At a glance - Providence

Providence cafe continues to serve up top shelf food from its Carlton location. There is clear technique in the kitchen that must be commended. The coffee blend at Providence is rotated monthly. While this does create interest, it also makes it difficult to lock Providence in as a regular coffee haunt given you can never be certain of what you're going to get - fix this issue (by having a house blend and a second rotating coffee) and Providence would be hard to beat.

At a glance - Hihou

Almost completely unmarked and requiring patrons to press a non descript doorbell to be granted entry, it is easy to miss Hihou. Once inside, you are greeted by a gorgeously minimalist Japanese interior lit by flickering candles and a chique backlit bar. Shoes will need to come off if you are going to venture into the more intimate spaces to the right of the bar and the menu has been clearly designed with drinking in mind – think sword fish sashimi, oroshi-ponzu and shichimi and fried crumbed eggplant and kingfish skewers. This is a good thing as Hihou boasts an extensive range of Japanese beers, whiskeys and, of course, sake. Hihou feels words away from its Spring Street location and is definitely one to check out.

At a glance - Five Points Café

Five Points Café is tucked away on Little Collins Street and has a clear focus on two things - bagels and coffee. Five Points is solid and offers a pleasant ambience, nice bagels and good coffee. However, it has become incredibly difficult for cafes to differentiate themselves in this saturated market and it isn't clear whether Five Points have done enough to stand out from the crowd.

At a glance - Dude Food

The Melbourne Burger Invitational (as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival) brought together the who's who of Melbourne's burger industry - Beatbox Kitchen, 1090 Burger, Dude Food Man, Easeys, 8bit, Mr Burger and Gelato Messina for some dessert offerings.

The sold out event was held at Welcome to Thornbury which is Melbourne's only permanent food truck park. 

We enjoyed the Dude Food's 'Dude Burger'. The brioche bun consisted of a wagyu patty, and all the trimmings such as lettuce, aioli, mustard, tomato, pickles, cheese and onion. This 'Dude' burger was juicy and was expertly prepared. 

By Helena Lea.

At a glance - Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead is a Mexican Spanish Tapas Restaurant Bar  in the centre of St Kilda on Fitzroy Street with an extensive cocktail list. 

The restaurant had a wide variety of spirits on display at the bar with the back drop of an eye catching piece of artwork on the wall. 

To start with, we enjoyed a cold refreshing light Argentinian Beer which was perfect after a hot day. 

The buffalo wings (of which we chose the spicy option) was tender and packed full of flavour. The thyme and citrus infusions along with the special homemade wing sauce provided an excellent start to the meal. 

The Nachos were filled with the usual ingredients of guacamole, jalapeno, generous cheese, black beans, capsicum and corn which was served in the ceramic bowl it was cooked in. A generous serving of this classic dish was also accompanied with sour cream which provided us with a refreshing contrast. 

A quartet of tacos were   served on blue corn tortillas with deconstructed toppings. The fish taco was well cooked which resulted in a light and tasty taco. The slow cooked beef taco was a delight topped with homemade cheese. The chicken taco was also a great dish which was refreshing with the slaw served in it. 

Overall, Day of the Dead was a nice casual place to relax with some great food and extensive drinks list. 

By Helena Lea.