Australia is a land of good food. And Melbourne may have some of the best restaurants around. So many offer delicious food but we narrowed down to these other than those from Emporium.

Gradi at Crown
An Italian restaurant known for their pizzas. The 6 of us ordered some antipasti of prosciutto, chorizo, salami, ham and mozzarella buffala, seafood and clam pastas, 4 cheeses pizza and a pan fried fish (tasted like sea bass) dish. They were all very good for sharing and we enjoyed every dish. We arrived at noon and the restaurant was completely full before 1pm. 

Cost – approx $50 per pax

    
    
    
   
Supernormal
We really liked the simplicity of the decor. Wood, cement, stainless steel counter tops, Japanese/ Asian influences in the decor. We opted for a banquet and 2 ala carte dishes to share between the 2 of us. All were good but some of them had flavors we could not discern if they had Japanese, Thai or Chinese influence… But the chef cleverly used the different tastes across Asia to bring out the unique difference in their dishes. Good to visit if unsure which type of Asian cuisine to have.

    
    
   

Drinks – Apple mojito (Apple mint lime) and super seasonal soda (grapefruit sherbet, soda, lemon) 

    

The banquet dishes in order 
    
    
    

   

     
 The 2 other dishes we ordered were

• salad of broccolini, tofu, walnut & toasted seaweed 
• braised beef cheek, eggplant, crispy tripe & pepper sauce

  

   

Cost – approx $65 per pax

We were there at about noon and the restaurant inclusive of the bar counter were filled by 1pm.

Movida bar de tapas
Movida has a few outlets all over Melbourne city. One we’ve tried was bar de tapas on Hosier Lane. On Hosier lane, there’s also Movida Next Door. We enjoyed the grafitti before entering the restaurant. We started with a virgin mojito, caracol (sea snails) and camballa (Spanish mackerel) then on to wagyu tartar, fideos (squid ink fideuà) and a fish/ clam dish in tomato base. Dessert was olive ice cream, interesting and quite rich and gooey, we liked it. Though the food was good and the restaurant was packed midway through dinner (we started at 6pm), we might give the place a miss the next trip as it was really noisy, dimly lit,  their seats were tiny and not very comfortable.

Cost – approx $65 per pax

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   

Fitzrovia 
This cafe is a little off the city, at St Kilda. It’s along the tram lines and therefore convenient to get to. We started with some juices – clean and green (kiwi, lime, cucumber, Granny Smith Apple and pear), immunity booster (pear, orange lemon honey). The falafel dish was a cocktail of spices, sweet potato and caramelized onion fritters and the creme brûlée French toast were both delish! Flat whites and soy hot mörk chocolate were yums! 

Cost – approx $50 per pax