Recently, in the interests of science, I drove around Melbourne for two days visiting cafes. I hit 19 cafes in the north, south, east, west and city. I hithered and thithered so much, I crashed my maps app. I so soused myself with coffee, I briefly saw the Yarra as a percolated brew. I took home so many sweets and biscuits, I felt very domestic goddess - as soon as I hid the telltale paper bags. My overwhelming feeling at the end of my gluttonous ordeal was this: Melbourne is amazing. We are so lucky.

I came home with a clear favourite: Marmalade and Soul. In its scope and ambition, it's as much restaurant as cafe, with top chef Raymond Capaldi (Hare & Grace) as owner and an increasing focus on lunch and dinner. But still: the spacious former pub is welcoming and handsome, like a country kitchen with sass and soul.

The food is clever, rigorous and satisfying, and the service is relaxed but correct. I've only one quibble: on my second visit, the seasoning was way out of whack and some dishes were painfully salty. It's a hazard for chefs living in their high-salt world: sometimes their briny palates taste salt only when it's at a level that will sting mere mortals.

Cock-a-leekie (chicken and leek soup) shares its Scottish heritage with chef Capaldi but the soup dates further back, to mediaeval times. This version is made with a double chicken stock (a base stock that's cooked again with more chicken) so the underlying poultry flavours are rich and deep. The broth is stacked with plenty of white meat, sweet leek and barley. Harking back to an antique version of the soup, it also includes plump prunes, which peep from a gorgeous bowl by local ceramicist Robert Gordon.

A knack for blending the ancient and modern is also evident in the cottage pie. The ''pie'' is deconstructed: braised beef in an outstanding dark jus comes with delicious quenelles of smoked mash and eel fillet. The beef'n'eel combination references a classic poor-man's dish from London's East End.

It's clever but it's not grandstanding: all you need do is eat and enjoy. That's an easy ask with desserts such as the chocolate bread-and-butter pudding, sliced like a terrine and served with brilliant burnt orange custard. In a city dotted with awesome cafes, this one truly delights.  ★★★★

MARMALADE AND SOUL
162 Queens Parade, Fitzroy North, 9486 2740
Licensed MC V eftpos
Tues-Fri 10am-4pm; Sat-Sun 8am-4pm; Wed-Sat 6.30pm-late