All posts tagged: reviews

A Grand Evening with Robyn Annear

On a typical, cool wet Melbourne winter evening in August, 42 literary buffs attended an exclusive, three course dinner at the Grand Hotel for a night of wine, fabulous food and an enthralling, intimate chat with author Robyn Annear. Partnering with The Wheeler Centre, this event was one of three to be hosted by the M Gallery Collection Hotel’s in Melbourne, the first, being held at The Lindrum in May, and the last to be held at The Como in September. The night kicked off in grand style, all guests greeted with their choice of champagne or the hotel’s signature drink – a John Batman Apple Martini, chosen for the hotel’s historical location significance, as it was originally the site of Melbourne’s founding father’s fruit orchard. The conversation flowed amongst guests as did the wine and before long, everyone had polished off their generous entrée, mains, and the main event kicked off. Interviewed beautifully by Wheeler Centre representative, Helen Withycombe, Robyn Annear was charming, entertaining and a perfectly eccentric. Guests found themselves listening to a …

Shaken not stirred at Please Don’t Tell

Published by We Know Melbourne

When we heard that the boys from New York’s most famous speakeasy were coming to Melbourne, we couldn’t help but get excited, and so did the rest of Melbourne it seemed. Tickets sold out (or should we say booked out – entry was free) within minutes and we were lucky enough to secure tickets for the first session. Now, we’ve visited a whole lot of speakeasies on previous trips to the US, and we had heard about Please Don’t Tell, but low and behold we never got there. Call it what you will, but we think this was definitely a sign, that we had to go! In case you don’t know what a speakeasy is (one of our friends who came along actually had to google it first), old mate, Wikipedia defines it as: “an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during theProhibition era (1920–1930).” Although these days, it would be more used to describe bars with a retro style, think something out of the 1950s that …

Delhi Streets

Published by We Know Melbourne

Colourful, vibrant and aromatic. That’s three words we would use to describe India and that’s exactly what Delhi Streets bring to the table. Their modern, colourful space tucked away in Katherine Place is full of India pop memorabilia, including everything from Bollywood posters to Indian branded furniture and table settings. Although the actual space is small (seats 28 people), the atmosphere is constantly buzzing. Grab a seat at the bar and watch your meal being cooked in the kitchen! The menu is full of a range of vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes traditional dishes like biryanis, pakoras and puris, all at a very reasonable price. We opted for the thalis, and although when they first brought it out, we thought we were going to have order more, we can assure you, the dishes are just the right amount of food. Flavoursome, cheap and just right. We Know Melbourne tip: We’ve got to warn you, we’ve tried to go a couple of times for lunch only to be met by long lines at the door. We …

Red Spice Road

Published by We Know Melbourne

Recently some of our We Know Melbourne team got to visit well known South East Asian restaurant Red Spice Road in McKillop Street. The first thing that strikes you about this place is that it is a large venue but cleverly divided into separate zones each with it’s own feel and style. The obvious starting point ti at the McKillop street bar where we enjoyed a nice glass of wine and probably the standout dish of the night being an amazing appetizer of spiced duck ball on a wafer of fresh, chilled watermelon. The duck was quite spicy but combined with the watermelon it was just right! We toured the other sections of the restaurant which included the appropriately named Long Room which is home to a couple of very long communal tables which are a signature feature of Red Spice Road to encourage the feeling of shared eating that the owners feel is central to the Asian dining experience. There’s also a courtyard, function rooms and the very stylish Lantern Room which featured some …

Cibi – A breakfast with a difference

Published by We Know Melbourne

If you live in Melbourne, you’ll know that a new café seems to open almost every week, especially in the Fitzroy/Collingwood area. While the prospect of seeking a new café out can be fun and exciting, sometimes you just want to return to a good old favourite. For the We Know Melbourne, team, one of these long term favourites is Cibi. Located off the main strip of Smith Street, this café is easy to miss, but as soon as you enter you feel like you’re reaquantained with your long, lost , best friend. Cibi (Japanese for little one) is fitted out with modern interiors, plenty of design reading material and an ever so homely feeling. There’s even an gallery/shop where you can purchase Japanese ceramics, teatowels, and other homewares. The café caters for those looking for a breakfast with a difference. You won’t find your regular eggs and avocado on toast here. Instead the menu serves a traditional breakfast. We opted for the Ultimate Weekend Special: Grilled sliced salmon fillet, free range egg omlette Tamagoyaki, …

Melbourne’s Original Escape Room

Published by We Know Melbourne

This week I finally got to experience Melbourne’s original Escape Room and let me say it was definitely worth the 3 month wait to secure a booking! Escape rooms apparently originated in Japan, but it was in Budapest that Melbourne’s escape room founder, Owen Spears fell in love with the concept. Legend has it that Owen and his partner (both psychiatrists) were so enamoured with the escape room experience that they visited 6 different rooms in the Hungarian capital in a single day. They then decided to bring the concept back to Melbourne. It was certainly humble beginnings for their plan, with Melbourne’s first escape room being set up in a bungalow at the back of Owen’s mum’s house in suburban Flemington. However their idea caught on with adventurous Melbournians and this original escape room is now booked out for three months in advance and Owen is about to open his third location. In addition many imitators have latched on to Owen’s original idea so that you can now visit escape rooms all over Melbourne, …