All the New Melbourne Restaurant, Cafe and Bar Openings We Got Excited About in February 2024

First look: Find “unadulterated Filipino food” from a team with fine-dining cred at Askal in the CBD.

• First look: Brunswick listening bar Waxflower converts a former cinema into The Atrium, a new bar and gallery space for groups, events and BYO DJ sets.

• First look: Greek favourite Kafeneion reopens at The Melbourne Supper Club.

• First look: Some of the best Malaysian food in Melbourne is at Pappa Laksa Burwood.

• First look: Peregrine Social Club, a long-awaited lakeside spot set in a quarry, takes locals from brunch to beers.

• First look: Food truck sensation Wazzup Falafel brings Jordanian food to a permanent Northcote spot.

• First look: Pour Diane is an eclectic 1970s-inspired North Melbourne wine shop and bar.

• First look: Find $12.99 lunches and naan from the tandoor oven at Collingwood’s Mild to Mirchi

• First look: Nuvoletta Gelateria, a new spot from a former Kisume pastry chef and her ex-Gelateria Primavera partner, is Melbourne’s next must-visit scoop shop.

• First look: Wang Wang brings the heat (and charcoal-fuelled northern Chinese barbeque) to Malvern.

• First look: Westgarth’s Samuel Pepys has transformed into a sunny new wine bar.

• First look: You should go to Papelon, a sunny Footscray diner celebrating Venezuelan food.

• First look: A third-gen restaurant owner (and his folks) serves Indian classics at Hampton’s Southall.

• First look: At the new Cecconi’s, an ex-Scopri chef brings Venetian cuisine (and some old favourites) to Toorak.

• Hobart craft brewery Fox Friday opens its first Melbourne taproom, in Richmond.

• The couple behind the Pierogi Pierogi food truck open Eat Pierogi Make Love, a Polish diner in Brunswick East.

• Rumi sibling Rocket Society in East Brunswick Village nods to the Lebanese space race (and has $8 flatbread sandwiches).

• St Kilda’s new oyster and wine bar The Walrus has crayfish crumpets and affordable drops.

• An ex-Nobu chef cooks “Japanese steak frites” at Darling Group’s new izakaya-inspired Token.

• Now open: Castlerose is an underground restaurant beneath South Melbourne cafe Clementine, inspired by 20th-century English dining.

• The online smoothie craze hits Melbourne with Yawye ’s sea moss and MCT oil-filled drinks.