Category: Richmond

Posted on

The Richmond Market

Miss K and I went shopping at the Richmond Market in Gleadall St (home too of the Richmond Leisure Centre). When I was young, and was convinced by some subterfuge that pulling a market trolley for my father was an excitement to be looked forward to, there was a time when he gave up going to the Queen Victoria Market in favour of the closer Gleadall St Market. I was not impressed. Now I like it a lot. It is a plainer affair than the Queen Vic, but has everything one might need, including the pictured cafe: vegetables at real prices (spinach $1.90 instead of $3.80 at the supermarket, potatoes priced in cents not dollars per kilo), coffee, pastries, bread, fish, flowers, dried things, fruit. It’s open from 7 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. on Saturdays. Enquiries 9205 5555.

Posted on

The Carringbush: Stephen Downes’ Best Cheapish Restaurant 2006

Bugger the opinionated Stephen Downes, letting the cat out of the bag about my local boasting 5 open fires, The Carringbush, and nominating it the best cheapish restaurant in the Hun’s latest survey. Interestingly, he’s managed to negotiate a deal whereby his reviews are reproduced on his own rudimentary WordPress blog. Two places nearby which got into his book 100 Gastronomic Experiences to Have Before You Die are Babka in Brunchswick St (“perhaps the world’s best cafe” from a man who eschews hyperbole) and some noodle dish at Fenix, down on the Yarra near Victoria Gardens shopping centre (best restaurant in the financial year ending 2005 (why oh why in the financial year?)). Since his blog has categories for each score, one can see that The Carringbush is in fact the equal eighth best place in Victoria (well, it’s one of 7 on his blog scoring 17 and only one scores 19 and 6 score 18). You’re right. The photo has nothing to do with any of the threementioned establishments. It belongs to Rolf Strohmann whose Night in Bangkok Flickr set is seriously good.

Posted on

Houses

According to a spreadsheet clickable from this part of The Age yesterday, the median price of Abbotford houses for the March 2006 quarter was $434,000, up 4.6% on the December quarter. Collingwood is up 0.9%, Richmond up 2.5%, Kew 5.5%, but Clifton Hill is down 4.1%, and Fitzroy down 3.8% (while North Fitzroy is up 13.2%: go figure). Only Kew and Richmond had at least 30 sales which seems to be a measure of statistical reliability. Prices in Docklands plummeted, hehe. The photo is of a house I loved when I visited Jeparit recently, where there was a 76% rise in property values over one year. Jeparit’s booming, baby!