Doing it Greek Style, George Calombaris' new restaurant - Gazi

A couple weeks back I met a good friend of mine for an end of year dinner.  My friend is one of those up town lawyer types who generally picks the best restaurants in town.  Lucky for me, he also insists on paying...The venue for our dinner on this occasion, the relatively new George Calombaris establishment "Gazi". This restaurant occupies the old Press Club area on the corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street.

My mate and I are enthusiastic eaters to say the least, so the only option worth our consideration was the "Doing it Greek Style" menu. This munu is a 10 dish sharing menu and includes your choice of souvlakakia (souvlaki, for those who asking what the?).  I should add the souvlakakia comes in a number of amazing varieties including soft shell crab (my choice on this occasion), duck, and the standard fare of beef and chicken.  The souvlakakia comes in traditional Hellenic fashion, that's right, the chips are in the homemade pita! Other memorable moments included the chicken with white beans, tyrokafteri and finished off with Loukomathes (delicious Greek style donuts).

Service was solid and fun.  We sat at the bar which gave us a birds eye view of the chefs and spit - beware it can get warm sitting up there.

Drinks were secondary to the food and we stuck with a solid sparkling wine (I didn't order, so I can't share the name).  I only know it was local and my dinner companion knew the maker

Check this one out when you're next in Melbourne.  Unlike most new and trendy Melbourne eateries, this one thankfully takes bookings.

Duck and Soft Shell Crab Souvlakakia

A frequent flyers dream - BOSE QuietComfort 20i Acoustic NoiseCancelling Headphones

If you are a frequent flyer like me than chances are you already own a pair of these beautiful babies, or something similar.

The truth is, I own two pairs of noise cancelling headphones, the above mentioned and the earlier model QuietComfort 15 model. 

I am not going to bore you with a run down of the specifications of each, and let's face it - I am in no position to talk to these on a technical level, I simply appreciate function and form over technical specifications.  What I can do is talk about the practicalities of each set and from my personal experience share with your whether they are a valuable addition to your travel carry-on bag.

The fact I own two pairs should tell you that it's worth owning these.  Having said that, I flew over 60 times last year and without these headphones each flight would have been noisy, boring and painful.

For me the question became one of real estate availability in my carry-on. When you are packing a laptop, iPad, work note books, documents and chargers - space becomes a premium and your bag gets heavy!  As such, I moved to the new model inner ear 20i model - it's about the size of an iPhone, once it's packed up in its case.  You need to remember to charge the built in battery, but most airlines have in seat USB charges in a pinch.

Is the quality as good as the 15 model you ask? It depends - I think that overall the older 15 model is more comfortable and has slightly better sound quality, but I'm splitting hairs in respect of the difference.  The simple point is, the quality is still vastly superior to any airline headphone set and only marginally lesser than the older 15 model.

Price wise, you are looking around the same ball park figure of $399AUD.  If you are like me and travel to the U.S. every now and then you will pick them up a little cheaper - perhaps saving about $50 after USD conversion.

Check the BOSE website for the full technical jargon.

BOSE QuietComfort 20i Acoustic NoiseCancelling Headphones

Burger hunting - The Merrywell Crown

How do you finish off a day at a 5 star luxury day spa? Burgers and beers of course! We'll that's what we did yesterday after such a wonderful day at the Crown Spa (see earlier Blog). Last nights the Angus burger at the Merrywell was the perfect finish. Juicy angus beef patty topped with beef short rib and accompanied with the standard lettuce, cheese and pickle and the not so standard truffle aioli was delicious. Check it out next time you're around that area. Remember burgers on a budget downstairs and pub fare with a twist upstairs.