Ask any Australian which is the best café in Melbourne and most of them will direct you to Proud Mary.
The Collingwood café has achieved a lot over the past seven years; it was ranked as Melbourne’s Best Café in 2012 by The Age Good Food Guide and most recently, it was ranked as Australia’s second best cafe by review site Beanhunter.
Dressed up to the nines and ready to splurge on that one special occasion? Be it an anniversary dinner or a birthday lunch, there are 5 fine dining restaurants in Melbourne – located in the CBD, Docklands, Southbank and Eastside of the city – for you to visit, namely Atlantic, Bistro Guillaume, No 35, Zio’s and New Quay. Atlantic has been host to Lady Gaga, Bistro Guillaume has won several chef hat awards over the past few years, No 35 overlooks the skyscrapers of Melbourne CBD, Zio’s chocolate soufflé has been coined as “to die for” and last but not least, New Quay does it buffet style.
Words and photographs by Hui Jun Ng
Living in Melbourne city has been an exciting gastronomical experience for me. Being surrounded by endless food and beverages on a daily basis has prompted me to come up with a list of 5 special foodie experiences that are reasonably priced.
Forget about walking along the main roads, it’s time to venture further, turn into laneways and walk up/down dark stairways. These precious gems that I am about to talk about (an open concept roof top bar, a tram stop café, an Italian restaurant managed by a mischievous boss, a floating bar and an underground Japanese restaurant) are located in the city vicinity but often in unnoticeable places. There’s so much Melbourne can offer!
If you did not know, Melbourne is known as the coffee central of the world. I verified this fact personally during a trip to the coffee heaven this winter. I admit, I am a coffee lover and yes, if you are one too, you have to go on a café spree when you visit this city.
So come on, follow me on my café-hopping journey. Here are 5 cafes in Melbourne that you should totally drop by.