Melbourne Coffee Adventures

I met up with a friend at the excellent Journal café the other day. We decided to do the tourist thing, since she is leaving shortly to spend two years in America. We had coffee, and then strolled through Melbourne’s nooky laneways and arcades (which are always interesting), until we got to LaTrobe St. From there we took a City Circle tram clockwise right around the city until we got to Docklands. We went to the Fish Bar, an upmarket fish and chip shop, before leaving there so she could buy licorice. We returned to the Fish Bar later to meet up with friends, before transferring to a nearby restaurant for coffee.

The previous Saturday some of us had gone to Sorrento to the Just Fine Food cafe, which advertises itself as “Home of Sorrento’s Famous Vanilla Slice”. I can testify that whatever fame the vanilla slice has is deserved. Everything else there, including coffee and food, is also worth sampling. We spent a while lingering there, rather than taking the Queenscliff-Sorrento Ferry as planned.

Today I visited Planet Chocolate in Southland with another friend. Planet Chocolate is a rather good Max Brenner clone. I had some waffles and a mocha. Delicious. Max Brenner though cannot be beaten in my opinion, provided of course that you are into chocolate, and I dare say you are. Try their chilli/hot chocolate drink; it’s quite interesting.

Both Just Fine Food and Planet Chocolate will no doubt receive five word reviews in due course. There is another instalment of Five Word Coffee Shop Reviews in the pipeline. Your contributions are, of course, appreciated. I still have no reviews of anywhere in Mornington, Balaclava, Geelong, Eltham or The Dandenongs to name just a few. Plus we need more reviews from Sydney, Taipei and everywhere else. And then: world domination!