19th August 2019 - 2:30 pm

'Just Fine Food, the home of Sorrento's Famous Vanilla Slice' so says their Facebook page is very old school, and kinda in a good way.

The chairs are bentwood and a bit too light.

The food options are pretty minimal, a couple of cakes, a few savoury slices and one or two other things.

But you're not really going here for anything other than the vanilla slice.

I would make a terrible food blogger because I almost never remember to take a photo of the food I'm eating. I'm more interested in actually eating the food. So I have no photos of the vanilla slice itself.

Just Fine Foods' google listing has plenty of nice photos of the vanilla slice taken in the sunshine or in perfectly balanced / edited light.

I wasn't sat in the sunshine, because it was intermittently being sunny and rainy at the same time.

The vanilla slice had wonderfully crisp pastry, a dense, creamy interior, some sort of jam on the base and the bottom remained firm enough to cut with the spoon, having not gone very soggy from the weight of the slice sitting on top of it.

The slice was also quite large, flat dimensions around a portable external hard drive – about 10 cm x 8 cm and probably 6-8 cm high. It was substantial, but not overwhelming.

It had a lot of icing sugar on top and more was dusted around it. A little too much in places for me, so I scraped that off.

Large teapot filled with searingly hot water.

Old school wise, this is the first cafe I've been to in a while that their tea options is an old school stainless steel tea pot with leaf tea. Most cafes try to do something fancy with smaller tea pots (my associate an I were both having the same tea so the pot was large). The cups were not very big. But there was definitely enough for several cups of tea.

The milk jug was also stainless steel and quite a large amount of milk in it even if you're having your tea quite milky.

Other notable things, the spoon provided to eat the vanilla slice was a teaspoon of the same design as that with the tea. Again something a lot of other cafes don't do, they seem to want to have a huge range of cutlery and plates.

The sugar is white for your hot drinks is white and there are no other options, and it's in a canister on the tables not packets of sugar like in a lot of cafes.

These plates had obviously seen some use and wear, the same with the cutlery.

There were no napkins on the tables, there were outside, but inside they were by the counter. I can understand why, being in a tourist destination they're likely to see a lot of use for things not food related use. It probably all adds up.

The cafe itself is less than inviting if you like modern cafes, the ceiling is very high, the tables and seating hasn't been updated in a long while.

But it doesn't need to have been, this is practically a single item destination cafe, you're not going there for anything other than their vanilla slice.

There appears to be nine other cafes along Ocean Beach Road where Just Fine Foods is. There are likely better fully featured options if that's what you're looking for. But for a really good vanilla slice, then this is the place to go.

In adding the links out to the google listing and adding photos I was looking through the search results for 'Sorrento vanilla slice' and discovered Just Fine Food have a website, which is not linked on their google listing. The site shows off none of its old schoolness. It's a fairly, not generic, but recognisably 'cafe website' style of site. A quick look through the page source of the website reveals it's using woocommerce.

None of the photos appear to have been taken in the cafe, or if they were they were taken in a black light box, the exception is one photo; a top down shot of a vanilla slice on a wooden table this is probably taken outside.

The menu on the website does show that there's more on offer than what I first thought walking in there.

Additionally the About Us page is very lacking in information. From the reviews on google it's enough to infer that the business itself has changed hands at least once, though the recipe and the person making it has not. I couldn't find a source for this aside from another blog, but I guess this isn't something you go out of your way to publicise.

I am a solo diner when I’m in the Melbourne. I go and see things there solo and dine solo. I don’t find dining solo too intimidating although I will admit that I won’t wander into any place to eat because it is intimidating wandering through the front door and asking for a table for one.

Father’s Office at the QV is one place that I’ve found to be rather nice for an early solo diner, they’ve recently changed, or rather consolidated their menu from what I recall from the last time I dined there. Hopefully it hasn’t changed because it offered a nice place to dine and they had some tables against the window where you could look out of onto Little Lonsdale Street.

The Portland Hotel used to be somewhere I’d go because it offered quick service and pretty good food with an odd flare of Australian native meats in the city. I wouldn’t say it was fantastic for a solo diner, but there’s enough traffic in and out that it’s never really quiet enough to feel any impressions from being a solo diner. I say used to, last time I went there the Wallaby sausage roll was somewhat dry and flaky and served on what appeared to be a cheese board, and a small one at that.

Also the steak I ordered; the horseradish butter that came with it had a film of plastic around it. Obviously from it being in a log and them slicing off a wad of butter for my meal and forgetting to take off the plastic. It wasn’t enough for me to kick up a stink, but it’s enough for me to steer clear for a while.

Which brings me in a rambling for of way to to

Arbory, Flinders Walk Melbourne.

Arbory’s contact information page on their website just lists that. Its entrance is next to Elizabeth Walk up some very wide steps.

From their signage and their website one would assume that’s what their establishment is called, but their Twitter account gives their establishment the full title of ‘Arbory Bar & Eatery’ and looking at various article about it refer to it like this.

Looking into some articles written about Arbory have said that is is Melbourne’s longest bar. Which it’s not.

A bar is something you can stand or sit at and from where drinks are served from. I believe this title goes to The Trust bar on Flinders Lane.

I have seen one article call Arbory Melbourne’s longest eatery, which is much more accurate and goes along with its longer title of Arbory Bar & Eatery.

At 150 metres it’s quite a long space. None of it that I could see except the toilets, kitchen and bar are what would be called “inside”. It’s all outside covered by umbrellas and canopy gas heaters. Although I should note I didn’t walk the full 150 metre length of the Arbory, I got to the second bar and decided to turn around.

But to roll backwards a moment I visited the Arbory Bar & Eatery on Sunday 5th April 2015.

When I wandered in there was only one security guy on the entrance. Which is notable. Whenever I’ve had the urge to dine in Federation Square (usually because I’ve parked there) I have always been tempted to go to the Taxi Kitchen. But every time I consider approaching the amount of security they have on their door and they stand there like bouncers....I just get an attack of the nerves and think ‘nope, I can’t deal with this’ and usually end up at Beer Deluxe. He was also dressed in a blue shirt, not as the full suit that the bouncers...I mean security at Taxi Kitchen wear. It’s a minor thing and maybe it wasn’t even deliberate on Arbory’s side, but it was notable to me.

I had prior to actually walking up to Arbory checked out their menus so knew what I wanted before I got to the bar, but I checked the menu anyways.

Arbory Crinkle Cut Chips with Truffle Salt and Pecorino

I ordered the Rare Roasted Salmon, Fennel, Orange and Hazelnuts and also a side of Crinkle Cut Chips, Truffle Salt and Pecorino.

I didn’t get an alcoholic drink as while they did have cider it was about 5% and I am a fairly cheap drunk / have a fairly low tolerance for alcohol. I know where my limits sit and they’re fairly low.

I selected a bar stool over looking the river and next to a tree branch. The perfect space for a solo dining experience. A single seat and a tree branch next to me so there’s no personal space invasions by others.

I’m not really sure how long my meal took to come out. Not very long, enough for me to tweet a bit and check my email.

The Rare Roasted Salmon was fantastic, meltingly tender cooked and salad beside it was complementarily sized.

The Crinkle Cut chips were rather large sized.

The salmon wasn’t hot, it was warm enough.

This doesn’t worry me that much because the space is 150 metres long and the table number they give you is just the regular pole with number on it often used in cafés. But there’s two bars and I think the kitchen is in the middle.

I assume they must have a system of guessing where people have sat, but it still is marvellous that they found me at all, given I was hiding behind a tree branch.

I don’t have a picture of the salmon. I’ve never really got into taking pictures of my food, I prefer to eat it.

I did take a quick photo of the chips.

I didn’t as the website invites “Stay awhile”.

Rather I ate and left.

But I did enjoy my meal there, and will very likely return.

The views of the Yarra are unparalleled in Melbourne.

No where is that close to the Yarra River. No where in Melbourne is that close to the Yarra with a quiet stretch of pedestrian walk beside it either. A lot of the Southbank restaurants tout their closeness to the Yarra, but given the walkway beside it and the boats that moor beside it’s more like knowing the river is there than seeing it. Similarly east of Arbory on the other side of Princes Bridge there are few cafés at river level below Federation Square, but they are also perched on the side with an alfresco area and an indoor area rather than being one continuous space.

Arbory’s space is one continuous space, you can walk along the length, but you’re not going to be interrupted by passers by or pedestrians and the like.

Tonight I could look down at the river and had I been inclined probably could have thrown the ice from my drink into the river.

Which incidentally where some of the squarest ice cubes I’ve ever seen in a bar.

I will be returning to the Arbory because it was reasonably priced, was lovely for a solo diner and has amazing views of the Yarra. I’m also curious what it will be like there in the dead of winter.

Although, I never felt cold while I was dining while facing the river. The canopy gas heater (one of several) which was behind me kept my back warm throughout.

Because I was curious about Arbory I have done a little reading of a few articles about the building of Arbory, its launch and other behind the scenes things like that. Several articles about Arbory assert that the toilets, kitchen and bar are shipping containers.

Which is probably an ‘on trend’ thing to think.

But very probably wrong.

Firstly, think on Arbory’s location.

While I didn’t out a tape measure while I was there I did take a few geotagged photos so I can work out some distances based on it.

Where I sat is about 70 metres into Arbory and the first bar was within probably another 5 metres or so.

Why is this relevant?

Because there doesn’t appear to be any easy road access to Arbory and shipping containerswhen they’re taken to a site either as storage (usually secondhand) construction (secondhand or new) or specialist fit out (what Arbory might have had, but I don’t think it has) they’re dropped off the back of a tilt tray truck or a truck with a crane attached (also known as a Hiab Truck).

There isn’t any road access to that part of the Yarra / Flinders Street station by a truck large enough to carry a shipping container.

There is road access beside Princes Walk on the other side of Princes Bridge, but it is closer to Federation Square rather than at river level.

I think it would be

possible

to get a shipping container to that area of the river, but it’d need to be on a barge, floated up the river. But this would present additional issues. Mostly due to the height of the bridges along the Yarra which are not very high in places. But it could be floated from the rowing club or somewhere like that. Princes Bridge has enough clearance to the site.

But that would only introduce other issues. Such as how you’d get the container off the barge once it’s moored on the side of the river. You could put a crane truck on the barge and then use that to move the shipping container into the right position.

But I don’t think a barge would be stable enough to do that with a crane truck. As a shipping container is between 2,360 kg - 3,980 kg depending on if you have a 20 foot or 40 foot container.

Or alternatively Arbory’s builders built shipping container-like structures within the space they are leasing.

Which is what is appears to be the case when through Arbory's Twitter media timeline from when they first opened.

It’s just a little disappointing everyone seems to be jumping on the shipping container concept without thinking through the complexities of what would be involved with getting shipping containers there.

Pondering on all this did leave me with one other question and that was the question of supplies.

As I said there’s no road access to that part of the Yarra.

The closes is the other side of Princes Bridge or road level St Kilda Road next to Flinders Street Station.

The most direct though hardly the cheapest would be by river, but I doubt there’s any delivery companies that deliver by water.

But it does make me wonder how they bring in kegs of beer and the food and everything.

There’s no access from the station, well not for patrons, maybe there’s something in their lease about having access via the station for deliveries. But even then there’s little road access to that part of the station. Road access to Flinders Street Station is from along Banana Alley. I think there’s station access along there, that might get you near the end of the station’s edge. But that’d still be on the wrong level. The road access for the station is at rail height and sort of at station height. While Arbory is sort of at station / rail height.

Perhaps they just walk everything down from road height, or around Princes Bridge. This question has been vexing me a little bit, so I’ve emailed them which, I assume if I were to look back on it now in the slightly harder light of day compared to when I wrote it late at night will seem a bit rambling. Oh well.

Sorrento Vanilla Slice - Just Fine Food

Solo dining and the Arbory