15 Essential Places to Eat in Melbourne

From Earth - social class savoring dining to a fleet of food truck toss away badass burgers , bao , and brulee , Melbourne has a well - realize repp as Australia ’s culinary cap . To help you voyage this mouthwatering melting good deal , we ’ve rounded up some of the tasty hotspots in town .

Go get a bellyful .

Best pizza:400 Gradi

99 Lygon St , Brunswick EastWhy mortgage your apartment for a tripper to Naples when you could munch on the world ’s best margherita pizza right on here ? With his perfect pie lease top honours in the specialita traditionale garantita ( STG ) category at the2014 World Pizza Awards , Melbourne ’s favourite pizzaiolo , Johnny Di Francesco , is something of a local hoarded wealth . While the wood - fire Gradi empire is constantly expanding , you ca n’t shell the original Lygon St frontier settlement for a slice ( ! ) of the natural process .

Best burger:Easey’s

3/48 Easey St , CollingwoodWhen hunger strike , make tracks to Easey ’s – the first , good , and only rooftop - train - carriage burger Browning automatic rifle in Melbourne . Yes , you register that correctly . No , you ca n’t put your feet on the nates . Dig into an Easey Cheesy , a stack of potato cakes , and a vague sim or three , then wash away it all down with a Melbourne Bitter for the honest - blue experience .

Best seafood:Claypots

213 Barkly St , St KildaA inflict to St Kilda seafood loyalist Claypots is sure to satisfy any fishy fancy or crayfish craving . The haul at this lively , chance eatery is fresher than fresh – OK , peradventure it ’s just sassy – with many dish plan for sharing . Do n’t miss the garlic prawns , and verify you ordain one of the theme song claypots ! The candlelit courtyard ’s our pickax for a daft night , but there ’s a take the air - in - only policy , so be prepared to wait at the bar . Come for the seafood , stay for the resilient medicine , include regular appearances from the King of Rock and Roll himself .

Best cafe:Industry Beans

3/62 Rose St , FitzroyWe Melburnians are deadly serious about our cafe culture , and while excellent eateries are par for the course , this Fitzroy coffee shop and coffee tree roaster is a killer . industriousness Beans’award - winning spaceis a study in restrained , industrial - butt against stunner , the coffee is next horizontal surface , and the menu ’s innovative but accessible , highlighting the very best seasonal garden truck . Spanner crab omelet for the win !

Best vegetarian:Vegie Bar

360 Brunswick St , FitzroyFor a low - key , well - priced repast with nary a mock meat in sight , Fitzroy ’s Vegie Bar is a victor among leaf eaters and meat buff alike . The menu ’s huge , boasting flavourful veg curry alongside tofu stir - fries and Mexi - bean burrito – and then there ’s that sweet console … The erectile , barn - like space heaves every day of the week , but you’re able to chill in the bar out back while you wait for a table .

Best sweet treats:Burch & Purchese

647 Chapel St , South YarraConfectioner extraordinaire Darren Purchese is Melbourne ’s very own Willy Wonka , by room of Blighty . It ’s not overstating it to say a visit to his shop and retail store , Burch & Purchese , is a life - interchange experience for any sweet tooth . From livid chocolate and salted yellowish brown choc pops to meringue clouds and the famous explosive raspberry Milk River chocolate cake ( which features popping candy ) , your eyes will emphatically be bigger than your stomach .

Best souva that won’t give you a food baby:Jimmy Grants

Various locationsWith his Jimmy Grants restaurants , celeb chef George Calombaris has truly master(chef)ed the prowess of the utterly proportion gourmet souvlaki . With soft , downy cabbage , attender center , and sauces you ’d happily drown in , Jimmy ’s souvas are atrociously good . Say " hi " to Mr Papadopoulos – a mouth - watering combo of lamb , onions , mustard aioli , and chips , all wrapped up in that dreamy bread .

Best late-night eats:Entrecôte

131 Domain Rd , South Yarra ; 6 Alfred Pl , Melbourne CBDLate - nighttime dining in Melbourne is n’t all pepperoni pizza pie and filthy bird ; feasting on steak frites at either of the two Entrecôte restaurants is a much classier , Euro - inspired function . undefendable until midnight every mean solar day ( minus Sundays in Alfred Pl ) , a serving of the premium Hopkins River sirloin , side salad , and bottomless fries will sate any nocturnal protein craving .

Best brunch:Mammoth

735 Malvern Rd , ArmadaleFrom the squad behind Northcote favourite Barry , Mammoth is a proportional newcomer to the Melbourne brunch scene , winning fans with an all - day card that ’s full of surprise . The cherry tree lamington puffed pancake ( with coconut crunch , cherry jam , and gloomy chocolate internal-combustion engine cream ) is a kickshaw for any honeyed tooth , while the WTF combo of the lobster doughnut burger with green mango and papaya slaw , cucumber fix , and Sriracha kimpi mayo is virtuous Instagram fresh fish . A side decree of Viscount St. Albans - and - eggs Zea mays everta is a must .

Best Mexican:Mamasita

1/11 Collins St , MelbourneIt ’s a augury of the delicious , smart transportation within that this Collins St taqueria still has queue down the vertiginous stairs and out the door most nights of the week . The computer menu ’s bloom for sharing , tout quesadillas , ceviche , and some of the metropolis ’s finest greaser ( sample the Pisces ) , and the crowd ’s always here for a good time , fueled by those heroic Mamasita margaritas . Do not pass go without an order of the famous elotes callejeros – street - style , chargrilled corn with queso , chipotle mayo , and lime .

Best American BBQ:Bluebonnet Barbecue

29 Lygon St , CarltonWe’re still devolve on the Mexican wave and have get along around to kimchee , but if there ’s one nutrient trend that ’s come through Melburnians ' tender heart above all others , it ’s American BBQ . With mouthwatering heart and soul cooked low and slow , fall - off - the - bone sticky costa , and sides like cornbread and mac & cheese , what ’s not to make love ? The pitmasters at Bluebonnet Barbecue do a killer brisket and smoky pulled pork barrel , and did we mention the smoke maple and Francis Bacon methamphetamine hydrochloride cream sandwich ? Drool .

Best cheap eats:I Love Pho

264 Victoria St , RichmondFor a tatty - but - hearty feed , pho is always the room to go . While everyone has a favourite local Vietnamese soup joint , Richmond ’s I bed Pho tear the crowds for good reason . The fragrant broths with bonce and your option of core or veggie ( for $ 10-$12 ) never fail to heal what ails you . Pro hint : snap up an order of the tasty prawn leaping rolls to get the lump peal .

Best fancy restaurant for when the parents are paying:Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Crown Melbourne , SouthbankObviously , when the folks are in township and ponying up the cash for dinner , you ’re going to suggest the 10 - course Chef ’s mesa fare at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal . Or if dad ’s about to be adrift a gasket at the $ 375 - per - person Mary Leontyne Price tag , there ’s always à la carte . With a historical ribbon and Australian influence plain in cup of tea like the lamington cake , Dinner is a unique dining experience from the god of gastronomy . And yes , that infamous meat fruit made the stinger .

Best date spot:Saint Crispin

300 Smith St , CollingwoodWith an refined but pose - back Department of the Interior , great military service that ’s not too OTT , an always - buzzy vibe , and an excellent modern Australian computer menu that ’s not too costly , Saint Crispin retick all the day of the month - night requirements . Make certain you get down your even with a tipple immix by the ever - dapper Alan in the " mystic " Thomas Olive bar upstairs . Just mind the steps on your way back down .

Best gelato:Gelato Messina

Fitzroy , Richmond & WindsorIt ’s strong to imagine life in Melbourne before the comer of Messina . Now with three shop class across the urban center , you ’d imagine the hunger for this artisanal gelato would have died down , but instead it ’s reached fever pitch . With everything made sweet on site , you ’ll probably have to queue for your salted caramel brown and white chocolate cone , but it ’s deserving the delay . Make trusted you haunt Messina ’s social media channels for its slightly crazy , always delicious weekly specials .

Pip Jarvis is a Melbourne - found writer and publicist with a rage for words , brunch , and furry creatures big and humble . you may find her with her nose in a book , or brood around the cheese board .

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