I’ll start by saying I love Melbourne, not just because of the food, Cafes, the wine regions nearby, the juxtaposition of heritage and modern architecture, but also because of the public transport that is so missing from Auckland. Melbourne makes Auckland look Mickey Mouse.

The heritage buildings have been, on the whole, well preserved and offer a unique insight into to origins of the city. But its not the heritage buildings, nor the exceptional public transport that I’m here for but the food and wine. It’s been a while since I last visited and it was great to see so many of the same cafés still operating.

When I go to a restaurant or cafe there are two dishes that I think determine its quality. It’s all about Eggs Benedict and Creme Brulée for me, they are my bench marks, fortunately for me Melbourne does both well.

On my first day I head for Degraves Street, a cool close between Flinders street and Flinders lane. Degraves Cafe looks worse for wear, but the cafe next door is where I’ve chosen for breakfast. The old black and white photos on the wall, with bentwood chairs and old wooden hat stand in the corner, still in use!

There’s nothing pretentious about The Quarter cafe, it is what it is, just a cafe. Once on the inside and experiencing the food and coffee it really shines. Now New Zealand still makes and produces the best coffee in the world, period. But Melbourne is a close second.

Melbourne offers every visitor something. With good food and wine on every street corner and not just on Lygon street. On the second day I visited the infamous Lygon street and to the institution that is Brunetti’s. Set in a Victorian grand design it has now taken over two other shops and is enormous.

Brunetti’s is counter service which can make it slightly tiresome with limited staff, and doesn’t make for a relaxing Melbourne café experience.

Despite the service and industrial nature of Brunetti’s, it’s a great place for Italian food. Walking along Lygon street you overloaded with cuisine mainly from the Italian’s but also from other Asian countries.

Heading into the CBD on the tram makes life all too easy. Melbourne is just all too easy.

The next cafe that I visit is the recently opened Threefold Foodstore and Eatery, 381 Flinders Lane. The

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Written by Jayson Bryant

Jayson’s roots in wine began when his father literally dragged him round France and injected his passion into him. From the age of 8 his family took month long holidays in France travelling through all regions and sampling their wine.
UnScrewed has reinvented the concept of wine tasting in New Zealand and along the way found a new and willing audience. In addition to encouraging straightforward wine tasting, Jayson educates viewers about the effects of regional factors (soil, sun, wind) on wine flavours, and how to buy wine.

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