Eating out

• Review
• Blackburn

This Japanese cafe in an old milk bar in the ’burbs is worth a trip

Sure, you can get eggs and extras, but wouldn’t you rather have a spicy octopus sando or a chicken karaage rice bowl?

• December 21, 2023
• Dani Valent

• Collection
• Hot & new

20 group-friendly spots for last-minute Christmas catch-ups in Melbourne

From new-look rooftop bars to tipsy trifle by the riverside, here’s where to eat, drink and be merry with friends this weekend.

• Review
• Prahran

Never trust a singing chef? L’Amorino’s panini and loaded pizza slices are on song

Chef Angelo Magliocco often unleashes an aria as he goes about his making and baking at this tiny pizza and cake shop.

• December 20, 2023
• Dani Valent

• Just open

Rumi restaurant launches Rocket Society with $8 Lebanese wraps by day, bar snacks by night

Rocket Society launches into Brunswick East with a fresh line-up of Middle Eastern-inspired fillings.

• December 20, 2023
• Tomas Telegramma

• Exclusive
• Coming soon

This new restaurant will have the city’s biggest wine-by-the-glass list (just don’t call it a wine bar)

The star-studded team behind Circl wants to shake up how we drink wine in restaurants when it opens early next year.

• December 19, 2023
• Emma Breheny

• Good Food recommends

These are the best restaurant dishes the Good Food team ate this year (and yes, there’s tiramisu)

Hundreds of great plates were consumed around Victoria in 2023, all in the name of research, of course. These were the ones that made us sit up and pay attention.

• December 19, 2023
• The Good Food team

• Comment
• Best of

Smaller thrills, bigger bills: The year of neighbourhood bistros and rising prices

The Age restaurant critic Besha Rodell celebrates the low-key, steady and consistent excellence of 2023.

• December 19, 2023
• Besha Rodell

• Coming soon

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.

• December 18, 2023
• Emma Breheny

• Exclusive
• Hot & new

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.

• December 16, 2023
• Emma Breheny

• Coming soon

Seaside tavern from a high-profile chef will bring more sizzle to this holiday hotspot

Clam Bar will offer oysters, hand-cut chips, fish sandwiches and wine, plus a rotating line-up of food vendors hand-picked by chef David Moyle.

• December 15, 2023
• Emma Breheny