MOROCCAN SOUP BAR

183 St Georges Rd,
North Fitzroy VIC 3068

If you have not yet eaten at the Moroccan Soup Bar do so immediately otherwise you may not call yourself a Melbournian! Places like this are one of the reasons I heart Melbourne so much. A vegetarian restaurant that doesn’t serve alcohol (or do BYO for that matter) is constantly packed out! Because the food is awesome, and cheap! The first time I ate the food was when a bunch of peeps got takeaway, and it came to something ridiculous like $5 each. These guys were also on the sustainability bandwagon long before everyone else, getting you to bring your own containers which they fill up with delicious food.

Oh yeah, the food – I’d better talk about that. Well I’ve never ordered anything other than the banquet, but why would you, it’s amazing, fills you up and is always super delicious! Dips, bread, salads, lentils, and that yogurt thing with the crunchy bits of pita bread in it! I love that, and always try to eat as much as I can without my friends seeing I’m secretly eating all of the best dish...I just can’t help myself!! I need to go back again soon.

VEGIE BAR

380 Brunswick St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Ph (03) 9417 6935
 
Vegie Bar is great. Another one of my faves. The food is cheap and delicious. I have to say though I never try new things on the menu, I always get the burrito. Every time, before I go to the Vegie Bar I give myself a little pep-talk...kinda like “now don’t go ordering the burrito this time, you should try something new and not be so boring”....and every time I look at the menu and go for the burrito. Meh...perhaps sometimes going with what you know isn’t such a bad thing! But seriously, this place is great, definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.

MELBOURNE SUPPER CLUB/SIGLO BAR

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

From what I hear the Supper Club has been around for quite some time, dare I say “Melbourne Institution”?? The supper club is great. You can relax on a leather armchair on level 1, or enjoy the view of parliament house from the terrace. This is the perfect place for a nightcap and a cigar if you’ve been to see a show or just eaten at the top end of town. Drinks aren’t exactly cheap, but hey, it’s Melbourne and the Supper Club is definitely not the kind of place that do happy hours or 2-4-1 specials. The only food I’ve had there is the dip & bread, which is lovely, and the cocktails are well made. Definitely check it out.

THE CORNER HOTEL

57 Swan St, Richmond VIC 3121

Ph (03) 9427 9198

The Corner Hotel is a Melbourne institution. So many great bands have graced its band room, I love this place. The downstairs bar is a little on the dingy side, however the rooftop as huge, and is a great place to hang for a sneaky beer before a footy game or a show. Wintertime is still game on for the rooftop as they have a pretty good amount of cover and lots of heaters.

Food-wise, the Corner offers standard pub grub (but with some good vego options), they have a $14 pot and parma deal on Wednesday nights and other specials during the week. The menu is a little heavy on the deep fried food. It’s more a place you come to drink and see bands rather than sit down and have a nice meal.

The Corner always draws a really eclectic crowd as you get punters, locals and a few footy heads (who aren’t feral enough for the Precinct or The Swan) which I like. The staff are usually friendly, the rooftop does get pretty busy on Friday and Saturday nights, and they always have a great line up of bands playing. Get on the mailing list if you’re not already!!

CAMY’S SHANGHAI DUMPLING HOUSE

25 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne

OK, so I LOVE Shanghai dumpling. This is probably the only restaurant I have waited outside in the rain for! Yes, I go there a lot, and yes, there have been stories of cockroaches in the kitchen, and yes the staff are rude (there is one particularly vile girl who usually is working upstairs, and every time you look in her general direction she looks at you like she is going to come into your bedroom at night while you are sleeping and slit your throat), and yes I pretty much order the same thing every time I go, but this place is a Melbourne institution. I always take interstate visitors there, and a meal plus a beer always costs $15.

I’m not too keen on the recent introduction of the ‘banquet’, it seems to me just a way to get customers to spend more money in the restaurant. I tried the banquet and found we didn’t eat half the food. I guess usually when I go there I am usually lining my stomach after a couple of after work drinks, in between the first place and the next place, so I’m not looking for a huge feed, just a quick cheap bite.

They also do BYO and corkage is quite cheap, so if you have a group you can bring a bottle of something. I usually just go for the $5 Tiger or Tsing-Tsao beers though, because it’s not the kind of place you tend to kick back with a couple of vinos. As soon as you arrive you are expected to order (no mulling over the menu!!), and as soon as you stop eating you are hustled out the door, which I like because it’s one of the reasons the food so cheap and is all part of its charm.

If you haven’t already visited Shanghai Dumpling, do so immediately, even if you are just going to bitch about it. It’s one of those places you need to know about if you’re going to call yourself a Melbournian.

EPILOGUE TO SHANGHAI DUMPLING POST:

OK so the banquet officially SUCKS. Some friends and I went in over Chinese New Year and the only option was banquet. It was awful. Half of the food is fried crap that I wouldn’t order from the normal menu, we just ate it because it was served to us. Also the owner put a plate of fried pork dumplings on our table that he had clearly just taken off another group’s table. They were stone cold and I do I even need to mention the food hygiene implications?? I mean, look, they probably do that behind the scenes, but if that IS what they do, I don’t want to know about it!! It was very blatant and there was no way we were eating them. So under no circumstances should anyone ever order the banquet. I don’t care how good the perceived value is! Normal menu is fine, banquet is not!