Hotel Jesus breakfast
How do you feel about nachos for breakfast? I feel great about it, especially if they're theΒ chilaquilesΒ at Hotel Jesus which, praise the lord, has finally brought Mexican breakfast to Melbourne.
Alatonero
It's a long, long way to Santorini but it's not far to McCrae where a passionate evocation of Greek island life is drawing diners forΒ mezzeΒ and feasts, christenings and work parties and, above all, easy, breezy vibes served with professional poise.
Ricky and Pinky yum cha
The usual yum cha narrative goes something like this. You wake on a Sunday morning feeling shabby, perhaps unaccountably, possibly for sins well remembered. Dumplings call and fried calamari and, if youβve grown up with them, chickenβs feet, too.
Panama Dining Room
It doesnβt matter how many times I lug myself up the steep stairs to Panama Dining Room, Iβm always made at least as breathless by the city views as I am by the long staircase that got me there. This is a quarter-acre-block-sized bar and restaurant, so large that the billiard table and booths look like dollhouse furniture. Enormous windows face east (to the burbs and hills) and south (through plane trees to town). In a town of bolt-holes and boutique hideaways, itβs nice to take a turn in a place that has room for dozens of cool cats to swing, swig, swagger and dine.
Bang Bang at the Rifle Club
Finally, itβs opened! For a year, Elsternwickians have been watching the long empty Caulfield Rifle Club and adjacent plaza transform into an indoor-outdoor space for all-day eating and meeting. They could not have dared hope it would be this good.
Arbory Bar & Eatery
Not all Melbourne hangouts feel like theyβre built for all Melbourne people so itβs exciting to come upon a place thatβs as democratic as Flinders Street Station, which Arbory happens to abut. This 100-metre long dining and drinking terrace runs between platform 10 and the riverbank. Itβs completely outdoors, though well sheltered by umbrellas and cosied by heaters. Iβve been there on a bitterly cold, sideways rainy night and even shrugged my coat off to eat my burger.
Masani
Imagine running a restaurant for more than 30 years, opening every day for lunch and dinner, tallying more than 20,000 sittings and an awful lot of βWould you like to see the wine list?β That is the reality for Richard Maisano, who opened Masani in 1983, when Bob Hawke was prime minister and carpetbag steak (beef stuffed with oysters) was the height of sophistication. Maisanoβs parents were hoteliers in fancy Italian resorts; they moved to Melbourne in 1971 when Richard was 13. He studied hospitality locally then boned up at Les Roches, a white-glove Swiss hotel school, and returned with the spit, polish and gumption to take on this handsome 1889 Gothic revival edifice.
Jimmy Watson’s
Long ago, before espresso coffee arrived in Carlton, back in the days of beer, more beer and unironic moustaches, Jimmy Watson opened a wine bar. Itβs still there 78 years later, run by his son and grandson who persist in the glorious mission of highlighting wines from up-and-coming producers and sharing bargains from bigger names. This place has shouldered much of the load of weaning Australians off spumante and towards connoisseurship and it still deserves a fond place in drinkersβ hearts, not least because it focuses on wining well at moderate prices.
Uncle
Uncle is a new-school Vietnamese restaurant that opened with a queue at the door a month ago and hasnβt drawn breath since. Itβs a cool, fun place with tasty eats and great drinks, and itβs easy to see why thereβs an hourβs wait for dinner (reservations are available for groups), especially when you consider Carlisle Street is amazing for bagels and sorted for coffee but wouldnβt know pho if it fell into a large lake of it.