Salon by Louis Roederer, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

There's nothing quite like a champagne lunch - or in this case, a sparkling wine lunch.  A ladies' lunch was in order to celebrate the big news from Ms G... rock on girl!

In the manner of all the fancy department stores overseas, it seems Australia is following suit by having champagne bars inside department stores.  I guess the point is while you're doing a bit of discretionary shopping you can sure as hell afford to do some discretionary boozing while you're at it.

Ms G and I both went for the sparkling wine per glass option.  I forget what it was exactly but it was chilled, bubbly and tingly - just what we needed to clink and drink. 

There's a range of simple cafe type fare on offer.  Think gourmet sandwiches and sort of hors d'oeuvre sort of stuff.  Ms B and I both went for the croque monsieur.  A lovely grilled sanger with reasonable amounts of ham, cheese and bechamel sauce.  Definitely not a healthy option but yummy.

Ms G went for these smoked salmon fritter-y things.  We were all a bit shocked at how small these were considering the price (it was around the $18-$19 range).  So tiny, these were gone in an instant.  Luckily I was feeling full and bloated from my rich croque so I was able to share some of my sanger with her.

Verdict: we liked it.

Overall

The Salon isn't big - a long table to sit at, some stools along a bench and only a few coveted cushioned chairs dotted around the place.  And yes, you are sitting in the middle of a department store with shoppers walking by and getting off/on the escalators.  It's hardly scenic but it's nice enough given that it's inside Myers.

It's a good option if you're out shopping and need a pick-me-up.  The sandwiches are the most reasonably priced and better value than the other items on the menu.