| Often dubbed Australia’s culinary capital, Melbourne’s dining options will make your mouth water every step of the way. |
Despite being the country’s second-biggest city, there’s something very casual and inviting about Melbourne. Luke Mangan, an Australian celebrity chef and restaurateur, loves how the cozy little laneways and cafés have a beautiful European feel to them, with more attention to detail and no competitive feelings between rival businesses. Most of the owners of dining establishments simply love to cook and want to share. The new restaurants, bars and cafés that pop up every week know that they have to be good if they want to survive, so they focus on providing great eats and services to satisfy the endless zest for good food.
Prolific local produce, organic meats and fresh seafood sourced from the surrounding countryside are cooked up and served in excellent eateries sprinkled throughout the city while the rich coffee culture prevails in numerous cafés; but remember to also venture into neighborhoods that have a strong ethnic influence to experience the incredibly diverse palate Melbourne has to offer. It’s best to do your research in order to find the specific dish you’re craving for, be it Spanish tapas, Chinatown dumplings, Middle Eastern falafels, Grecian souvlaki or classic Italian pastas.
The principle “don’t judge a book by its cover” applies well here, as many of the good restaurants have barely visible signage or are tucked away in basements or on rooftops. Unless you have a Melbournian friend who can take you around, your best bet of finding these places is to take a culinary tour.
Melbourne Food Experiences hosts half-day walking tours to different areas on scheduled Saturdays for public tours, with more flexible times for private groups. Get up close and personal with the daily hustle and bustle while gaining insight into the history of the vicinity. Vietnamese flavors are found in the Richmond area, where a journey along Victoria Street introduces the best Vietnamese bakeries, grocer’s shops, fishmongers and food stores. Taste fragrant fresh herbs, tropical fruits, distinct coffee and filled bahn mi rolls. The aisles of Minh Phat food store are hard to leave behind, but a selection of beautiful dishes to share at the low-priced, long-running Thy Thy 1 restaurant is not to be missed.
Fans of Italian food should stroll along Carlton and Lygon Street. Tastings and visits include D.O.C for Italian specialty food, Gewürzhaus for awesome spice blends, Brunetti for decadent Italian cakes and sourdough breads at Baker D. Chirico. Learn about great coffee, freshly made mozzarella and true free-range small goods before concluding the tour with a scoop of Italian gelati.
The Footscray suburb has an amazing mix of cultures to explore. After winding your way through the Footscray Market and streets filled with various food stores, taste a hot jam doughnut from the famous Olympic doughnut van. Try the Bombay spice mix, Asian snacks, ricotta-filled cannoli, sugarcane juice and traditional African bread. A visit to Little Saigon Shopping precinct is a fine crash course in Vietnamese food and ingredients. Peek into the stunning dining rooms and African cafés before experiencing the Bunna, a traditional coffee ceremony, followed by a beautiful shared meal of injera bread and fragrant Ethiopian dishes.
But the most popular tours are the ones around central Melbourne with its abundant selection of food stores, restaurants, history, lanes, arcades and street art. The public tour starts with a serious coffee and Argentinean pastry at San Telmo restaurant. You then indulge in tastings at culinary hot spots, including Chinese egg tarts at Maxim’s Cakes, decadent truffles from Ganache Chocolate and treats from the iconic Phillippa’s Bakery. Stroll through the restaurant-filled Flinders Lane precinct and learn what are the best dishes and the prices of Coda, PM24, Movida and many more. At the end, enjoy a glass of wine plus tastings from the kitchen of award-winning Cumulus Inc. which prefers to be described as an “eating house and bar” rather than a restaurant. Recent tastings have included baked chilli mussels and foie gras parfait with toasted brioche, but they change regularly as the chefs always like to present new dishes. One of the previous participants particularly loved hearing the up-to-date gossip on where the chefs eat after work, and their divulgence of hidden restaurant treasures.
If you’re with a small group of up to four people, take the tour around city central, going through Flinders Lane, Little Collins Street, Centre Place, Block Arcade, Little Bourke Street and Howie Place. Visit stores like Koko Black for handmade chocolates and Gewurzhaus, a self-scoop spice merchant, while tasting the best macaroons in Melbourne, sourdough bread, egg tarts, roast duck, samosa, gelati and a glass of wine. The tour also shows where to find the best new restaurants and bars, often hidden in basements and on city rooftops, which afterwards you can visit personally with a certain pride of dining in non-touristy establishments. But whether you take a tour or decide to rely on luck, everyone knows you can never go hungry in Melbourne.
www.melbournefoodexperiences.com.au
Photography by: Ben king and mark chew for Tourism Victoria
