The five best things to eat in Melbourne this November

Some seriously smart snacks, a salty dessert and superb roast chook are among the delicious things you need to try in Melbourne restaurants this month.

Loosen the belt, here are five delicious things to get in your mouth this month.

It’s all about smart snacks, a salty dessert and a superb roast chook — these are the best things to get in your mouth this month.

Ramen scotch egg at Reed House. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Ramen scotch egg

Reed House, The Manse Building, 130 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Chef Mark Hannell, life and business partner Rebecca Baker and Michael Bascetta (ex-Made Well Group) nail the ‘dinner at our house’ brief at their first city project. While most things at Reed House were exceptional, the ramen scotch egg ($14) was a standout snack. Hiding a perfectly jammy googer within its porky breadcrumbed mass, dab in a sparky mushroom sauce and feel everything fall into place. More please, and then some.

READ THE FULL REVIEW

The ultimate drinking snack: smoked saganaki.

Smoked saganaki

Tzaki, 31 Ballarat St, Yarraville

Western suburbs Greek tapas bar Tzaki is a movable feast. Each week there’s a new menu, but if you ever see the pan-sizzled saganaki re-enter the chat make sure you order one and another for good measure ($12). Smoky, custard soft adorned in a peppery sweet fig sauce— it’s pure bliss.

READ THE FULL REVIEW

The upper-middle bogan duck hamburg. Picture: Michael Pham.

Duck hamburg

Tombo Den, 100 Chapel St, Windsor

This is an upper-middle bogan riff on Tokyo’s tsukune chicken meatball snack ($24.50). Traditionally the dish is made by whisking a club of cooked mince into a pool of egg yolk and tare (soy, sake and sugar). At Tombo Den, Chris Lucas’s newest Chapel St project, they peddle pucks of posh hamburger patties, crowned in a frizz of fresh spring onion, tare and a glossy yolk for a DIY job. Damn it’s a good burger: all fatty, flavoursome and charcoal smooched.

READ THE FULL REVIEW

The roast chicken with bread sauce at Reed House is elite. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Roast chicken

Reed House, The Manse Building, 130 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Another Reed House winner. Hannell’s rendition of Sunday Roast chook ($39) is a must; the whole bird splayed, brined and oven-roasted, roughened with za’attar and saltbush over a chunky bread sauce and robust gravy. It should be illegal to charge $39 for this amount of food, so filling and expertly crafted, knowing full well you won’t be able to finish the entire plate. But we give it a nudge. You must also follow my new self-imposed Reed House rule: order the spuds ($16)— a dry potato bake with millimetre fine layers, deep fried and dusted in chicken salt, served with a malt vinegar mayo: wowee.

READ THE FULL REVIEW

It’s another ‘gotcha’ moment from Tzaki.

Baked feta cheesecake

Tzaki, 31 Ballarat St, Yarraville

Another Tzaki ‘gotcha moment’ from chefs Alexi Xinis and Shehan Setunga is the surprisingly salty cheesecake dessert. It has a warm custardy texture, followed by a swift mandolin glide of lime rind … then a whack of feta salt. Pwoar. The undeniable dairy funk, as clear as coriander in your cereal, is the real winner here.

READ THE FULL REVIEW