Women smiling with two children while seated at a pizza restaurant's outdoor terrace.
Photograph: Supplied / Brunetti Classico
Photograph: Supplied / Brunetti Classico

The best Lygon Street restaurants and bars

Spanning several of the inner north's revered foodie suburbs, this historic strip boasts some of Melbourne's best restaurants

Advertising

Since the 1960s, Lygon Street has been known and loved as Melbourne's Little Italy precinct. Locals and tourists alike flock to the leafy strip – abuzz on weekends with the roaring of fancy cars and roaming of uni students, teens and families – for proper espresso, pasta and cake, and a true taste of Italian-style al fresco action. 

Sure, you might get a bit of hassle from the sales-y footpath waiters trying to lure you in, but true Melburnians know that's a part of the street's charm. And though much has changed in the last decade, there's no doubt that if you want to sit out on a terrace with a pizza bigger than your head or sip Spritzes on a rooftop, Lygon Street is still the place to be. 

In 2024, there's a much larger and more diverse culinary offering in this area than ever before. Particularly on the southern end of the Carlton stretch, you'll discover incredible eateries for Egyptian, Japanese, Indian, Thai, plus a variety of other cuisines. No longer just the domain of spaghetti and salumi, Lygon Street is now also worth heading to for a bangin' biryani or world-class Asian fusion.

And that's not all. Take a stroll up towards Brunswick East and you'll discover trendy wine bars, pubs with live music, American barbecue, Polish dumplings, Sicilian food and one of the best taco joints in town.

Hungry yet? Let's go for a wander! We've listed Lygon Street's best restaurants in Google Maps-checked order so you'll know where to find them.

Looking for the cream of the crop? Here are Melbourne's 50 best restaurants right now.

Best restaurants on Lygon Street

  • Japanese
  • Carlton
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Into the Carlton kingdom of carbs and cheese comes fine diner Kazuki’s, and winner of our Best Fine Diner award in 2019. Most of this restaurant's magic is thanks to a great chef – Kazuki Tsuya from Akita in Northern Japan, who blends classic French culinary techniques with Japanese flavours and top Aussie produce. The result? Dishes that are well worth the dosh. 

There are two ways to tackle Kazuki’s, starting at the option of five courses for $180 per person and heading northwards to the menu of seven courses for $220. Kazuki’s tasting menus have been thoughtfully designed so you can experience the kitchen’s complete offering in a curated way, alongside optional wine and saké pairing series, respectively titled “Classic” ($150 per person) or “Fancy” ($250).

Ever since it started operating out of Rathdowne Street, Khabbay has gained a devoted following for its large range of marinated meats cooked over hot charcoal – from its fish and chicken seekh kebab to its six different varieties of chicken boti kebab, soaked in a mixture of yogurt, aromatics and spices before they’re skewered and grilled to perfection. Its move to larger premises on Lygon Street has only made it even more central for lovers of Pakistani-Indian cuisine.

If charcoal-grilled meats aren’t to your liking, there are plenty of other dishes you won’t typically find in Indian restaurants around Melbourne, from the cheesy handi (sliced strips of chicken cooked in a creamy, cheesy, spiced sauce) and beef nihari (a slow-cooked meat stew made with bones and marrow) to the lahori channe (a thick, flavour-filled chickpea curry hailing from the Pakistani city of Lahore). We can also recommend the grilled charcoal fish, goat karahi and barbecue supreme platter.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor
Advertising
  • Italian
  • Carlton

If you’re a fan of comedy trio Sooshi Mango and their ‘ethnic dad’ videos, here’s an immersive new eatery in Carlton that will transplant you straight into their world in living, breathing colour. Replacing the former café St Charly that previously occupied the site, the traditional Italian restaurant is named – you guessed it – Johnny, Vince and Sam’s, after the three iconic characters created by Australian-Italian brothers Joe and Carlo Salanitri and their best friend Andrew Manfre. 

Their bustling restaurant draws on the lovably daggy charm of traditional nonno and nonna-style deco (think floral carpets, crystal cabinets and art prints depicting Jesus and the Last Supper) and unpretentious old-school Italian recipes. Anticipate Neapolitan-inspired light crust pizzas with names such as ‘You Like’A My Salami’ or ‘Capricciosa From’A My Town’, plus a generous selection of crowd-pleasers like spaghetti and meatballs, arancini, sugo-drenched gnocchi and, of course, the classic parmesan-crusted cotolette. 

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
  • Italian
  • Carlton
  • price 3 of 4

It's a bit uncomfy to admit, but everyone knows it: there's a lot of not very great "Italian" food on Lygon Street. We're not in the business of naming names, but almost every Melburnian you meet can recount an awful pizza or pasta they've had at one of Lygon Street's infamous tourist trap restaurants. Family-owned Donnini's is not one of them. Renowned for its handmade pasta amongst those in the know, the restaurant keeps it simple with an elegant fit-out, sharp, knowledgable service and a crowdpleasing roll-call of authentic Italian dishes. Sure, it's pricey but you get what you pay for.

Could this restaurant have the best carbonara on Lygon Street? We think so. Instead of buckets of cream, the chef here makes it the authentic way with Donnini's cured black pig guanciale, pepper and a free-range egg. Don't miss a long lunch at this underrated gem.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
Advertising
  • Carlton
  • price 2 of 4
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Asian-inspired, Asian fusion, modern Asian restaurants – whatever you want to call them – are familiar to Melbourne diners. Longrain and Gingerboy were early adopters way back when the focus was on rendering these cuisines ‘approachable’, Chin Chin and Supernormal inspired queues around the block in the 2010s, and the Hotel Windsor empire of Sunda, Aru and Parcs further upped the ante. But one of our reviewers reckons Lagoon – outlier in a sea of Italian restaurants – is the best of them. 

Make a booking and enjoy inventive dishes like salted fish fried rice, ox tongue crepes, charcoal-roasted char siu and some of the most delicious double-fried chicken bites in Melbourne.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor
  • Carlton
  • price 1 of 4
Tiamo
Tiamo

A Lygon Street institution if there ever was one, Tiamo still attracts the same queues it did when it first opened some 50 years ago as Tamani (it rebranded as Tiamo in 1977). After Tiamo 1 started outgrowing its space, Tiamo 2 opened in 1996 as an extension of the original restaurant – these days, you’d be wise to make a booking for either one if you have any hope of getting in.

Specialising in old-school Italian favourites like minestrone, veal palermitana, margherita and maccheroni della zia – served up on wooden tables surrounded by faded posters of Italy, checkerboard flooring and interiors that haven’t changed much in its decades of ownership by the same family. Tiamo is where you’d take a friend from out-of-town – it’s cosy, it’s homely and it’s a slice of Melbourne.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor
Advertising
  • Carlton

We don't care what anyone else says: Brunetti Classico, that famous family-friendly pasticceria in Lygon Court, is a freakin' Melbourne institution. Sure, the "I-only-like-hole-in-the-wall-hipster-digs" crowd will tell you it's just a chain, but this place is a survivor for a reason. 

A quadruple threat with a café, piazza, restaurant and gelateria onsite, you can while away the hours here with some surprisingly good pasta, coffee, pizza, pastries and even one of the best and most authentic Italian hot chocolates in town. A bonus: indie darling Cinema Nova is housed in the same building. So why not catch a flick and make a day of it? 

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
  • Japanese
  • Brunswick East

Kura Robata came to sit in the spot where the critically acclaimed Faye used to be (RIP), joining the many esteemed dining venues found along the Brunswick East end of Lygon Street. Executive chef Ken Ibuki, who has previously worked at Nobu and Kisumé, has put together a menu offering a modern take on Japanese flavours and techniques.

Much of the menu is centred around the age-old method of cooking over binchōtan (Japanese charcoal) encased in stone, and dishes are centred around fresh seafood and premium protein. Think butterflied local fish dressed with fiery yuzu kosho butter and capers, and charcoal-scorched skewers of giblets and chicken heart. The delicacy of Japanese cuisine is paired with punchy flavours and bold ingredients, all served in an inviting space where guests can witness first-hand the magic of the robata grill.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor
Advertising
  • Bistros
  • Brunswick East
  • price 2 of 4
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Etta has been hot on everyone’s lips since it entered the Brunswick East dining scene – particularly since head chef Rosheen Kaul joined the kitchen in 2020. In the culinary world, countless awards and glowing reviews often breed scepticism but a recent Tuesday evening dinner proved the praise is just as warranted as ever.

Though Etta is a restaurant, strictly speaking, it's frequently mistaken as a wine bar. Perhaps because it has a list to stand up among the best of Melbourne's wine bars. Fitting in with a trend many restaurants and bars seem to be following as of late, the food menu is snack-heavy and designed to share. Start strong with a massive crab masala-stuffed zucchini flower or enjoy a quail egg to begin; it's a one-bite wonder, served on a skewer with fried tofu, pickled radish, feferoni and a generous drizzle of Sichuan chilli oil.

Quincy Malesovas
Contributor

If you're a Turkish food lover, check out Halikarnas! Head chef Sibel Koyu is a master of traditional Turkish village-style cuisine, and her rustic dishes are prepared with love, finesse and a touch of aesthetic elegance.

Here, your tastebuds can take a trip across Turkey's various regional specialties, from succulent shish kebabs to comforting aromatic stews. The flavours are inspired by the communal nature of mealtimes in Turkish culture, so it's worth bringing family or a group or friends along. The atmosphere is always welcoming and on Sundays, you can even stop by for brekky or lunch and a cup of freshly brewed Turkish tea. 

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
Advertising

Did you really think we'd talk about a great Turkish restaurant on Lygon Street and not mention Yakamoz? Now, that'd just be sacrilegious in our books. While relatively new on the scene, Yakamoz has already become a red-hot hit, thanks to its fun, contemporary take on Mediterannean cuisine. 

Tuck into tasty wood-fired pides, cold and hot meze and large carnivorous offerings like the half-charcoal chook with currant and pine nut pilaf or the wood-roasted whole snapper. Crack open a bottle of good wine and your night's set. 

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
  • Brunswick East
The B.East
The B.East

The lively, slightly grungy, always fun B.East is a Brunswick East banger – hence the name – with burgers that gained cult followings long before vegetarian and vegan burgers became mainstream. 

There’s fun to be had with burger names on the B.East menu – Ron Swanston invokes the Parks & Rec character’s predilection for meat with its Wagyu beef patty, while the Clint Beastwood supplements its Southern-fried (real) chicken fillet with honey mustard barbecue sauce and jack cheddar. More than a meeting place for food, B.East is also a live music venue with free entry for all.

Advertising
  • Italian
  • Brunswick

In a town where Italian food reigns supreme with endless pizza and pasta restauarants, whole streets dedicated almost exclusively to the cuisine, old-school eateries that have been serving regulars for decades and new modern spots showcasing refined culinary options, it's hard for a pizzeria to stand out. Lucky for 400 Gradi, winning the title of the best pizza in the world went a far way to making it one of Melbourne's most beloved Italian joints. 

The Gradi empire may have grown, but Di Francesco has maintained his devotion and dedication to creating truly traditional Neopolitan pizza. 400 Gradi was the first Australian pizza restaurant to be certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (the True Neapolitan Pizza Association) and Johnny is also the principal of Australasia for the association.  

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
  • Brunswick East
Teta Mona
Teta Mona

Teta Mona is a favourite neighbourhood local, a boho-chic restaurant where brothers Antoine and Bechara Taouk are serving home-style Lebanese fare with plenty of pickles and very little fuss. It’s loud and it’s BYO, with friendly service in an intimate space. There are streetside seats for locals with dogs, while inside you’re sitting in an elongated room with couches, plenty of intricately carved tables and a big display of blown glass water pitchers.

Out the back is a big shady courtyard perfect for big groups. The menu vibrates with freshness and pep – the falafel are soft, fragrant balls made with a green and yellow split pea base for a sweeter spin on the chickpea classic, and you can’t go past the honeyed pastry parcels of samboosek bi jebne with halloumi and feta. On the meat front, the buttery wild rice and quinoa dish of rez wa djaj layered in with flaked almonds, pulled chicken tenderloins and verdant leafy spinach is a highlight.

Advertising
  • Barbecue
  • Brunswick East
  • price 2 of 4

Bluebonnet Barbecue has had a nomadic journey around Melbourne. It first opened in Collingwood in 2014, lost that venue to a fire, moved to temporary residences in Carlton’s Curtin, finally found a permanent home at the North Fitzroy Star and then when that didn’t work out, it set up shop on Lygon Street and hasn’t looked back.

Smoked meats are texturally perfect at Bluebonnet, and like most barbecue places, they come by the 100-gram portion. Enjoy the likes of barley-fed beef brisket, smoked lamb ribs and crisp pork belly alongside the best sides in town, ranging from smoked mash potato blanketed in brisket gravy to good old-fashioned mac and cheese. It works best when you’ve got a big group to divide and conquer the menu.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
  • Brunswick East
  • price 1 of 4

At this old-school restaurant that’s well and truly a Lygon Street stalwart, the atmosphere is lively, the food is reasonably priced, and the menu showcases the best of Sicilian cuisine, made for sharing. It’s best to visit alongside hungry dining companions to make the most of the menu and litres of house wine. You’ll want to book nice and early – there’s not a day Bar Idda isn’t packed.

Don’t leave without trying the mulinciani – melt-in-your-mouth layers of baked eggplant layered with passata, buffalo mozzarella and pecorino. The pastas are always excellent, but a main we can never go past is the pisci m’panattu – pan-fried barramundi fillets with almond flakes and the most herbaceous, zingy salsa verde.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor
Advertising
  • Brunswick East
  • price 2 of 4
Kumo Izakaya
Kumo Izakaya

Modern Japanese cuisine doesn’t come to mind straight away when you think of Lygon Street, but Kumo Izakaya is a must-visit spot for fans of fine sake and sochu. Housed in a cavernous space that is industrial yet cosy, with large window frontage out onto the street, Kumo’s izakaya menu is made for sharing and tends toward fresh, protein-heavy Japanese offerings. Just the thing to soak up all that sake.

If you’re familiar with Mr Miyagi’s infamous salmon nori taco, Kumo Izakaya has its own rendition in the form of a spicy tuna taco with the luxurious addition of avruga caviar. Kumo Izakaya does the classics – Japanese fried chicken, aburi salmon and agedashi tofu – with aplomb, but be sure to try its inventive dishes that blend Japanese cuisine with European influences: cod roe pasta, octopus pepperoncini and deep-fried spaghetti sticks with a nori seasoning.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor
  • Polish
  • Brunswick
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

This popular Brunswick East restaurant is run by the same owners of Pierogi Pierogi, and like their food truck, it's soul-warming, humble and tasty. The couple at the helm, Guy Daley and Dominika Sikorska, are known for bringing some of the most authentic Polish cuisine to Melbourne (a Polish friend of mine can attest to this).

One thing that’s impossible to ignore at Eat Pierogi Make Love is the unbelievably positive energy that seems to flow like an endless feedback loop between patrons and staff. Sure, there’s a solid injection of rosy vibes from rivers of liquor, but there’s more to it than that. Here’s a team who love the food they create and are passionate about serving it, and it makes a huge difference. Is there anywhere else in Melbourne like it? Absolutely not.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
Advertising
  • Middle Eastern
  • Brunswick
  • price 1 of 4

This Brunswick favourite churns out homestyle Middle Eastern food with provenance stretching from Iran and Iraq to Morocco and Tunisia. Mankoushe first opened as a bakery, milling Victorian wheat on site to turn out spinach and feta pastries, cult-status halloumi pies and vegetarian ‘pizzas’, before it took over the space next door and started offering sit-down meals over lunch and dinner.

Standout dishes are any of their woodfired pides – the batingen (roasted eggplant) and 3 abjen (Mankoushe’s answer to the Italian three-cheese pizza with halloumi, kasseri and Turkish feta) are our favourites – as well as the fava dip, the pearl couscous tossed around in an oily vinaigrette and chickpeas, and braised mussels in arak.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor

One of the newer kids on the Lygon Street block sits on is the highly vaunted Figlia, brought to you by the same people behind Tipo 00 and Osteria Ilaria. While pasta is the name of the game at its forebears, pizza is what you come to Figlia for.

Taking its cues from the famed Brooklyn pizzeria Roberta’s, Figlia (pronounced with a silent ‘g’) expands beyond margherita and funghi pizzas to include the lingua, where ox tongue finds itself on a base alongside roasted garlic, pecorino and endive, and crostaceo, where true to its shellfish-inspired name, Moreton Bay bug is allowed to shine surrounded by the complements of marjoram and heirloom tomato. Unlike its sister restaurants, you can walk in and expect to find a seat at Figlia – but this may not last for long.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor

Best bars on Lygon Street

  • Cocktail bars
  • Carlton
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Despite Lygon Street’s popularity with tourists and locals alike, there are probably only four venues on the famous Carlton end of the strip that regularly garner a long queue outside: ice cream shop Pidapipo, rooftop bar Johnny’s Green Room, Universal Restaurant (probably for its monster cheap parmas) and finally, Good Measure. 

The latter is an all-day coffee shop that transforms into a lively cocktail bar in the evenings, and it’s home to arguably the city’s most famous signature coffee order right now: the Mont Blanc. The food game's nothing to sniff at either; think 24-hour ox cheek rolls, crispy chicken sandos and fried pickles.  

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
  • Carlton

If it’s been a while since you last headed upstairs to Lygon Street’s Johnny’s Green Room, you’re in for a surprise. The trendy rooftop bar reopened last summer with a fresh Tuscan terrace-inspired look, menu and vibrant year-round music program in collaboration with Hope St Radio and some of Melbourne’s most sought after DJs. 

There's now a semi-retractable roof that keeps the bar weather-friendly all twelve months of the year, so it's the perfect spot to enjoy a Negroni or two and a meal. On the food front, you've got pizza made from 48-hour slow fermented dough and authentic toppings, plus Italian-style share plates and cicchetti from the mastermind of Melbourne chef Karen Martini.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
Advertising
  • Carlton
  • price 1 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

There’s a lot to like about Heartattack & Vine. Even if you’ve never set foot inside, you can appreciate a venue named after a Tom Waits album. And it feels like this is the place that Lygon Street needed. It's inspired by Italy, whose immigrants gave Melbourne hospitality its heart. But unlike the old-school Italian cafes that define this strip of Carlton, Heartattack looks forward to a bright future of casual eating and drinking, not back to a nostalgic past.

The tiny shotgun venue manages to feel bright and open, with antique glass lights hanging from old metal window frames lending warmth and depth to the room. During the day it operates as a café, serving simple breakfasts, coffee, sandwiches and interesting options like a Spanish iced chocolate with hints of chili and orange for a spicy jaffa effect. But we’re here for a drink, and after dark they deliver in spades. Service is a bit cold and patchy at first, but as they ease into nighttime service, the crew relaxes and gets chatty about the trickle of food that soon turns into a torrent hitting the bar top. Cicchetti, Italy’s version of tapas, are tiny bites made to accompany drinking. The volume, variety and quality here are hard to overstate, and put most other attempts at aperitivo to shame. Get your growling belly to Heartattack and find out.

Chicken liver parfait with the consistency of clotted cream comes on brioche toast with a slice of sage roasted pineapple. The combo is a bit of a revelation, taking the traditional jammy accompaniments and shoving them off on a slow boat to the tropics. A slice of tuna sashimi on seaweed rice crackers with avocado lingers with ocean funk after the freshness fades, and cold steamed artichoke comes with a mustard sauce so that you can dip the vegetable, leaf by leaf. The hardest part is going to be trying to stop ordering as the bar top overflows with little plates that whisper “eat me.”

The wine list is well curated and fun. Fiano is bright and floral while a Pecorino has an earthy finish that makes it much more interesting than the average aromatic by the glass. On the cocktail list, "Tall & Refreshing" denotes cheaper low alcohol options that still have the creativity and complexity of full-strength cocktails – the highball revolution is here to stay. The Rebujito with sherry, lemon leaf syrup and rosemary is a bit on the sweet side, but a cracker combo of flavours on par with the city’s best cocktail bars. It also matches perfectly to a skewer of anchovies with lemon stuffed olive and fresh basil.

There are rotating specials like a fizz with gin, rhubarb and Pedro Ximiez sherry, and a brilliant bitter twist on the Manhattan with Bourbon, dry sherry and Cynar (an artichoke-based digestive). Although these guys could tighten up on technique and sequence of service, what they’re doing is creative and delicious, and a great expression of the clean and easy Italian cocktail tradition. =

  • Pubs
  • Carlton

The Green Man’s Arms is an Israeli-influenced and 100 per cent vegan and vegetarian pub on the corner of Lygon and Elgin streets. Led by actors-slash-publicans Alison Whyte and Fred Whitlock (who used to run Abbotsford's Terminus Hotel), the Green Man’s Arms came about after the couple decided to take their hospo careers in a meat-free direction. Food at the Arms comes courtesy of Israeli head chef David Raziel who uses serves up an ethical and seasonal selection of dishes.

Being a pub, beer is naturally centre stage. The Green Man’s Arms owns all its taps and pours local craft brews like Hawkers Pilsner, Stomping Ground Saison and Holgate Mt Macedon Pale Ale. Keeping in line with the food, all the pub’s wines are also vegan and primarily local. But if you want to drink something that simply screams 'Melbourne vegan' sample the pub’s Kombucha spritz.

Advertising
  • Brunswick
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

With a more trend-driven, new-school approach to wine than some of Lygon Street's predecessors, this groovy drinking lounge is inspired by the listening bars of Tokyo and London. It might not be a traditionalist's cup of tea (or should we say, glass of pet nat.) But whether you're hip and down with the minimal intervention scene or a purist lover of old-world wines, it's worth popping this one on your hit list.

There's a good mix of local and international – and always interesting – drops, plus a hybrid European and Peruvian food menu from chef Dave Falvey that alone is worth a look in. Audiophiles also have a reason to visit in the form of a custom-made sound system from Hobart legends Pitt and Giblin, plus regular DJ performances and a music collection of over 3,500 records. 

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
  • Cocktail bars
  • Brunswick
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

The Lygon Street space that once housed the Alehouse Project is now home to expansive cocktail bar Maggie’s. Exposed brick walls adorned with French-style art deco posters and a candle-lit shrine that looks like something out of The Craft form the cosy backdrop to your visit. Despite floor-to-ceiling windows, the space retains a pleasant warmth in cooler weather and the din of nearby people is absorbed by perfect acoustics – this is a place you can bring your parents. 

Maggie’s has a laidback enough quality that it beckons you in for dessert and a drink as much as it’s ideal for an hours-long meal. The menu is eclectic, with a strong Polynesian influence coming through in dishes like the Māori fried bread, the Cook Island ceviche and the hangi potato smashies – owing to New Zealand-born chef Scott Blomfield. Apart from a few outliers, the dishes are rich and indulgent, so order wisely or conserve some much-needed stomach space. Divided into ‘nibblish’, snackish’, ‘peckish’ and ‘famished’, it’s a menu designed for sharing. 

https://media.timeout.com/images/106047259/image.jpg
Sonia Nair
Time Out Melbourne food and drink contributor
Advertising
  • Wine bars
  • Brunswick
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

The food is noteworthy at wine bar Old Palm, especially under the guidance of co-owner and chef Almay Jordaan, who is taking the opportunity to inject flavours from her South African heritage into a daily changing seasonal menu and by cooking over a grill not too dissimilar to a braii, which imparts char and smoke. In the running for Bar Snack of the Year is the fried shallot, splayed out but connected at the root, battered and fried before receiving a dab of cashew sour cream and a touch of diced, pickled jalapeño, which eats like a very grown-up Bloomin’ Onion. A close runner-up is the oily, pillowy soft woodfired flatbread served with a dollop of labne sprinkled with sumac.

Old Palm Liquor is probably as Brunswick as you can get with its daggy-but-beautiful fitout, natural wine list and menu imparted with flavours we rarely see, but it’s a winning formula that has it packed out every night it’s open. Book to avoid disappointment.

  • Wine bars
  • Brunswick

Bahama Gold started out as a liquor delivery service in the dark days of lockdown, but has since transformed into a public bar and wine shop for the discerning explorer. The first thing you’ll notice upon walking into the cosy 12-seater is its warm golden lighting and generous outlook out onto the quietly hip Brunswick East end of Lygon Street. There seems to be no divide between inside the bar and outside, and passers-by spill in curiously.

Next, you’ll cast an eye over what is a very impressive sound system perched above the drinks fridge. Here it’s all about funky bottles, like pét nats and orange wines, and a bar-curated vinyl collection that will have you opening your Shazam app all night long. But don’t assume you won’t be fed well. Though food isn’t necessarily the focus, Malaysian-born head chef Jane Low puts on a rotating menu of small plates that mark Bahama Gold as an interesting dining destination in its own right.

https://media.timeout.com/images/106033404/image.jpg
Lauren Dinse
Food & Drink Writer
Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising