The Melbourne Food Guide

Italian Food

Italian food is loved around the word for its hearty portions and zesty flavors, and Melbourne is no exception. Any comprehensive Melbourne food guide mentions Italian cuisine. Grossi Florentino is a typical Italian restaurant in Melbourne, with familiar offerings like antipasto, tortellini, and veal, as well as more elaborate dishes.

Indian Food

Indian food is a favorite in Melbourne, so any Melbourne food guide points out the many places to get good curry, like the tucked-away Curry Vault Indian Restaurant and Bar. Some of the food at Indian restaurants is blazing with spices, but you'll find dishes to suit more conservative palates, too.

Asian Food

Asian food often brings to mind Chinese dishes like moo shu pork and Mongolian or orange beef, and those are certainly worthwhile dishes to appear in the Melbourne food guide. But Asian food encompasses a wide variety of countries and regions, including Japan, Korea, and Thailand.

Melbourne offers a wide variety of Asian cuisine that goes beyond the familiar. For example, Red Spice Road serves Southeast Asian dishes like betel leaf with smoked salmon or duck curry and features communal seating. Be open-minded when checking any Melbourne city guide for Asian restaurants with food from places beyond China.

Tapas

For many people, Spanish food has become synonymous with tapas, those little appetizer-sized courses that just keep coming.  The great thing about tapas is that you can try a wide variety of foods rather than being forced to pick just one thing. At a place like MoVida, a tapas restaurant that deserves a place in the Melbourne food guide, you'll be glad for the freedom. Tapas often veer from traditional Spanish foods to fusion items like pork stuffed calamari, braised beef cheek, and steak tartare, so be adventurous if you select a tapas restaurant from any Melbourne food guide.

Steak

A thick, tender juicy steak is a universal favorite, and Melbourne has plenty of steak houses that will fill your craving for good beef. Any Melbourne food guide will point you to places like the Rare Steakhouse, which has two Melbourne locations that both serve up thick, tasty cuts of meat.

Seafood

Australia has excellent fresh seafood, and any Melbourne food guide acknowledges that the city has some great seafood restaurants that take advantage of the fresh catch. 

Once such restaurant is Donovans in the trendy St. Kilda area, which offers standard fare like fish and chips and clam chowder or more involved dishes like prawn and scallop ravioli. Most Melbourne seafood restaurants have other options, like steak, in case you have people who dislike fish in your party.

Vegetarian

Any Melbourne food guide will mention the popularity of vegetarian cuisine. Vegetarian food in Melbourne is available everywhere, from fast-service shops to sit-down eateries like Shakahari Vegetarian Restaurant. You don't have to be a vegetarian yourself to appreciate the spices and cooking techniques that turn meatless dishes into culinary delights.