The vets here are friendly and knowledgeable, diagnosing flea allergy dermatitis in our cat by physical examination alone, saving us the time, cost and effort of doing further investigations into his skin problems.

Anne Dynon is the head vet and she regularly goes beyond the call of duty in making herself available for our cat's care. She was very helpful in providing information needed for his insurance cover recently.

On one occasion I had to board our cat at the clinic's cattery for several days. I was very satisfied with the quality of care he received: the staff were genuinely interested in his personality and clearly bonded well with him.

The clinic offers a good range of cat and dog toys, including our cat's favourite, a large crinkly cat tunnel. They also offer treats and several choices of prescription cat food (both dry and wet).

Occasionally kittens are sold at this clinic after being desexed and microchipped. I was happy to hear that those kittens that are not sold are transferred to the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, which has an almost zero kill rate. This fact added to my perception that the Flemington Vet Clinic genuinely cares about the animals who come into its orbit.

Excellent coffee, engaged staff, and enjoyable, creative breaky/brunch fare. The decor is light, bright and trendy, set in an old weatherboard house with a line of stools outside on the porch for smokers.

Particular favourites of ours include the corn fritters and quesadilla, which were perfectly cooked tributes to Mexico. The bullseye bagel is also a quirky and delicious take on the tradition breaky roll, featuring grilled ham, spicy relish, rocket and an organic free range poached egg.

The cafe is progressive and generous in that they allow customers with laptops to harness their wireless internet connection and work away uninterrupted over a nice latte.

One quibble: bring back the strawberry pancakes, which from memory were served with strawberry butter, jam and thick cream. They were outstanding. :)

Approximate cost: $15

The Premises serve great coffee (Seven Seeds) and lovely seasonal food. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable, going out of their way to chat to regulars and make them feel comfortable.

Some recent foodie treats: black truffles from Tasmania (served with fluffy scrambled eggs) & home-made lamb sausages dotted with pine nuts. Their breaky roll is also lovely, featuring home-made tomato relish, thickly sliced bacon and free-range egg.

The cafe also sells a variety of coffee-making equipment such as the excellent Hario Buono pouring kettle. This kettle is beautifully made stainless steel with an ergonomic design. If we didn't already have a 50's inspired duck egg blue whistling kettle, we would have snapped up the Hario for sure.

The only drawback is that, like Seven Seeds, this cafe is so popular that you sometimes have to wait for a seat. But it's so friendly and reliably good that you don't mind.

Approximate cost: $20

These guys have the best French toast I've had in the inner West. It comes with fresh, flakey, buttery artisan bread drizzled with maple syrup and served with thick cream and a slice of crisp bacon.

They also serve decent French wine on Saturdays (though not, for some reason, on Sundays) and brew up great coffee.

Their baguettes, soups and pies are also excellent: good, tasty Euro-centric food for a very reasonable price. Beside these yummy treats sit a range of sweets and chocolates supplied by the French chef at Shocolate (Fitzroy). It's almost impossible to leave Cafe Luis without tucking into something sweet first.

The vibe here is casual and family-friendly, with a large table out the back for bigger groups.

Recommended.

Approximate cost: $12.50

This is an excellent, arty cafe to enjoy brunch in, though it's so popular that it can be hard to get a seat sometimes.

The coffees are outstanding: fresh and aromatic. The cafe prides itself on trying unusual coffee beans from different areas around the world. The last time we were in, we tried Kiangai beans from Kenya. The coffee made from these beans was served chilled in a little glass tube and the scent as you bent down to sample it was fascinating: blackcurrent and herbal notes featured strongly to my nose.

The meals themselves have improved over the past few months. The last time I visited this establishment I enjoyed a breaky roll with homemade hollandaise sauce & relish, tasty bacon, and egg - this meal alone would be worth coming back for.

Other standout dishes: tender ham hocks with homemade mustard sauce and salad; Oriental-inspired scrambled eggs on roti, garnished with bean shoots, chilli and miso soy sauce. The latter was so tasty that I wished I had two stomachs so I could eat it again.

Before we left, my husband bought one of the black, limited edition Seven Seeds t-shirts that were featured behind the counter. The staff were very helpful, spending several minutes checking out the back for his exact size.

We will be back here again for sure.

Approximate cost: $15

The staff are always friendly and suggest items from the menu that might appeal. They also think to ask how much chilli you like as a condiment, which is helpful as not everyone likes to have their nostrils blown out by their food.

The decor is not exactly stellar, with plenty of space but rather plain plastic tables and chairs. Yet for the low price of the meals and cheery service, that can be forgiven.

As to the food, it is fresh and delivered with snappy service. I've rarely had to wait longer than 5-10 minutes to receive my meal.

Particular standouts are Pad Thai noodles and their Indonesian fried rice: both meals are simple Asian cooking delivered with fresh ingredients which lifts the experience above the average. The meals were well seasoned, not being too sweet or salty, which indicates that the chef pays attention to creating meals with a good flavour balance.

Approximate cost: $15

Training at fitness first exceeded my expectations. Staff were knowledgeable and helpful, equipment was clean and state of the art, and I enjoyed learning how to use it.

Group exercise classes were particularly helpful, offering amongst other things Zumba, Body Combat, Yoga, Boxing and Body Pump. Zumba was highly enjoyable, being run by a qualified dance instructor who was able to blend funky dance moves with exercise.

The other standout for me was Body Combat, which is structured very similarly to old Thai Bo classes I used to participate in at another city gym. These classes really helped me develop speed, balance and coordination, featuring martial arts kicks and punches set to upbeat music.

The only slight negative is that I've heard it can be difficult to cancel your contract if you want to leave Fitness First for any reason. Others have advised that Fitness First can be difficult and rather inflexible to deal with under these circumstances.

I called this establishment to ask about my favourite perfume, Joy. Unfortunately, recent IFRA regulations have greatly restricted the use of jasmine oil, which was a major component of Joy (as well as other great classics, such as Chanel No 5). I take a keen interest in fragrance industry developments, which are well documented online, so was aware of this.

However, when I asked whether the Paint n' Powder had a version of Joy pure perfume older than 2010, because it had been reformulated recently, they assured me (wrongly) that Joy was "just the same as it's always been." The saleslady I spoke to was very rude and condescending, as though she couldn't understand why the question was being asked. For a perfume shop that prides itself on being helpful and knowledgeable, this was a big red flag. They simply aren't aware - or don't care - whether the classics they laud in their shop remain as complex and beautiful as they were in the past. And they are arrogant to customers who don't just accept the sales pitch they deliver but ask questions about their purchases. By way of contrast, the sales people at another perfume shop I sometimes frequent are well aware that many classics have been reformulated so are making it their business to source older bottles of the same. They listen to customers who tell them that the latest purchase of their beloved perfume just doesn't smell the same, instead of arrogantly dismissing them or refusing to educate themselves further on the matter.

Back to Paint n' Powder...I then politely asked the saleslady the price of Joy and was told - again, rudely - that it was $695 for 15ml pure perfume, and $895 for 30ml. If I remember correctly, the price did not include a Baccarat crystal bottle so why it should be so high was difficult to understand. As a point of comparison, I recently bought a 50ml bottle of mint condition Joy pure perfume (vintage, with sealed Baccarat crystal bottle) for $190 AUD at an online auction house.

I honestly can't understand how the Paint n' Powder remains in business, given that they are woefully misinformed about the nature of the reformulations that have been occurring recently to many perfumes, they are clearly over-priced, and their customer service is lacking to say the least. There are now many reputable online businesses that offer the same classic fragrances (and fresh stock) with genuinely helpful customer service and greatly reduced prices: strawberrynet.com, fragrancenet.com, fragrancex.com, eBay & etsy, just to name a few. Case in point: I recently picked up two 75 ml bottles of Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue (EDP) online for less than half the price at the Paint n' Powder. This included shipping costs.

A word about freshness of stock at online retailers, as staff at Paint n' Powder like to bad mouth them by claiming bottles are 'old.' With the exception of discontinued fragrances, which you would expect to be dated as they are no longer in production, all bottles I have bought at reputable online companies have been new and fresh. This can be easily verified, for most brands, by plugging in the batch code of the bottle/box into www.checkcosmetic.net. The latter gives the date the bottle was manufactured, and is good for working out the age of perfumes that were released within the last decade or so.

However, it is certainly not the case anyway that 'old' perfumes are ready for the scrapheap! By disparaging certain perfumes as 'old' and 'stale', Paint n' Powder show they have zero understanding of the worldwide demand for vintage fragrances. If stored carefully away from heat and light, it has been my experience (and the experience of many others around the globe including expert perfume critics such as Luca Turin and Octavian Coifan) that perfumes can last indefinitely.

It's clear to me that the people running Paint n' Powder need to pick up their game fast or find themselves another business. I would not recommend them and I will not give them mine.

Approximate cost: $Over $1,500 (for the past 2-3 years)

Had an excellent vegetable curry with an aromatic, piquant sauce. Aside from its curries, the place is also known for its sushi, teriyaki chicken, tasty burgers and fresh salads. The potato salad features creamy Japanese mayonnaise, which adds a touch of authenticity to the dish.

I've also tried the chicken burger and this is particularly good. The meat is soaked in sake, soy, ginger, and sesame oil, which adds to its flavour and tenderness. The burger was generously sized, with lovely fresh bread and healthy fillings.

The decor is creative and arty, with lines of office workers heading out the door when the (admittedly limited) tables inside fill up.

Purple Peanuts also has an open kitchen, which amps up the entertainment factor for hungry customers.

I will be back.