Let me start with the big news first. I’ve moved to Melbourne! Yes! While R is still in Mumbai and will join me soon, I have been exploring the city and trying to settle in in since the last 3 weeks. I’ve found a house in CBD (Central Business District) – sort of like a city centre in European tourism lingo. My new job is going quite well, and I can’t wait to explore Australia as soon as R gets here and the weather gets better!

So, I’m going to dedicate my first post on Australia and Melbourne to the FOOD in Melbourne. I must say, this city is a paradise for a foodie like me. There are thousands of options and numerous cuisines to explore.

Let’s start with breakfast. The concept of Brunch is booming all over the world and Melbourne is no exception. There are hundreds of cafes and restaurants in Melbourne that serve excellent brunch. But my favorite so far has been Oliver’s at Pensione Hotel Melbourne. If you are walking from Flinders Street towards Collins Street, it’s hard to miss this cafe due to its unusual display on toy animals in the gigantic display windows.

That’s probably the reason I decided to try the cafe in the first place. The display makes you curious.  When you enter the cafe it’s a very casual place – friendly staff, lovely menu and simple seating. My favorite thing to order here is toast with various condiments. Sometimes I order grilled tomatoes, avocado and bacon and sometimes I order mushrooms, feta and chorizo, with some Long Black of course (that’s what they call Americano in Melbourne).

Oliver’s is a very cozy place with tasty food and great coffee. I would totally recommend if you are a Brunch person. Here are a few more pics. I come here for breakfast almost every weekend.

Moving on, let’s discuss lunch.  Vietnamese – is a cuisine I hadn’t explored much back in Mumbai. But Melbourne is filled with Vietnamese food places and I just had to try it! So far I’ve tried various Phos and Rice Paper Rolls. And I must tell you, Pho is my most favourite thing to have for lunch or even dinner. It’s a noodle based soup that you can have with different types of meat – beef, chicken, seafood or even vegetarian with tofu. My favourite place for Pho is ‘Pho 24’, located very close to Southern Cross train station.

It also seems like a healthy option to me – lots of bean sprouts and fresh vegetables. You can even adjust the level of spice – they give you lots of sauces and chilies to play around with.

And these are rice paper rolls. Self explanatory I think 🙂

Another popular cuisine in Melbourne is Korean. I went to this fancy dinner place once that was fully packed and  served great food!

Guhng is an upscale Korean fine dine place. They have a vast Korean menu and a good selection on wines. They are known for their Barbeque style food but you need at least 2 people to eat that kind of quantity. Since I was without company, I tried their traditional sticky rice meal with wine and was very satisfied!

I also want to mention this place I went to with a friend… and I must thank him for this. If you like fish, you can’t afford to miss Hunky Dory.  It’s a simple fish restaurant. You can choose your fish with chips or with a salad and rice or even a roll. I chose the salad rice option.

Excellent fresh fish, amazing flavor! Again a very affordable place. Hunky Dory is a chain but we went to the one in Richmond.

If you eat beef, you sure can’t resist a great steak in Australia. I tried this fancy place at South Wharf – Meat Market and was very happy with the service and the food. Of course the view of the river was an icing on the cake.

I tried the Kilcoy Eye Fillet with the house Shiraz and some corn on the cob. It was a great dinner!

The next one. When I was house hunting on Elizabeth Street, I bumped into this restaurant called Torasan. It’s also a simple and quick service place, known for Ramen- one of my favorites since a while.

They have a digital menu, plain seating and minimal interaction service. The food is excellent!

Hope this was exciting and helpful if you are planning to visit Melbourne.

I cant wait to explore more of Melbourne! Expect my next post soon!