Kia ora and welcome to clipboard, a newsletter about good shit by me, Reilly Hodson. This time, we’re kicking off a series about my recent trip to Melbourne. I did heaps on this trip, so we’re breaking it up into multiple pieces, starting with hospitality. If you enjoy clipboard, share it with your friend who had Birkenstock Bostons before they downloaded TikTok.
the home of hospo
After a three-year hiatus from international travel, this month my partner and I took a holiday and went to Melbourne for a week. It was a much needed break after a tricky couple of years, and a stressful 2022 so far. Turns out you need to actually take your annual leave to stay sane! I’ll be noting that going forward.
Melbourne is an awesome city for many reasons - the public transport! The amazing architecture! Don’t get me started on how well dressed all the people are!
The best thing about Melbourne, by some way, is the hospo - cafes, restaurants, bars, and all sorts. In Australia, hospitality is a real profession where people make real money, which creates a lot of benefits above and beyond Auckland’s admittedly still very good dining scene.
The service everywhere we went was leaps and bounds ahead of what you get in Auckland. No one acted like they were too cool to serve us, the staff were knowledgeable and onto it, and best of all, I didn’t feel sick in my stomach with anxiety when we went somewhere busy! Everywhere we went was set up to handle high volumes in a way that nowhere in New Zealand is.
Across the board, everything was delicious, and we had a great time everywhere.
Without further ado, here are the places we went and loved on our trip.
Daytime
Code Black Coffee
Code Black was our first coffee stop, on recommendation from Daily Daily proprietor Albert Yen. It’s a classic Melbourne specialty coffee joint - industrial fit out, heaps of merch and brew gear available for sale, and super friendly staff. The coffee was delicious - they served the long black as an espresso shot with water on the side, but I drank it straight. I also had a really nice bowl of porridge, which led me to buy oats at home and start becoming a porridge guy - excellent.
Nico’s Sandwich Deli
Sangas are the new smash burgers, in Melbourne as in Tāmaki, and the sandwiches at Nico’s are absolutely mean. I could eat one of these chicken schnitzel joints every day and not get tired of it, I reckon. Everyone is hyped about Gloria’s back home, but this place is leaps and bounds ahead - everything is made to order, the staff will smile at you even if they don’t know who you are, and they pump the stuff out when busy.
Seven Seeds Coffee
Apparently, Seven Seeds is the OG specialty coffee spot in Melbourne. It’s a cool spot on a quiet street, and if I lived around there, I could definitely see myself parking up there on a workday and annoying the staff by holding court and having heaps of meetings.
Cibi
Another banger cafe, with a fun twist - not only is this a really nice place to have a coffee, they’re also a full-noise Japanese homeware, cookware and food store. Super cool range, and we had lovely light on a sunny morning. These mugs are so photogenic, but not actually that nice to drink out of…
Hector’s Deli
Everyone told me this was the best of the sandwich delis, and while I personally preferred Nico’s, this male-name-with-an-apostrophe spot was also a hit! The bun on my roast pork sandwich was so soft and delicious, packed with tasty sauces and generally just very yum. Well worth the wait time and walk into suburban Richmond.
Patricia
Patricia was perhaps the most impressive coffee joint I’ve ever seen, tucked away off a laneway in the legal precinct. A friend of mine said they churn through 47 kilos of coffee a day, which just sounds unimaginable, but there was a line out the door the whole time we were there, with people scattered outside waiting for their coffees. They have so many staff just churning out coffees, with seemingly no hiccups whatsoever, I’ve never seen anything like it. Standing room only if you want to hang about, and there’s a copy of today’s paper pinned to a noticeboard if you want to romanticise your pre-lawyer work routine. Bloody tasty coffee too.
Agathé Patisserie
I love a good pastry, and the ones from Agathé were so great. We went to the satellite location in the CBD, and the woman behind the counter had been so busy for the first two hours of service that she hadn’t had a chance to label or price any of the pieces - she just sold them to us from the industrial trays they arrived on. Very good, but maybe a touch too sweet for our tastes.
Good Measure
We wandered into Good Measure on a whim looking to kill time on our last day, and I was very pleasantly surprised. It had one of the best fit outs we saw for a cafe, and apparently it turns into a bar at night (I love that kind of thing). A very calming space with super friendly staff, delish coffees and (of course) sandwiches on the menu. A good stop for a wander along Lygon St.
Nighttime
Amarillo
We wandered into Amarillo on our first day while we waited for our dinner reservation, and had a very tasty happy hour beverage. It was also my first introduction to the fact that Aussie hospo joints surcharge on the weekend and Sundays (so that they can pay their staff more on those days, what a concept!). The food looked great, but we didn’t have any.
Marion
Marion was our first dinner, and to be honest, we probably could have saved it for later, because it’s ruined other wine bars for me. We’re all used to a wine bar menu at the moment - lots of acid and salt, anchovies, raw fish, that kind of thing. Marion doesn’t reinvent the wheel on that menu, but executes every aspect of it extremely well. More places should serve roast chicken - the half roast chicken here was so tasty.
Belles Hot Chicken
We ordered way too much food at Belles (be warned - the sandwich is served with fries!). I think of it kind of like Lowbrow, when Lowbrow is on its game (I’ve had hit and miss experiences there). It’s in the name - if you like spicy fried chicken, you’ll like it here. Otherwise, probably just go somewhere else.
Lulu’s Char Koay Teow
Lulu’s was a truly excellent Malaysian spot - a very simple menu, executed deliciously. The line out the door was well earned. Special shout out to clipboard day 1 and new Melbourne local Kingsley who recommended this spot, and ate with us. Very good times.
Embla
Another very good wine bar! We got a great spot in the corner looking back towards the dining room, which made me feel like a VIP. The food wasn’t as good as Marion, but still very tasty. An awesome date night spot, and probably the best service we got anywhere while we were in Melbourne.
Taquito
Perhaps our best dinner! Mexican food is everywhere in Melbourne, and although there’s a bit of a taco renaissance in Tāmaki, we really can’t compete with the produce availability and pricing for key ingredients that you get in Australia (shout out to Queensland and climate change, finally good for something). These tacos were insanely good, and preceded by a next level ceviche. One to bring a big group to, I reckon.
That’s all for this time, thanks for reading! I’ll be back very soon with the next part of my Melbourne city guide, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you can get in touch via email or on Instagram. See ya!