I would walk 100 Miles

So Saturday night we headed out for drinks and then dinner in the CBD, organised by our friend D. D is very adept at finding and locating Melbournes various trendy bars which seem to occupy the weirdest places. This one was pretty tame, occupying a basement, and it is called The Sweatshop.

We were there so early that for at least half an hour we were the only ones in the place. It's basically crates to sit on, which actually gives you a rather sore butt after a while (or at least it did for me).

The highlight of the venue (at least for some of us... I chose not to partake) was a rediscovery of the Lolly Waters of our youth, in particular West Coast Cooler. For some reason the idea of spending $5 on something that should be much cheaper was incredibly kitsch and so they were downed with much vigour. I chose a glass of Sparkling, and then a glass of some red wine which I didn't even identify, both were nice and got me in a rather happy mood.

Of course the West Coast Cooler Encounter (trying saying that repeatedly after having consumed a few) prompted discussion of various other Lolly Waters (not Alco pops as they have recently and topically become known). In particular the one that sprang to mind was "Wild Peach". The quandary of the night was "is it still available". I've been to several reputable liquor merchants and so far no dice, but then they were reputable liquor merchants. The quest continues.

Anyway after this we headed on to the 100 Mile Cafe. This little gem is literally hidden away from the world... in Melbourne Central, of all places. It's behind a door that doesn't even look like a door, we actually walked past it before realising it was the entrance.

It's a rather large space, very trendily layed out and with large full length windows that afford a view of the Latrobe/Swanston intersection.

The gimmick of the place is that all produce and drinks are sourced within 100 Miles. One of my dining partners (who happens to be my partner) actually used the GPS to confirm this in one or two cases. Though we were left with a question of who grows rice within 100 miles of the Melbourne CBD, a question for another visit.

For Entre I had oysters (of which there were three types). All delicious. Then I had a burger for main, which was simply fabulous, even the chips were nice.

Several of my friends had the dahl, which they said was less than stellar. We all had a dessert of one form or another which was very nice though a tad expensive at $14 each.

The highlight of the place however was the waitress. She was simply fantastic, you could not ask for a better hostess. When asked for advice about meals and then her advice was ignored, she promptly gave as good as she got, which was hilarious. Also, when asked why there was no West Coast Cooler on the menu, she basically said that they wouldn't lower themselves to that. Also, it's probably not from less than 100 miles away!

All in all it was a wonderful evening out. Even better when deciding to catch a train home we only had to wait 3 minutes which was fairly incredible in itself. Thanks Connex.

Blue Train - I think I remembered to validate

Well, against my better judgement we went to Southgate again on Friday night (don't worry, this time we paid cash).

We have been to Blue Train several times before and it's always nice. The one thing that sticks out is that it's meant to be notorious for having to wait for a table, but on Friday night we didn't have to wait at all.

The crowd was fairly eclectic but mostly hip young things much like myself and my partner (yeah, right).

I'm pretty sure Blue Train get's most of it's staff from the current Melbourne Backpacker population, but there's nothing wrong with that, staff are very friendly and completely non pretentious, which just makes the entire experience very easy going.

I was tossing up between the fish and chips and the burger, and so asked my waitress what she thought. She recommended the burger, and I quote, "it's really big, not a shitty little patty or anything". So I went with that. Partner ordered Ravioli stuffed with olives and riccotta in light tomato sauce with fresh shaved parmesan.

Both meals, lovely... the burger was indeed very hearty, though Partner berated me for eating it the wrong way (with knife and fork rather than just squishing it down and biting in).

My chips were a little cold... but I really didn't care.

We also ordered a couple of glasses of sparkling wine which made the event even more pleasant.

There was plenty of eye candy around as well, which always makes for an even more enjoyable experience.

All in all Blue Train is a Southgate institution... a balcony table would be nice, but to me it's more fun sitting inside watching the organised chaos of the staff. And I guarantee everytime you go you'll get served by someone different because this probably isn't a long term employer and that is part of it's charm.

http://www.bluetrain.com.au/