Melbourne places to go

Table of contents #

• Table of contents
• Days out
• Places
  • Restaurants and fine dining
  • Cheap and cheerful
  • Italian / Pizza / Pasta / Ice cream
  • Brunch and cafes
  • Pubs / Gastropubs
  • Bars
  • Breweries

Days out #

For each suburb, a few places and activites that can be stitched together for a day out.

• Abbotsford: brunch and walk along the river - have brunch at Mavis the Grocer or Three Bags Full, then take a walk along the Yarra River. Walk to the Collingwood Children's Farm / Abbotsford Convent. Alternatively, check out the asian grocers on Victoria Street, have a vegan friendly meal at The Loving Hut.
• Carlton: gardens and ice cream - Walk in the Carlton Gardens (or picnic there!), then head to Pidapipo for an ice cream. Later on, why not having a wine on the rooftop at Johnny Green's room, or a homemade port at Jimmy Watson's, or a bloody mary at Heartattack and Vine. For dinner, get the vodka pasta or the grandma square pie at Capitano's.
• Collingwood: japanese brunch, street art and shops - Get a japanese breakfast at CIBI, browse through their shop full of nice things. Explore the streets of Collingwood, the street art on the old warehouses... Browse the shops on Smith street. Stop by for an IPA at Fixation.
• Fitzroy: Rose St market, street art and rooftops - Go browse the market on Rose Street, hunt for street art in surrounding streets, maybe get a croissant at Lune, or queue at Moon for a cruller. Later, have a drink at Naked for Satan, the rooftop yields solid views!
• Footscray: craft beer and ethiopian - start with a beer at the Hop Nation brew pub, eat at one of footscray's ethiopian restaurants, and finish in style with a nice beer / wine at Mr West.
• Richmond: brunch and farmer's market - go buy your veggies at Gleadell Street farmer's market, brunch at "A thousand blessings", walk along Bridge Road.
• Bonus: the 86 tram line pub crawl. Look it up.

Places #

Restaurants and fine dining #

• Bar Liberty - Fitzroy - semi-fine dining, go on for Sunday lunch when they do their "feed me" menu for 50 AUD, excellent modern australian, flawless drinks and food.
• Big Esso - CBD - Indigenous.
• Cutler and Co - Fitzroy - fine dining, probably the best dinner we've had in Melbourne.
• Dexter - Thornbury - Meat BBQ type place, I had the brisket there, it is AMAZING
• Embla - CBD - absolutely great, try the chicken.
• France Soir - South Yarra - French bistro.
• Gerald's - Carlton - good for a few drinks and a some oysters, or you can eat there, too.
• Henry Sugar - Carlton North - cosy wine bar, amazing food - try the sourdough bread with vegemite butter!
• Marion - Fitzroy
• Masani's - Carlton - Fine italian.
• Northern Git - Thornbury
• Philippe - CBD - French fine dining, chef Philippe Mouchet trained with Paul Bocuse. My favourite French in Melbourne.

Cheap and cheerful #

• Ethiopian - Footscray
• Florian - Carlton North - Became famous during lockdown for their sandwiches.
• Loi Loi - Richmond - Vietnamese.
• Mile End - Fitzroy - Bagels, my favourite is the pastrami bagel.
• N Lee - Collingwood - Best banh mi in town.
• Tanaka - Carlton - Great toasties, especially the tuna melt.

Italian / Pizza / Pasta / Ice cream #

Everyone has their own "best pizza place in Melbourne" so mine is highly subjective!

• 1800 Lasagna - Thornbury - Get the lasagna, obviously.
• Capitano - Carlton - highlights: olive oil martini, deep dish "grandma square pie" and the vodka rigatoni. That vodka pasta sauce is famous, it is delicious.
• Cellar Bar - CBD - Run by the same people who run Grossi Florentino. You HAVE to try the tiramisu.
• Lazerpig - Fitzroy - hip pizza place, I always get the fennel sausage one, so good!
• Pidapipo - Carlton - Best ice cream in Melbourne. Very long queue outside the building on week end nights!
• Pizza D'Asporto - Yarraville - very good pizza, bit out of the way though.
• SPQR - CBD - Great pizza and great wines.

Brunch and cafes #

• Fenton - Carlton - australian, most food comes from their own farm (same people as Tanaka on the same street).
• IMA Project - Carlton - Japanese. So good!
• Florian - Carlton North - they opened during lockdowns and killed it with their amazing sandwiches.
• CIBI - Collingwood - Japanese. Go for brunch, then have a browse at their very design / japanese oriented goodies shop. Also a great plant shop next door.
• Three Bags Full - Abbotsford - brick building, modern australian.
• Heartattack and Vine - Carlton - great sandwiches, very good bloody mary.
• Mavis The Grocer - Abbotsford
• Industry Beans - Fitzroy
• 8 Murray St - Abbotsford
• Bossa Nova - Carlton

Pubs / Gastropubs #

I love Victorian pubs, they're homy, warm and cosy. Think "sunday roast by the fireplace" kind of vibe.

• Builder's Arms - Fitzroy - Gastro pub. Get some oysters, sourdough bread and the fish pie. The fish pie is famous!
• Green Man's Arms - Carlton - Vegetarian pub.
• Marquis of Lorne - Fitzroy - Good vibe for a drink.
• The Great Northern Hotel - Carlton North
• The Park Hotel - Abbotsford - Great beer garden, good food.
• The Rainbow Hotel - Fitzroy - Get the sunday roast!
• The Royston - Richmond
• Garden State Hotel - CBD - busy pub, it's got Carlton Draught in tanks directly from the brewery!
• The Lincoln - Carlton - excellent food, top-notch wine list and always solid craft beer on Tap. Two Metre Tall is always on tap there.

Bars #

• Beermash - Collingwood - craft beer.
• Beneath Driver Lane - CBD - underground bar, go there for a whisky and a chat.
• Boilermaker House - CBD - whisky place, worth it for its deli platters while you sip on your favourites.
• Carwyn Cellars - Thornbury - for craft beer lovers, it's a "destination" for me, i.e. worth the long tram ride.
• Heartbreaker - CBD - Dive bar, think loud rock music and "you don't know if it's day or night outside" kind of place.
• Mr West - Footscray - craft beer bottle shop and hip bar, about 30 beers on tap, careful though it gets expensive very quick! Great vibe if you happen to be in Footscray.
• Naked for Satan - Fitzroy - iconic rooftop bar, have to go at least once for the view.
• Near and Far - Fitzroy - craft beer.
• Siglo - CBD - view on the parliament building, cocktails, spirits and cigars.
• Slowbeer - Collingwood - craft beer and a nice salon / pool room upstairs.
• Waxflower - Brunswick. Have a sip pet-nat and a few oysters while a DJ plays chill vinyls behind the bar.
• Whisky and Alement - CBD - favourite whisky place. Usually running workshops during the week too. Get a boilermaker!

Breweries #

Tallboy and Moose, Future Mountain, Molly Rose, The Mill, Hop Nation, Stomping Ground, Moondog OG (Abbotsford), Nice Guys, Bodriggy, 3 Ravens, Fixation.

Most of the above, if not all of them, are listed on Broadsheet.

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