I'm in Melbourne for the first time (Australian Open)
I love "weird" / unique places.
What would you recommend? For dinner, lunch or in general…
Thank you :-)
btw: not overpriced would be nice:)
"Weird" / unique places in Melbourne?
Amores on 15/01/2014 - 19:37
Comments
Given the OP is American, a Hawaiian themed bar is probably redundant.The drinks are nice there but food is average.- Rooftop bar is nice
- Melbourne Central has a temporary rooftop area setup dedicated to the tennis.
- Naked for Satan/Naked in the Sky. Good pintzos ($1 per toothpick and its tapas)
River bars:
- Riverland (Bar next to the river, Fed square)
- Ponyfish Island is situated on the bridge of the Yarra
In no particular order:
- I'd skip steak, Italian, Mexican, burgers, pizza as
US does them betteron par with Sydney. - For the "Australian experience", go to an authentic pub with good food. The Napier in Fitzroy does chicken parma topped with kangaroo. Classic Fitzroy bar.
- Avoid Lygon street, crap Italian food, overpriced. Also, be cautious about Chinatown, lots of crappy tourist places as well.
- Berlin Bar (Basically a bar split into East and West Berlin, you have to get buzzed into bar, one side is nice other has artillery shells, barbed wire, bunkers)
- Meat pie (not sure who does a good one)
- Greek food. Stalactites, Lambs, Souvlaki king, Town Hall Kebab etc.
- There is a liquid nitrogen gelato place on Bourke/Russell and also Brunswick St.
- Hutong dumplings (great dumplings)
- Meatball & Wine Bar
- Ice Bar (All ice inside, have to wear jacket. Probably popular in this weather)\
- Chocolate/Cakes: Acland St. in St. Kilda (cakes), Koko Black, Brunettis (Lygon Street branch)
- Brother Baba Budan Hipster coffee place with chairs on the ceiling.
Check out Yelp & Urbanspoon for ideas.
I'm European (living in Sydney for the past 3 years though)
Thank you for all the tips
Whoops. Where did I get the American from (maybe your username)? Oh well, ignore that part. ;)
Burgers: Huxtaburger (Collingwood), Beatbox Burger (Food truck)
Authentic Italian Pizza: 400 Gradi (Brunswick East), DOC (Carlton)
Weird pizza: Metre Pizza (Carlton), MojosAlso, avoid touristy places (Anything that looks like its from the 80s/90s) to eat on Swanston St.
Don dons on swanston st. Google it. Budget Japanese food.
Rooftop cider bar. By Flinders station. Google that one also. They often have cheap pints as part of weekly specials and located across from Flinders.
moroccan soup bar is interesting + good (though I haven't been there for 9 years)
If I think of weird…(but in a good unique way)…
Hells Kitchen (Centre Place - which is also full of awesome places…but Hells Kitchen is by far the best and hardest to find)…it's upstairs…look for a red staircase…do a u-turn at the top…go through the door that looks like it's going to dump you back in the lane from one floor up…try the Mountain Goat.
PonyFish island (middle of the yarra)
Chuckle Park (hidden laneway near cnr Elizabeth and Little Collins)
Ants Bistro - asian food…either the Minister Chicken or the Chili Tomato Fish (Corrs Lane, Chinatown).
Good list.
Chuckle Park sounds interesting. What is it?
Think it's american style bbq? Haven't had a chance to go though myself
Also think Bimbos for weekday pizza on Johnston St is pretty good. very reasonably priced and I believe they are effectively the same as Lucky Coq in Chappel St?Chuckle is known as the part between a pigs tail and anus.
source - 30 rock
Melbourne is famous for its graffiti. If you feel like a walk there are heaps of cool little alleyways tucked away with great graffiti and cafes and bars. Kind of like the whole city is a great big outdoor art gallery.
One place is Croft Alley in Chinatown (which itself is fun to explore). Here's a video a New York artist did because she was so impressed with it when she visited Melbourne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne-ek0LugUk
There's also a trendy and unique nightclub hidden at the back of Croft alley if that's of interest: http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/bars/venues/44/croft-ins… and http://www.thecroftinstitute.com/about-us.aspx
For other hidden laneways in Melbourne (not just graffiti related see http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=940…)
For more graffiti and off the beaten path type walks see: http://walkingmaps.com.au/IndividualWalkAction.action?walkId…
http://melbourne.concreteplayground.com.au/news/108694/the-b… lists a range of laneways. These are good bets for daytime as well as night as in addition to bars they have little breakfast places and coffee places. Also mentioned in some other posts is one of the most famous (but still tucked away and not obvious to every tourist is Centre Place https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=20+centre+place+melbourne&… It kind of reminds me of some of the hidden laneways in Barcelona off the Ramblas; particularly with its Beaux-Arts style ironwork. But because it's so well known it can be crowded and one end has been ruined with a big glass office building. Still it's worth a look.
Although the concept of Croft Institute is good with the different rooms, the few times I've gone, it's been absolutely dead!
There's also a stock exchange bar where prices change depending on what their 'market value' is. Good in concept, didn't think it was executed greatly, but again, a long time since I've been thereYes, in full disclosure, I've never been to the Croft Institute when it's open. I've only seen it from the outside, during the day, whilst I was checking out the graffiti and exploring Chinatown.
The Astor Theatre - Old theatre now shows various movies in St Kilda http://www.astortheatre.net.au/
Montsalvat - beautiful old artist community in Eltham http://www.montsalvat.com.au/about/AboutMontsalvat.aspx
Sonido - great little South American cafe in Fitzroy with lots of great laneways nearby for graffiti or the rose market on weekends. http://sonido.com.au/
Already back in Sydney, will return for the Grand Prix.
I need to leave more time to explore the city, I really liked it there!Did someone say "pies"? I had lunch in the Block Arcade today @ Dinkum Pies. Easy to get a seat and they do a pie with soft drink for $8.20 (bit exxy I guess)…or go a family pie…they seem to be 1/2 price at the moment @ $8 each (I wonder if that should be posted as a deal?)
Plenty of eateries in that Arcade (which is sort of across the road from Chuckle Park I mentioned in an earlier post (who have put their prices up a little over the new year unfortunately). I think there is also a Devonshire Tea place near the Collins Street end which always seems to have a queue of people out the door waiting to get it - I guess I should go and see what all the fuss is about sometime.
Six Melbourne bars worth getting lost for
http://www.piecesofvictoria.com/2013/11/six-melbourne-bars-w…Places I checked out and enjoyed when I was last in Melb a few years ago:
Bimbo Deluxe - http://www.bimbodeluxe.com.au/
Prudence - http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/nightlife/directory/b…
Also I like the idea of lanewaylearning.com
LuWoW is fantastic if you do drinks.