stove monkey

You know those friends that you never see - sometimes due to the fact that they live in another continent, sometimes because you are a lazy ass (who doesn't deserve friends) - but when you do, it's like no time has passed? 

My friend C is like that. She was in London but she's back and we're right back where we left our last conversation. We go back to a time when girls hung clickety things from pink flip phones and she has stuck with me through all the fucking psycho phases of adolescence.

Stove Monkey feels like Aix in Centre Place, a hole-in-the-wall cafe C and I used to go to a lot during uni-times. SM has those comfortable seats, mismatched crockery, French music, and a feeling that the owners really care about making everyone eat well. SM do sandwiches and other lunchie items but their main thing is soup.

Pea and and ham soup.

Beetroot soup.

Winter happiness is a big bowl of tasty soup, a good friend and a warm window. Also, I heard a rumour that they do crumbed poached eggs...

Stove Monkey

191 Clarendon Street

South Melbourne

9090 7844

yamato japanese

It's a blisteringly hot day. Then, one of those warm still nights in the city. Summer vibrated in the air as 1405 and I decide to go on an adventure in Chinatown. We walked past familiar places like Dae Jang Geum and Spicy Fish and opted to turn down a cobblestone street, past EuroTrash where one of our friends had his 21st. It feels like decades ago and we realize this is because we have since graduated from uni and become useful members of society. As much I love my work, there is an accompanying feeling of numbness and sameness to the days - if work life feels like stupor, uni life feels like a remembered dream.

At the end of the street is a teeny tiny restaurant flanked by the noisiest air conditioners this side of China. There are pieces of paper stuck on the inside of the window, it reminds me of preschoolers and their finger paintings, proud parents. We squeeze inside to find 40 people seated in a space for about 20. We fold ourselves into a side table. It is stiflingly hot and everyone has ordered bottles of beer, beaded with moisture. Despite everything the charm of this place is immediately apparent, cutesy paper hearts abound and there are mismatched mini-kites blu-tacked to the walls.

We try not to overdo it, but sometimes habit gets the better of us and we still end up eating like marathon runners on a day where really all one needs is a cold beverage and a lie down.

Sushi sashimi combination.

Yose Nabe - seafood, tofu and vegetables in a miso base.

Everything was yum and fresh, service was fantastic considering that in this weather all I would want to do is swat at people who constantly ask me for water. We will be back when the air con works properly and it's a little cooler.

Yamato Japanese
28 Corrs Lane
Melbourne
9663 1706

bohemian bar & restaurant

Many moons ago my beautiful girlfriends and I fancied ourselves as the SATC bunch (before the movies came out and made all the fans feel silly and has-been), languidly sipping cocktails and exchanging hilarious raunchy stories about men and their foibles. This was in the baby years of the 2000's, when we first started uni, barely over 20, no disposable income to speak of and still living at home. Back then, we thought everything was cool. We can only look back now and appreciate how naff our imitations were. The only thing that we had in common with those characters was a genuine care for each other and what we (I think rightly) deemed real friendship. Many moons later now I can appreciate the gravity of what I guess SATC and others of its ilk inspired in me, a kind of link between glamour and the secret lives of girlfriends. This is why, whenever I go out with my female friends, it always makes me feel more grown up in a different way to marriage.

Bohemian Bar and Restaurant was the setting for a girly catch-up with Q, a close friend with a full to bursting busy life. Located along South Wharf, we took a table outside where the air was cicada song warm and we could catch a breeze off the water.

The food was Spanish-inspired and fabulous with drinks and someone with a story.

Patatas bravas: potato cylinders, spiced tomato and aioli

I have a soft spot for potato and really liked these despite the fact that they are little over salted. We were tapping the salt off the sides. Other than that the little pocket at the top for tomato and aioli were perfect.

Gambas al ajillo: garlic prawns with paprika

These prawns were nicely cooked but a little plain. More chilli and garlic needed. I think prawns can be so much more exciting than this "boiled" look. Waiter said this was a most popular dish.

A green salad  with pomegranate and prettiness

We also had a seafood paella (no photo) which was yum but a little small for the two of us. I would recommend ordering one each if you're looking for restaurant portions.

Bunuelos de chocolate: chocolate filled doughnut balls, confit cumquat

Q's official Facebook account of the night was "Melbourne on summer nights. Best friends. Long stories of things you used to only read about. Home." I would whole heartedly agree.

Bohemian Bar and Restaurant
35 Dukes Walk
South Wharf
9682 0566