Melbourne recommendations

bakeries, restaurants, bars, ice-cream etc. etc. etc.

What I’m reading: on keeping women skinny so they don't get too powerful, on shit you should care about. Food for thought!

What I’m listening to: Shania Twain on How to Fail with Elizabeth Day (especially topical since Shania Twain just played in Dublin)

What I’m eating: breakfast at Rhu, Auckland, ft. the famous honey toast (below)

Last week I flew to Melbourne for a few days - mainly to catch up with my brother, but also with a very carefully planned itinerary of places to eat. I love Melbourne. I loved it when I went last year for a very brief weekend with my friend Mary, and I love it even more now. It’s quite different from the other Australian cities I’ve been to, in that (IMHO) it feels a bit more quirky and relaxed: the people are friendly, the food scene is incredible, and it almost feels a bit European? Lots of outdoor dining, wine bars, hipsters etc. etc.

I had a pretty extensive list of places I wanted to eat when I went recently, and we did a fairly good job at ticking a lot of them off. I have included the places we didn’t make it to below, in case you’re already familiar with many of the places I went to (and also so that I can refer back to it on my next trip to Melbourne, which I’m hoping won’t be too far away). The places I did visit are categorised by bakery/café, breakfast/brunch, lunch, dinner, restaurants and ice-cream, so I reckon if you’re ambitious/organised you should be able to visit one from each category every day. Or, you know, you could have an actually relaxing holiday, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.

Here’s my Google maps list, which might be a bit easier to use if you’re actually in Melbourne and want to see what’s near you (it’s actually got all of my places of interest in Australia marked, but just zoom in on Melbourne to get a better idea!). I’ve also saved all my Melbourne stories on my Instagram, if you want to get a quick feel for what to expect.

In terms of accommodation, I was staying with Conor in East Melbourne which is lovely - but I reckon if you want to be in the thick of it, Fitzroy, Brunswick or Carlton are all good spots.