Review: Prego on Ponsonby Road

Some restaurants come with a lot of baggage, and Prego is one of them. Famous for being famous, it's almost destined to be slagged off. Your first meal there is a bit like meeting a celebrity for the first time – every move they make is closely examined, every inch of their appearance scrutinised for its potential to provide comedy fodder for later. Best of all would be meeting an obnoxious celebrity for the first time during a bad meal at Prego – you'd be centre of attention at cocktail parties for years to come, telling your enthralled coterie all about the time Colin Mathura-Jeffree ate the rubbery calamari rings with his FINGERS.

AFB in Melbourne

A couple of weeks ago the girlfriend and I ate our way through a romantic long weekend in Melbourne. The city is famously home to a huge variety of authentic international restaurants, their immigrant chefs and waitstaff having no doubt been attracted by Australia's glowing reputation for inclusiveness and ethnic tolerance.