Top 10 City Lunches

Today I had the good fortune of heading to the Paris end of the City (with most of my time spent at the Moscow end where my office is located). I jumped the tram up Collins and got off at Exhibition, again 1 stop too early, and sprinted the extra block up Little Collins and walked into the wrong place (which used to be the forgettable Champagne Lounge which has been replaced by beautiful looking Lupino which looks well worth a try).

Around the corner I saw a couple of stools on one side of the street and knew that was my destination, Liaison. A recently opened cafe owned by ex Cafe Racer owner. The two wheeling theme permeates this modern little cafe which was perfectly apt because I was joined by a devout rider who I last saw at a Tour De France corporate event he had organised (I neglected to confess to him that I cannot myself ride at all).

Whilst enjoying our meals, we spent a great deal of time considering what was going on behind of the elevated prison-like Melbourne Club walls and came to the conclusion that it was filled with FHM models and old money Melbourne establishment Hugh Heffner-esque octogenarians.

This place is great for a casual, reasonably priced city catch-up. Coffee was exceptional.

My current Top 10 lunch venues in the CBD are as follows:

1. Movida Aqui (closed for Winter, but otherwise a clear winner) / Movida Terraza (for something more, a great Paella and various other treats).

2. Manchester Press (a Saturday brunch place packed into a modern CBD lane environment, great bagels and coffee. Highlight was the Coronation Chicken bagel made as a tribute for the Royal wedding).

3. Benitos (Perfect for a corporate lunch that isn't too pricey, quality Italian food, a great Melbourne setting. Ensure you request a booth!)

4. Portello Rosso (Easy place to take a big group of co-workers and a really generous set lunch menu filled with tapas delights and finished off with Churos - admittedly only got back to work well after 3 pm after this one)

5. Kinfolk (Profits go to charity so leaves you feeling like you've done something more than just feeding yourself - rustic fresh quality luches with great coffee and extremely friendly staff)

6. Switchboard Cafe (Tiny hole in the wall which makes exceptional coffee, respects the use of avocado.

7. Trunk Diner (Perfect place for beers on a hot day, but also some of the best lunch-time burgers going around the CBD. Highly recommend this one).

8. Cafe Vue (A perennial city favourite and would easily rival, if not surpass the Trunk burger.)

9. Brim CC (Organic Japanese restaurant which makes a great warming Japanese vegetarian curry)

10. Elevenses (Great sandwiches and excellent coffee).