Restaurants in Melbourne
Food Glorious Food
| Melbourne’s dynamic restaurant and café culture can be summed up in four words: dramatic, diverse, delicious and delightful, and there’s lots of it. Here are just a few examples. Melbourne's temperate climate allows for all year round, outdoor eating, and restaurants in Melbourne are fully geared to keep you warm and cosy, under the stars, during the cooler months (June to September). From the heart of Melbourne’s City, a 15-20 minute bus, tram or train ride will deposit you in any number of exciting restaurant and café settings, such as the immensely popular and vibrant bayside suburb and tourist destination of St Kilda. Here the action ‘rocks’ 24/7. It’s a multi-cultural melting pot of people, restaurants, cafés, pubs, night clubs and wine bars. St Kildaoffers everything from sophisticated chic fine dining, complete with starched white linen tablecloths and candlelight, and beach and bay views, (Jacka Boulevard), to trendy restaurants offering modern Australian cuisine, in minimalist contemporary settings (Fitzroy Street), through to coffee and cake like your grandmother used to make (Acland Street). Australian, Italian, Greek, Asian, Spanish, French, Eastern European and Middle Eastern cultures and cuisines, blend seamlessly to delight all the senses and cater for every budget. Take your pick! Sunday breakfast served in an idyllic setting on the historic and colourful St Kilda Pier. With views of the City skyline in the distance, tuck into a generous breakfast ($7 to $10), and watch the passing parade of yachts float gently past, or the engaging antics of weekend fishermen that are so much a part of the overall enjoyment of the pier. After breakfast or brunch, visit the Sunday Market along the Esplanade (10pm-4pm). Or you might wander down Acland Street, an iconic Melbourne destination, offering a dazzling array of Eastern European cake and coffee shops, a variety of restaurants, with or without music, great shopping for fashion, books, quality giftware, and some very interesting novelties. |  North of the City, within a 10-15 minute walk or short tram ride, is the lively and picturesque Latin quarter of Lygon Street, Carlton. Alfresco dining at its best! Lygon Street is a tree lined boulevard featuring some of the most appetising, home style Italian restaurants you are likely to come across. Enjoy haggling with spruikers enticing you to come into their restaurant, as everyone has the best pasta. Always a holiday atmosphere! For an outlay of around $15 to $22, for a main meal, you’ll think you’re in Italy, but more likely, Heaven. Southbank is situated on the Yarra River, right next to Melbourne's CBD (central business district), and adjacent to the Victorian Arts Centre and Crown Casino. It offers entertainment galore, with just about all of the restaurants offering alfresco dining and gigantic views of the City and the River. Very popular all year round, it presents an extremely broad range of dining options at reasonable prices. And for those on a limited budget, Southbank's huge Food Court (situated some 150 meters from St Kilda Road), offers a mouth watering display of quick, easy style dishes to eat-in or take away. Oh, and don’t forget to explore the City, enjoy its surprising labyrinth of lanes and alleyways, all full of good food, good wine, interesting shopping, and all, for those of you, who enjoy good living. |