Best things to eat in Melbourne this autumn

Vodka and nduja pizza, a texturally elite fish dish and a red-hot contender for the city’s best pavlova — add these to your “eat list” this autumn.

Get these five delicious dishes in your mouth, pronto.

These are the best things to eat in Melbourne restaurants this autumn.

Celebrity chef Karen Martini’s pavlova at Saint George restaurant is worthy of your time. Picture: Kristofer Paulsen

Burnt pavlova

Saint George Tavern and Grill, 54 Fitzroy St, St Kilda

Celebrity chef Karen Martini’s pavlova ($28 for two) is sure to convert “pav haters” with every bite. Think borderline burnt meringue with a smash cake shattery-ness, toppling with an avalanche of textures: pert raspberries, tart raspberry jam and jelly, zesty curd, diplomat cream and a cool touch of fior di latte. Plot twist: it’s not stupidly sweet.

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Askal has since subbed the swordfish for mackerel for seasonality.

Swordfish

Askal, 167 Exhibition St, Melbourne

Filipino restaurant Askal’s take on swordfish ($42) is perhaps is the most deliciously unusual dish I’ve eaten this year. I can’t stop thinking about that ‘mashy’ mouthfeel that eats like potato puree or tuna melt, achieved by being smoked tenderly over coals. With the citron tea vinaigrette and hair-raising lemon and lime juice — I’m not sure why the obsession lies with the restaurant’s other popular dish: a cauldron of Angus beef oyster blade, claypot rice and bone marrow. Get this instead.

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Misomisu — a savoury take on the traditional Italian tiramisu dessert — is gamechanging at Token.

Misomisu

Token, 151 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

I’m usually ho-hum about ordering dessert at modern Asian restaurants, but the misomisu ($16), which layers mascarpone, hazelnuts and white miso over whisky-soaked brown butter biscuits – is game changing.

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Nduja and Itinerant Vodka sauce pizza

Itinerant Spirits | The Goods Shed, 200 Lydiard St North, Soldiers Hill

The thin-based nduja pizza is my favourite ($27)— humming with spreadable salami in a spicy red sauce made from Itinerant Spirits vodka, pecorino cheese and hot jalepeno-spiked honey. Best enjoyed bubbling from the oven.

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Ocean trout kinilaw is a must at Askal.

Ocean trout kinilaw

Askal, 167 Exhibition St, Melbourne

As a texture fiend, Askal wins my heart with its ocean trout kinilaw ($30). Dig beneath the mess of taro matchsticks, watermelon radish, fried fish skin to find meaty cubes, dressed in an electric guava, aguachile of jalepeno, cucumber and lime. It’s beautifully done and holds your interest with every bite.

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