King Bo Chinese Restauraunt

1. I have to admit, we only went here because we thought the name was funny and we saw a sign saying Yum Cha every day. So, we took a punt and went inside. We were seated upstairs because the ground floor was full, so we missed a lot of the atmosphere (upstairs was almost empty). The food was reasonable, everything tasting as they should, but special mention goes to the pork buns and marinated chicken feet, both were especially good. Wasn’t particularly pricey, in fact it was reasonably cheap at just under $20 a head for an awful lot of food, but be warned, some of the wait staff will put on the hard sell so be prepared to say no a few times.

King Bo, 218 Russell St, Melbourne, Vic 3000. Tel: (03) 9639 3388.

Kum Den Chinese Restaurant

1. This was the first restaurant we went to in Melbourne, we chanced upon it while looking for a place that wasn’t too packed but wasn’t too empty. It seems chinese restaurants are the same Australia wide, the prerequisite father/mother figure manning the door asking how many to seat, the terrible out-of-date decor that is such a jumble it’s essentially timeless, and the masses of young underlings taking orders, serving food and clearing tables. The food is much the same as well, I mean that in a good way, like a group of jazz musicians playing the standards. I had to try the Salt and Pepper Squid (sweeter than what I’ve had in Sydney, and is more chilli than pepper), and we had a few other dishes I can’t recall, but the food was excellent and the service prompt. We had a bit of difficulty attracting the waiter for our bill, it was almost as if they didn’t want us to pay. Despite that, it was a great place for a cheap dinner.

Kum Den Chinese Restaurant, 3-5 Waratah Pl, Melbourne, Vic 3000. Tel: (03) 9663 6508

Becco

1. Nestled in a narrow lane in the Melbourne CBD, this rather unobtrusive Italian eatery was one of our favorites on our Melbourne weekend, with its great service, fantastic food and lively atmosphere. You’d want to book ahead (we booked before we left), even though the restaurant spans four shop fronts we saw no less than five groups turned away because the place was packed. When we arrived at 7.30pm the place was already full, so maybe Melbournians eat earlier, and the staff was worked off their feet. I got the feeling they probably could have used another person on the floor, but the service we got was impeccable.

2. For the entree I ordered the Italian Pork Sausage with a Cannellini and Borlotti Bean Salad (hee-llo!), and the Spiced Wine Braised Rabbit Pie with Tarragon and Carrot Mash for a main. Both were very good, though I was hoping the Rabbit Pie was a bit bigger and came in a pie dish, rather than the normal meat-pie pastry. For dessert we shared a cheese plate, which had a great bree that was so very soft and creamy… yum. I tried to find out what it was called, but our waiter had this beautiful sing-song voice and I found it hard to ignore the melody (and her accent) and concentrate on the words.

3. We had a fantastic time at Becco, but the biggest surprise was yet to come: the bill. It was so cheap! Three courses and a half bottle of wine came to $160, in Sydney I would’ve expected another $80 on top of that. So not only is the food great and the service great, it’s also great value! It almost makes me want to move to Melbourne.

Becco, 11-25 Crossley St, Melbourne, Vic 3000. Tel: (03) 9663 3000, Fax: (03) 9663 3949.

Melbourne Weekend

1. I don’t know the when or why of this “animosity” between Sydney-siders and Melbournians, but I suspect it will go on for some time. They’re jealous we have two of the Great Australian Icons, we just don’t like them because, well, they’re from Melbourne. But Melbourne seems nice, in that quaint kinda way, and Tourism Victoria runs some pretty cool ads, and it was my last weekend on holidays, so we went to Melbourne.

2. So… touchdown, Melbourne airport. Much like any other really. Found a cabbie, on our way to the hotel. First thing I noticed was the cab — very new, very nice. And the cabbie wore a complete, well maintained uniform. It was almost as if he was proud of his appearance. A rarity amongst Sydney cabbies. The second thing I noticed was how quiet everything was. There didn’t seem to be very many people about, no traffic jams, barely anyone else on the road. We pulled up at a set of lights where we turned onto a major road into the Melbourne CBD, and the road was deserted. Literally no other car there. It was like a ghost town.

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To be spontaneous

1. I had always thought the key to spontaneity was endless money and the will to do whatever, whenever. I had the latter as a teenager, but not much of the former. What I didn’t realise at the time was that the more money you earned, the less you are free to do whatever you like; I guess I didn’t fully appreciate the term “selling your soul to the devil”. This weekend being the last before going back to work (I still work weekends), on an impulse The Woman and I will be jetting off to Melbourne for the weekend. So there’ll be nothing from me until Monday, when I imagine there’ll be an awful lot to talk about.