D.O.C. Pizzeria

Address: 295 Drummond St, 3053 Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Phone: +61 03 93472998

I have been looking for a place where to eat a Italian like pizza instead of the common sweet and small pizza that you can easily find in restaurant. After a talk with some friends here that just got to visit their relatives I found a place in Lygon sun by Italians that make pizza in the way I know it.....
The place is D.O.C. Pizza and it is located at the corner Drummond St. and Faraday St. From the outside the place is really not attractive if compared with many other crowded restaurant in Lygon, but if you love pizzas you really have to try this. D.O.C. pizza does not make any reservation than you just have to show up and hope there's a free spot... We hoped and got the seat at 7:30 when the restaurant started to fill - up.

Whenever I go to a restaurant which make pizzas and I always look at the menu to see which kind of pizzas they offer... especially if they claim to be "original Italians"... and most of the time I find some strange pizzas that nothing have to do with the Italian way of doing it... and a lot of bacon..... :-). This time I happily discovered that the ingredients and the components were the right ones and no exotic flavors were offered. I got a Pizza Parma and my flatmate Chrisy got a Pizza Margherita.... two really classic kinds of pizzas... Pizza Parma is basically a pizza with tomato, mozzarella di bufala, and Parma ham... the pizza was slightly salty but definitely great and Italian like.... Margherita is basically made by tomato, oregano, and mozzarella... even this one was good... For while it seemed to me to get back to an Italian pizzeria.....
The prize?... here comes the hard note.... for two pizzas and two soft drinks (juice and coke) we spent 43.50 dollars. That is for a dinner mostly reasonable but higher than any other place I've been... my pizza was big and was 22.50 dollars while my friend's pizza was 14 dollars... Will I go back? definitely yes!

Ying Thai 2

Address: 110 Lygon St, 3053 Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

We dropped by this place on a Sunday evening pretty early... and we luckily managed to get a seat. Ying Thai 2 is a really popular and affordable Thai restaurant. It is located on Lygon Street just in front of Piazza Italia. When we entered the ground floor was already crowded so the staff managed to put us upstairs. The place is peculiar: as the Nasi Lemak House the place is like an big house arranged as a restaurant... then in order to reach the first floor we went around the corridors and climbed the stairs as in common house. The first floor was completely empty but became crowded soon.
We ordered different courses and shared all together the food. We ordered Num Tok, which is a salad of grilled sliced meat with coriander, spring onion, lemon juice, ground rice and chili ($10.90), and Gai Hor Bai Thoey, which is marinated chicken with Thai herbs wrapped in pandan leaves, served with sweet chili sauce ($8.90). These two dishes were really peculiar and tasted very well. Then we moved on with a Gang Keow Wan a fantastic green curry sauce with coconut and vegetables with dipped chicken ($12.90) all accompanied with rice and roti bread.
The total price of our nice evening was about 40 dollars, which was 10 dollars each. The price is completely affordable and we got stuffed. This is definitely a good Thai restaurant to try.

Chocolateria San Churro

Addresses:
QV, Swanston St, 3000 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
277 Brunswick St, 3065 Fitzory, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
177 Lygon St, 3053 Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I've been introduced to the faboulous world of Chocolateria San Churro by my friend and flatmate Chrisy. She told me yammy stories about churros... then I kept note and I tried the shop after a while. The first time I went to San Churro I was with my friend Mukaddim and I tried the one on the QV shopping center. The place was really crowded and full of interesting things to try.... The place is pretty nice you can sit inside or just have a sit on the way outside... and spying the waiters preparing the churros on demand. This one wasn't really successful both of the two were not satisfied... we both had big expectations but ... well we just got nothing really exciting. That time I got a sort of frappe and my friend a simple hot chocolate....

I came again to San Churro this morning with my friend Chrisy and this time we had Chocolate Tapas (see the picture)... this one was really impressive... almost perfect with all that we need to have a great chocolate experience: churros, hot thick chocolate to dip in, and small chocolate pastries.... this one was awesome... we spent about 14.90 AUD for a big plate and got served pretty quickly... This is definitely a place to try if you like the chocolate... and do not get disappointed if you miss what you like the first time!

Papa Gino's

Address: 221 Lygon St, 3053 Carlton, Melbourne, Victroria, Australia
Web site: http://www.papaginos.com.au/index.html
Phone: +61 03 9347 5758

We came there yesterday Me, a colleague, and my supervisor Michael. We were uncertain about the place to stop so we went looking in Lygon and stopped at Papa Gino's. The name and the website suggest that this place is run by Italians... Well I cannot say, but they service Italian food.
It's the first time I stop eating in a supposed to be Italian restaurant... because I generally prefer to try different kind of food here.... but I will also have to try this to see how is it.
Papa Gino's has a full menu of Italian dishes and it also features pizzas. I decided to go for the pasta and I had meat ravioli with tuna sauce as a cream on it. This was a really weird decision because it si definitely not Italian in the combination of the flavor.... but anyways it was my choice and not the proposal of the restaurant: for pastas they allow you to combine the kind of pasta that you want with any other sauce that they offer... another interesting but strange thing.
My supervisor got a pizza, and my colleague pasta Carbonara.
The food tasted good even with my awkward combination. The ravioli were nice, the tuna sauce tasted really good, and the dish was generous... Its presentation was also nice. Even my colleagues were pretty satisfied... well I have to say I've never seen a Carbonara made with ham instead of bacon..... but anyways.
The price? not really expensive as you can see from their on-line menu.

Classic Curry Indian Food

Address: Elizabeth and Queensberry St. (see map)

To eat there was not really planned.. I was supposed to go with my flatmate Chrisy to watch a volleyball game and before going to the gym we just headed to this place that was a little bit far from the University of Melbourne Campus.
Located on the north east corner of the CBD this place seems to be very popular because even if the place is not definitely elegant it was almost full and not only of Indian people. Classic Curry Indian Food is special for curry: they basically have different dishes and are sell side by side with curry sauce. The curry sauce was very tasty and we enjoyed the whole dinner... you can have lamb or chicken with it together with some Roti or Chapati (Indian flat bread)...
The price? very convenient for nine bucks we had:
- One abundant portion of meal (chicken, lamb, or whatever)
- Curry
- Roti or Chapati
- Somethink to drink (A coke, fanta, etc..)
If you like curry drop by this place ... it is definitely one of the best curry I've found around.

Nasi Lemak House

Address: 113 Grattan St., 3053 Carlton, Victoria, Australia

Well we dropped by this place me and my friend Mukaddim at late Friday evening to try some Malaysian food. I passed by that place many times before and it was almost empty but anyways my friend told me that there was good food then entered and had dinner. The place is really peculiar as its name tells: house. ... and it is really a house! which has been turned into a bar restaurant, that is kinda weird because it makes you feel as there if you were at your own home or in a hostel. The place looks familiar but it is very essential and the style is rather poor... but obviously this is not the first reason why we went there... then... pass on.
Let's move to the menu... they have attached to the wall a the list different dishes available and prepare on demand each course. I got rice with peanuts and egg... well I do not remember really well the name... it wasn't really bad but the roasted peanuts gave a strange flavor to the whole plate.... I really think I missed to one to get... while the plate of my friend seemed a little bit more interesting: it was basically rice with soja and additional dressing and the whole covered with a fried egg (see the picture.. on the background). I had a try of it and it was definitely better than mine.
So as a final thought about this place... if you wanna quick food and spend very low price (we spent 10 bucks each and the food was really abundant..) go there... but it is not one of the bast places I've tried.

Max Brenner

Address: Shop 25, 210 Lonsdale St, QV Building, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
(Also in Melbourne Central).
Website: http://www.maxbrenner.com
Phone: +61 03 9663 6000

We just decided to went out this afternoon, and chocolate was our mission... so after a couple of people told me that Max Brenner was really good we decided to go there... Actually you have two choices in Melbourne for this kind of shop: Melbourne Central or QV building... well you do not have to walk a lot between the two because these shopping center are just one in front of the other.

We finally decided to go for the one in the QV building. The place, being Sunday afternoon, was crowded.... but fortunately we had the chance to get a seat inside. Max Brenner does have service at the table but you have to go the cashier and order... they give you back a number and you'll get served... Waiting time was a little bit long... but the place was really crowded so we just waited and admired all the chocolate creations around the shop and watching at the other people to admire all the yummy stuff that was going around...

Max Brenner has a lot of varieties of chocolate creations... from pizza chocolate to milkshake by passing by all the possible things that you can do (soufflés, muffins, Belgian waffels, ....). I was decided to get a chocolate pizza but unfortunately they ran out of it, then I just went for the strawberry float which is basically a strawberry milkshake, with ice cream and white chocolate. My flatmate got a chocolate soufflé... that was a kind of chocolate muffin... really yummy with liquid black and white chocolate inside .... it was almost a surprise when we discovered it....

We spent 9.50 AUD for the soufflé and 7.50 for strawberry float. I really like this place and I think I will get back again hunting for the chocolate pizza!....
Oh... are you looking for a gift? Max Brenner has a lot of merchandise, from chocolate, to cups and whatever... have a look!

Oriental Spoon

Address: 254 Latrobe St, 3004 Melbourne, Victoria
Phone: +61 03 9654 9930/1

This is a Korean Japanese restaurant. According to some of my friends is one of the best Korean restaurant in Melbourne. We went there yesterday for a dinner after work. The place was full and there was a line at the front door of people waiting for a table; and it has been this way for all the time we had dinner.

One of the things to try here is the Korean Barbecue... basically it is a mix of different types of meet cocked on your table with a small barbecue. The meat has to be rolled in order to be done, and sometimes waiters come to you table and take care of it. The meat is really good and it is something really different from the normal aussie barbecue. I think it worths trying if you never did it.

Along with the meat we ordered some soup, white carrots, rice and some other veggies with a spicy sauce... we speant 17.10 AUD each (4 people) in the CBD, a really good price for what we have got.

Brunetti

Address: 202-204 Faraday St, Carlton, 3053, Victoria
Website: www.brunetti.com.au
E-mail: info@brunetti.com.au

This is an Italian style cafè... where you can taste sweets, chocolate, cakes, coffee, and other very nice things. It is the perfect place for breakfast, for having a talk with friends, or for spending a different evening. Melbourne features two Brunetti shops one in Lygon St, and one in city square on 214 Flinders Lane.

This shop has a long history which dates back 1991 when the Angelé family acquired the shop and turned into what is a real roman café. The owner Giorgio Angelé has a long experience in the pastry industry (more than 60 years), and is still baking and preparing sweets. The Brunetti café is one of the most characteristic places to visit in Lygon.

We went there on a Sunday afternoon just to have some cappuccino and cake tasting. I got a Nocciolato Cake, which is a really tasting cake with sponge paste, light cream, and nuts... Wow it was really good.. it really seemed to me to get back to some Italian cafés... I definitely recommend this place for cakes, chocolate, and other sweet things.

Price? I spent 5 bucks for the nocciolato cake and there were many other cakes (that looked really good) in the same price range.

Café Notturno

Address: 179 Lygon St, 3053 Carlton, Melbourne
Phone: +61 03 9347 8286

Café Notturno is a place where you can meet with your friends for a drink in the afternoon, a lunch, or dinner. The place is located near the gardens between Lygon and Cardigan St. When I got there it was almost noon as usual and the place was not really crowded, then I easily found a place to seat. I had a look at the breakfast menu and I noticed that there were a lot of choices and differently from the other places there were a lot of cheap (and lighter) breakfasts.


I decided to go for the Queen Breakfast: eggs (two), tomato, salmon, spinach on crusty Vienna bread with spinach and hollandaise cheese. Being a lover of bacon I got a bacon add-on for only two more bucks. After my order I got my usual cappuccino back very quickly while I had to white a while for the Queen Breakfast.... then it finally came... and it was good...

Price?.... this place is cheaper than the other ones and you have a variety of prices and breakfasts to choose from... I spent 14 .40bucks for the Queen Breakfast (actually 12.40 + 2.00 bacon add on) and 3.20 AUD for a cappuccino.

University Café

Address: 257 Lygon St, Carlton, Melbourne
Phone: +61 03 9347 2142
E-mail: bookings@unicafe.com.au

This is one of the most crowded places in Lygon St. At any time you pass by in the morning there is a lot of people on the dehor, and the more you get near noon the more time you have to wait for finding a seat outside. But if you are fine to stay in the inside... well there's generally room for you. The place is really big - one of the biggest I've been so far - and also has some space at the first floor. There are many waiters working and you get served pretty quickly...
This time I went for the Eggs Benedict: fried eggs (two) with tomato, spinach, and salmon along with a cappuccino as usual... It was the first time I tried Eggs Benedict, so I cannot really tell if they were really made properly or not.. but I really enjoyed them.... The service was moderately quick and good. While I was waiting I saw a couple with a baby sitting for lunch and the waitress soon brought to them the special chair for babies..... . The only point against the place is that it took me a while to get my change back but the place was really busy.
Price? The Benedict Eggs where about 13 Bucks and the cappuccino 3.20 as almost everywhere around in Lygon St.

Enoteca Oggi

Address: 237 Lygon St, Carlton 3053, Melbourne
Phone: +61 03 9349 5500

I got to this place after I was hanging around Lygon St. late in the morning - as usual on Saturdays and Sundays - and looking for a breakfast after noon. I found this place that was not really attractive from outside: there were only few chairs and some tables outside... but man, they serve you breakfast till 3 pm! Then I said, ok let's try it and get inside.

At first I suddenly noticed the difference between the inside and the outside, the internal room is tidy, clean, and comfortable. After I took seat the waiter soon me brought the menu and gave me a glass of water while kindly attending for my order. I had a quick look at the breakfast menu (yeas the place is also a restaurant) and finally I decided to go for poached eggs, tomato, sausage, and bacon along with a cappuccino. And I really think I made the right choice.

The food was fantastic the eggs were beautiful and the boiled tomato was something I never tried and was a delightful surprise. The service was quick, the place nice, and waiters ok! I truly recommend this place....

oh... price? in line with the other cafés/restaurant: 14 bucks the egg stuff and 3.20 AUD the cappuccino.

Zingarella

Address: 189 Lygon St, Carlton 3053, Melbourne
Phone/Fax: +61 03 93481414
Email: zingarella@optusnet.com.au

I dropped by this place really late in the morning today.. I was looking for a place where they still serve breakfast at noon and I stopped at Zinagarella. The place is located near the corner between Grattan St and Lygon St... in the heart of Melbourne's Little Italy. Zingarella opened only last year in May and it is run by two Italians which have 20 years of cooking experience and worked in many Melbourne restaurants before opening their own restaurant.

Since it was morning (well actually not... but for me... still..) I ordered the Zingarella breakfast, which basically is eggs (fried | pouched | scrambled) with bacon, sausages, tomatoes, spinaches, and mush rooms accompanied with bread, and a cappuccino. When I got served the dish was really inviting and well prepared, spinaches were fresh, probably cooked with some butter and made them very smooth and good. The sausages were well cooked and the 2 slices of tomato were not bad. I was really full after finishing breakfast and I can consider myself satisfied with the meal. Oh yes... what about the Cappuccino? well I think the ones i got in other Lygon restaurants were better (Street Café and Stuzzichino).. but this is just a little negative note to the place which makes really well prepared courses (I got really impressed by some dishes that were passing by me and were directed to other tables.... :P)

What about the service? You got served at the table, there were only two waitresees, and the place was medium crowded... It took a while to get seved but to be frank it wasn't really a long waiting time...

Price? 17.20 dollars: the Cappuccino was 3.20 AUD and the Zingarella breakfast 14 AUD. Inwould say in range with all the other similar places I tried.

Draculas's Cabaret Restaurant

Location: 100 Victoria Street, Carlton Victoria 3053, Melbourne
Web link: http://www.draculas.com.au/melbourne_victoria/index.asp
Phone (booking only): +61 03 93473344


Well this is not properly a simple restaurant but a theater were you go to attend one of the most awarded shows in Victoria. Then the food is not the main event of the evening... but anyways it is worth to notice what you have while you go there.

Let's talk about the show first. Dracula's Cabaret Restaurant is a chain of restaurants located in all Australia, mostly one for state where you enjoy dinner while attending actors performing. The main setting is gothic and tends to be really scary with bartenders and waiters like zombies and vampires... but if you like this stuff is really cool. After you enter the theater you pass jump on a ghot train that takes you to the theater /restaurant... The show is really an event in Melbourne and the the teatrhe is full, especially on saturday night then you have to book for a seat. As soon as the theathre gets crowded the shows starts and the dinner is served while the actors are playing and between the breaks.

You got served a three course meal the food is really good. You can have a look at the menu here. My personal choice for the main course has been Hell's Honey Chicken Breast and I was delighted by the main course and the dessert which was a chocolate coffin with a very light cream inside.. really fitting with the whole environment.

This is not a place where you go only to eat but is a theatre were you spend a evening... we (me and my flats) enjoyed 4 hours there without being bored for a single minute.... both a food and the show were very good than I definitely suggest to drop by at Dracula's.... price is only 65 dollars and it absolutely worths.

Bismi's Goldan Fork

Address: 380 Elizabeth St, Melbourne
Kitchen style: Mix Indian, Chines, and Singaporean Cuisine

I had a stop in this place at Easter for a quick lunch with my colleague Anthony. At first sight the place does not look really nice, the floor is carpeted which is not the best option for a restaurant. There are small tables and a very large space with a TV running Indian movies. It really reminded me the entrance of a bus station...

By the way... we went there for food then let's talk about this... you have a wide choice of very different dishes: Chinese, Indian, and Singaporean food. There is no table service but you go to order at the cashier and got a number... after 5-10 minutes you are served and collect your meal at the desk. We went for the Indian food and I got a Murtabak Chicken , which is a sort of frittata with chicken and vegetables inside, and a coke. My friend got a Briyani Chicken and a glass of water. We shared the dessert that was something called Gulab jamun and was really sweet. Both of the two meals were really big, medium spiced and prepared at the moment.

The meal was generous in quantity and tasted good... the price is really affordable and it is good option for a quick lunch... if you do not mind too much about the environment.

Stuzzichino - Lygon St.

Location: 169 Lygon St
Web Link: http://www.stuzzichino.com.au/
What I had: fried eggs with toast on bacon and a cappuccino.
Service: the service was a little bit slow but friendly. There was only one waitress and the café was not really full.
Price: I spent 12.50 AUD that is not bad but not cheap.
General Comment: the place is nice, just near the gardens and in the heart of Lygon St. The meal was well prepared even if the toast were a little bit dried. They served me a cappuccino with a nice heart drawing on top of it made with the chocolate. Prices for the aussie breakfast range from 7 to 13 australian dollars... and are well prepared. They do not only serve breakfasts but have a whole range of different food.... and drinks.

Street Café - Lygon St

Location: 275 Lygon St, Carlton
What I had: fried eggs with bacon and toast and a cappuccino.
Service: the service was good you had place your order inside and then sit down at a table a waitress will then come and bring your order.
Price: the whole meal was about 11 AUD in the line with almost all the others cafés nearby.
General Comment: the place is not bad it has an indoor room if you do not want to stay on the street, even though there's enough place to accommodate more than 30 people. The breakfast was good and well prepared and served. The location is not one of the bests in Lygon St because it is almost at the end of the area of cafés then you have to walk a little bit to get there....