Short/Sharp: Melbourne City Places Visited

Some of the places:

1. Lorca - Centre Place Melbourne - If you've ever seen Diagon Alley from one of the Harry Potter films and wanted the same atmosphere - go here. Lovely bustling place - we had a delicious brunch. The scrambled eggs were great and they have good coffee too. Plenty of very interesting food options at this charming place - sit at the bench on a stool and look out over the laneway at life and people rushing by.
   
2. The Pumphouse Hotel - Fitzroy - Nice food here for a hotel and pleasant surroundings as well. The relatives who recommended this (and joined us) were right on the money here. The food was tasty, the servings were a good size and the dessert menu tempted us and won.
   
3. Pasta Rustica Ristorante - Lygon St Melbourne - We had a great meal here. The service was good, the food was tasty and plentiful. We were seated promptly and it was pleasant eating al fresco on a balmy evening. Most people seemed to eat outside - and why not. We both had pasta dishes - huge servings. We'd go back here again.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. La Spaghetteria Ristorante - Lygon St Melbourne - Another bustling Lygon Street Italian restaurant. Decent food - eat outside if its a nice evening. We had dessert here and it was nice - but the service was quite slow.
   
5. Il Dolce Freddo - Lygon St Melbourne - Tasty gelato in a lovely food area. Have a nice dinner nearby and wander here for a sweet finish. There are plenty of different varieties to choose from - try a few - we did!
   
6. Longrain - Little Bourke St - This is a nice place, but it's mostly shared tables. I'm not a huge fan of this syle of eating but at least the tables here are big - which helps. The food is certainly good. A colleague and I had mains and rice - all very nice. Its not cheap - in fact its reasonably pricey - but it is well prepared and has great flavours.