All posts filed under: Reviews

Quiz in My Pants: Hardcore Trivia – MICF Review

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Everyone loves a little bit of a Trivia night. It brings out the best and worst of people. Mate against mate, even date against date – unleashing the competitive streak in all of us. So when invited along to check out ‘Quiz in My Pants’ as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, we jumped at the chance to put our mad trivia skills to the test.   This was not your traditional pub trivia, and certainly not a show for the prudish (or under 18), but it was light, sparkly and had just the right amount of audience interaction, helped along by it’s later time slot by which point many audience members had had a chance to have a wine or two and loosen up.  On entry groups are given their quiz answer sheet and team name – we’re talking clever pun names like ‘Shaving Ryan’s Privates’ and ‘Inspect Her Gadget’, and that set the scene for the rest of the show as Quiz Mistress ‘Quizzie’ and her sidekick ‘Rusty’ (Cassie Vagliviello and Brendan Ewing) …

Get Messy at House of Crabs

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Tucked away under the Newmarket Hotel, House of Crabs St Kilda is a blink and you almost miss it, hidden gem in the southside. Originally from Sydney, the crab shack’s rockabilly pub style vibe with band on stage is a stark contrast to the more modern, clean, upmarket restaurant upstairs. The menu is a mix of Southen-style seafood “boils” in delicious sauces (think crabs, mussels and prawns) alongside meats such as chicken and ribs on the grill, and side snacks to go with it. To wash down your seafood feast, there’s also the most delicious and mouthwatering traditional cocktails you can get your hands on. We tried the lageritas, peach cobblers and Alabama Slammas and we can guarantee you that they’re some of the most interesting cocktails we’ve tried in Melbourne. And in case you were wondering, if it’s a go-to date venue –  The answer is yes! To soak up that crab splatter, you’ll get a bib (and gloves) to wear, which is a grade A talking point for when things get awkward on a …

Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany (Review)

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Going into this show, we wondered how heavy the content would be as the storyline centered entirely around a young German / American girl and her traumatic experience in Hitler’s Germany, during World War II. We needn’t have worried.  Before the performance began, a gentleman came out and addressed the audience… “despite the serious nature of this piece, it’s important to know that some parts will, in fact be lighthearted in nature – and we encourage you to laugh, it’s actually ok.” This announcement set the tone perfectly for what we found to be an entertaining, fast-paced and emotional account of the true story of Eleanor Ramrath Garner between the age of 9 to 16, when her family, filled with promises of a more secure future, packed up and left America for Berlin in 1939. No sooner than they had boarded their ship – than war was declared and they were trapped in Germany – thus setting the tone for this incredible tale of strength, survival, and optimism during one of the most harrowing times …

The F-Word

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Celebrating International Women’s Day in true form, The F-word kicked off with a panel of inspiring high-profile feminist: Jane Gilmore – editor of Women’s Agenda, Melba Marginson – Executive Director of the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition, Clementine Ford – a freelance writer, broadcaster and public speaker, well-known for her public opinion pieces on feminism, pop culture and social issues, and actor / writer Tammy Anderson. Each woman represented a distinctly different take on what their view of feminism was, which resonated with much of audience on an individual level and the Q&A that followed allowed us to gain a little deeper insight into the mind of these proud, passionate women. The show was a sell-out, Howler – a great location for this panel / performance was packed to the rafters with about 95% ladies – with a few supportive men dotted throughout. At the conclusion of the panel session, Melbourne Playback Theatre took centre stage for their improvisational piece – performed by an entirely female ensemble of actors and musicians for a powerful out of the box piece …

An evening of storytelling at Moth StorySlam

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Last night we sat down to an evening of storytelling at the Moth StorySlam. Taking over the back room of Howler in Brunswick, there was not an empty seat in the house, as the audience prepared to be entertained by those wishing to share their most personal, intimate tales. If you’ve never been to a Moth StorySlam, we’d highly recommend it. Each month the audience is given a theme where anyone and everyone can prepare a story to tell on stage. Audience members put their name in a bag at the start of the night and one by one, their names are drawn from the bag. The stories need to be true, must be on topic and must be your story to tell. No stand-up routines, essays or how-to’s – and in case you forget the rules their up on the wall where storytellers wait when they are called up to the stage. This month’s theme was lost and storytellers had 5 minutes to ‘prepare a five-minute story about life sans GPS. Tales of the …

Pretty Mama

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Tucked away off the main street, Pretty Mama is a little hard to find, but definitely worth the hunt. Opening just last month, the Carribean grill restaurant breathes life into the ‘New York’ side of the city. Michael Cotter (Gumbo Kitchen food truck and Po’ Boy Quarter) and Shae Silvestro (Brooks Der Raum) are the brains behind Pretty Mama collaborating with Head Chef, Clinton Gresham (Cobb Lane Bakery, Mamasita) and what an outstanding job they’ve done. If you didn’t already know, we used to be a regular at Gumbo Kitchen – and it was definitely one of our favourite food trucks when they were around – so we knew we were in for a treat when we heard about Pretty Mama. Chatting to Michael after the meal, we could see his passion for New Orleans and southern food which was shown through each of the dishes. We went with the waiter’s recommendations and ordered a few of each of the smaller dishes plus a main dish, none of which we could fault. The jerk chicken was …

Brunswick Music Festival

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The Sydney Road Street Party is back this weekend, closing off most of Sydney Road (between Union to Victoria Street) for one giant block party! There’ll be everything from the hottest local music, dance, food and market crafts showcasing the best of the Moreland district! With its strong migrant-culture and explosive artistic population, this community is an inner-city hotspot that perfectly illustrates the bohemian and multicultural heart of Melbourne. When: Sunday, 6 March Where: Sydney Road, Brunswick Visit the website here. 

Frozen at Ice Bar

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Love a themed bar laced with killer puns?  We do, which was why we were pretty excited to get the opportunity to check out Ice Bar Melbourne in it’s newly opened Fitzroy location. Starting our adventure in the front entry, we were definitely digging vibes of a vintage Antarctic explorers hut with rows of warm, comfy overcoats and shelves of faux fur lined boots lining the walls. Once you are fully rugged up, the team then take you through the freezer doors into a small winter wonderland where you can meet a frozen three-headed dog named Fluffy (Harry Potter fans get the reference…), play a game of Eskimo Jenga, or make like we did – and go nuts taking photos…  and that’s before you even remember to order a drink from the Jack Frost guarded bar.  The drinks menu itself is perfect for those who, when faced with too many choices, crumble under the pressure to make a choice. It’s perfectly balanced with the basics, plus some killer ‘ice-themed’ cocktails (and for the kids, who …

Red Spice QV

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Recently our We Know Melbourne team got to sample the new season’s menu at Red Spice QV (only 5 minutes walk from the Swanston and Welcome Hotels). Red Spice combines influences from locations as diverse as Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Burma and pairs them with the flair and expertise of head Chef John McLeay. A delicious tray of lamb bao John was present at this exclusive tasting and helped to explain how he arrived at many of the creative dishes on display. Highlights of the new menu include the pulled lamb bao with coriander and house made mayonnaise. However our personal favourites were the prawn fritters with chilli jam on deep fried betel leaf. Amazingly tasty and refreshing! Where: Red Spice QV

All aboard the Aqua Donut!

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Last Friday evening, the We Know Melbourne team were invited to try out the Aqua Donut in the Docklands. Already a summer favourite in Europe, the Docklands’ Aqua Donut is the only one of it’s kind in Australia and an experience that both tourists and locals will love. If you’ve never heard of the Aqua Donut before and in your mind are questioning exactly how does a Donut in water work, rest assured that the Aqua Donut, is not your regular type of donut. The Donut is actually made of fibreglass, electrically powered to float along the water (lifejackets included) with a barbecue to complete an all round top Aussie dining experience. Upon arriving at the Docklands, our team of 9 met Isaiah who guided us through our Donut experience and what to expect. We were instructed that we could float anywhere between the yellow buoys, to hook up to them when we wanted to BBQ and to finally not jump off into the water (or fall off – don’t worry it’s extremely safe and everyone was given …