Heading to Ballarat for a weekend of eating and drinking is not a common activity − but it should be. Only 117 kilometres from Melbourne, the gold rush town is now flush with wine bars, specialty coffee is a given, and there’s an electric atmosphere of creativity and collaboration between producers. And the openings keep on coming. Start with this list and be prepared to discover even more when you visit.

Cobb’s Coffee
Tucked into a corner of one of Ballarat’s (many) imposing heritage buildings, this blink-and-you’ll-miss it coffee spot is a hive of activity as soon as doors open. Discerning locals come for single origin and house blends by Rumble Coffee, based in Melbourne’s west, who are partners in the business started by local Brendan Wrigley. Wrigley, whose CV includes Melbourne’s Top Paddock and London’s Rosslyn, aims to “give people the best five minutes of their day”. Food is simple: three-cheese toasties, classic roast chicken sandwiches or prosciutto with parsley pesto − all on bread from 1816 Bakehouse, who also supply pastries.

2 Lydiard Street South, Ballarat, cobbscoffee.com.au

Renard
A bar that claims to be a “bistro-esque discotheque” is always worth checking out. And Renard, occupying a double shopfront, has plenty of room to groove. A mod 1960s vibe is parlayed by old films projected on the wall, archways between the two rooms and booths in brown and green. Find your perfect nook (there’s one for parties of all sizes) and get into smart bar snacks like local Salt Kitchen chorizo, grilled and matched with grape and cauliflower. In the glass might be Rhubi Rhude with rhubarb gin, pomegranate and strawberry, or a cocktail driven by Aussie flavours.

209 Mair Street, Ballarat, renardballarat.com.au

Pencilmark Wine Room

With Underbar moving to finer digs, the original space on the corner of Pencilmark Lane has been given a poppy, punk art makeover and turned into a wine-dining bottle-o where the snacking comes easy and the set-menu lunch ($65) is one of the best deals in town. Familiar wine bar hits are executed with a touch that sets a high bar. See tomato and burrata salad turbocharged by a red pepper pesto, and the freshest calamari curls captured in impossibly fine batter with lemony dressed greens. Sundays bring rogue specials such as banh mi. It’s also the perfect place to get a snackshot of the region’s best produce, from Salt Kitchen’s truffled salami served on 1816’s focaccia to gin from local Larrikin distillery and heavy-hitting wines from Pat Sullivan, available by the glass.

3 Doveton Street North, Ballarat, pencilmark.com.au

Ragazzone

Is it the 36-month-aged leg of local prosciutto being sliced at the bar (and draped over Italian gnocco fritto pastry puffs)? The energetic space with its peachy wine-lined walls? Or the menu packed with bright pastas and dishes that truly walk their seasonal talk? Whatever it is, the buzz you might have heard around Ragazzone is genuine. As winter sets in, there might be pine mushrooms tumbled with light ricotta gnocchi and walnuts, or a cheesecake brightened by mandarin and a scoop of orange sorbet.

319 Mair Street, Ballarat Central, ragazzone.com.au

Roy Hammond

An aristocratic salon atmosphere, a choice of 10 gin and tonics and monthly “tours” of cocktails inspired by different countries together create a secret sauce at Roy Hammond. The 100-seat spirit and wine bar is jammed year-round, even at its outdoor tables on chilly nights. The owners, also behind brewpub Aunty Jacks, hone in here on spirits and the spice routes that supported their spread around the world. A glowing back bar displays 400 distillations, and the menu offers Asian-inspired bar snacks, such as bulgogi beef tacos or five different baos.

24-28 Armstrong Street North, Ballarat, royhammond.com.au

Hotel Vera

Even judged against sky-high competition in the luxury hotel game, this renovation of a 19th-century mansion into seven deluxe suites puts Hotel Vera in the top tier. Check-in takes place in the firelit lounge over herbal tea. Every suite is stocked with Salus lotions, cocktails from Melbourne bar Byrdiand Dyson hairdryers, but is otherwise unique, from the pet-friendly Lonarch room, which has its own courtyard, to the more stately rooms upstairs whose ceilings soar high above the freestanding bathtubs. It doesn’t hurt that dinner at the hotel’s fine-diner, Underbar (see below), might start with a Byrdi Old Fashioned from your mini-bar before heading downstairs. For all its old-world charm, tech nerds will love the minutiae: electronic blinds, the TV disguised as artwork and chargers for your Apple watch.

710 Sturt Street, Ballarat, hotelballarat.com.au

Mr Jones

Chef Damien Jones’ Thai-inspired restaurant Catfish was a longtime shining star of the Ballarat food scene before he decided to rebrand as Mr Jones and return to his classical roots in 2018. But that detour didn’t stick, and last year Mr Jones reclaimed its hatted status for its modern iteration of Thai classics, built on local produce. It’s a banquet-only festival ($69 on Thursdays, $95 at weekends) of Western Plains Pork suckling pig salad, and Murray cod red curry bracketed by bright snacks. And if that buy-in is more than you’re ready for, the local secret is that every Friday they release an a la carte takeaway menu for eating a la bathrobe. Check their socials.

42-44 Main Road, Bakery Hill, mrjonesdining.com.au.

Pancho

Who’d have thunk Ballarat was home to perhaps Victoria’s most legitimate fried chicken (a crisp exterior-to-juicy-fleshed situation whose shell is more spice than batter) alongside some of its best chicken tacos (the juicy, fatty meat and pickled onions riding on a dual layer of charred tortillas)? The pandemic somewhat muted the reputation of Pancho since it opened in 2019, but don’t expect that to last. This Latin American bar, where folk art fills every space and the caipirinhas and Modello beers fly as thick and fast as the cheesy arepas (Colombia’s fried maize flour pockets) is gaining heat by the minute. Grab those dunkable lamb birria tacos while you can.

36 Armstrong Street North, Ballarat, facebook.com/panchoballarat

Hot Chicken Project Ballarat

A few clicks away is another address for fried chicken fans. Igni chef Aaron Turner’s love letter to Nashville spice-coated chicken made landfall in Ballarat late last year, expanding from its Geelong base. The casual spot is for those who like their music loud and guitar-heavy, their wine funky, and their spice levels stratospheric. All the ingredients that put the original on the map are there, from southern-inspired sides like turnip greens, squishy squares of white bread to absorb the heat, and gigantic buckets of chicken that have daredevil written all over them.

23 Armstrong Street North, Ballarat, instagram.com/thehotchickenproject

Underbar

Chef Derek Boath’s micro fine diner has traded its communal table and dinner party energy for minimalist blondwood tables and wafting drapes at the luxurious Hotel Vera. To match its glam new surrounds, the menu is also bigger, bolder and more belt-buckling than ever. Unchanged: absolute precision from the former Per Se chef. See the delicate set custard washed in a genre-defining mushroom consomme, or sticky ebi prawns shrouded in scales fashioned from minuscule pickled carrot slices. But brace yourself. Dinner might start with a duck fat doughnut to dip in rillettes and end with heavenly, hefty croissants and a triple bill of chocolate creams. It’s a big billing with a big bill ($210), but embrace that gold rush-era excess.

710 Sturt Street, Ballarat, underbar.com.au