Experience: Melbourne!

Talk about "reasons to salivate"! After having loosened my belt and concealed my ultimate 'food baby', I can now comfortably share with you my Mary Poppins' bag trip that was Melbourne.

[Warning: May contain excessive amounts of zeal due to being my first intimate experience with Australia's cultural capital]

The Queen Victoria Markets

Not even my close friend Dani - my very own portable talking bottle of bubbly, could prepare me for the sensory deliciousness of these markets. Stretching literally as far as the eye can see, the market stalls hold anything and everything you could ever contemplate incorporating into a gourmet meal. Being organisation obsessed, the easy to visualise layout of the different market segments absolutely suited my way of shopping. After collecting your fruit, veg, spices, nuts, legumes, eggs, and even live poultry from the colour doused rows, let yourself fall victim to the mouth watering scent of smoked meats and aged cheeses in the historic dairy hall. Also home to an array of confectionary, teas, breads, pastas, dips, and marinated antipasto items, this building was my idea of heaven on earth. Just as awe-inspiring, but perhaps not a sight for the those of you more faint of heart, were the seafood and red meat displays featuring whole hanging lambs and blankets of shiny, sleek fish. After an exhausting but nevertheless, stimulating shop, we headed to the food hall for some rejuvenation via flavour.  

Lygon Street, Chapel Street, and Acland Street

1am on a Friday night, this acclaimed street oozing with traditional Italian restaurants is still buzzing. Recognised as the first Melbourne precinct to establish the familiar concept of footpath dining, Lygon Street is a fitting venue for any occasion from romantic rendezvous to grand gossip gatherings. Selecting which establishment to eat at was an experience in itself, being hustled by waiters with competitive deals every few steps. From a starting offer of complementary Garlic Bread and an alcoholic beverage each, to a winning deal of two bottles of Champagne, a slice of Bruschetta each and Coffees to finish, it wasn't difficult to splurge on Moreton Bay Bug Marinara mains, at easily half the price of that expected at renowned Brisbane establishments. Though similar in terms of the abundant choice of restaurants, Chapel Street in South Yarra, offers its patrons a wider array of cuisines from Italian and Greek through to Indian and Asian. A handy hint to keep in mind, enjoy your retail therapy before indulging in your dinner, because maternity clothes are hard to find. Check out http://www.chapelstreet.com.au/ to learn the talk before you walk the walk. Just as style engrossed, is St. Kilda's iconic Acland Street. Displaying eccentric cafe culture, and bundles of beautiful bakery delights, this popular seaside strip is perfect for a latte infused people-watching session or even a naughty nibble with the girls. Unfortunately, I found the customer service in at least two of the bakeries to be below satisfactory, the items to be overpriced despite being home-made, and the taste to be unmemorable, compared to the visual they present. Therefore, I do regrettably question whether the store vendors rely solely upon their prime property position and notoriety to keep the businesses afloat. I will however commend one particular waiter at Amigos Mexican Restaurant, who went out of his way to ensure we had a tasty and enjoyable lunch.

Hardware Lane

After drooling over the Vanilla and White Chocolate Lindt Macarons it was no surprise that we ended up at La Belle Miette in Hardware Lane the very next day, to satiate our new appetite for the delicate yet flavour-filled French biscuits. Embarrassingly, our intimate affair with macarons became obvious to the entire team at La Belle Miette when we entered the store for the second time that day to purchase six more macarons each on top of the three by three we had already graced our palates with just two hours earlier. Although we did not attend the sauve Mill Restaurant for lunch that day, our brisk stroll past and a Google on the plane trip home, deemed this historic building, a must-do pecking spot for next time. Mmm just nibbling a Champagne and Plum exclusive Bastille Day Macaron now... Vanilla Tea from the markets to wash everything down. Scrumptious!

Crown Casino

Under the spell of a torso-sized glass of speciality pink petal cocktail, my breath was easily captured by the fairytale-resemblant staircase and synchronised designer water fountains of Melbourne's Crown Casino. Offering more than 40 different dining locations, from simple snacks through to premium restaurants (including Neil Perry's acclaimed Rockpool), Crown can be considered the city's cosmopolitan central. Asian to French, Mediterranean to Bar & Grill, Seafood to Steak, there's a place for any mood and a place for any taste.

Collection of business cards from where we ate.

-Photography by Kayla Hannan & Jessie Newman-