Belucci's Restaurant Review

129 Beaconsfield Parade
Albert Park Vic
Phone: (03) 9690 6288

Food
Traditional Italian Cuisine, the Tuscan way of cooking. There are two types of italian dinner menus to select from. All dishes were delicious. A la carte presentation, generally with larger plates and smaller portions. We enjoyed tasty bread and calamari entree, the sweets were gorgeous including refreshing gelato.
Service
Wonderful waiters, extremely professional, friendly and polite. The hosts, Belucci and his wife were there to greet and welcome us with a kiss. They were absolutely delightful and charming.
Value
Not one of your bargain value type restaurants. Prices and service are a bit more upper class here. Mains are generally priced over $20 each.
Decor and Atmosphere
Belucci's is found in a classic building along Beaconsfield Parade next to the beach. Built in the 1890's the building was a terminus for cable trams but has housed restaurants since the 1960's. It has a warm atmosphere with a great deal of unique character and views to boot.

Australian F1 Grand Prix - Restaurants and Cafes close to the track

I'm not the biggest fan of the Formula One Grand Prix, and I don't intend on going to the Albert Park racetrack myself, but since you can't really miss the fact that it is coming up to that time of year again, I thought I'd give some tips to some of our interstate and overseas vistors. So if you are dining on a budget, don't want the marquee food and still want something decent, here are some of my personal tips. Make sure you read the reviews though. Please note that in this article I have included all my reviewed restaurants, but I don't recommend all of them !

Fortunately there is a wide range of restaurants and cafes within short walking distance to the Albert Park track and several tram lines make reaching other restaurants easy.

Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
Fitzroy Street is on the south end of the track and Armstrong Street in Middle Park is right next to the west end of the track. It is a really busy street with a huge range of restaurants and cafes.
If you are after something a bit upmarket and like Chinese food, try Mahjong, it is very close to the south end of the Formula 1 and offers a great Yum Cha. Also check out my review of the Banff Cafe if you're after a light meal or pizza. A walk a bit further down Fitzroy Street will take you to a Melbourne institution - Leo's Spaghetti Bar.

St Kilda West
Just a bit further up from Fitzroy Street, there is a small cafe hidden on Cowderoy Street in an old art deco shop. They make some nice foccacias.

Armstrong Street, Middle Park
Armstrong Street is the main light rail station from the city. There is even a great cafe right on the Middle Park light rail station - though whether it will be open during the race I don't know. If you walk along this street, you'll find some upmarket cafes and pubs. Along this quiet street you'll find a scattering of Japanese, Thai and Indian restaurants. Hidden up the street a bit is Koh Samui which I have reviewed.

Albert Park
To the north end, Bridport Street in Albert Park is not too far away. The restaurants here are a bit more upmarket, and not too many ethnic cuisines although Pacific Rim Thai is a real standout and right near both the track and tram route 96. Further down Victoria Street, which you can get to by tram (route 112) from the north end of the track there is a good mix of Indian, Japanese and Vietnamese cuisines. Check out our review of Gharana which has both Indian and Sri-Lankan dishes.

Clarendon Street, South Melbourne
There are a great range of eateries near Clarendon Street, but not all of them are within walking distance of the north end of Albert Park. The closest is probably Spirit of India. A little further is Sakura (Japanese). The 112 tram will take you further up to some fantastic restaurants slightly closer to the city like Sugarcane (Thai) and Garamerica (Indonesian).

Queens Road, Melbourne
Queens Road on the east end of the track doesn't offer much. There are a few cafes and plenty of hotel accomodation, but not much in the way of restaurants. Although further up towards Toorak Road on St Kilda Road, there are a few handy takeout places.

Have fun at the race !

Misuzu's restaurant severely damaged by fire

I hadn't been to this restaurant, but this is a real shame as I'd planned to go and it is located in a Victorian terrace on a very pretty street.

From the Herald Sun:

A POPULAR Japanese restaurant has been severely damaged after a fire broke out in Albert Park overnight.

Flames were seen coming from Misuzu's on Victoria Avenue at around 1.50am this morning.

When the fire services arrived they were faced with five-metre high flames as the blaze took hold of the two-storey building. It took 24 firefighters almost two hours to control the situation.

The fire is estimated to have caused damages of at least $500,000. An adjoining shop, owned by the same business, was saved.

Pacific Rim Thai Restaurant Review

68 Bridport Street
Albert Park, VIC, 3206
Telephone: (03) 9690 8008

Food
Very nice. All dishes were lovely. Love the entrées.
Service
Efficient waiters, fair service.
Value
Good value if you go for the banquet.
Decor
Cute and cosy inside. A nice setup. One of those fake fire fireplaces to sit by. The building is very nice, but the view of the service station is not so great ;)

Gharana Restaurant Review

113 Victoria Avenue
Albert Park Vic 3206
Phone: (03) 9686 2444

Food
Absolutely delicious. Both Indian and Pakistani style dishes are available, though the main focus is on traditional indian cuisine. I sampled both and both were excellent.
Service
Extremely attentive waiters, perhaps even a little over attentive. But very polite and helpful.
Value
You will pay a bit extra here compared to your average restaurant of similar cuisine. I guess you pay for the area and also the more classy atmosphere.
Decor
Very well decorated, sophisticated and upper class look. They also have an LCD screen playing some Bollywood clips.