Check out these quotes I've read from critics lately:
"Northcote's High Street is having a small growth spurt at the moment, with some idiosyncratic new businesses adding their two bobs' worth to an increasingly pleasing mix of places to drink, dine and make merry." (Age, epicure, reviewing The Estelle on high street)
here is an interesting crawl happening on High Street, starting in Northcote and heading north..Slow and steady would be an apt description of the area which is becoming home to café venues, bars, boutique stores and everything in between. (selador wines blog)
So, without further adew, here is my own top 10 list of cool eating and drinking list in Melbourne's north. Not in any order of importance - they are all great!
Cibi - tucked away in side street off Smith Street Collingwood, Cibi is cool Japanese cafe /gallery / design shop.
The Estelle (high street, northcote) - this place is like the quiet person standing in the corner who turns out to be the most interesting person at the party. Its not attention seeking in any way but once you've spent a bit of time in their company you'l'll be hooked. A 'designer diner', with sleek retro furnishings and a sophisticated menu for meat lovers. If you are looking for something beyond steak there is plenty to try. There's also a great (but not overly massive) cocktail and wine list. Although its only been open for a few months its already gotten into the Gourmet Travellers Hot 100 list, which called it "one of the most unique dining spaces in Melbourne" while a recent review in The Age commented 'It has helped to push High Street another step closer to destination status.'
Collingwood World (Smith street, collingwood)
This one has 'your local' written all over it. Go through an umarked door and up a set of stairs on Smith Street to get to it. The vibe is unfussy, thr staff friendly, with a penchant for vinyl records circa 1982, many of which have been obtained from The Searchers, a nearby treasure trove of second-hand books and vinyl. The drinks menu, too, is economical. There’s only a handful of beers, and just one red and one white wine to choose from but there’s a good reason for this: the focus is on cocktails, which vary from $10 - $14, very cheap for a bar of this calibre. Also worth noting is the huge blown-up Melways map of Collingwood / Fitzroy / Carlton that decorates one wall – handy if you wander out of the bar after one too many cocktails and forget where you are.
Joe's Shoe Store - in her write up of Time Out's top 10 melbourne bars, Jane Rocca, the writer, described Joe's shoe store as " is one of those totally unassuming but eminently character-filled hole-in-the-wall bars Sydney envies so much. " I think that sums it up for me too...but also things I like are the fact you can order in the amazing pizzas from pizza mein leibe next door, the fact they have their own 'house cat' and there's a great beer garden / courtyard out the back.
Southpaw - It’s no secret that Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, has been gaining momentum over the last few years. This small street is now a fully fledged destination - it is a little hub of alternate cool with a mix of locally designed and vintage fashion, retro music stores, groovy bars and restaurants and cutting edge galleries. There are so many places to eat and drink around there I could probably do my own top ten for this street - there's so many great places to mention! But one place I love and have returned to again and again is Southpaw. It's unassuming but fun. I like thethe astrof turf and white picket fence out the front and its Fitzroy terrace house interior (narrow and long). There's the menu that is deliciously old-school in a stodgy English sort of way, offering up such delights as Devils on Horseback, Pigs in Blankets and vol-a-vents. And the fact that they manage to get Melbourne into half their menu and cocktail list - there's the Toorak tarts, Brunswick stew and the Lionel Rose cocktail ( named after the famous indigenous boxer who used train around the corner).
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