From humble beginnings in Sydney, Pie Face scaled the fast food franchise ladder all the way to Japan, United States and Singapore and then came crashing down into administration in 2014. Having secured financing to continue however there are still franchises dotted around the country to deliver the famous variety of mass produced pies. But how does the Pie Face pie stack up to the mum and pop variety? We found out.


One of Pie Face's CBD outlets is located at Southern Cross Station close to the entrance on the corner of Spencer and Collins Street. Given the range of pies on offer was dwindling as were the crowds as it ticked past 6 PM on a rainy Thursday, we opted for the classic Steak and Peppercorn pie. Service was abrupt and disengaged (expected of most chain/franchises) but the pie was delivered warm nevertheless.


Biting into the pie, the pastry held up decently and was sufficiently flaky. The meat as well was chunky with legitimate pieces opposed to the minced mess that we typically steer away from (Four N' Twenty we are looking at you) and the peppercorn delivered a nice punch amidst the salty gravy.

To say burgers have been experiencing a renaissance in Melbourne and around Australia would be a gross understatement. The notion of a 'healthy' or 'gourmet' burger was ill found in the vernacular of the everyday Australian until self-proclaimed 'gourmet burger' franchise Grill'd rolled into hipster laneways and streets across the country.

To tell the truth, the proposition was simple. Hand-crafted burgers made with high quality ingredients and interesting flavour combinations that would stand head and shoulders above the heavily processed offerings from traditional fast-food outlets such as McDonalds, Hungry Jacks and KFC.

It turns out that paying $10+ for a single burger was completely fine with most Australians as long as they were incredibly delicious and so began the nation's unexpected burger revolution.

Now that there was big money involved, everyone wanted a hand in the pie with premium burger outlets across the country popping up such as the intrepid Mr. Burger, hipster abodes Huxtaburger and 8Bit, foreign invaders Carl's Jr, the omnipresent local fish and chip shop, Crown's inevitable attempt to cash in on the latest food trend with the Merrywell and Neil Perry's belief that his sacrosanct magic touch may win over everybody with the ambitiously named The Burger Project.

(Don't worry, eventually we will have reviewed all of the aforementioned attempts at burger glory)

For now, our burger adventures will commence with the original player in the gourmet burger game, Grill'd.


Degraves Street is quintessential Melbourne and the perfect place to try Grill'd's offerings. It has the perfect location for a disruptive outlet such as Grill'd embedded among the heart of Melbourne's cafe culture.

Upon entry, it feels like we are almost driven a menu into our face by a enthusiastic but a clearly robotic and annoyed attendant. Despite the imploring attendant asking us to try the Black Crumb Chicken Burger that looks like it just came out of a coal pit, we decided to stick with the more traditional options from the fairly extensive menu that incorporates a variety of chicken, beef, lamb and veggie patties on a number of different buns including a 'low-carb super bun' that looks more like a biscuit to us from a distance.

Sticking to the Simply Grill'd ($9.90) on a Panini bun and a snack-sized portion of the Grill'd Chips ($3.80), we knew a burger outlet's original burger is the real test of its strength.

Upon depositing our charity bottle cap to our jar of choice (the charity with the most caps at the end of each month gets $300 and the other two get $100 each. We sat down and the burgers arrived in decent time despite the waiter absolutely unapologetically butchering our names.


The burgers themselves were neither gigantic nor the minuscule portions generally associated with McDonalds cheeseburgers. As it should be, the patty was appropriately juicy and cooked well while the herbed mayo was a nice flavour kick alongside the crunch of the fresh salad. The bun too was soft yet crisp on the outside exactly like it should be. But was the burger on a whole revlatory? No (the chips too were standard fare in our minds-nothing too special). It was pretty good but nothing to brag about and that's where it seems Grill'd has nestled in amongst the other fast food offerings. A slightly up-market burger joint that is tasty and reliable.

What about the 'healthy burger' tagline? Of course the Simply Grill'd without the mega salty accoutrements such as bacon does fairly well coming it only 37% of the daily sodium intake with 858 mg and 28% of saturated fat at 6.8 g according to the nutritional information. However, it is important too remember that the serving of chips really can push it over with 352 mg of sodium at 15% of your daily intake. Of course, burgers should never be your daily go-to meal but they are definitely a delicious treat.

So are Grill'd burgers healthy? They might not be the answer to the THR1VE but it's your best bet to satisfy your burger craving (much better than Maccas any day of the week).

It's been a slow and sweeping revolution. From the fringes of Richmond and Springvale to sweeping the outer metropolitan suburbs and the CBD. Roll'd rode the wave all the way to becoming a mega-successful franchise. We're talking, of course, about Vietnamese street food.

In the lull of the usual food court offerings, Roll'd has certainly been a breath of fresh air taking its upmarket price offerings to the suburbs. We are devout devotees of Roll'd's Rice Paper Rolls but this time we decided to venture out and try the Bun Noodle Salads.

At $10.90 a pop for the Bun Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Beef and then with Tofu & Vegetarian Rolls, this certainly wasn't Maccas.

Bun Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Beef ($10.90)

Bun Noodle Salad with Tofu and Vegetarian Rolls ($10.90)

Shopping centres are traditionally home to exhausted consumers and an array of common place fast food outlets but Emporium Melbourne in the heart of the city's CBD attempted to turn this notion on its head. Filled with premium casual dining franchises and restaurant pop ups, Emporium quickly gained traction as just as much a destination for food as it is for shopping.

We regularly pop in to shopping centre so you'll see more of these reviews soon but first off the block is I Love Pho Express.

For us, Vietnamese is a tried and tested favorite so Rice Paper Rolls are one of our favourite snacks on the go and hence we couldn't go past the 4 Chicken Rice Paper Rolls ($9) at I Love Pho Express.


The ordering system was typical of many up-market food courts with a buzzer system in place. The wait time was reasonable which I assume meant the rolls were being made fresh for our consumption.

4 Chicken Rice Paper Rolls ($9)

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Capitalising on the rising trend of Korean food in Melbourne, Suda presents a quirky mix of Korean fusion that seems to be spreading its tentacles across the city. Nestled in the confines of Healeys Lane in the heart of the city's legal district, Suda serves a steady stream of office workers during the busy lunch hours and a more select crowd for dinner.

Given it was lunch time and we were on the hunt for an interesting take on Korean, Suda was a perfect match. The restaurant itself was fairly busy but the waiter was eager to please and the service was quite good overall and we appreciated the fact that they were hasty to meet all our needs.

We didn't have much time on our hands with just under 25 minutes till our next meeting so we opted for the Bulgogi K-School Lunch Tray ($10.00). 

Bulgogi K-School Lunch Tray ($10.00)

The food came out at a reasonable speed and we were quick to tuck in. Overall, the food seemed a little underwhelming and nothing special really. The bulgogi was nothing to rave about and same could be said about the rice and the accompaniments. Perhaps, we didn't have a go at the true stars of the fusion menu, but for now, Suda just seemed to miss the mark slightly which doesn't bode well given the wealth of Korean and Asian options around it.

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Lakshmi Villas is somewhat of an institution in Dandenong and has been lauded for years for its cheap and authentic South Indian cuisine. At any given time in the day, it appears that this alcove of vegetarian cuisine is bustling with people of all walks of life and the kitchen is working like a production line pushing out dish after dish.

The food here is consistent, affordable and authentic which guarantees a steady stream of patrons and the large contingent of Indian diners indicates that the food must be spot-on. (Pro-tip: If there is a large crowd of people of the same nationality as the restaurant's cuisine then the food's authenticity is likely to be fairly accurate).

We didn't have much time to dawdle so we opted for the trusted Thali Special ($10) and the Lunch/Dinner Special ($8) with steamed rice, papadum and a selection of three vegetarian curies each, while the Thali came with an additional chappathi, yoghurt and dessert.

Thali Special ($10)

Service was friendly but slightly industrial at times with a merry-ground of staff rotating around the small space. We didn't have to wait long for the food and it was a reasonable portion for the price.

Lunch/Dinner Special ($8)

The South Indian flavours were true and consistent but lacked a bit of spicy kick to lift the dishes to the next level. The curries themselves were a nice mixture of textures with the dahl, tofu and potato sure to satisfy the need for variety but again would have been memorable with a little more spice.

Despite this, Lakshmi Villas is still a sure bet for a reliable and affordable vegetarian feed in or around Dandenong.

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At the very heart of it, Zambrero is a brilliant concept as healthy Mexican food chain dreamed up by Dr. Sam Prince that donates a meal to the hungry in a developing country or Australian community every time a meal is purchased with over 7 million meals donated to date. However, any food outlet has to deliver tasty food to survive in the fearsome CBD food scene that is Melbourne so we had to try it out.

Black Rice Powerbowl with Beef ($13.90)

A quick glance of the nutritional information from the Zambrero website says that all is pretty good if you stay away from the sauces (the sauces could send the sodium content soaring to an alarming percentage of your recommended daily intake).

The bowl itself is well balanced with well cooked rice and a variety of tried and tested Mexican flavours. The beef is flavoursome but the meat is little too minced for us and we would definitely prefer a few more substantial pieces. Further to this, the Jalapeños add a nice kick and are must to get those spice senses tingling but the portion as a whole could be on the lighter side for someone with a large appetite especially for the price.

Nevertheless, not a bad way to get a feel good Mexican fix, albeit on the slightly pricier side.

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Gazi was the first feather in George Calombaris' now giant Greek casual dining empire that encompasses the Hellenic Republic chain and Jimmy Grants souvlaki outlets. Taking over the prime position of the Press Club on Exhibition Street, Gazi was certainly a bold move at the time.

Now, Gazi is entrenched as a go-to-destination for casual Greek dining in the CBD and we had to check it out for ourselves.


Arriving in the midst of peak time on a Wednesday night, we were lucky enough to snag a seat at the bar and we wasted no time getting down to ordering from the reasonably curated menu (the menu changes often so unfortunately we couldn't recall the exact names of all the dishes we tasted after some research online). The spit roasting meat situated on the wall of the open kitchen was too hard to resist so we had to grab the Chicken with White Beans, Tyrokafteri and Walnut Dressing ($28.00) and Beef. Additionally, we ordered two salads to accompany our meal as well as the Fish with Walnut Dressing ($23.50) and not forgetting the popular Chicken Souvlakakia with Chips, Parsley, Onion and Mustard Mayo ($9.50). 

Chicken with White Beans, Tyrokafteri and Walnut Dressing ($28.00)

Fish with Walnut Dressing ($23.50)

Chicken Souvlakakia with Chips, Parsley, Onion and Mustard Mayo ($9.50)

Despite being in the mid-range tier when it comes to price, all the dishes did not disappoint and the flavours managed to beautifully complement each other in traditional hearty Greek fashion. With pleasant service to boot and a beautifully quirky interior, Gazi may be a trailblazer but it's certainly here to stay.

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