Why this is my favourite destination to eat in Australia

First, a caveat: I live in Sydney, so I can’t say Sydney. This is a story about my favourite foodie destination in Australia, and my home town is not a destination. It’s my home town.

So, as much as I love the food offerings in the NSW capital, as much as I think they’re underrated by people who tend to salivate over Melbourne and rave about Tasmania, as much as western Sydney in particular always seems to be forgotten despite the vast swathe of high-quality restaurants serving food from around the world … I’m going to say Melbourne.

My favourite foodie destination is Melbourne. If I’m travelling in Australia to eat, then I’m headed to the Victorian capital. Sure, there are hugely exciting things happening in Tassie, and Adelaide is amazing, plus I’ve already canvassed Sydney’s greatness, and so many of Australia’s wine regions now boast seriously great dining scenes too – still, it has to be Melbourne.

There’s just so much to choose from in so small an area. Where do you even start?

Perhaps from the top, from the fine-diners that win all the awards and grab all the attention, names such as Attica and Gimlet, Vue de Monde and Lume. These are truly great high-end dining experiences in the Australian mould, playful and sometimes even casual while at the same time supremely skilful in their execution.

Gimlet, Melbourne.Credit: Earl Carter

Then you have the mid-tier eateries, the vast swathe of dining options spread throughout Melbourne, affordable though incredibly high-quality, everything from French bistros to elevated pizza joints to Japanese izakaya to dumpling dens to noodle joints to oh, just about everything else.

And then what about that special brand of restaurant, something of a recent addition to the Melbourne scene, that takes food many of us have probably only ever considered as “cheap”, and reveals its true potential?

I’m talking about Enter Via Laundry, the cult diner serving high-end regional Indian cuisine. I’m thinking of Minamishima, doing incredible sushi; Sunda, serving creative, beautiful pan-Asian food; Jeow, making high-end Laotian; Pastuso, serving elevated Peruvian cuisine; Serai, doing beautiful Filipino; Tipo 00, showing how much you can do with pasta, and even Flower Drum, a Melbourne classic, the perfect example of Chinese fine-dining.

Sushi at Minamishima.Credit: Minamishima

But if I’m visiting Melbourne I’m also going to the cosy pubs and the killer wine bars, the friendly neighbourhood joints and the on-trend city boozers. I’m going to Gerald’s Bar in Carlton, probably my favourite drinking den in Australia. I’m eating at the Gasometer or the Palace or the Lincoln. I’m sipping fancy things at Embla or Bellota or Public Wine Shop.

And don’t forget that out there on Melbourne’s fringes you have several of Australia’s best wine regions just waiting to be explored, in the form of the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and Geelong.

But then you’re back in town and you have to visit Melbourne’s European-style markets because you don’t really find these anywhere else in Australia (although a big hello to Adelaide’s Central Market). You’ve got South Melbourne Market, which oozes continental charm; Prahan Market, with one of the world’s best toasted cheese sandwiches at Maker and Monger; Queen Victoria Market, with just huge amounts of everything, every foodie’s dream.

The all-American grilled cheese toastie at Maker and Monger, Prahran Market.Credit: Kristoffer Paulsen

And you have to eat breakfast too, so you do it at Lune, with its famous croissants, or Cibi, with its Japanese-style dishes, or Napier Quarter, with its “dinner for breakfast” approach, or one of, I don’t know, about a million other options.

Or, you choose to spend your days just grazing in suburban foodie enclaves, the likes of Footscray, with its amazing Vietnamese options, Richmond, which is more of the same, Brunswick, with little bits of everything affordable and authentic, and even the CBD for Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, Malaysian...

God I’m so hungry. Take me to Melbourne now.