james test

July 14, 2017 Cindy took me to Attica for my PhD completion five years ago for one of the most spectacular meals of my life . This year I was out of town for my birthday, and I was thrilled when she forwarded me a booking confirmation for a celebratory revisit. Attica continues to be Melbourne's most awarded restaurant, picking up three hats in the Good Food Guide every year and regularly making it onto "world's best" lists. With all the hype, it's bloody hard to get reservations, so a Friday night table for two was a pretty impressive reflection of Cindy's commitment. The set menu is the only option at Attica these days, an eye-watering $260 a head for an extravaganza of fancy courses. They have a vegetarian menu as a standard option and will happily cater for vegans and other dietary requirements with a bit of warning. Dining at Attica is an incredible experience - there's a focus on Australian ingredients, meaning you get to taste things you don't o...

With my birthday fast approaching, Cindy and I sat down for our now bi-annual hunt for a fancyish place with an interesting vego menu to splash out on. Cindy recalled dmargster's recommendation , which had been followed up by raves in The Age , Tomato , Melbourne Foodie and Eating With Jack and rumours of a vegetarian degustation menu, all of which meant that Attica was the venue of choice this May. While we were forced to cross the river for our fancy feast this time, Attica is conveniently located about 100m from Ripponlea train station, which made getting there relatively easy. The room itself is dark, inviting and sleekly designed. Thankfully, the design isn't just about aesthetics - there's plenty of space and some strategically hung heavy curtains that help the restaurant from being swamped by noise. We had a nice back corner table, and settled straight into our pre-pre-meal bread with exotic accompaniments: smoked almonds, fried brussel sprout pieces and a from...

Regular readers (both of you!) might have spotted a recent comment from Dmargster, having a friendly dig at our attachment to the inner north and naming their favourite local (Ripponlea) Indian restaurant in the process. With swift service that would hands-down beat our local, we paid a visit to Ripponlea a mere four days later! On our free and easy Saturday night, we mapped out an excursion to the south side for dinner at Bala Da Dhaba, followed by a movie at the Classic Theatre . I'm the kind of girl who would prefer that 'my local' is my lazy-glutton-night Indian or Thai restaurant around the corner rather than any watering hole. Thus, I was quite chuffed that Dmargster shared this kind of affection for Bala Da Dhaba and it had just the unpretentious atmosphere I'd want from my local. Picture a dated brick building with disposable paper tablecloths over the real ones, vinyl padded chairs and scattered Indian paraphernalia on the walls. The most striking feature...