Salona

Salona is a Greek restaurant in Swan st right around the corner from Richmond station. Here they had a $16 Groupon for one with a souvlaki (of your choice), chips and beer. The beer is an original Greek lager beer.

At lunchtimes they are quiet but during the dinner time they are busy. Hence that is why the Groupon is only valid for lunch and not dinner. I made a booking a few weeks ago and somewhat had to cancel but they didn't mind me walking in on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

The Greek lager beer was really strong and worked well with the souvlaki. I have never tried Greek beer before so can't comment too much on its taste. It did smell appley and they pour it into a really tall glass.

Here I tried their vegan souvlaki and it did not disappoint. It had loads of vegetables and lots of hummus. The pita was lukewarm though. The pita was the soft homemade bread. They make their own chips from real potato which is great to see. But it must have taken a while as my food did take a while to come.

The other two people came in for just coffees and sweets. I still can't have sweets due to the Sugar free month (but that will end soon and I can but just in moderation).

Rating: 15/20- me likes and I'm sure some other vegetarian bloggers will like it too.

Zimari

RNIS bought a $12 Groupon for this and did not spend in this place.

Zimari is a Greek cafe which specialises in Cretan food. Here they specialise in eggs and I have read a few good things from Eat and be merry and Gastrology.

Artwork

Food for people to buy and take home

The coffee bar

Other greek drinks

The staff there are accomodating and they didn't mind that I didn't book the Scoopon.

They had been opened for about three years, but no one knew about them as they are on a quiet part of High street.

And they were right. Everything here was homemade and there was no heaviness to the food. Everything is just like what my mum would make at home. Here I had the Builder meal which had pita bread, feta, eggs any way you like, mushrooms and spinach with a lovely tomato relish. This is normally $18.

The eggs were fluffy but bland. Some chives would have been nice. But the tomato relish worked well with it. Normally I don't like relish but this I did not mind.

Then the piccolo was served in a cute little glass and it was very strong. It worked well with the freshly baked biscuits which tasted like gingerbread.

Rating: 18/20- enjoyed the goodness of homemade food and fresh pita bread. You can also buy goods to take home as well.

Jimmy Grants and the Gertrude st Projection festival

This weekend and the next is one of Melbourne's biggest art festivals. It is an outdoor festival which is free. Here everything is electrifying and you can see all the artworks both in and out. For years this festival has attracted many people.

 

Inside an art gallery

Someone's artwork

De Clieu's snacks for sale

It also attracted visitors like myself to places in which I have never step foot in and one of them was Jimmy Grants. Jimmy Grants does big feeds for less than $20 per person. Their souvlakis are $7.50 and people tell me that it is great. But I came after 7:30pm on a very slow tram from the city and
wasn't in the mood for them. I had a homemade salad as well.

Jimmy Grants was packed and they were sooo popular that they opened a second store in the city. And then another one in Ormond

The chips were soooo good. The feta was amazing and so were the workers in the kitchen. It was like a production line in there. I loved the feta cheese but couldn't taste the oregano much.

Their pita at $2.50 was huge and amazing. I didn't need much else after all, although I saw a few people taking away their doughnuts.

Rating: 18/20- I can see why so many people like Jimmy Grants. Sooo good. Do come on by to this cheap eat.

A Global Gathering

As part of this year's Melbourne Food and Wine festival.

A Global Gathering is all out foodie event which is spread out all over Bridge Road. From free food to $5-$10 tasting plates there is something to please everyone. Even the pickiest of eaters. There was free face painting for the kids.

My four stamps

Free popcorn

Free face painting

It is only a short tram ride away from the city. At the Information hubs we collected our passports and stamp form and off we went. If you got four stamps like we did then you would be in the running to win a SMEG kitchen pack from Harvey Norman, which leads us to our first stop for free food.

1) Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman offered free chippolatas and tastings of their stir fry. We couldn't stay long but they did offer free cooking classes and the bake off at 12pm.

I really loved that sweetness in the stir fry and the onions. The sales rep from SMEG said it was 4 mins to make the stir fry and it worked a treat.

The stir fry for everyone

2) Three One 2 One café

The entrance

Salt and sugar

This place was just literally across the road from Harvey Norman, but due to the heavy traffic it was hard to cross. Maybe they should have closed off that whole road and then have lots of roadside stalls.

The café is pretty homely and they make their own jams and have about 21 varieties of sauces for people to peruse on their dishes. I had the mushroom arachini which had that subtle taste of mushrooms and it was not too overpowering. I also loved having the chilli jam on the second ball= yum

3) Bouzy Rouge and their salt cod ball ($2)
What attracted us to this place was the paella and the look of the balls. It was on the way to Osteria. The balls were full of flavour and many people got attracted to the paella. The paella smelt good but we had to leave room for other things.

Wine lis

The cod ball tasted like cod and cheese, match made in heaven.

4) Osteria la Passione 

This café is just a few blocks away from three two one and here we had the cold meat plate for $5. It was $10 just to add the drink as well. We loved the cold meat platter as it was yum and the meats were very fresh. I think it was lamb. We also enjoyed the baked bread and the balsamic vegetables which were drizzled on top of the meat.

Before going in we tried their extra virgin olive oil samplings and bread and gosh it was sooo strong.

This café was very homely, it reminded us of regional Italy and we loved the products on display.

Before we got to number 5 we checked out all the BBQ displays with Gypsey and Mosquito barbequing wallaby and Big Boy's special of $7 for their special chips.

We also checked out Slowpoke's free masterclass.

5) Laikon Deli
This place has been going strong for almost forty years and they sell heaps of fresh Greek food in which you can take home or eat outside.

We got the cone and loved the olives and the freshness of the salad. Yum! I say. And the man that served us was very friendly.

By then the street was getting busier. Oh well only one more stop.

BBQ at Gypsey and Mosquito

6) The Groove Train

This is the last stop and I was really disappointed with my eggplant chips. Although nice it was a little bit bland and it took waaay longer than I had expected. The service was very slow for a not so crowded place. I had always wanted to give this place a go.

I had expected stellar chips as that is what I got everytime I had been to the other Groove trains. But these ones were not even crunchy.

Medallion by Katherine

I used to come here a lot when i was working my old place in Lonsdale st in the Greek precinct. I used love their Greek food.
But ever since I moved places it had been really hard. Now I'm a bit far away.
I had some time today and so I went to visit. This place used to be smaller. Now its big and virtually empty. I came at 11.30am just wanting Greek coffee ($4) and a cake ($6- I think my cake Galatiboreko (something like that)).

My cake was lovely and creamy and not like the one I just had at Stalactities. No this is much better. And a lot less sweet which I love. I hate things being too sickly sweet.
Same as the coffee. It had that lovely flavour and you can add water to it if need be.

Now I might just come back for some spanakopita (Greek spinach pie).