Bar Fred - 797 Nicholson St, North Carlton

Is it possible to go wrong with a $5 pizza?

bad photography due to very dim hipster lighting

I'm sure it is possible to go wrong with $5 pizza, you could be ordering a domino's pizza. But at Bar Fred, the pizza is good, and the beer is cold. The beer is likely to be $10, but it will probably be huge. 

I like Bar Fred, it's within stumbling distance from home, its not going to cost you a fortune, there is no eftpos, which assures this and they play good music. They even play whole albums.  

My first few times here were grand. Got a seat at the bar, the friendly bar tender made suggestions on the drinks, some witty banter was exchanged and a great time was had. On my most recent visit, my encounter was less than pleasant. Now I know everyone has bad days, but there are lines that once crossed are hard to come back from. It went a little like this....

Me: Hi, I'd like to order two pizza's, this one and that one. And two honey wheat beers. 

Bar chick: fine, where are you sitting. 

Me: on the left had side, at the back. 

Bar chick: there is no honey wheat beer left

Me: OK, I'll pick something else.

Bar chick: raises her hand and slaps the bar loudly. The guy standing next to me so stunned be stands to attention and says "what the fuck".

Me: I'll just pay for the pizza then.

I have been mulling this over for a day or so now, and I'm going to go with, it is never OK to be that rude to patrons. Even if you are a hipster. If this was my first experience at Bar Fred, I would never go back. 

Eating it up in Brisbane

A few weeks ago I took a nice little long weekend in Brisbane. I love Brisbane, its warm, the bogans are hilarious, and the seafood is everywhere! You can get a Morton Bay bug until 3am in the Queen Street Mall, and that is something Melbourne just can't compete with. 

One of the rather interesting places I ate at was Vapiano's . It was a combination between a trendy bar and fasta pasta. Its a concept, and for most purposes it seems to work well.

When you walk in you are given a card, which you swipe to purchase everything, and pay at the end. There is a line for the bar, a line for pizza, and a line for pasta. Tables are mostly communal, and I recommend finding a place to perch before braving the pasta line. 

And this is Vapiano's weak point. While I lined up for the pizza, my friend lined up for the pasta....she waited...and waited....and waited. The pasta is cooked while you are standing in line. But the pizza isn't. If there were less people in line, maybe the pizza and pasta would be in sync, but instead I sat at our table, all alone, for almost half an hour. The cute little pots of herbs on the tables kept me entertained for a few minutes though. 

The food is pretty good value for money, and everything tasted quite fresh. We had pesto, baby spinach and prawn pasta, and parmesan, prosciutto and chili pizza.  We stayed until they turned the lights out.