A gem tucked away in the Duffy shops, Niugini Arabica makes espresso from their own beans, imported from PNG and roasted on the premises. You can also buy their ground coffee to use at home. Not surprisingly, the coffee is excellent.

Niugini Arabica also sells a small range of reasonably priced light meals and baked goodies.

As its name implies, Espresso Room is all about the coffee. The staff are very friendly and the coffee is great. Highly recommended for a quick hit.

Located in Bowes Street, No.10 is an ideal place for a quick lunch or afternoon coffee away from the bustle of Woden Plaza. The service is prompt and friendly, the outdoor seating is pleasant, and you can linger without feeling that you are being rushed on.

I came across Sprout while searching online for sprouting seeds. Their website is easy to use and navigate.

As well as over 20 varieties of organic, Australian-grown sprouting seeds, Sprout sells a range of sprouting trays, juicers, dehydrators, health foods and ecologically-friendly kitchen stuff. Their sprouting seeds are very fresh, with a "sprout by" date on each packet.

Sprout is a one-man business, so your order may not be dispatched overnight, but you will be provided with tracking details.

We dropped into Gus' Place recently for a quick lunch and were pleasantly surprised.

The outdoor seating is enclosed, so you get fresh air without too much sun, the service was prompt and friendly, and best of all, our food was yummy and generously-portioned. (They are generous when pouring wine, too!)

I have been ordering tea through The Tea Hut for several years.

They have the best range of organic tea I've found online and - importantly for those of us who like to know where our foodstuffs come from - they provide country of origin information for all the different teas on their website.

Shipping is fast and reasonably priced, with free shipping for orders over $75 (and sometimes you get free samples).

Highly recommended for tea lovers!

I have been buying spice mixes and hard-to-find ingredients like pomegranate molasses online from Herbie's Spices for years. They sell products in small quantities so they keep fresh, which is perfect for the domestic cook.

If you doubt whether it's worthwhile paying more for something like za'atar, a Middle Eastern blend, just compare the ingredient list at Herbie's website, with that of a well-known commercial product.

Herbie's website is easy to use, and they ship promptly.

The Slate Man was recommended to us as *the* company to repair and refinish our slate floor after installation of our new kitchen.

As his business name implies, Ziggy knows everything there is to know about slate. He and his team replaced the missing tiles after our kitchen cabinets were replaced with exact matches, and stripped and refinished the floors so that they look like new. We would highly recommend them for any repair or refinishing work.

Somehow, we'd missed Ca de Vin on our previous trips to Melbourne - it's tucked away in a little alleyway next to Myers. We dropped in for an early casual dinner and weren't disappointed. Our dinners were delicious and very generously proportioned, so much so that we couldn't finish our plates.

A great place for casual dining!

We haven't dined at Pure South yet, but dropped in for a quick breakfast on our last trip to Melbourne. The dining room downstairs has been remodeled to provide more enclosed seating - ideal for a chilly Melbourne morning.

The staff were friendly and attentive, and our breakfasts - thickly sliced fruit toast - were generous and delicious. We'll definitely be back!