September 2016 – From Here To There

Are you planning a trip to Melbourne? No? Why not? Well if you’re not already sold on a trip to the world’s most livable city five times running, then let me try and convince you in 5 points!

1) Public Transit is on Point.

If you weren’t aware, Melbourne has free (yes, I said FREE) public transit in their CBD. That means you can get to just about every major tourist attraction for the price of nada. Even those pesky places that are just 1 stop outside the freezone, are actually so close to the freezone they’re walkable. Meaning, you literally never have to pay to go anywhere if you just stay in town. But, should you feel like venturing out the MyKi transit card is easy to obtain, just pick one up from a 7-11. And there’s one of those on every corner so you really won’t have a problem trying to take the tram/bus/train in Melbourne.

Within the CBD these trams are free to ride any day, any time!

2) Seeing and Eating Galore!

There’s nothing worse for me than going on holiday to city and running out of things to do, except maybe when I’ve run out of good things to eat. Melbourne has no shortage of interesting tourist attractions: ACMI, National Gallery, Melbourne Museum, Old Melbourne Goal, etc and has even more incredible food. Like Tipo 00 (check out my review). The greatest struggle I faced in Melbourne was being overwhelmed with restaurants, there was never a night I couldn’t find somewhere to eat. And everything I ate was amazing. Dumplings? Awesome. Fried chicken? I’ll take 10 please. Authentic cuisine from basically any country you want? Melbourne has that.

One of the many amazing restaurants I visited in Melbourne!

3) You’ll love to go shopping!

Look, I’m not great at shopping. In fact I don’t usual enjoy it but Melbourne was a whole new ball game when it came to malls. In what seems like a never ending sprawl of stores, shopping in Melbourne goes on for ages. There’s countless mall, one of the biggest H&Ms I’ve ever been to, a MASSIVE Sephora and pretty much every store you could want to spend money in. Plus, I was finally able to locate pink crocs have a two year search, so you too might find that much needed item in a Melbourne location. Plus, the Queen Victoria Market is gigantic, in fact so big you’d need a full day to survey all the market stalls.

Inside one of the many malls in Melbourne is this gorgeous display. Right next to Central Station.

4) No shortage of natural beauty!

Sure I’ve been raving about Melbourne’s CBD, the shopping, the dining but what about nature and the great out doors? Well Melbourne is right on top of that as well. The Great Ocean road is perhaps one of the most beautiful trips around, and can easily be done as a day trip from the city. Rugged coast lines, great native forest and unique rock formations? Yes please! Plus, you might even get to spot some wild koalas. Another great day trip is Philip Island where you can see penguins in their natural habitat! But remember don’t use flash when taking your photos because it really hurts the penguins.

One of the many stops alone Great Open Road is this beautiful site of a historic shipwreck and love story.

5) It’s the ultimate city!

Melbourne is the ultimate city, busy but not crowded. Lively but not unsafe. Easy but not boring. Affordable but not tasteless. If I took all my favorite parts of New York, but subtracted everything I didn’t like the end result would be Melbourne. It’s impossible to convey the feeling of Melbourne without putting you in the middle of it, but trust me it’s worth every minute. And sure, Melbourne might not appeal to everyone, but if you want to eat, see, shop and enjoy then start planning your holiday because you won’t be disappointed — at least not until you’re leaving for the airport thinking why didn’t I book an extra 5 days????

The view of the Melbourne skyline from St. Kilda is beautiful.

Recently I was able to snag a seat at one the hip and hot restaurants in Melbourne’s fantastic food scene. Tipo 00 was voted by TimeOut as the 2015 “Best Casual Dining” restaurant in Melbourne. And it is more than deserving of this title. Tipo 00 was probably the best meal I’ve had to date. So let’s break down the experience.

Firstly I didn’t make a reservation because I’m just not that on the ball when it comes to these things. So, I arrived and was told I’d have to wait about 30 minutes for a seat at the bar (an area they have saved for fools like me who don’t have a reservation). No problem, I told the hostess and 30 minutes later I reappeared to find a seat waiting for me.

To start, I had a glass of wine. Honestly, I don’t love wine but I feel the social pressure to order a glass while eating Italian food because for some reason that’s more acceptable than beer. I ordered the house white, it really wasn’t anything special.

A glass of the house while at Melbourne’s Tipo 00.

Next came the entree, everything on the menu had buzzwords and I ordered the one called “mozzarella” unsure exactly of what I was to receive. It mentioned something about pesto and gnocchi frito which I wasn’t familiar with. What came was delightful; it was a large chuck of fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese nestled in between two halves of a puffed crispy bread (what I assume was the gnocchi frito). Visually it reminded me of an oversized pearl in an edible fried shell. Next to it a smear of pistachio pesto with… capers. Now I’ve never actually had a caper before I just know Jamie Oliver uses them. Thus, I was a bit cautious. Turns out, I don’t like capers. The best way I could describe it was like weird pickle, but the rest was so delicious!

Entree at Tipo 00 containing fresh mozzarella and pistachio pesto.

Of course following the entree, would be the main and I ordered the gnocchi with braised duck. I’m a sucker for a) gnocchi and b) duck so it was a given this would be on the dinner plan. I was a bit worried about the portion size as I was starving, and when the dish came out I really didn’t think there was enough food but as I dug deeper into the bowl there seemed to be an endless amount of the fluffy gnocchi and tender duck meat. The sauce it came it was incredibly rich, with earthy and complex flavors. If I had been at home, I might have licked the plate clean I loved the taste so much.

Gnocchi and braised duck breast with shaved Parmesan in porchini mushroom sauce.

And to finish off such a perfect night: dessert. Now, I ordered the Tipomisu which lead me to believe I would not be receiving the traditional mascarpone and lady finger layered treat I love so dearly. My stipulation was correct, as I instead received an abstract version of the beloved dessert. It arrived and my served proceeded to pour a warm chocolate, caramel and espresso sauce over a chocolate disk. Surrounding was puffs of mascarpone pipped out perfectly. It was elegant, and still had all the flavors of a tiramisu leaving more than satisfied. Unfortunately, dark chocolate desserts on black plates don’t photograph too well in a dimly lit Italian restaurant.

Re-envisioning of the traditional tiramisu dessert from Tipo 00

And that was my meal, I stumbled home stuffed to the brim of perfect Italian goodness and a decent glass of wine. I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to eat at this restaurant, and I can’t recommend Tipo 00 enough if you’re in Melbourne, it’ll be an unforgettable meal and one that will have you satisfied!

From Here To There

Ottawa – Vancouver – Auckland

Monthly Archives: September 2016

Dining At One of Melbourne’s Finest: Tipo 00