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Tocca restaurant in Werribee.

How a run-down strip became the most exciting culinary street in the west

In Melbourne’s west, diners are spending big at this once-unassuming strip that now bustles with amazing eateries. In this series, Dani Valent tells you exactly where to eat and drink on Watton Street.

  • Dani Valent
Nutritionist, dietitian and writer Sarah Pound.

This nutritionist’s fuss-free meals made her a social media star. She’s now our new recipe writer

Let Sarah Pound help ease your midweek cooking stress with her practical advice and family-friendly recipes that we know you’ll love.

  • Megan Johnston
Steak with store-bought crispy chilli oil and simple sides is a midweek favourite.

From RecipeTin’s steak to warm apple cakes: The 20 most popular recipes of April

There were lots of great, seasonal and simple recipes to sink your teeth into in April. These are the ones you loved the most

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Chris Lucas is to open a new restaurant in Canberra.

It’s not Sydney or Melbourne, so which city are the big restaurant names flocking to open in?

Dining mogul Chris Lucas of Chin Chin fame will open a 150-seat European restaurant there in the spring.

  • Scott Bolles
Tiamo restaurant in Carlton.

Five years ago, Lygon Street was dying. Now diners are queuing out the door

Melbourne’s most iconic dining strip was saved from a slow demise – but if you’re only visiting for Italian, you’re doing it wrong. In this series, Dani Valent tells you exactly where you should go to eat and drink.

  • Dani Valent

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Eating out

Pasta at the front, diners at the back at Prova.

Enter this pasta shop via a back lane to discover Thornbury’s classy and discreet new diner

Two nights a week, the Umberto team’s pasta shop Pastificio Sandro moonlights as a restaurant, with charry mortadella skewers and a fancy version of nonna’s soup.

  • Tomas Telegramma
Enoteca Zingara is aiming to be an affordable pit-stop like those in Italy.

‘We need this in Melbourne now’: Hatted trattoria opens a more casual and affordable spin-off

  • Emma Breheny
The chip butty at Glory-Us cafe is finished with homemade HP sauce.

Chip butties to Chiko rolls: Your retro favourites are back on the menu (and here’s where to find them)

  • Emma Breheny
Mulberry Group founder Nathan Toleman with CENTRE NAME CHASING, and chef Aleksis Kalnins on the Molli rooftop.

Abbotsford’s strong dining scene has been missing something. That’s set to change soon

  • Emma Breheny

Lists & guides

A cheeseburger and beer on tap is part of the relaxed offering.

Your May hit list: The hot, new and just-reviewed places to check out this month

At Flower Drum, the service alone is remarkable.

Our chief critic’s little black book of places she usually only shares with visiting friends

Sean’s

I’m coming to Sydney for the week, where should I eat? The critic’s top picks for visitors

Bridge Road Brewers’ menu champions pizza topped with local ingredients.

The best places to eat, drink (and scoff pizza) in Rutherglen and surrounds

Bronwyn with her beloved cheeseburger at Butcher’s Diner.

From noodles to late-night burgers, this is where comedians eat out on the cheap in Melbourne

The chefs’ culinary backgrounds merge in the lamb forequarter chops with chimichurri.

10 hot new southside venues worth making a pit stop at

Seabourn dining

Thinking about booking a cruise? Everything you need to know about the food and drink

Publique Bakery owner Sung Kim at the CBD shop.

Eight of Melbourne’s new-wave bakeries worth spending your dough on

Assorted dishes at The Petrel Hotel in Geelong West.

Road trip! 15 new regional restaurants to check out

Sink into a banquette, or nab a prized seat at the bar at Bar Lourinha.

Suburban gems, laneway legends: 10 of Melbourne’s best Spanish restaurants

Deep End pizzeria in Fitzroy specialises in three different styles of US pizza: Chicago, New York and Detroit.

Eight new (and new-ish) pizza places serving styles beyond Neapolitan

Lee Ho Fook owner-chef Victor Liong outside his favourite Melbourne restaurant, Flower Drum.

The chefs’ guide to Melbourne’s Chinatowns (and what to order)

Recent reviews

Sizzling pork jowl and green lip abalone sisig.
14.5/20

It’s already hard to get a booking but is this shmick new Filipino restaurant worth the hype?

  • Besha Rodell
A selection of Iranian dishes at Kitchen 55.
14/20

‘This frankly odd menu is one of the most exciting eating experiences I’ve had in ages’

  • Dani Valent
Whitebark wine bar in West Melbourne.
13.5/20

Quiet neighbourhood gem Whitebark is as DIY as it gets, but you probably won’t mind

  • Besha Rodell
The Peach.
13.5/20

Basq’s charming hut − and its peachy dessert − is a fairytale find near an airfield

  • Dani Valent
Strawberry and rose kakigori.

Why our reviewer is excited about eating icy kakigori all through Melbourne’s winter

  • Dani Valent

Recipes

Steak with store-bought crispy chilli oil and simple sides is a midweek favourite.

From RecipeTin’s steak to warm apple cakes: The 20 most popular recipes of April

There were lots of great, seasonal and simple recipes to sink your teeth into in April. These are the ones you loved the most

Brown cinnamon biscuits.
EASY

Adam Liaw’s simple golden cinnamon treats really take the biscuit

  • 30 mins - 1 hr
  • Adam Liaw
Roasted vegetable soup.
EASY

One of the easiest ways to simplify your cooking is with soup, says Adam Liaw

  • 1-2 hrs
  • Adam Liaw
Everyday chocolate cake with whipped cocoa cream.
EASY

Creator of the ‘world’s best chocolate cake’ shares her new, improved kid-friendly recipe

  • 1-2 hrs
  • Helen Goh

Recipe collections

One-pan slurpy creamy tomato and fennel ravioli with optional spicy sausage.

14 simple dinners that go straight to the sauce

RecipeTin Eats’ 20-minute Thai chicken satay curry.

50 crowd-pleasing chicken dishes (starring RecipeTin’s hugely popular quick curry)

Fast one tray eggplant and spicy salami lasagne. Sage Creative autumn/winter recipes for Good Food online and Home Front. February 2022. Good Food use only. Please credit James Moffatt

14 of our favourite low-fuss and affordable dishes to cook this week

Manoush-style pizzas with prawns and chilli.

10 fast and curious Friday night flatbread pizzas

Vegetarian-friendly pithiviers filled with mushroom ragu.

Five crowd-pleasing Recipe Tin pies to bake this weekend

Barbecued cauliflower with mascarpone bechamel.

Five easy and cheesy new cauliflower steak recipes

RecipeTin Eats’ golden coconut pumpkin and chickpea curry.

10 budget-friendly vegie one-dish dinners to cook this week

Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s spiced apple cake with mascarpone and maple frosting.

Freshly baked recipes: Five new apple cakes to make this weekend

Adam Liaw’s chicken diane.

10 of your favourite retro recipes given the Adam Liaw treatment

This hearty meatball and pasta soup is sure to be love at first spoonful.

Eat and repeat: 10 warming new recipes to put on high rotation

14 midweek meals ready in three steps or less to make this week

14 midweek meals ready in three steps or less to make this week

Rice bowls with sticky roasted pumpkin.

20 healthy recipes to get back on track after the Easter blowout

Our recipe writers

Explore recipes

Tips & advice

Soluble fibre is found in oats, legumes and fruits, and dissolves with water to form a gel-like substance.

Why fibre is the unsung hero in our diet (and how to eat more of it)

  • Anna Magee
To preheat or not to preheat? That is the question.

Why everything you thought about preheating your oven may be wrong

  • Alice Zaslavsky
Wholemeal or rye bread is a good option for those who can’t tolerate grain bread.

A dietitian ranks eight popular supermarket breads (and reveals her favourite loaves)

  • Susie Burrell
The ultimate cheese toastie needs the perfect pull factor.

Pulling power: 10 melty cheeses for toasties, ranked for ooze and stretch by a pro

  • Ellie Studd
Cruise ships are introducing smaller venues and more specialised cuisines to suit a new generation of food-savvy passengers.

Thinking about booking a cruise? Everything you need to know about the food and drink

From our partners

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Drinks

Light but tough enough to stand upright, the bagnum holds the equivalent of two bottles of wine.

Raise a glass to the bagnum, the plastic wine pouch that’s made cask wine cool again

  • Katie Spain
Top-ranking Yarra Yering is known for its cabernet and shiraz varietals and blends, but especially its Dry Red Wine No. 1.

Australia’s 52 top wineries of 2024

  • Huon Hooke

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 gift card.

Give the gift of good food with Good Food restaurant gift cards

Popular on Good Food

Nutritionist, dietitian and writer Sarah Pound.

This nutritionist’s fuss-free meals made her a social media star. She’s now our new recipe writer

  • Megan Johnston
Steak with store-bought crispy chilli oil and simple sides is a midweek favourite.

From RecipeTin’s steak to warm apple cakes: The 20 most popular recipes of April

Chris Lucas is to open a new restaurant in Canberra.

It’s not Sydney or Melbourne, so which city are the big restaurant names flocking to open in?

  • Scott Bolles
One-tray cheesy tomato and basil chicken strips.

This chicken dish proves healthy doesn’t need to be boring says Good Food’s new columnist

  • Sarah Pound
Pasta at the front, diners at the back at Prova.

Enter this pasta shop via a back lane to discover Thornbury’s classy and discreet new diner

  • Tomas Telegramma
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