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HSP bites: crisp potato with slow-cooked lamb, chilli and garlic sauces.

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Your July hit list: Hot, new and just-reviewed places to check out this month

Meet the city’s new Malaysian and Japanese dining halls and two newly crowned two-hatters, discover wine bars (and a perfect vanilla slice) in surprising suburbs, plus plenty of ramens to warm you up. Here’s where (and what) to eat and drink in Melbourne in July.

27 stories
Knafeh Nabulseyeh’s chicken shawarma wrap.
Critics' Pick

Knafeh Nabulseyeh’s $16 shawarma wrap is our critic’s new food obsession

  • Besha Rodell
Bar Selecta has just 10 seats, with an enormous catalogue of vinyl and creative drinks.

Bar Selecta, a new 10-seater channelling Tokyo, is hiding in Hawthorn

  • Kosa Monteith
Spanner crab ravioli with pumpkin bisque.

The Tipo 00 team’s city bistro Harriot feels a world away from its office tower digs

  • Tomas Telegramma
The perfect vanilla slice is found at Dulce Bakehouse, where the bottom layer is spread with dulce de leche.

Found! Melbourne’s best vanilla slice is at Dulce Bakehouse in the north-west

  • Dani Valent
HSP bites: crisp potato with slow-cooked lamb, chilli and garlic sauces.

Flame-licked flatbread, HSP bites: Your cheat sheet to revived Lebanese diner Isme

  • Emily Holgate
Basement restaurant Caterina’s Cucina E Bar is back.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Almost-30-year-old city power-lunch hub Caterina’s finally gets its second hat

  • Dani Valent
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Umami Tokyo’s signature ramen is made with chicken broth instead of tonkotsu pork.

Get disco-friendly ramen and snacks at Chapel Street’s late-night izakaya Umami Tokyo

  • Dani Valent
Eat Alley, a new hawker centre in the city, features 10 well-known stalls from Malaysia.

EatAlley brings 10 of Malaysia’s best hawker stalls – some 80 years old – to town

  • Quincy Malesovas
Times New Roman’s napolitana pasta.

The hot new Lygon Street Italian restaurant where pasta starts at $6

  • Dani Valent
Chef Tomotaka Ishizuka behind the counter at Tomo-An kaiseki restaurant.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16.5/20

Newly two-hatted laneway restaurant Tomo-An is ‘a portal to Japan’

  • Dani Valent
Molli has reopened after a reboot.
13.5/20

Office block restaurant Molli was rebooted within a year. Does version 2 hit the mark?

  • Besha Rodell
Bibim guksu (spicy cold noodles) at Sogumm

Cremorne is on the rise as a dining destination. Here are five lunch spots to try (feat. new Korean eatery Sogumm)

  • Tomas Telegramma and Quincy Malesovas
Mortadeli in Torquay is combining sandwich shop, pasta bar and deli under one roof.

Mortadeli, Torquay’s favourite sandwich bar, is moving, but it’s good news...

  • Emma Breheny
Baklava ice cream sandwich at Shamiat.

Three family-run Middle Eastern restaurants with soul in spades

  • Kosa Monteith
Residence is now open, with its first-chef-in-residence, serving a nostalgia-fuelled menu.

Start with ‘tea’, end with tart: Your cheat sheet to gallery restaurant Cherrywood

  • Tomas Telegramma
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“Laksa bombs”, a smash-hit from Junda Khoo’s Sydney restaurants.

Sydney Malaysian restaurant Ho Jiak, and its cult laksa bombs, arrive in Melbourne

  • Tomas Telegramma
Popular Melbourne cafe Ophelia is now open for dinner three nights a week, serving pasta, share plates, cocktails and more

$20 pasta and bargain bowls: Five cafes now staying open for (budget-friendly) dinners

  • Dani Valent
Omi 380 is a new five-in-one Japanese venue in the CBD.

Find matcha, wagyu and more at Omi 380, a new one-stop Japanese dining hall

  • Quincy Malesovas
Nine trolleys roam the 200-seat dining room at Golden Dragon Palace on weekends.
14/20

Why Golden Dragon Palace is the king of Melbourne’s suburban yum cha belt

  • Larissa Dubecki
Central Park Cellars is like a local lounge room in Glen Iris.
13.5/20

Our critic liked local hangout Central Park Cellars so much, she visited it twice in one day

  • Dani Valent
Yorkshire puds are amped up with melty gruyere and chilli oil.

Richmond’s Love Letter is an ode to Yorkshire puddings, gravy and chaos

  • Dani Valent
Potato cakes with creme fraiche and lumpfish caviar.
Critics' Pick

‘A hefty, triple-cooked beast’: Bear’s wine bar serves the Goldilocks of potato cakes

  • Larissa Dubecki
Ramen Ako’s chicken shio ramen in Fitzroy.

Beyond the big bowls: Three extra-special ramens to seek out in Melbourne this winter

  • Harvard Wang
Assorted dishes at Ho Liao including char kwai teow (top left).

Four hot new city restaurants with $15 lunch deals to hit in your break

  • Tomas Telegramma
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Ruzia’s Plate is a deli selection of pickles, cheese, meats and rye-and-caraway loaf.

Caulfield loses a local favourite, but gains Ruzia’s, the wine bar it was missing

  • Dani Valent
Red Cliff restaurant in Melbourne CBD.
14.5/20

City restaurant Red Cliff’s signature dish has been served 100,000 times

  • Frank Sweet
The kavurma snack pack with chicken.

Latif’s Street Foods serves top Turkish snacks in an op-shop car park

  • Dani Valent

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/melbourne-eating-out/melbourne-hit-list-july-2025-the-hot-new-and-just-reviewed-places-to-check-out-this-month-20250701-p5mbqo.html