night  next to The Espy by the owners of The Espy Vince Sofo and Paul Adamo. It rocks. Yes, there were some blips in service on the first night. But we weren’t even aware that our [...]

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Shimbashi: finding gold on the coast

by Ed

The best and best value food in Surfers Paradise has long been the tiny Korean and Japanese joints hidden in its low-rent 1970s shopping malls. But it is also worth escaping the main tourist drags for Chevron Island where soba Master Yoshinory Shibazaki & his wife Keiko are bringing Japanese food on the Gold Coast [...]

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Still searching for the best Pho. Or am I?

by Ed

The seductive thing is the doorway and a sign. There is no other indication of what lies at the top of the stairs in the Thy Thy (142 Victoria St, Richmond +61 3 9429 1104) Vietnamese restaurant. Perhaps restaurant is too strong a word. This isn’t a place I’d come to eat at night and [...]

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Very Cheap annoucement

by Ed

This is, as Joe Strummer said, a public service announcement and it may “Rock the Casbah” a bit. The idea of Very Cheap Eats (Email me as gastrotomATgmailDOTcom if you’d like to become a reviewer) is to provide a guide to the best cheap food in Australian in the sort of places you’d actually choose [...]

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Inkr7: worth a detour in St Kilda

by Ed

The intersection of Inkerman, Barkly and Grey streets is where the whole of St Kilda comes together. The Barkly Hotel is a backpackers by any other name. The Bitch is Back is a local retro furniture icon. And of course, you can buy any type of drug or sexual deviancy under the sun on Grey. [...]

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