L B 2

Coffee has become a way of life for us here in Melbourne. I could not get through even a couple of hours of work in the morning without one. Luckily there are just about an infinite number of independent coffee shops within a 5 minute walk from the office. The problem with having so many choices is that it can make you indecisive, but one that we found recently called LB2 had me quit all other coffee shops in the vicinity. Located in the CBD, close to Southern Cross station, this is yet another coffee shop located in a laneway (aka alley). The coffee is fantastic here. Even though Melbourne has an abundance of coffee shops, I really can taste a significant difference between one served here and one served across the street. Not only is the coffee good (they have a lot of variety and consistently bring in new roasts to try), they have great people here too. While this place is located in the heart of corporate Melbourne (a lot of lawyers, accountants and consultants come here), Veng and Emily have become familiar faces to me now but they know their coffee inside and out and they help to create a laid back atmosphere to the whole joint. Anyway, talk is talk but they serve some fantastic coffee here. It is places like this that make me sad when I think about the options back in Vancouver. L B 2 Down a back laneway 2 Gallagher Place Melbourne, VIC 3000

H A M M E R & T O N G

This Easter weekend, our quest to find more great brunch spots in Melbourne took us to Hammer & Tong in Fitzroy. Fitzroy is one of those pockets in a city that is as creative as they come. A place where its age shows, this area of town is not lacking in character. Hammer & Tong sits just off of Brunswick Street (for people that live in Vancouver, it is much like Main Street or Commercial Drive) and is home to one of the more well known soft-shell crab burgers in the city. We arrived at the door at about 11am and was met with a lineup that took about 15 minutes to get in (not too shabby). Not surprisingly, the restaurant was bustling and very full. We were served some great coffee here in no time... what came after though, didn't come until almost 40 minutes later. Needless to say, we were starved by the time our food arrived. We get that the restaurant is busy but 2/3rds of an hour is too long. Having said that the food hit the spot and I suppose that was this experience's saving grace.

We ordered the smoked trout, kale, poached egg on a rye bagel with seaweed hollandaise along with the zucchini and corn fritters with poached egg. The smoked trout was good but maybe a little dry. The combination of the ingredients is what made this dish so memorable. It was delicious and we polished off that plate with ease. The fritters had a very mexican flare to it and it also had a great, crispy texture on the outside. To end our meal, we shared a soft shell crab burger since it was selling like hot cakes. Our conclusion? It was good - the bun was very soft and warm (I'm no good with descriptions as you can tell) and the flavor was distinctly asian - but it was a little too salty. Overall, we enjoyed it. We may have had better in Melbourne but this ranks right up there with the best. We'll be back. Hammer & Tong 412 Brunswick Street Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia