Quick stop here on my way home from an appointment in Carlton. The coffee is good, the matcha latte is good, the service is warm, personal and friendly and the food arrived quickly. Ticks all the boxes. The Uncle Benne I had which was poached eggs atop pulled pork with a harissa hollandaise was small but had punch and zip.

A good local gem with the Melbourne hipster twist of lattes in green, gold and red (matcha, turmeric and beet red velvet). One to visit and adopt into the regular rotation of breakfast and coffee eateries.

About a year ago, Steve and I enjoyed Simon Tarlington's cooking at a private dinner where we were served some wonderful meat...lots of meat. Since then we have always talked about trying Highline but it's taken us a year to get there. It is South of the river after all - ha!

So on Saturday evening we made that journey. We were a little early but were prepared to have a drink at the bar but our table was actually ready. The Railway Hotel and Chapel Street was pumping as expected for a Saturday night and the Highline offered a dark enclave to shelter from the beat of the hipster drum.

We strapped ourselves in for the 8 course farm adventure and wine match and made ourselves comfortable which was easy in the dining space of muted colours and natural soft furnishings; think Australian natives for flowers and rings of wood on the tables.

Service is personable and slick as the courses come out and and delivered to the table. We're never waiting for the wine to catch up with the food or the food to catch up with the wine. It all works seamlessly and enjoyably.

Pea and Ham is served first and the consomme is poured at the table. Clear and dark amber in colour it's salty and delicious and the fresh sweet pea cuts through that umami. Steve and I choose different wine pairings and we try one standard and one premium. Turns out I'm a cheap date as I seem to prefer the standard offerings! In this case it's a really crisp and fresh Willie Smiths Organic Cider from the Huon Valley served delightfully cold. Great start!

Next course was the:

• Smoked Oak Valley Lamb, Sea Flakes, Broad Bean and Beetroot

For this dish I preferred the premium wine pairing which was a deliciously silky 2014 Cos Frappato, Sicily. I think the sea flakes were shaved, translucent slices of dried scallop. The lamb was tender and delicious. We found the servings generous which we welcomed warmly. I think it's lovely when a restaurant is generous to its customers. It adds positivity and hospitality to the whole experience.

From the clean white dish of panna cotta we moved to the darker dimensions of chocolate:

• Daintree Chocolate, Strawberries

A pretty sphere of goodness ready to be smashed revealing mousse and berries and cocoa nibs. Delicious classic blend of chocolate and strawberry; fun to eat and delicious. Winner!

Good value, plenty of deliciousness and creativity - this is Melbourne at one of its finest and most fun!

Two tasty breakfasts. I think the chorizo could have been thicker slices or chunks. Service became less attentive as the place filled up but we managed to get a second round of coffee.

Decent laneway breakfast or coffee place. Meals are focused around bagels so if you don't like bagels, there's not much left to choose.

• Murray cod, tomato, green friend rice, black garlic
• Confit duck leg, Puy lentils, smoked speck, port sauce

We decided to go main course and dessert given it was later in the evening and a school night! Steve had the duck and I went with the fish. We didn't have to wait too long for a food considering it was busy but I think we arrived at the tail end of evening service. It wasn't the quickest but for freshly cooked food it was probably about right.

The fish dish was one piece of fried and one piece grilled on top of some garlicky rice. Clean flavours, simple ingredients - a good bistro dish on a plate.

Steve's duck was amazingly tasty. The Puy lentils and accompaniments were as expected but the duck itself was just so delicious. This was the standout.

We planned dessert so we were going to have our cake and eat it!

• Rhubarb and beurre noisette tart, rose and strawberry
• ​Basil scented creme caramel, blood orange, olive oil cake

Both desserts were prettily presented with vibrant fruit colours and clean flavours. Steve enjoyed the rhubarb tart, I thought the pastry was great but the rose flavour a touch over powering. The basil creme caramel was smooth and creamy and the fresh orange flavours cut through some of the sugar sweetness of the caramel. The pieces of olive oil cake disintegrated with all the moisture on the plate into grainy mush but the chunkier pieces I managed to salvage were tasty.

Syracuse is a decent bistro type restaurant that is pretty good value and a nice place for a date or a girly catch up. It may not have the glitz or the glam of some of the other CBD establishments but it has bags of charm joie de vivre!
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French cuisine seems to be experiencing a bit of a renaissance here in Melbourne and I love a good French classic. I dined at Philippe on a Monday evening in the company of two fine ladies for a catch up over some good food.

Service is pretty exemplary and a little on the formal side but as refined ladies(!) we don't mind a bit of polite formality. Philippe feels classy and sophisticated and certainly has that je ne sais quoi that makes it tres chic.

• Collinson & Co Black Angus porterhouse 300g, cassis & red wine jus, polenta fries
• Beer braised beef cheek “Carbonnade”, carrot, cumin, bacon emulsion, opaline

I have the steak and it's well cooked and delicious. I feel that the two polenta chips are bland and unnecessary and they look like play food. The real French fries we ordered and share are the real deal.
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Shern has the braised beef cheek and declared it good. That's all we need to know!

• ​Rum baba, exotic fruit salad, mascarpone Chantilly 
• Oeuf á la neige, passionfruit curd 

My choice was the rum baba and it came with pineapple and mango shards. I enjoyed it but the baba itself was a little bit soggy and perhaps over soaked in the rum syrup but it didn't stop me from eating the whole thing!

The oeuf a la neige was apparently a light souffle like way to end things and delicious.

Philippe is all the good things about French cuisine under one classy roof. It's a great classic and you can't go far wrong if it's some ooh la la you're after.

We start of with a smoked mozzarella crochette each. The night before we had a smoked mozzarella spring roll at Ricky and Pinky which went down a treat and had set a high bar. This was different though with a crispy crumb outer and the filling was a soft cheesy paste. Lighter and fresher than the spring roll it was still a treat. I think maybe a fruity chutney might have added another welcome flavour contrast.

We shared a couple of entrees:

• Smoked octopus, artichoke, almond
• Sopressa, pickled chilli, charred bread

The smoked octopus was clean and fresh with some delicate and subtle flavours and crunchy nuts. Where the octopus was light, the sopressa packed a flavour punch. Salty cured meat and tangy, piquant chilli with a hint of vinegar; there was a great balance of strong flavours.

And we were able to fit in dessert...or so we thought!

• Tiramisu
• Semifreddo, Amaro, blood orange, fennel biscuit

I had the tiramisu and it was such a generous serve. The same with the semi freddo. The desserts although large weren't overly sugary sweet which helped. We felt the desserts were more homely with less clear cut flavours and clarity compared to the previous dishes. Just slightly clumsy which was surprising following the positive execution of the earlier courses.

We really enjoyed the warm hospitality and tasty food. Pinotta is a true neighbourhood gem and one that we would love to befriend and become closer to.

A girls night out doesn't happen all that often for me. It's always hard to find the time etc. so when a date is in the diary, it has to be a good one! I even dusted off the heels for the occasion so it's a big deal!

It'd been a long time since I caught up with former colleagues and friends, Kim and Penny and we needed a good place to chinwag and let our hair down. Plus Penny is on a post baby diet of clean eating and other requirements which meant a steakhouse was the best option so this was an ideal opportunity to try upmarket The Cut.

​We're shown to our table by an immaculately presented hostess. We're impressed by the decor - elegant gentlemen's club type place that you'd find in a London or a New York. It is very manly in style and also in clientele but we soon settle in and make it comfortable for us!

The grilled calamari is less successful as there's not enough grill action so it it's a bit slimy not helped by the mussels. The nduja is pretty fiery and the chilli heat is overpowering. It's a shame as in my mind the nduja would be a great seasoning against the seafood but it's just not quite well balanced enough.

After much distress on our part, our champagne arrives accompanied by a warm apology and a goodwill gesture of taking it off the bill. We feel a little more appeased by this and we drink enthusiastically!

• Wet roasted Dorper lamb, parmesan and brioche crust (served with two side dishes)
• John Dee MB 3+ 150 day grain fed, QLD scotch fillet 300gm 
• Buttermilk onion rings
• Charred beans, soppressata, almond 

Penny and I opt for steak and Kim has the lamb and we share the side dishes. We're advised the lamb actually serves two but we decide to go ahead anyway.

The steak is delicious and cooked the way I like it. The lamb is attractively presented and very rich in pure meat flavour. I find the crust more powder and bit sawdust like and dry in the mouth but the quality of the lamb speaks volumes. I don't think it's big enough for two but it's definitely more than for one. It's cooked on the bone and I was surprised how much bone there was in the pan.

We enjoy our main courses and the night gets better. We skip dessert but carry on drinking with multiple rounds of post dinner drinks. It's a girls night after all! As the restaurant empties, the staff are far more attentive and finally we feel well looked after. We're the last ones standing and we're not made to feel that we have outstayed our welcome. In fact we are encouraged to continue to enjoy our time and we take the advice of the wait staff on our final round of drinks and try some new stuff...confession...can't really remember what the recommendation was but it went down well enough!

We stumble out close to 1am feeling happy, merry and bright. So a slow and less than auspicious start ended on a good note. When I look back on our time at The Cut, I can say it's a decent steakhouse. Some things seem expensive for what it is such as the buttermilk ricotta but other things like the steak and lamb is better value. It's also nice to visit a place that is a little more formal, that warrants the wearing of heels! It seems so obvious to compare The Cut with other premium steakhouse Rockpool. I have to say the food quality, Rockpool remains unsurpassed but in terms of destination and decor, The Cut has made a deep impression.

I arrived a little bit earlier but the table was ready. It was around 7pm on a Friday and the pub was already busy and tables filled with ​happy revellers seeing in the weekend.

The rest of the group soon arrived and drinks were ordered and as we perused the menu we ordered some nibbles to aid the decision making.

• Sweet & sour pork skin & crackers
• Salt & pepper squid

We ordered these from the Snacks menu and they are small. So small we immediately requested another serve of the squid as soon as the first arrived! The squid was piping hot, crispy and well seasoned so the perfect snack with an aperitif. The sweet and sour crackers were a modernisation of the familiar prawn crackers and day glo, hot pink, gloopy sauce but far more appetising and attractive. Both dishes have that fingerlickin' good quality!

We were tempted by the banquet menu but ended up ordering a la carte. Plenty of delights to choose from meaning a repeat visit is definitely required to sample more - XO pippies, five spice chicken, drunken chicken. noodle salad, mapo tofu....yum!

We start with two interesting entree dishes:

• Scamorza spring roll, plum sauce
• ​Crispy rice cake, homemade Chinese sausage

The spring roll looks pretty standard but the filling is pretty much salty, stretchy smoked mozzarella and it's delicious. It's not exactly Asian but who cares when it tastes good?

I had high hopes for the rice cake as we used to love the version at Golden Fields when it existed. It looked great and the Chinese sausage was cooked perfectly so it was slightly crispy but still chewy. Flavours were good but texture was a bit soggy and it kind of disintegrated. A little more hold and a crispy bottom would make this dish amazing.

The prawns themselves were a touch mushy and overcooked so didn't really showcase them as an ingredient which was a let down.

Ginger sponge was probably the one dessert that didn't exceed expectations. A little denser than it could have been.

We wanted to end the evening on a fortuitous note and no better way than with a fortune cookie and Ricky and Pinky make a XL version. Made fresh to order they're crunchy and crumbly and so not fancy that they're amazingly delicious.

So Ricky and Pinky, you're too cute not to like. Sure, some things aren't perfect and you're pretty rambunctious and noisy but there's also a lot to like and a lot left to try and I like you enough to try again!

Sunday lunch and where better than to have it at home? Or at least somewhere as close to home as possible given we're on the other side of the World! Northern Git transports us back to Northern England and randomly the map on the back of Steve's menu is the exact snippet that has both our Northern home towns depicted on it. What a reminder.

The other reminder is the beer list and the presence of a hand pull which is so rare in Australia and the beer is served in a glass tankard. "A proper pint," as Steve says.

The menu has some classic English dishes but the Australian is ever present too. We starte with:

• Black Pudding, Cauliflower Puree, Crispy Onions, Chives
• Chargrilled Quail, Bacon, Lentils, Bitter Greens, Pecorino

The black pudding is very flavoursome and as Steve keeps telling me, not packed with oats as a filler. It's a little soft in texture and I like a bit of crispy edge but the crispy shreds of onion help with that.

Chargrilled quail and Pecorino cheese isn't something you'd see in Northern England but it is very tasty. The little bird is well cooked remaining juicy with some tasty char grill, barbecue flavours. The accompanying lentils, greens and Pecorino is a little intense and salty for me but not terribly so.

It's served on a bed of what we think is cauliflower puree and I think he'd prefer potato mash but there aren't many complaints as he chows down. Although the pie is deeply rooted in British culinary heritage, it's a steak, bacon and cheese version which isn't very English and probably more Australian but we are in Australia so we are embracing and I'm just pleased they haven't served me a salad on my plate of Sunday roast. Don't scoff, it happens!

• Brussels Sprouts, Bacon, Onion

We go for a side of Brussels and they are well cooked with chunky blocks of tasty bacon. There's some lemony flavours running through it which while pleasant when the veggies are eaten in isolation jar with my Sunday roast flavours.

In all, we enjoyed the Northern hospitality. It warmed the cockles of our hearts and provided us with an endearing reminder of home.

Ides opened up officially earlier in the year in the old Lee Ho Fook space after various pop ups. There was a bit of hype surrounding Peter Gunn and his ex Attica pedigree and fuel was added to the fire when Dan Stock wrote a scathing review in The Age, when Ides was three weeks old.

Steve and I had followed the tale of Ides from its beginnings and finally got round to writing our own tale of experience following our own visit.

We were a little early for our table but it was available and we soon settled into the calming slate grey tones of restaurant minimalism. It feels neutral and discreet but with a definite male influence - no soft tones or bright splashes of colour, it's all very muted and understated.

There's also a sense of serious industriousness as some of the dishes are plated up at the bar by Peter and one of his sous chefs. No kitchen histrionics though - it's all very zen and precise.

Some of the earlier concepts of not receiving a menu until after the event and receiving emails with video attachments pre and post meal seem to have fallen by the wayside. I agree with taking the direction away from that sort of novelty gesture and letting it be about the food.

So we are shown drinks menus and a food menu and my aversion to blue cheese which I provided with the booking is raised and acknowledged by the FOH Manager who is clearly a professional and an old hand at this hospitality game.

Sesame Roll with Peanut Butter comes first and that salty butter flavoured with peanut butter is deliciously moreish and goes so well with the warm seeded roll. We are offered bread throughout the meal which can be a sign that quantities of food will be small as was the case with our recent Automata experience in Sydney but not here. It is genuine generosity and I'm glad we declined because it meant we had more room for what was to come.

• Sweet Potato Soup with Spring Onion and Celery

Expecting a traditional, thick orange soup perhaps served in a small espresso cup as an amuse bouche, we were totally played! And looking at our dining neighbours' reactions we weren't the only ones. A clear, amber broth is poured into our bowls by Peter and his sous chef and we're advised to give it a stir to mix the celery and spring onion before eating. It's a delicious broth - very savoury and reminiscent of an Asian broth. It's pretty salty and probably just at the edge of being over seasoned but undeniably tasty.

• Crumbed Avocado - Prawn Tails with Avocado, Finger Lime and Fried Bread Covered in Brazil Nuts and Dried Currants with a Red Capsicum Syrup

This next course looks like a dessert or perhaps even a muesli bar and there's a fun throwback to the 70s feel about it with it being a cold prawn cocktail like dish. The capsicum syrup is almost sweet chilli sauce like and the avocado and prawn is a classic and delicious combo with the nut crumb adding some much needed texture. And Steve and I agree that it's a generous serve and they could get away with a 3/4 size but I like the generosity and welcome it.
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• Rainbow Trout and Zucchini Rings - Roasted Rainbow Trout Stuffed with Chorizo and Seasoned with Rosemary, Raw Zucchini and a Blood Orange Sauce

The rainbow trout is perfectly cooked so it's still rare in the middle giving way silky flakes of fish that are seasoned with a subtle chorizo that doesn't overpower but does make its presence know. There's some spicing that's tongue tingling - sancho pepper we are told and the blood orange sauce gives it an intense citrus zing to cut through the richness of the fish. I enjoy this dish; Steve's not a huge trout fan and feels it all tastes quite "muddy" but I think that's more to do with his tastebuds reacting to pink fish rather than this dish itself.

• Lamb Wrapped in Parsley - Lamb Neck Cooked in Wax Flower Oil, Glazed with Mint and Wrapped in Roasted Parsley with Pumpkin, Peas and Mustard Seeds

The lamb is sweet in flavour partly due to it being a naturally sweet meat but also the cooking of it with the wax flower oil which enhances that flavour note. The meat is tender and the fat is rendered out of it so there's no unpleasant jelly bits or gristle.

• Blueberries Macerated in Rose with Cinnamon, Honey and Coconut

The first dessert is one we have watched Peter plate up during our time at our table and there's some dramatic blow torching and setting fire to cinammon sticks before a pretty wreath of berries and what looks like granola is presented to us. The wreath and the waft of cinammon is so Christmassy and who doesn't enjoy a reminder of that most wonderful time of the year? Flavour wise it's like granola and berries and it's light and refreshing so it also cleanses the palatte.

• Brown Sugar or Banana Ice Cream with Fried Basil and Matcha Sherbet

Final course is a scoop of each of the two ice cream flavours. Apparently the kitchen team liked both and couldn't choose so didn't and we get the two! Steve has the brown sugar ice cream and I have the banana both liberally sprinkled with fried basil leaves. It's very playful as the brown sugar ice cream has some sneaky pieces of banana in it confusing us and the banana ice cream has some sharp kiwi in it when we expected it to have banana! 

In spite of the grown up decor of the restaurant there are hidden jokes / plays on the mind that are evident and that is an unexpected delight. I love the flashback to the 70s and Christmas and the soup that is a broth and the ice cream switch. It's classic cooking, classic flavours but creativity abounds.

We ask about how often the menu changes and apparently dishes do rotate off every two weeks or so and records are kept of diners so repeat visits are not repeated adventures. There's a lot of care and consideration taken at Ides and I respect that. 

We can't help but compare Ides to a recent dining experience at Automata in Sydney which has two hats to Ides one. It's a similar concept in that it's a fixed 5 - 6 course menu and Ides is more expensive by about $25 but it's so much more satisfying both emotionally and in generosity.