SQ A350 Regional J to MEL: Melbourne is Open for Business! (And Leisure!)

[yflyer]

The next day, we revisited one of my favourite places: Movida at Hosier Lane...



I don't know why this street is so covered with graffiti, but I do know that taking away the graffiti would destroy the character of this lane. In fact, in 2020, this is exactly what happened. The "street art" along Hosier Lane was defaced by masked vandals, which triggered a major outcry. This was treated as a crime, investigated by police, and condemned by politicians and the public. Graffiti artists were invited back to the lane to "restore" it with a new coating of graffiti and soon things were set right.



We arrived just at the start of lunch service. The restaurant was empty when we arrived, but soon filled up with lunch guests.



I was with Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.1, so I had reserved a table, but on previous business trips, when I was travelling solo, I spent very pleasant evenings at the bar counter, sampling their sherry and their small plates, sometimes striking up conversations with fellow solo-diners, who were sometimes also on solo business trips.



This was where I first developed a taste for sherry by the glass (Or Jerez...)



I am still a sherry newbie, so it was nice to see a range of different styles, Manzanilla, Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso etc represented.

I began with a Barrero 'Gabriela' Manzanilla. (What's the difference between a Fino and a Manzanilla sherry, wondered? I found this article very useful.)



Very nice...if this was evening and not lunch, I would have been tempted to walk down the list to sample more of the sherries.

Mrs yflyer went for a Sangria...



There was also an impressive selection of G&T's ...



...as well as a smallish list of cocktails...



We sampled their Victorian Cobbler, right, and the Madeiricano, left...

[yflyer]

The dining menu was just as mouthwatering as I had remembered it to be...



Complimentary bread to start...



Oysters, garnished with small green peppers and a chilled sorbet...



Anchovies, an old favourite...



A delicious Camerones...prawn crudo wrapped in lardo, and topped with caviar, on a deep fried dough bun...



Sardina, a savoury sardine skewer with Serrano ham...



Wonderful Galiciana beef tartar...I could have eaten a lot of this...



Pincho - Chicken heart and oyster skewer...



One of the day's specials was Fideua...



This looked like long grained rice, but was actually a kind of pasta...delicious!



We also ordered king prawns, cooked over charcoal, and served over Calasparra rice...



A wonderful meal!

[yflyer]

That evening, were going to watch a live production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, so rather than have dinner, we decided to have an early evening snack, then supper after that.

We headed to Byrdi, located in the Melbourne Central complex.



The F&B concept here is fairly unique, and maybe not to everyone's taste, but Mrs yflyer was a big fan...she had sample a cocktail here the last time she was in MEL, and was keen for me to try this place...



We began with a complimentary amuse bouche...



For drinks, I had a Fallen Angel (left), while Mrs yflyer ordered the pear and fig wine...



My drink was delicious, whereas I think the pear and fig wine was more of an acquired taste, although Mrs yflyer loved it...

We did not have time to sample their daily tasting menu...



But we did order a couple of items as a pre-show snack...

The beef tartar was excellent...



...and so were the free range chicken wings...



And then we were off to watch Harry Potter...

[yflyer]

This was a new production of the play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, now playing at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne's East End. There was a buzz in the air as we entered the theatre, which was already full of Harry Potter fans. This was now a one-night performance, compressed from the original version, which was in 2 parts, spread over 2 days...



What a beautiful theatre, very traditional in architecture, and quite intimate in size...



This was a wonderful performance, which I greatly enjoyed! The effects were stunning, and the cast members top notch.

[yflyer]

After dinner, Miss yflyer no.1 brought us to a nearby Kebab shop to try a dish, which was now ubiquitous in Australia...



And what iconic local dish was this?

It was, to our surprise, the HSP, also known as the Halal Snack Pack...



This was a dish that originated in Australia, and is now popular everywhere in the country...



I had never heard of this dish before this trip, but apparently it has taken Australia by storm, and is now a beloved dish here.

It comprises doner kebab meat (Lamb, chicken, beef or mixed) with chips, with several sauces beautifully layered over the top, including garlic, chilli and BBQ sauce, although other sauces are also common.

We packed a couple of boxes and devoured them back in Miss yflyer no.1's apartment...



Delicious, and very filling!

To be continued...

[SQ777]

Great pictures and the food looks amazing! I have never had a bad meal in MEL. Truly my favourite place in Australia for food!

This was superb! A match for CKT we ate in Penang several years ago, and better than anything I have ever had in Singapore...

That CKT does look delicious! Controversial statement there, lol. Is it better than the CKT from the old uncle at Outram?

[SQ218]

Great trip report as usual yflyer. ohh didn't know can order extra fried egg at Lulu's will have to remember next time I'm there

[FlyBoy]

Amazing trip report and photos, of my home town

[yflyer]

Great pictures and the food looks amazing! I have never had a bad meal in MEL. Truly my favourite place in Australia for food!

That CKT does look delicious! Controversial statement there, lol. Is it better than the CKT from the old uncle at Outram?

Thanks, SQ777! Yes, the food scene in MEL is so diverse and vibrant. You have a huge selection of different cuisines that put even Singapore to shame. As for the CKT, this is Penang style CKT, so strictly speaking is a different category from the Singapore version. I think the Outram CKT at Hong Lim in Singapore is the best in the country...hard to beat that stuff. I would be happy with either of them. Of course Lulu's has more lux options like a fried duck's egg. Quite hard to compare directly, especially since they are a 7 hour flight apart :-)

[yflyer]

Great trip report as usual yflyer. ohh didn't know can order extra fried egg at Lulu's will have to remember next time I'm there

Thanks, SQ218, and great meeting up in MEL together with SQ228 and Kyo! That segment coming up shortly! :-)

[yflyer]

Amazing trip report and photos, of my home town

Thanks, FlyBoy!

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

We spent some time exploring Melbourne's Chinatown on the eastern side of the city's CBD.



There were red lanterns strung up at Cohen Place, a small square decorated with a replica Ming Dynasty archway, and 2 marble Lons.



We headed to the nearby Chinese Museum...



This was not a large museum, but had a very interesting, and well curated, selection of exhibits...



...which chronicled the history of the Chinese community in Melbourne since they first arrived in MEL over 200 years ago.

There are regular tours scheduled, which last about an hour. Some of the exhibits were in the form of dioramas that really brought the stories of the early Chinese settlers to life, including reconstructions of the creaky, cramped bunks onboard the ships that brought early immigrations to Australia from China...



The stories of the lives of these early immigrations were quite eye-opening to me...



Other exhibits were purely about Chinese history, including this early earthquake detector...



...and an ornate Jade burial suit...



We did have a personal connection to the museum as well...on a board listing donors to the museum, I spotted my uncle's name. He was as one of many individuals who made a contribution to the museum when it was first established in 1985.

[yflyer]

That evening, we took a tram to the suburb of Northcote for dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant, Mesob, with Miss yflyer no.1 and several of her friends.



The decor in the restaurant was modern, with some Ethiopian touches...



The menu comprised Traditional Ethiopian dishes (As far as we could tell...)...



While Mrs yflyer and I had eaten Ethiopian food once before (At an Ethiopian restaurant in LA, coincidentally also called Mesob), we were not familiar with the cuisine, and neither were our other diners, so we decided on the sharing platters...

This was the platter for 2...



...which comprised a selection of meat and vegetable dishes, laid out on top of the Ethiopian staple, injera bread. These were meant for sharing, traditionally with your fingers, by taking a piece of injera bread, and using it to scoop some of the meat or veggie...

Yum...this was quite delicious...

This was the version of the platter for 4, which looked really impressive...



The vegetarian platter for one...



This was a delicious meal, with very different flavours from western or Asian cuisine.

I later learned that while kitfo, the Ethiopian raw beef speciality, was not listed on the menu, the kitchen was happy to prepare this dish on request if a customer asked for it. The very friendly waiter even asked if we wanted to taste a small portion: they would be happy to make it for us, but by then we were too full. Perhaps the next time we visited!

A wonderful meal, and a delightfully new experience for all of us. We ended the evening with ice cream at a nearby ice-cream bar before heading back.

[yflyer]

The next day, we had tickets to the hit musical Hamilton. Before heading to the theatre, we had drinks and snacks at "Beneath Driver Lane"...



This was a wonderful bar, with great atmosphere, and a lively vibe...



...and a very extensive drink list...





...as well as monthly specials...



...and very good dining selections as well...





We ordered the jamon croquettes...



...and the home-made pate...



Delicious!

[yflyer]

From there, we took a short evening walk through Chinatown to Her Majesty's Theatre, where Hamilton was playing...



This was another intimate but beautiful theatre...



What was nice was that you could bring your purchased wine / beverages into the theatre, these were sold in plastic cups, and the lines for these were long during the intermission...



This was an excellent production, with a strong cast that did full justice to this hit musical, even though anyone who plays the part of Hamilton would inevitably be compared to Lin Manuel Miranda's classic portrayal of the title character in the Broadway production of this musical. I particularly liked Brent Ashley Hill's portrayal of King George III in this production, a little different from Jonathan Groff in the Disney+ movie version, but equally comical in his right!