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Published: February 8th 2013
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Ah Melbourne. It's reputation already precedes it as a great fun cultural city. I can only second that notion. It is a great city to visit, and a great city to live in, I wager. Upon initial inspection, with my first walk through the CBD (central business district) I was wowed by the variety of restaurants available, and the quality of food is outstanding. The standard fast food was great: the veggie pie at Pie Face is a deliciously messy light curry in pastry, the (all veggie) burgers and fries at Lord of the Fries, and one can easily buy sushi rolls for a few dollars, with massive chunks of avocado in them! I particularly targeted the vegetarian asian food, and I can particularly recommend the Vietnamese Fina's Vegetarian Cafe off of Victoria St, and Ren Dao in Elsternwick. For the best listings of vegetarian restaurants I recommend the website www.vegetarianvictoria.org.au.
One decadent evening the web recommended Chin Chin for best modern Thai food. The place was heaving and there was a queue, but we were able to be seated immediately at the chefs counter. We could watch the army of white clad cooks construct the appetizers and desserts, as
well as people watch, which was inevitable. Most of the other patrons seemed to have come direct from their offices in sharp business attire. We made up stories for the other couples, made awkward eye contact, it was dinner with our own movie. Food was transcendent. I really loved the corn fritters. The heaviness from the frying was cut by the lettuce leaves and a lime sauce. And the desserts - we ordered coconut sago with sweet corn ice cream, and palm sugar ice cream with salted honeycomb and lime sauce. I hope the names conjure enough to get your mouth watering.
Prahran markets really provides for local gourmets. Since it is less touristy than Queen Victoria markets I feel there is more quality per unit area. I found there a nice earthy trinket store, a fish market "auctioning" off its remaining stock at the end of day, with a crowd holding up five, ten, twenty dollar bills in the air, a well stocked asian store, and an vegetarian asian market, with lots of mock meats. The Queen Victoria markets are also worth visiting, with acres of stalls. Amongst the standard touristy fare you will find true treasures. The
Fish auction
Prahran Markets Wednesday night food market there is also a good night out. Dozens of food and goods stalls with hundreds of people milling around, and jumping live music outside. Unfortunately there is not so much food for the vegetarian; most of the more interesting offerings are for meat eaters.
And despite the Australian dollar being stronger than everything else, I still went shopping. There was so much nice clothes to be had off of Brunswick street, in St Kilda, and in the markets. We also spotted great bargains on sports equipment and clothes off of Smith street. I only hope the European summer is warm enough so I can wear my new summer dresses. Special mention to Eclectico in St Kilda, and Dangerfield and quick brown fox off of Brunswick street.
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