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

[yflyer]

The next day, we checked out of the Brady Hotel and prepared to check into the Hilton at Little Queen Street. Before that, we walked over to Queen Victoria Market for a look around..



This was a huge, sprawling market selling deli items, raw and cooked meat and seafood, as well as fruit, vegetables as well as handicraft and other items.



We started with the indoor section...



Among the many stores was a Polish deli...



...cheese shop...



...and lots and lots of seafood.



The flounder looked really good...



...and so did the oysters...



Abalones for $7 each...

[yflyer]

The meat selection was equally impressive...



Look at that beef marbling!



Lots of "spare parts" on offer...



I've never noticed markets here in Singapore specifying the gender of the pork on sale...



"Female Pork Spare Rib (Young)"? I guess local gender (and age) discrimination laws here don't apply to market produce...



A mind boggling selection of eggs...



The fruit and veggie selection was very impressive too...



Possibly the only durians in the whole market...

[yflyer]

We ended our visit to the market with a small breakfast at Little League, an offshoot of Melbourne's League of Honest Coffee...



What a beautiful coffee machine, I thought...



A superb Machiato...something to be said for Melbourne's amazing coffee culture...



A delicious bacon and egg pastry...

[yflyer]

It was now time to check-in at the Hilton Melbourne at Little Queen Street...



This was a very new property, which opened just over a year ago, in March 2021. The hotel is in a very central location, along Bourke Street, just a 10-15 minute walk to Bourke Street Mall, Chinatown and Flinders Street Station. It comprises part of a heritage building, the Equities Chambers Building, which has been carefully restored, and extended with a modern tower block.



The lobby was closest to the Little Queen Street entrance...



Very smooth check-in process, as I had earlier checked in via the Hilton app on my iPhone, and had also used the messaging function on the app to request a slightly early check in, which was granted by a friendly hotel staff member via the app.



The lobby area was beautiful...



...with seating and concierge desk overlooking the large restaurant, Luca, in the main atrium.



The view from Luca, looking up towards the hotel lobby...



Everywhere, the attention to detail was very apparent...

[yflyer]

There were sections of the lobby that were left unpainted, leaving the original finishes and paint schemes of the heritage building intact...





There was a display of artefacts discovered during the construction of the original building...



Originally, this was the site of an early Synagogue and school house...



There was even a virtual hotel history tour...



You could walk through the hotel to explore it's history, while accessing the QR codes to learn more...

[yflyer]

We headed up to our room. All through this process, I was very impressed by the Hilton mobile app on my iPhone.



After checking in on my phone, I was able to select my room using the app...



My mobile phone also served as a room key, which worked not just for the room door, but the hotel entrance, gym, and lifts as well!



Very impressive!



While we were also issued plastic keycards, I found myself using the mobile phone app most of the time...it was just so cool and user friendly...

Our room was on the 9th floor...



Near the door, the app displayed this...



One tap, and the door would be unlocked...



Our room was a regular King room...



It was beautifully styled...



Very comfortable King bed...



Low marble bench, large LCD panel, and smallish round table...

[yflyer]

Lounger...



Wardrobe in grey...



Concealed minibar...



The minibar was empty (Covid precautions?) but this was fine for us, as we would have ample space to place our drinks/groceries.



Complimentary bottled water...



Tea & coffee...



Bathrobes and iron/ ironing board in the cupboard...



In-room safe...



Lovely attention to detail...



Ample USB power, but note. that all A/C power sockets are Australian sockets, not universal sockets...



The bedside radio had a wireless charging top...very convenient!

[yflyer]

The bathroom had a frosted glass door...



I found the bathroom decor very sleek and stylish..



Brass tap and long, narrow sink mounted on a long counter...



Shower stall only, no tub...



Rather than environmentally unfriendly small tubes of toiletries, large bottles were securely mounted to the wall...



Black hand soap...



Dental kit and shower cap...

[yflyer]

There was a decent list of free-to-air TV channels (Though these days doesn't everyone have their own iPad / tablet with Netflix etc?)



The room service menu was also online...





On one of the days, we ordered a simple room service breakfast...

It came under a beautiful, luxurious looking shiny metal dome, but the impression of luxury was a little diminished by the dark grey rubber serving tray...oh well...



Mrs yflyer picked out one of the vegetarian options, the pot roast cauliflower with falafel...it would not have been my first choice...



...but it was tastier than I thought it would be!



Downstairs, breakfast was served at Luca, the main restaurant...


We didn't eat there during our stay, but the selection looked pretty decent...


There was a small but well equipped fitness centre...

[yflyer]

While we didn't dine at the main restaurant at the Hilton, Luca, we spent a lot of time in the hotel bar, the Douglas Club...



This was an outstanding bar, with a great selection of cocktails, and more importantly, a wonderful team of bartenders/mixologists...



Mrs yflyer and I spent a lot of time in that bar, either before heading out for dinner, or after dinner for one last drink before turning in for the night...



Many of the drinks here were very impressive, including this smoked cocktail, delivered under a glass dome...



A good bar in a hotel is something to treasure!

[yflyer]

Overall, we were really impressed by the Hilton Melbourne at Little Queen Street. The in-room decor as well as the public areas of the hotel were beautifully styled, and the staff were great.

Location wise, it was very conveniently located, within walking distance of many CDB attractions, and with a tram stop right outside the hotel. If I were to be very fussy, I actually found the location of the Brady at Hardware Lane marginally better, but this was just a matter of a 5 minute walk, no more than that.

If I were to return to Melbourne, I would certainly consider staying at the Hilton Little Queen Street again, and even if I didn't I would definitely head back to the Douglas Club for a cocktail or two. An excellent property, and a hotel I would definitely recommend!

To be continued...

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

It was time for another Asian food fix. We headed back to Hardware Lane, which was just a short walk away from the Hilton...



This time we decided on Pho Thin, one of many places in Melbourne where a bowl of steaming hot, authentic, Vietnamese Pho could be had...



A$15.50 for a basic bowl of Pho, with many add-ons and options available...



We were lucky that that -- we arrived just before the lunch hour crowd showed up...if we had shown up 10 min later than we did, we would have been in a line that stretched out onto the street. As it was, our Pho arrived at our table within minutes, accompanied by ice cold Vietnamese milk coffee...



I spiced mine up with their chilli sauce mix...



What a feast!

[yflyer]

That evening, we headed to the Crown Casino complex, by the Yarra river, to revisit one of my old favourite places for dinner, a must-go restaurant every time I head to MEL...



If our SQTalk regulars get a sense of deja vu reading this next segment, it's probably because almost every MEL TR I write includes an obligatory visit to this shrine of meat, the Rockpool Bar and Grill...



We had reserved our table weeks in advance, and when we arrived at 6pm, just as doors opened, there was already a line at the door.



As we entered, we passed large hunks of steak undergoing the process of dry-aging, so important to enhancing both texture and flavour...



A large dining room...



...with a very busy open kitchen...



The placemats gave a hint as to what the highlight of the menu was...



The day's menu...



...with a great selection of steak...



The menu has not changed all that much over the years, which to me was a good thing, because are items there which are just perfect dishes, that I would want to see every time I return.

I've always also liked their selection of wines by the glass...

[yflyer]

They also had a smallish selection of cocktails available...



I went for "Our Kamikaze" while Mrs yflyer began with "Sally Cinnamon"...



For starters, we went for their tuna tartare...



...which went very well with a glass of Bourgogne Aligote 2018.



One positive change from before, is that they now present the bottles, and pour wines by the glass at the table. If I recall correctly, on previous visits here, the glasses were always brought already pre-poured. Thumbs up!



To round off our starters, we also had the grilled prawns...



...and the steak tartare...



...which were both excellent.

And the star of our meal? The Cape Grimm Vintage 60 month old Rib-Eye on the Bone, dry-aged for 69 days...



This had such amazing flavour and texture...some of the best steak I've eaten anywhere...

We had this with a whole selection of sauces, from a range of mustards, to horseradish, harissa, bearnaise and BBQ sauce... we asked for a little of everything, and our waiter was happy to oblige...



We accompanied the steak with two different reds, a Barbera d'Alba, and an Australian Sangiovese, from Vinea Marson, estate bottled in Heathcote, Victoria.

[yflyer]

We also ordered their "Mac n Cheese"...



...and green veggies on the side...



Even these simple sides were outstanding.

We finished by sharing a Pavlova...



After dinner, we walked along the Yarra, taking in the hourly fireballs that erupted outside along the Yarra as part of the Crown Casino's Gas Brigade Fire Show...