Melbourne Meetup and Food

Having arrived in Melbourne with my travelling companion and rested for the night, we had an afternoon meetup in the city to get to. Because I have awesome friends though, my host had arranged for another friend that had recently arrived in Melbourne to come visit us in the morning. We had a great time chatting and soon it was past time to head towards the city. Thankfully she was able to give me a lift in on the way home which saved some time, but meant that we'd arrive at Father's Office a bit later than the advised start time of 3 pm.

^{Rustle jumped straight onto the table while we relaxed in the comfy couch seats. Apparently this wasn't reserved for us though, so we had to move shortly after this photo. Credit to Mazzle for this photo.}

The location is a nice little bar that sits one floor up from the ground and looks out over a nice little park area. It feels like quite an open area even though it's in the city centre. We sat about and chatted about a whole variety of things, while we consumed a couple of drinks and generally had the world pass along for a few hours. Rustle did his best to get his wings on some of the drinks too, but for the most part he behaved himself and didn't steal anyone else's drinks. It was good to meet Mazzle and Jagged. It would have been nice if some of the other Melbourne Team Australia members could have made it in, especially Lyndon (Datascience) who organised it and then was unwell and unable to make it to his own meetup.

^{Yeah, so he did try to steal the remains of the jug rather than just a glass of drink this time...}

^{Credit to Mazzle for the group photo. L-R: Mazzle, Rustle, Jagged, Ratticus}

When 6 pm passed and the others were heading off for their next commitments, I wandered with Jagged on the lookout for somewhere to eat. I'd been feeling in the mood for Ramen for a while, but as had been the case previously I got distracted by another option as we found ourselves outside 8-bit. I said farewell to Jagged and headed inside to get a bite to eat. I decided on their take on a cheeseburger, even though it comes with some salad components, and a can to wash it down with.

^{The simple exterior to this themed burger joint. Inside all the displays and menu boards are pixelated and there's a free to play stand up arcade game}

^{The Burger - 8BIT WITH CHEESE Beef, Tomato (not for me), Lettuce, Red Onion, Pickles, Mustard, Cheese, Ketchup, 8bit Sauce $10.50}

Their benches were at varying heights with stools or chairs that kind of matched the height, though being short and only having tall stool/bench options when I got there, it wasn't quite matched up for me. Despite the not really comfortable seat, and the sharp edging to the bench, the food came out pretty quickly, and it was not a disappointment. Their signs say the burgers are all done medium, and I'd have judged it to have just got to that. It was a good quality patty with plenty of cheese and sauces. I could do without the lettuce, but the red onion and pickles really did work well on the burger. The soft bun seemed to have been just lightly toasted, and could have done with a little more, but still held together for the whole burger and provided a little texture. Glad I dropped in, though I don't think the salads were really worth pushing the cheeseburger over the $10 mark.

The rest of the stay in Melbourne was scheduled rest before another long driving day on Tuesday.

Rustle will be back on the road tomorrow, and you can keep up with him by following him (Rustle), where posts about him will appear as he travels the world.

^{Upgoats made by the talented @ryivhnn}