Until recently, us Melburnians spent significant chunks of our lives in our city’s world-renowned restaurants, bars and cafes. Drinking and dining out is part of our DNA.
But now, after government restrictions on non-essential services were brought in to curb the spread of coronavirus, we’re settling into a new reality – one where picking up or ordering in is the new dining out.
Some of the best venues in town, though, have adapted to the situation with creativity and innovation. Check out our regularly updated live list of all the delicious new initiatives here, or peruse this week’s top takeaway picks below, as selected by Broadsheet Melbourne editor Ellen Fraser.
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 UPVue de Monde
Dinner from one of the country’s top fine diners – delivered – for less than $40 is pretty special. And these aren’t the type of petite plates you need to order a procession of to feel full. Take head chef Hugh Allen’s seafood curry, for example. Loaded with native marron, mussels, barramundi and prawns in a rich blue mussel broth, it comes with damper flatbread, sticky coconut-lime rice and salad greens with lemon myrtle dressing. And it’s $28, plus $8 delivery.
Juanita Peaches
One of the city’s best burgers is now just a few clicks away. Get your 120-gram grass-fed beef brisket patty, double American cheese, mustard-mayo, onion and confit shallots with a side of fries – or heck, maybe some fried chicken. There’s also a maple-glazed smoked chicken sandwich with slaw, jalapenos, a dill pickle and crinkle-cut fries, plus old-school vanilla shakes, watermelon Margaritas, and glazed doughnuts from All Day. Pick up from the venue or get delivery via Deliveroo or Uber Eats.
Oasis Bakery (Fairfield and Murrumbeena)
Oasis Bakery is one-part grocer and one-part cafe, but there’s a common thread that runs through the entire family-run operation: some of the best Middle Eastern food – which here means Turkish, Lebanese, Moroccan and more – in town. Stock up on zaatar bread, lamb kibbeh, falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, spices, baklava and the bakery’s always-popular Lebanese pizzas. There are dinner packs, too, that feed four – think whole roast chicken with orange and cumin, or 18-hour roast beef – and come with vegetables, tabouli, and donuts with orange blossom syrup for dessert.
Leonardo’s Pizza Palace
After a brief hiatus, Carlton’s exuberant Italian diner is back as a takeaway pizzeria and bottle-o. The team is doing its own deliveries, clad in retro uniforms complete with branded bum-bags. House wine comes at the very decent price of $20 a bottle, and pizzas are mostly customer favourites – ham and pineapple; cheese; pepperoni; a vegan number with broccoli and macadamia cream – as well as a ghost pepper, salami and smoked maple syrup special. All come with a little cup of ranch dressing for dipping. There’s also four-cheese lasagne, salads, and a new take on Neapolitan ice-cream that does away with the chocolate-vanilla-strawberry combo of old.
Minamishima
“Kaleidoscopic”. That’s one way to describe Minamishima’s chirashizushi, or scattered sushi, made with tuna otoro, engawa (sea flounder fin), Hokkaido scallop, prawn, trout, ikura (salmon caviar) and more that’s now available for pick-up or home delivery. Another way to describe it is “celebratory”, because at $120 for two people, it might be best suited to a special occasion. At the other end of the scale, there’s fried chicken two ways: with togarashi (a blend of spices commonly used in Japan) and black salt; and marinated in umeboshi (preserved plums) and dusted with plum salt.
Flowers Vasette
While not technically takeaway, this Brunswick Street florist is amping up its plant and flower deliveries with fresh produce, and the resulting boxes are pretty beautiful. Choose from a vitamin C pack (with oranges, strawberries and more), a minestrone box (leeks, carrots, parsley, tomatoes), a collaboration with Dench Bakers (fresh fruit, biscotti, cookies, shortbread) and more. Most come with a bouquet of Vasette’s beautiful fresh blooms, but some boxes you’ll need to add flowers to. While you’re at it, throw in some champagne and Koko Black chocolate.
(Editor's note: Vue de Monde is no longer doing takeaway but is taking bookings for August 20 onwards.
Cafes
Restaurants
Bars
Accommodation
Shop
Broadsheet Pick
Recently Opened