Bluestone, 557 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne (ph. 9529 2899).
It's just around the corner from the office, you can still get lunch at 1:45pm, and the food's not 'arf bad either. The building seems something like an old schoolroom, the food's pretty good, and the staff rock. It's recently reinvented itself as a Belgian Beer restaurant (as part of some worldwide franchise kinda thing), and they seem to be pulling it off fairly well.
[ see some pictures from the Bluestone, both before and after its Belgianization. ]
Tonkatsu Joshu, Flinders Lane, Melbourne.
Everybody seems to go on about Tokio, which is nice enough, but I've become more attached to this little place since about 1995. The owner's really friendly, and he always recognizes me no matter what colour my hair is :)
(update, 2002-02-09 : they're moving to springvale. see website for details.)
City Cafe, Barkly St, St Kilda.
I've moved here from Big Mouth. It's on Barkly St, which doesn't get as much of the weekend crowds as Acland St does. Nice bagels, and heaps of books in the window.
Orange, Chapel St, Windsor.
Not too far from work, and pretty good food. A nice place to sit out on the street and watch the world go by.
Globe, Chapel St, Prahran.
A little too busy on weekends (queueing for breakfast isn't really my idea of fun), but nice food and heavenly bread (eg. their corn bread). Very tempting cakes, too, although my appetite doesn't usually allow me such things these days.
Jupjang Thai Café, Burke Rd, Camberwell.
My favourite Thai restaurant, back from when I used to live just around the corner from it in Hawthorn in 1995 - I originally went there because it was so close to home, but the food kept me coming back. I just recently discovered it'd moved to Camberwell, which explains why when i took Mavis to the one in Burwood Rd, it had changed its name and was all different...
Degraves Espresso, Degraves St, Melbourne.
Just around the corner from where Tonkatsu Joshu used to be - they do the tables out in the street thing, and whether you end up sitting inside or outside the location makes you feel like you're away from it all.
Guru Da Dhaba, Johnston St, Fitzroy.
Very cheap and yummy Indian food. A shame it's a bit out of my way these days...
Café Au Go Go, just next to St Kilda library on Carlisle Street, Balaclava.
Small but friendly - I'd often end up here on my way to Second Spin, a fab second-hand CD shop on Carlisle St that's not too far from home.
Derby Thai, Derby Rd, Caulfield.
One-woman dynamo fills hungry student stomachs.
Sweet Basil, Commercial Rd (near Chapel St intersection), Prahran.
It's worth going here just for the fantastic entrees (but of course, the mains are good too).
Big Mouth, Acland St, St Kilda.
A good place to do breakfast, sitting at one of those little tables outside so I can watch the world go by. Raoul Records are just down the street, too.
Bala's, Shakespeare Grove (just off Acland St), St Kilda.
Every time I go here, I come out feeling nicely full.