Easy to Enjoy Eating in Melbourne

August 1998

Eating and Drinking in Melbourne is not just about great food. It's about going out to be with people, about choosing a place which suits where you want to be, your own style and where you feel comfortable.

It's also about being hungry at all times of the day and night and there's lots of suggested places in the book where you can eat and drink at any time. Here we've highlighted two which offer excellence at both ends of the day, Babka for breakfasts and Supper Inn for suppers.

Babka's in Brunswick Street is about food and sunlight, wonderful smells of baking and of customers feeling comfortable with the choices available and the prices. It is most famous for its breakfasts. I ate a huge plateful of corn fritters served with bacon, thick pieces of good toasted bread and tomatoes. Locals eat here at least once a week, people travel from over Melbourne regularly to eat the scrambled eggs, the blintzes and to buy bread.

You can't get into Supper Inn until 5.30pm and you certainly don't go there for the view. You go there to eat well any night until at least 2am. Noodles, hot pots, congee and mud crabs are favourites. It's down a back lane off Little Bourke Street, there's no fancy signs and no decor. On first appearance, the staircase doesn't invite you to climb up. But the queue waiting to get in should give you the courage to make the ascent. Inside the view is of people eating, the decor and ambience is about food.

It's interesting how many customers these places share. They are as different in style as night and day yet they feed many of the same people. We know partly from our own eating experiences, but mostly from surveys done throughout the industry and from the very strong opinions of our contributors. They are a pretty mixed lot too, from nightclub owner Henry Maas (our fast food expert) to the refined palate of Chinese cookery teacher and writer, Elizabeth Chong. We've had lots of good advice from the experts on these pages too, from editor Sally Fisher, and writers Kate McGhie, Jim Irwin and Beverley Sutherland Smith.

We've asked our contributors and those we surveyed where they like to go for all sorts of reasons and all times of the day. Then there are the industry awards to be explained and announced next week.

These people have given us some interesting trails to follow which have taken us all over Melbourne. Here we feature just a few of the favourites in different geographical areas. The places listed below are from all price categories. Awards within the specified price categories of less than $15, $15-30, $30-55 and over $55 form the basis of the industry awards. Here there are none of the 'new' establishments which opened after last August. The new favourites will also be announced next week.

In the North some of the favourites are --

Abla's -- 109 Elgin Street, Carlton

Babka -- Brunswick Street,

Bistro Inferno -- 302 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (now closed)

Brunetti's -- 198 Faraday Street, Carlton

Guernica -- 257 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (now closed)

Jimmy Watson's -- 333 Lygon Street, Carlton

Matteo's -- 533 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Piraeus Blues -- 310 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Rathdowne St Foodstore -- 617 Rathdowne Street, North Carlton

Toofeys -- 162 Elgin Street, Carlton

In the South some of the favourites are --

Bar Corvina -- 157 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda

cafe a taglio-- 157 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda

Chinta Blues -- 6 Acland Street, St Kilda

est est est-- 440 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne (now closed)

Melbourne Wine Room Bar -- 125 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda

O'Connells -- 193 Montague Street, South Melbourne

The Stokehouse -- 30 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda

In the West some of the favourites are --

Commercial Hotel -- 238 Whitehall Street, Yarraville

Plough Hotel -- 333 Barkeley Street, Footscray

Railway Hotel -- 118 Ireland Street, West Melbourne

Sam's Boatshed -- 126 Nelson Place, Williamstown

Scuttlebutt -- 203 Nelson Place, Williamstown

Spencer Hotel -- 475 Spencer Street, West Melbourne

Taj Palace -- 228 Nicholson Street, Footscray

In the East & south East some of the favourites are --

Blue Rhythm -- 842 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn

Choi's -- 186 Riversdale Road, Hawthorn

Dumpling King -- 572 Station Street, Box Hill

Minh Tan 2 -- 190 Victoria Street, Richmond

Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder -- 48 Bridge Road, Richmond

The Treasure -- 482 Springvale Road, Forest Hill

Vlado Gregurek -- 61 Bridge Road, Richmond

In the city some of the favourites are

Flower Drum -- 17 Market Lane

Florentino Cellar Bar, Grill -- 80 Bourke Street

Kuni's -- 56 Little Bourke Street

Marchetti's Latin -- 55 Lonsdale Street

Moretti's -- Exhibition Street

Nudel Bar -- 76 Bourke Street

Pelligrini's -- 66 Bourke Street

Punch Lane Wine Bar -- 43 Little Bourke Street

Sharkfin House -- 131 Little Bourke Street

Supper Inn -- 15 Celestial Avenue