Rooftop bar by Katherine

No I'm not normally a drinker... Neither is Sally.

But a few friends of our recommended this little spot to go and hang at. And it was mentioned in this years o'book.

So a visit was due.

It is in the same place as the Cookie bar, but up seven flights of stairs. And more stairs and more stairs and more stairs. It felt like I was on a set of some movie involving lots of stairs.

It is an outdoor bar so it is subject to weather conditions. There is hardly any shade except for the big umbrellas. It is best to go during summer and spring.

They are also a cinema and every night at 9:30pm there is a screening of some sort. They have chairs (in the form of deck chairs for everyone to sit in). Tickets are $20.

The rooftop bar has some yummy food for under $15 and cheap drinks. I had my usual lemonade for $3.50. Because I've already got lunch arrangements elsewhere. I came when there was a fire evacuation and we were evacuated for ages.

They only have a limited menu of burgers and chips.

I loved their French fries today ($6). Nicely seasoned and big enough to share between two people.

I can't wait to try their burgers out when I come again.

The Lounge by Katherine

And no it is not one of RMIT's lounges.
In fact it is a pub on Swanston st. It is about 5 mins from RMIT and is popular with the students and the workcrowds at lunchtime and after 5pm.
I remembered some years back where I went out with colleagues for work drinks and meals. The atmosphere at night was very lively. Back then there was also a downstairs lounge where we can order anything we fancy and pay by the hour we ordered.
There used to be $2 coffees but not anymore.

But now:

There is no downstairs lounge. Instead there is only one level.

There wasn't as many people given that it was at 1pm that my friend and I came. You had to order and pay at the counter. They do have a $25 minimum for EFTPOS and credit card.

We sat outside. The tables did look a tad bit sad and dirty. There is two couch areas. One of them was occupied by a group of tourists.

The service was a bit patchy and hapzard. Two of the tourists food came first and then ours and then the rest of theirs. To top it off the waitress took away our tomato sauce and we had to ask her to bring it back. Also a table was left full of dishes until someone asked her to clean up the mess. Short staffed perhaps?

My friend and I both ordered burgers and we got a side of onion rings ($4.50) to share. My friend got a chicken burger ($16.50) and mine was a veggie burger ($13.50). When mine came to the table there was a massive amount of chips.

We enjoyed our burgers. Although mine came one a weird looking sesame bun I really enjoyed this. I loved the onion relish. But the chips looked like they came from a Mccains packet. In actual fact they used fresh potatoes. The chips had way too much salt on them. What would be nice would be some herb salt.

The onion rings although my friend enjoyed them, I thought were a massive dissappointment to otherwise what would be a good meal. They were too oily and they also tasted like vinegar. Onion rings should be lightly oiled and not be vinegary. It would be lovely if there was mayonaise.

All in all it was a good hearty pub meal and I would gladly recommend it to students. Students come after dark when there is heaps of entertainment and live bands. There is parma nights on Mondays when a parmagiana is $10. They also have happy hour for students when all jugs of beer are just $12. They are from 2pm-6pm and I think from 8pm until late. They also had $5 bottles of beer too. It is worth a visit.

Ponyfish Island by Katherine

This is great bar for students to hang at. It is one of Melbourne's best hidden secrets. Here they have cheap drinks and cheap but good food. All the food is under $15.

Ponyfish Island is a little island hidden under the Southgate bridge. The trick to finding the place as 18 other bloggers explained is to walk along the Southgate Bridge and look right and you'll see some stairs.

It was a wet day but there was plenty of shelter. It was the end of summer that I visited.

Here I was served by a lovely lady and my food came quickly. I ordered a Baguette ($10) and a lemon lime and bitters ($3).

They sell vegetarian food as well as food for the carnivores. But the only thing is that they don't sell chips. They do have BBQ's though.

The baguette was yummy. It was vegetarian and very healthy and filling. I loved the cheese in this and it was nicely salted.

The lemon lime and bitters came in a huge glass. I loved the lime wedge in there- it gave it a bit of flavour.

All in all I'd come back but this time on a sunny day. And I'd bring my friends and Sally here. I wished RUSU would organise a Drinks with friends event here rather than Pearson's and Murphys as the food and drinks are quite good here. You can buy a jug of Pimms for $30 someone told me so we might have to try and do that next time.

Dead Man Espresso

Dead Man Espresso is in South Melbourne and is just five minutes by tram from the CBD. It is frequented by Uni students especially ones from RMIT (I saw the guy's RMIT diary).

About 45 other bloggers have raved on about this place and they seem fairly positive. So I must be the last person to blog about this.

They have limited seating. Like a Melbourne cafe they have outdoor and indoor seating. Like Cumulus they also sell produce and books.

Although they are primarily a espresso bar, they do serve meals. And by that I mean hearty meals.
They do serve eggs all day which is great for us students.

I was served by an English/Irish guy and I did love the accent. He asked how everything went which rarely happens in a cafe.

I loved my omelette. It was nice and fluffy and without the tabasco it would have been a bit bland. I loved the mushrooms and herbs in there. The only thing that I would have wanted is that they make this a regular menu item rather than a special.

At first there was no toast and I had to remind them gently. At least the guy apologized for burning the toast and brought me a new batch.

I also had an aeropress coffee ($5) which was really nice and fruity. Loved it and loved the cute cup.

Now I can see why everyone loves the place. It is worth the trek out to South Melbourne. South Melbourne is such a touristy area. I would love to take all of the new students back to the cafe soon. Now I wonder if they are open on Sunday.