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Adam Liaw’s prawn party.

Eight easy food swaps to make this Christmas a whole lot healthier (but just as delicious)

We get it – you want to indulge this festive season. Here are some clever ways to eat and be merry while avoiding a truckload of fat and calories.

  • Susie Burrell
Local legend Andrew McConnell is cooking the World’s Longest Lunch.

Star chef-restaurateur Andrew McConnell to headline next year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival

More than 25 global and interstate chefs are joining the event in March, plus “butter butlers”, fancy sausages and a hat-worthy American diner in Fed Square.

  • Emma Breheny
Katrina Meynink’s spicy tomato slab tart.

14 relaxed, share-friendly dinners to make this week

Special enough to serve to unexpected guests, yet not too finicky for everyday family meals, these crowd-pleasers are fun, fresh, flavourful and festive.

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RecipeTin Eats’ triumphant Christmas trifle.

Catch up on all our new Christmas recipes for 2023 (featuring RecipeTin’s neat-as-a-pin trifle)

All the latest recipes sitting under the Good Food Christmas tree, from traditional dishes to sunny European-inspired share plates.

Chef Tom Sarafian with a platter of the Middle Eastern food he’l showcase at the Australian Open 2024.

Game, set, brunch: Top Melbourne chefs are all ready to ace it at next month’s Australian Open

Melbourne’s king of dips is bringing back some old Bar Saracen favourites plus a brand-new Lebanese brunch menu built for days on a rooftop at the tennis.

  • Emma Breheny

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Christmas cooking

RecipeTin Eats’ triumphant Christmas trifle.

Catch up on 23 new Christmas recipes for 2023

Supermarket blinis are affordable but look fancy.

Twelve supermarket hacks for easy, breezy entertaining

  • Jill Dupleix
Woolworths pigs in blankets for Christmas taste test for Good Food December 2022.

Eight Christmas food traditions that I’ll never understand

  • Callan Boys
The top three Christmas hams in the Good Food 2023 taste test.

The Good Food guide to supermarket Christmas hams

  • Bianca Hrovat
RecipeTin Eats’ traditional Christmas feast, featuring roast pumpkin salad, maple-glazed ham and brined and glazed turkey breast.

Traditional recipes for a very merry RecipeTin Eats Christmas

Eating out

A Richard Stringer sculpture dominates the Mount Monument dining room.
13/20

This ‘monumental’ winery restaurant lives up to its name, but how’s its menu?

This winery, cellar door, restaurant and sculpture park one hour north of Melbourne is definitely worth a visit.

  • Dani Valent
Mietta by Rosemary’s strawberry sponge and two-texture chocolate cake.

Jump in line for cake slices and soft-serve from a former Attica pastry chef

  • Tomas Telegramma
Owner Fabio Angele at the new Brunetti Classico in Moonee Ponds.

Cult Italian cafe Brunetti Classico opens another Carlton venue with a difference

  • Tomas Telegramma
Purple Pit co-owner Joe Jones in the basement space.

Two hospo heavyweights combine to open luxe basement bar Purple Pit

  • Tomas Telegramma

Lists & guides

Stan’s Grill’s cevapi sandwich.

December hit list: Hot, new and just-reviewed places to check out

Marinated chicken and lamb with curry, banana and chow mein at Banana Leaf in Hampton Park.

Four up and coming Melbourne eat streets at every point of the compass

Embla’s bread with mushroom butter.

Melbourne’s best restaurant bread revealed in the Caps awards

The Bologna at Stefanino Panino.

Six new sandwich joints in Melbourne’s inner north

Xiao long bao at HuTong Dumpling Bar in the CBD.

25 of Melbourne’s most iconic restaurants to tick off your bucket list

Pick Prik is a destination for those seeking the colour and atmosphere of Bangkok.

Five new Thai restaurants in Bourke Street’s top end

The popular chicken parma at The Birmy.

Pub specials: Where to find Melbourne’s best chicken parma bargains

The Age Good Food Guide Awards

Everything you need to know from The Age Good Food Guide Awards

The namesake banh cuon at Xuan Banh Cuon in Sunshine.

20 under-the-radar venues our reviewers can’t get enough of

The hats

The Age Good Food Guide 2024: Full list of hats

Bar Bellamy in Rathdowne Street, Carlton.

The 30 best bars in Melbourne right now

Puttanesca pizza will be on the menu, along with other variations on the theme.

11 new and revamped venues making the inner east cool (at last!)

Recent reviews

The Recreation’s interior has had a recent upgrade.
14.5/20

This ‘fantastic’ inner north bistro is on its way to becoming one of Melbourne’s best

  • Besha Rodell
A Richard Stringer sculpture dominates the Mount Monument dining room.
13/20

This ‘monumental’ winery restaurant lives up to its name, but how’s its menu?

  • Dani Valent
The go-to dish: Grilled lobster.
14/20

‘Weird’ restaurant Muli almost doesn’t want you to visit

  • Besha Rodell
The go-to dish: Tuna en croute.
14/20

Does unconventional CBD all-day venture Antara 128 work?

  • Besha Rodell
Melburnians took some convincing to sit at the restaurant’s tapas bar (right).
Good Food hat15/20

Twenty years on, the original MoVida is still setting the bar high

  • Dani Valent

Recipes

RecipeTin Eats: Italian marinated chicken with grilled vegetables and smushed potatoes.
EASY

RecipeTin Eats’ Italian marinated chicken is a speedy delight

A zingy marinade works overtime in this sunny dish, delivering twice the flavour in half the time.

  • < 30 mins
  • Nagi Maehashi
Serving suggestion: Chicken shish with flatbread, hot chips, yoghurt and mint.
EASY

Shish yeah! These chicken kebabs with flatbread and hot chips are a perfect fakeaway

  • 30 mins - 1 hr
  • Katrina Meynink
Emelia Jackson’s blueberry crumble cookies.
EASY

Emelia Jackson’s blueberry cookies (with a crumble topping you can put on anything)

  • < 30 mins
  • Emelia Jackson
Helen Goh’s cherry pavlova.

Helen Goh’s cherry pavlova with almond and yoghurt cream

  • 2 hrs +
  • Helen Goh

Recipe collections

No-bake Nutella cheesecake recipe for RecipeTin Eats Good Food online column February 2021. Good Food use only. Not for syndication. Must credit RecipeTin Eats. Image supplied by Nagi Maehashi

Five no-bake cheesecakes to make this weekend

Spaghetti with blistered cherry tomatoes.

14 of Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s best midweek recipes of 2023

Helen Goh’s raspberry and lemon curd cake.

Cream of the crop: The great cake countdown of 2023, numbers 25-10 revealed

A combination of pecorino romano and parmigiano reggiano is a great substitute for the typical provolone del monaco cheese.

14 hassle-free meat-free dinners to cook this week

Hurricane popcorn.

Five fun popcorn recipes to make for your next movie night

RecipeTin Eats’ spicy margarita.

Raise a spicy marg to the 20 most popular recipes of November

One-pan honey soy chicken.

A fast, budget-friendly recipe (or two) for every day of this week

Cauliflower fritters with Japanese-style curried egg sauce.

25 vegetarian cauliflower recipes starring these fritters with curried sauce

Preserved lemon hummus with cumin and sumac roasted chickpeas. Ottolenghi inspired mix and match Middle Eastern share friendly feast recipes for Good Food, October 2019. Images and recipes by Katrina Meynink. Good Food use only.

Five delicious DIY dips to whip up this party season

Oyakodon has been a midweek staple in Julia Busutil Nishimura’s household for more than a decade.

14 easy, crowd-pleasing Japanese recipes to make this week

Crispy smashed potatoes recipe for RecipeTin Eats Good Food online column November 2020. Good Food use only. Not for syndication. Must credit RecipeTin Eats. Image supplied by Nagi Maehashi

The golden hour: Seven smashing spud recipes that nobody can resist

Stir-fried beef and asparagus.

10 sizzling new weeknight stir-fries to try right now

Our recipe writers

Explore recipes

Tips & advice

South Melbourne Seafood director John Kyzintas

Lobsters up, prawns stable: A buying guide to seafood this Christmas

  • Callan Boys
Controlled portions will help you avoid overdoing dessert.

Why we overeat, explained (and seven easy ways to avoid it this festive season)

  • Susie Burrell
Real ice-cream needs to have a cream and/or milk base with no less than 10 per cent milk fat.

Full-fat, low-sugar, high-protein: A dietitian rates eight types of ice-cream tubs

  • Susie Burrell
Adam Liaw’s vegetable frittata.

How to save money by using the ingredients languishing in your pantry

  • Kimberley Gillan
Adam Liaw’s heirloom tomato and bread salad.

Who should really be taking ‘miracle weight-loss’ drug Ozempic – a dietitian weighs in

  • Susie Burrell

From our partners

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Drinks

Lloyd Brothers winemaker Gonzalo Sanchez advocates adding both ice and soda to certain types of wine.

Why putting ice in your wine glass could be the hack of summer

  • Katie Spain
At Mudgee restaurant The Zin House, the ingredients for tea are plucked direct from the garden.

Coming soon to a glass near you: Four drinks trends to look forward to sipping this summer

  • Katie Spain

More from Good Food

Good Food Guide tote bundle available from The Store.

The Good Food Guide 2024 magazines are on sale now

Good Food Month is now Good Food Events.

Good Food Month is now a year-round program of the best chefs, food and restaurants

Popular on Good Food

RecipeTin Eats’ triumphant Christmas trifle.

Catch up on all our new Christmas recipes for 2023 (featuring RecipeTin’s neat-as-a-pin trifle)

Adam Liaw’s prawn party.

Eight easy food swaps to make this Christmas a whole lot healthier (but just as delicious)

  • Susie Burrell
The colourful pastry platter at Taita’s Breakfast.

This new Lebanese milk bar cafe in the backstreets of Thornbury has community at its heart

  • Dani Valent
Katrina Meynink’s spicy tomato slab tart.

14 relaxed, share-friendly dinners to make this week

Local legend Andrew McConnell is cooking the World’s Longest Lunch.

Star chef-restaurateur Andrew McConnell to headline next year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival

  • Emma Breheny
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