Work lunches at Fugazza and The Workers Food Room, Melbourne CBD

Worker’s Food Room
472 Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne CBD
http://www.theworkersfoodroom.com/

I don’t know much about the area at the back of the Courts in the CBD. I’ve never worked north of Collins Street, and ventured there only occasionally. This occasion was with a friend to check out the accurately-named Workers’ Food Room after reading a good review of it on Foodie About Town.

The menu and waitstaff are French-inspired and more interesting than the standard work caff stuff you might get elsewhere. I ordered the “levantine with spiced lamb, pine nuts and hummus”, in a complete absence of information as to what a levantine was at all. It came, spiced and pine-nutty and lamby (so far so good), but so so oily (probably from the lamb). I ate it all up but felt guilty about it.

So, for future reference, a levantine is…

Flatbread!

Danielle ordered a salad combo that she was less happy with – a bit boring in flavour was the report. The salads of the day change, so you might be happier with your choice than she was!

Beetroot salad, and cous cous salad

I’d come here regularly if it was in my work sphere-of-lunching, but it’s not a “trek across the city” kind of place.

Fugazza
31 Equitable Place (between Collins & Little Collins, near Elizabeth)
Melbourne CBD
http://fugazza.com.au/

Fugazza are located in that excellent lane of lunching options, Equitable Place, which runs through from Collins to Little Collins Streets just after Elizabeth Street. Hot tip: if there are no tables available where you buy your lunch, carry it through to the upstairs food court at Galleria (the shopping centre to the north on Little Collins). Keep carrying it through the food court, and out to the balcony overlooking Little Collins, that not many people know about. Close the door behind you to shut out the food court sounds, sit, and enjoy your meal while spying on pedestrians below.

Fugazza offers ‘traditional Italian sandwiches’ with a variety of interesting fillings, along with soups. You can also do a combo deal which is half a “fugazza” and a bowl of soup or salad, which is what I went for:

Bean and vegetable soup, cheese fugazza

Yes, the bean soup looks like brown sludge, but it was delicious. The half fugazza on the side had taleggio in it and was a great little counterpoint.

Lot 7
95 Flinders Lane (you will know it by the giant smiley face)
Melbourne CBD
http://lot7.com.au/

Lot 7 (run by Zagames) occupies the warehouse and front part of the late Rosati’s, on Flinders Lane. It offers a bunch of reliable favourites, caters well to large groups and has a good lunch deal where you get a glass of wine included with your lasagne, parma or pasta, so we’ve been there a couple of times with work.

I got the ‘lunch special’ parma, which came with a cute little basket of chips and wasn’t half bad. The full menu parma is around $10 more and doesn’t include a glass of wine or beer, so for that price I’d start expecting a bit more.

I’ve also had the BLT from here too – it was good but heavy on the pepper – someone was a bit over the top in seasoning…

Lunch parma at Lot 7

Be careful, the waiters will try to suck you in to getting olives and grissini to start the meal, but that ain’t free. Still, who doesn’t want to dine in a place that gets your food quickly and efficiently, and has a giant smiley face poking out from the building into Flinders Lane?

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