Lygon Street

[franfran]

I just had a look and it seems we don't have a thread about Lygon Street, so I'm starting one.



Whenever we go to Melbourne we end up having at least one dinner and several lunches at some of the restaurants and cafes in Lygon Street. And there are other shops too.



Rather than write something of my own, here's a few quotes from Wikipedia:

Lygon Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, Australia running through the suburbs of Carlton, Carlton North, Princes Hill and Brunswick East. Lygon Street's name has become synonymous with Italian restaurants and cafés located in the Carlton part of the street. It was a place of celebration when Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Lygon Street runs north-south through the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne. At its southernmost end, it connects to Russell Street in the Hoddle Grid; it then proceeds northward, through Carlton, Carlton North, and Brunswick East, to its intersection with Albion Street. Although the roadway itself continues, it is re-named Holmes Street for the stretch between Albion Street and Moreland Road, and later renamed again to Nicholson Street for the stretch between Moreland Road and the street's terminus at Bell Street. (Note that this is not continuous with the Nicholson Street which runs through the Melbourne CBD, Fitzroy, Carlton and Brunswick East.) North of Park Street, the street numbers restart at 1.



Tram routes 1 and 8 run along Lygon Street between Elgin Street, Carlton, and Albion Street, Brunswick East.

The Italian restaurant synonymous with Lygon Street occupies the few blocks between Victoria Street and Elgin Street in Carlton. The area is heavily European in nature, and is the home of the yearly Lygon Street Festa, one of Australia's largest outdoor street festivals. The La Mama Theatre and Courthouse Theatre are also in this area, as is the heritage-listed neon sign at Borsari's Corner, named after Italian cyclist Nino Borsari, on the corner of Grattan Street. Toto's Pizza House, the first pizzeria established in Australia, has been located at the southern end of Lygon Street continuously since its opening in 1961.

Anybody have any comments they want to make about their favourite restaurant, cafe, delicatessen, gift shop or whatever in or around Lygon Street?



And it's not just Lygon Street - Brunetti's at 198 Faraday Street in Carlton (just off Lygon Street) is a must eat at place for us too....

[franfran]

[quote name='PeterJMelb' timestamp='1316768341' post='35209']Is it safe to eat out in Lygon St. yet?[/quote]



I didn't think there was any sort of problem there. Is this something I don't know about?

[franfran]

I'd forgotten about that. I can't say that I saw any evidence of it though. The place seemed safe enough to me - much more so than Kings Cross in Sydney - now there's a place I wouldn't want to go to after dark (not that there's much in Kings Cross that I would want to see or do anyway).



My one disappointment in Lygon Street was finding a store with the biggest selection of Italian movies I had ever seen and then noticing that the ones I wanted didn't have English subtitles.



<img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



I can usually understand Italian in a conversation (so long as no-one is speaking dialect rather than proper Italian), but in the movies the actors generally talk so quickly that I get left behind after the first sentence.........

[franfran]

Can't say I have that problem but then, although I'm not Italian, I'm married to one which, I suppose, makes me an honorary Italian, if there is such a thing. When I get stuck, I just say what I have to in English instead. Our conversations are usually in both languages anyway....

[glen]

mi chiamo glen!! is that right! i ama bit rusty!!

[franfran]

As to Peter's earlier comments, maybe it depends on what part of the country they come from. Almost all the Italians I know come from the south, and they are (with one exception - and even his family think he's a bit odd) pretty friendly and outgoing. The few northerners I have met seem a lot more reserved.

[franfran]

Yes, I've heard about that from people who have been there. A friend of mine spent a week in Rome last year - she loved the place but didn't like the people. And then she spent a week in Sicily and didn't want to leave when the time came....

[MelbourneStaycation]

I enjoy having dinner at Il Cantuccio in Lygon Street. It's a family owned restaurant with yummy meals, reasonable prices and friendly service. For something cheap and cheerful - pizza or pasta - I recommend Papa Gino's. Yum!

[franfran]

Last time we were in Lygon Street, we almost went into Papa Ginos, but ended up in Cafe Cavallino instead. Have to try Papa Ginos next time...

[MelbourneStaycation]

I've heard Brunetti's is going to move from Faraday Street into Lygon Court, where Borders used to be. They were originally there but had to move out when Lygon Court was built.