Melbourne's best dining venues. Photo / Visit Victoria
For Travel - March 28/April 5
NZH 05Apr22 -
Melbourne's best dining venues. Photo / Visit Victoria
For Travel - March 28/April 5
NZH 05Apr22 -
There’s nothing worse than a lacklustre meal, especially on holiday. Avoid all disappointment on your next trip to Melbourne by following the city’s biggest food experts: the locals.
Lucy Liu Kitchen & Bar - for a revolutionary take on Asian cuisine
There’s something dark and deliciously dirty about Lucy Liu. Maybe it’s the pokey entrance and verging-on-smutty exterior red lighting, but it feels more Gotham City than Melbourne, and not in a bad way. Specialising in small plates and Asian flavours cherry-picked from across the continent, don’t miss the caramelised tofu with betel leaf, pineapple and chilli. While tofu might not be your usual go-to for a good time, this revamped version is extraordinarily good.
There’s something dark and deliciously dirty about Lucy Liu.
Elevate your next croissant experience with a three-course croissant meal at Lune, Melbourne’s revered croissanterie. Located at Lune HQ in the uber hipster suburb of Fitzroy, watch croissants being freshly made from inside a purpose-built glass cube while you’re served coffee, champagne and three separate croissant servings, including an original croissant entree, savoury main and a dessert which often includes apple pie with croissant-base, served with croissant dough ice cream. The menu is seasonally updated and this three-course event always sells out.
Elevate your croissant experience at Lune.
Fluffy Torpedo – for whacky gelato flavours
Every modern-day gelateria claims it dishes out the world’s whackiest flavours, but Fluffy Torpedo legitimately qualifies for the title. If you think pistachio and candied orange is “out there”, wait until you take a lick of ‘blue Powerade’ or ‘pork butter and chilli oil with roasted toffee almonds’. The experience also includes a surly server who is far too cool to care about smiling, but this is the hipster neighbourhood of Fitzroy, where irreverence is trendy.
Aunty Peg’s - for the city’s best coffee
Where to go for coffee in a city that pips itself as the best destination in the world for coffee? If you’re a latte drinker, take yourself to any good-looking hole in the wall and knock yourself out. If you take your caffeine more seriously, or you prefer it dark, dangerous and untainted, make a beeline for Aunty Peg’s in Collingwood. Dubbed the ‘cellar door to Proud Mary Coffee Roasters’ take a seat at the bar while your one-on-one barista administers the goods. A hive of activity on Saturdays, locals descend here for the free weekly cuppings and DJ sets.
Aunty Peg’s in Collingwood is dubbed the ‘cellar door to Proud Mary Coffee Roasters’.
Supernormal – for an electric ambience all year round
It’s a Tuesday evening and there isn’t a spare seat at Supernormal’s diner-style bar; table chatter is deafening and servers hurry diligently from patron to patron - telling us it’s one of the quietest nights of the year. Melbourne is buzzing, even on a slow night. Fusing your favourite Asian flavours with myriad modern twists, settle in for bite-size bao, potsticker dumplings and house-made kimchi. Better still, downstairs, you’ll find a secret karaoke space for private functions.
Supernormal offers a busy and electric ambience all year round.
Pastuso – for Peruvian gastronomy closer to home
Tucked down a gritty laneway, this Peruvian bar and grill could initially be mistaken for a tattoo parlour. An otherwise moody interior is intermittently splashed with neon, fairground-style fonts which shouldn’t technically work, but absolutely does. With the cool factor firmly established, does the food pale in comparison? Negative. From the multi-option ceviche menu to authentic Peruvian street food, every dish exits the kitchen guns blazing.
A moody interior is intermittently splashed with neon at Pastuso.
Farmer’s Daughters – for an authentic farm-to-table dining experience
The perfect option if you’re in Melbourne for a flyby visit and want to taste the best of the wider region without leaving the city, Farmer’s Daughters is a popular farm-to-table dining experience that showcases the produce from Victoria’s Gippsland region. Dine at one of two (or both!) restaurants located at Exhibition Street and Federation Square. Highly regarded amongst Melbournians, the restaurants are overseen by Executive Chef Alejandro Saravia; originally from Peru and also the co-owner of Pastuso (see above).
Proving that you don’t need to travel 36 hours to Spain for good tapas, MoVida put small-plate dining on the Melbourne map way back in 2003. It now boasts four outposts, including one nestled down Tyler Street in Auckland’s CBD. Back in Melbourne, the MoVida Aqui branch boasts a 2023 overhaul, complete with new outdoor terrazzo where locals convene for paella and shared savouries dishes on the Spanish charcoal oven.
Proving that you don’t need to travel 36 hours to Spain for good tapas, MoVida is a Melbourne favourite.
Taxi Kitchen – for a great value set lunch
If you’re hungry and looking for a no-brainer while exploring Federation Square - home to the city’s world-class art galleries - look no further than Taxi Kitchen. While its (arguably) ugly exterior was probably “edgy” once upon a time, you need only ascend a flight of stairs to find impressive city views and a slick interior decor, complete with high ceilings and never-ending windows. The sharing menu covers everything from pork belly to tempura rock lobster. When in doubt, copy the businessmen lunching beside you – Taxi Kitchen offers an impressive set lunch for $45pp.
If you're hungry, Taxi Kitchen is a no-brainer while exploring Federation Square.
