Melbourne Restaurants

The restaurants and cafés of Melbourne reflect this city’s energetic outdoor lifestyle and amazing depth of ethnic diversity. The city is literally teeming with quality places to eat, so your chances are pretty good for stumbling into a mind-blowing café tucked into a back alley. The outstanding quality, variety and affordability of Melbourne’s dining scene has put it on the global map for serious foodies. Eating outside is also a big part of dining in Melbourne thanks to the glorious year-round weather, and this should be indulged in whenever possible.

Local cuisine

Melbourne’s incredible diversity has created a thriving collection of international cuisines; so much so, that it’s difficult to give a specific label to one particular culinary style that sets Melbourne apart. Asian food from all the great countries of that region can be found in abundance, usually at excellent prices. Italian and Greek cuisine also has a huge following thanks to the large proportion of residents who originated from these countries.  
 

Where to eat

Certain neighbourhoods tend to cater to a particular style of cuisine, so it’s always best to go to the source. Chinatown, in the heart of the city, is the best area to go hunting for an Asian fix. Besides Chinese, you can find plenty of Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Japanese restaurants here too. The food is always authentic and often very reasonably priced.

Richmond is the area to go for Greek and Vietnamese restaurants, while Fitzroy has cheap Turkish, Mediterranean and vegetarian food. Carlton is the home of Melbourne’s Italian community and it certainly has plenty of Italian restaurants, but most of the places along Lygon street are aimed at tourists and known to be overpriced and sometimes disappointing. To be seen by the other trendies of Melbourne, cruise around the cafés on Chapel Street or Toorak Road in South Yarra.

Breakfast in Melbourne is considered to be a very important meal and as such, there is a big breakfast and brunch scene, especially in the restaurants and cafés of central Melbourne. This deliberately social dining experience starts at 06:00 and runs until 11:00 at most places, although many restaurants are beginning to serve breakfast all day, particularly at the weekends.

Most of Melbourne’s restaurants open around 07:00 and serve until 22:00 or later. Sundays and Mondays are the most common days for closing. Many of the smaller cafés in the city have a ‘BYO’ (Bring Your Own) policy for alcohol, so don’t hesitate to bring your favorite bottle of Australian wine to dinner with you. A 10 per cent tip is standard for impressive service.