The Hot List is the definitive guide to Melbourne’s most essential food and drink experiences, updated weekly. Learn more.

This week’s Hot List activity

• Most popular restaurant: Marmont
• Most popular bar: Bar Olo
• Most popular cafe: Hector’s Bakery

One small step for Moon Mart, one giant leap for South Melbourne

Moon Mart’s upstairs area has finally gone into orbit. When the Korea-meets-Japan fusion cafe opened in West Melbourne back in 2022, its charmingly cute look – and sandos worth crossing town for – steadily made it one of the city’s most beloved new spots (and one of the most consistently popular cafes on The Hot List).

Stay in the know with our free newsletter. The latest restaurants, must-see exhibitions, style trends, travel spots and more – curated by those who know.

SIGN UP

But for owners Eun Hee An and Mei Onsamlee, the space’s compact footprint always meant a move was on the cards. Late last year, they did it, setting up shop on Clarendon Street in South Melbourne – somewhere they would have room to grow.

Now, after about six months as a downstairs-only operation – with similar capacity, and crowd-length issues as its West Melbourne predecessor, Moon Mart’s upstairs room is ready for business.

“The room’s really good and the light is so nice at lunchtime, and it helps a lot with the queues – especially on the weekend,” says Onsamlee.

“People love it because when you sit up there, you’re sort of out of the busy-ness of the rest of Moon Mart. You know, when you’re downstairs, there’s the queues and it’s noisy. Upstairs it’s more private.”

They started using the upstairs in earnest around Lunar New Year, giving the space a fresh lick of paint, and a handful of little tables. Like downstairs, upstairs can seat 15 to 20 people. Moon Mart still isn’t a huge cafe, but a doubling of available seating should make waiting for takeaway a bit easier – and entice people to eat in.

“There are a lot of meals on our menu that don’t really work for takeaway, so having more tables to offer people for dining in is so good,” says Onsamlee. “We can also arrange tables a lot more flexibly upstairs, so it’s really good for larger groups that come in – they almost have their own little room up there.”

Onsamlee is particularly excited to get the upstairs section of the cafe ready in time for winter, as well as the much-teased, long-awaited dinners at Moon Mart.

“With how insufferable the last two winters have been, it’ll be so much better to be able to fit everyone inside once it gets cold,” she says. “And because we’re probably going to start doing something at night soon, it’s good to have the upstairs too.”

So far, Moon Mart’s devoted regulars are loving the extra space. There’s only one downside for Onsamlee.

“I literally cancelled my gym membership because I don’t need it anymore with how often I’m going up and down these stairs now.”

broadsheet.com.au/hotlist/melbourne
The Hot List is proudly sponsored by Square.