Apartment Alkira – Boutique Melbourne Short Stay Accommodation

OK, it’s not our usual style, but we take a moment for a spot of  bragging on behalf of Melbourne – who just made The Sunday New York Times’ ‘Where to Go in 2011′ hit list.  Yay, you go girl.
Full article here: Sunday New York Times

And while we’re thumping the drum, some more lovely feedback from one of our recent guests…

“We especially enjoyed the central location which was very quiet at night, the Aesop handwash!, the gorgeous retro furniture and spacious shower room.”

Sheela, UK, January 2010

No more whinging about the unusual summertime drizzle in Melbourne.

Crossing all digits and sending our warmest thoughts to all affected by the floods, especially to Jordan, 13, who died after telling the rescuers to save his brother first. Now that makes you feel humble.

To Support Flood Victims

Queensland Flood Appeal
http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

Volunteering
http://www.emergencyvolunteering.com.au/

Heavy Machinery
lordmayor@brisbane.qld.gov.au

Now before you start yawning at the title of this post alone, this is no static display of dodgy maps and line drawings of men in wigs.  The Polly Woodside is a 125 year floating merchant ship which forms the central focus of the museum, with associated info and documentation around different areas of the vessel.

Fully restored and totally spruced up over the past four years, Polly put the kettle on and now looks rather cute.  She re-opened last month and is now accepting visits from the general public.

Polly Woodside operated as a working ship from 1885 until the mid 60s, dragging stuff half way across the world – from coal to timber, grain and cement.  She now chills out in her retirement on Melbourne’s Yarra river at South Wharf, just in front of the Melbourne Convention Centre.

A three minute scoot across the pedestrian bridge from your short stay apartment at Alkira, it’s worth a peek if you or yours are history boffins or would like to see what a $1.4 billion boat refurb will get you.

Melbourne Maritime Museum,
Polly Woodside,
2A Clarendon Street,
South Wharf
on the Yarra River

A dip into old maritime history brought to you by rather contemporary urban apartment accommodation at Apartment Alkira

Gird your loins.  Shoulders back.  Chest out.  Armour on.  Ok, now you’re ready to visit Melbourne’s notorious Moroccan Soup Bar.

Overplayed perhaps, but the owner of this North Fitzroy eatery seems to have appropriated the reputation of Sienfeld’s soup nazi. Not entirely fairly in my experience, but she does run a tight ship, so don’t be put off if she’s a tad snappy.

The Moroccan Soup bar is ledgendary on the north side of the river, having been around for years.  A stone’s throw from the CBD, this highly popular place doesn’t take bookings and is extremely difficult to secure a table anytime after 6.30pm.  The lure of snaring a table in a place of such demand, plus the serious cheapness of the food, and the slightly unpredictable character of Madame Soup Bar makes dining here highly sought after.

Whilst the name suggests the fare is restricted to soups, the eatery offers tagines and other classic Moroccan fare, including an extremely good value ‘banquet’ for the low, low price of $18 per head.  The  chickpea, almond and flatbread dish is to die for (pic above).

Don’t miss out on the mint tea or coffee and sweets – even if the Madame is clearing your plates and setting your table for the next round as you nibble.

This invitation to loin girding brought to you by
Melbourne’s Short Stay Apartment specialists – Apartment Alkira.  Enjoy.

It was always going to be difficult for this new French eatery to fail. Thick with Melbourne gastronomic and savvy business talent, PM24 has awesome lineage, set to see it position itself as Melbourne’s New French in 2011.

The PM bit of the name belongs to Phillip Mouchel, the French michelin starred executive chef who initially came to Melbourne in the 90s to head up the legendary Paul Bocuse restaurant at Diamaru.  More recently he made a splash having returned from a couple of years in Japan to open The Brasserie at Crown Casino.  His cohorts, The Press Group have notched up a swag of foodie points themselves, running such establishments as The Press Club, Maha, Hellinic Republic and St Katherines.  The 24 of PM24 of course represents the street number of the eatery, being located at 24 Russell Street, Melbourne CBD.

The elegant, under-stated aesthetic of PM24 mirrors Mouchel’s sensibility in the kitchen.  His modern take on French classics has always been his strong suit and at this new establishment he pushes this particular envelope heartily.

Melbourne visitors to the Australian Open will benefit from a special 2 or 3 course set menu from January 17th.  Our suggestion? Go for the 3 – you can work it off on the courts tomorrow.

We love French food at Apartment Alkira. Of course we also love stylish, affordable and elegant short stay accommodation options.

The highly celebrated ‘Gigibaba’ looks deceptively understated, but this modern Turkish eatery at the top end of the slightly seedy Smith Street Fitzroy has a lot going for it. That is unless you are  a) impatient, b) vegetarian, or,  c) on the pudgier side of pudgey.

The no-booking policy is a test for the virgos among us and a fairly restricted range of vegie options sees vegetarians far less enthusiastic about the place than their carnivorous brethren. A ‘cosy’ placement of tables requires frequent bouts of breathing-in when manouvreing around the space, maybe serving as a reminder to hold back on the sweet morsels offered at the end of the meal.

Caveats notwithstanding, Gigibaba remains as bewitching and alluring as it did when it opened to much applause a couple of years ago.  Fresh, honest, Turkish food made with zingy products and impeccable technique has seen this dark and moody eatery retain an enthusuastic local crowd.  Self-selecting visitors to Melbourne will find it a treat.

This review is brought to you from the people at Alkira Apartments, who, truth be told are on the slightly pudgier side of pudgy themselves. Melbourne’s specialists in serviced apartments.

The revolution is here.  Anyone noticed?   Quietly, sneakily, the ‘dead end’ of the CBD has morphed into something slightly cooler, slightly hipper, and is now routinely referred to as the ‘New York’ end.

Groovy wee cafe haunts rub shoulders with design shops and specialist  ’restaurant quality sandwich outlets’.  Joining the coterie of movers and shakers is the cutely named, ‘Elevenses’.

There’s a slightly off-beat vibe inside this great bluestone building where you can play a game of communal scrabble while waiting for your expertly made and ethically sourced ‘Toby’s Estate’ coffee. Slightly odd ball, but rather delish sandwiches combinations include; pan-seared kangaroo fillet with swiss, sauerkraut and pickles, braised rabbit with alfalfa, rosemary and honey and otway pork with provolone, tomato and apple sauce.  If you’re after something a bit sweeter – to go with your elevenses – treats come from Noisette.

Funny how things change.  Who knows, maybe the 2010 dead end of Melbourne – the docklands – will become the London end, (or maybe the Warsaw end?)

Enjoying great food, coffee and all the treats of Melbourne, Apartment Alkira, your serviced apartments CBD specialists.

A fabulous Melbourne institution, The Butterfly Club is one of the quirkiest and most highly original performance venues in the city.

Think clutter.  And lots of it.  Three teensy rooms or ‘salons’ are bedecked with every kitch item from a battery farm of 1960′s nanna’s homes.  Porcelain dolls rub shoulders with plastic tack-a-rama, mirrors with flashing lights vie for sneaky narcissistic glances going head to head with a rather fetching collection of plastic roses.  This isn’t any ordinary kitch – it is truly impressive in its scale and breadth, and the gorgeous Victorian terrace in South Melbourne is just the place to accommodate the mini museum.

Decor aside, the core offering of this venue  is equally as eclectic and stimulating.  Two, often three cabaret shows a night are offered by The Butterfly Club – often as different from each other as the porcelain dolly and the plastic doilies.  The front room is the performace space – an intimate venue seating around 50 or so.  Performances range from the intoxicating to the ‘trying hard, but not hard enough’, but this is a venue definitely worth taking a punt on – it’s a great night out whether it’s a drink in one of the ‘salons’, a brash and bawdy burlesque show or a slick gig by the likes of Tim Minchin ot The Beuatiful Losers.

Melbourne is a great city of hidden laneways, groovy unmarked bars and the odd performance venue hosting kooky stuff.  you often have to look a little harder to find these really interesting bits, but The Butterfly Club proves that it’s worth the hunt.  Check out their website for upcoming shows.

thebutterflyclub.com

204 Bank Street
South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

This celebration of kitch and cabaret is brought to you by Apartment Alkira a nice option for short stays in Melbourne’s CBD, (and possibly a drag queen in a previous life).

Who knew librarians had such cool names?  Especially in the 1800s.   The State Library of Victoria’s very groovy cafe ‘Mr Tulk’  pinches it’s name, rather shamelessly, from the first librarian to run the State Library of Victoria (SLV). This is appropriate of course, as Mr Tulk is based at the LaTrobe Street entrance to the SLV.  The owners are just lucky the first librarian wasn’t a Smith or a Brown.

While based in the library building, there’s nothing stuffy or staid about this place.  In a brilliant strategic manoeuvre by the head honchos at the SLV, operators were appointed who have the right family genes to pull together an elegant cafe space that appeals to an eclectic and energetic bunch of people.  Hence, by osmosis, the SLV has adopted a more accessible vibe.  Clever.

Food-wise the offerings are classic cafe fare with European influences.  Brekkie is particularly good, with options such as baked eggs with crispy pancetta and spinach puree or corned beef hash with poached eggs.  Coffee can be a bit hit and miss, depending on who’s on the machine.  Nice outdoor area for a summery spring day.

328 Swanston St
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Another cafe with a cute name brought to you by
Apartment Alkira, a self catering apartment in the CBD, also with a cute name.

If you think ‘Kindle’ is best used to start a fire, then the State Library of Victoria is probably where you should be heading to for your literary fix when visiting Melbourne.

Accommodating over 1.5 million books and 16,000 serials, the library is housed in a magnificent 19th century building on Swanston Street – at the core of Melbourne’s CBD. And guarding the city’s shrine to The Book is this chap on the left.  Charles Joseph LaTrobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the then ‘colony’ of Victoria; this statue of him was cast in bronze by Peter Corlett and unveiled at the site in 2006.

Inside the recently renewed building (refurbs around 2004) you’ll find various rooms, but one of the most enthralling is the domed reading room.  Sadly, the original skylights were modified and covered in copper in 1959 because the dome was leaking.  Even in 1856, it seems, it was tricky finding a good tradie.

A fab cafe – Mr Tulk – has borrowed the ‘front room’ and is a nice spot for a breather.  More about him in future posts.

328 Swanston Street
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A gentle prod towards one of the 3 ‘Rs’, brought to you by
Melbourne’s Serviced Apartment Accommodation gurus, Apartment Alkira