Eun Hee An and partner Ben Sears (Public Wine Shop) were the chefs behind acclaimed Sydney restaurant Moon Park and cafe Paper Bird, two venues often credited with amping up Sydney’s Korean food scene and getting the cuisine more recognition.

She now runs Hot-Listed Moon Mart, with front of house pro Mei Onsamlee. The cafe – one of Melbourne’s best – opened in West Melbourne in 2022 and moved to South Melbourne last year. It combines the best of Japanese, Korean and Melbourne cafe culture, regularly seeing lines out the door for its bulgogi sausage muffins, fluffy egg sandos and iced teas.

We caught up with Hee An to find out where (and what) she’s eating in Melbourne these days.

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What’s your favourite spot other than Moon Mart for breakfast?
We go to Footscray Market a lot for our fresh produce and every time we go, we stop at Xuan Anh Banh Cuon. The rice noodles are made fresh to order – they’re extremely tasty and unbelievably cheap.

What’s your favourite bakery?
I love the salad sandwich at Loafer Bread in North Fitzroy. It’s delicious but it also feels quite virtuous. I always feel better after I eat it.

Favourite place to go with Mei?
Mei and I absolutely love the bar at Flower Drum. There is a bar menu, which is quite good value. Everything tastes amazing and the cocktails are fun, interesting and delicious. The service is brilliant as well, which is good – Mei is very fussy.

If someone asks you for a date spot, where do you recommend?
Bar Bellamy is the perfect date spot. It’s so cute, the staff are super lovely and the drinks are amazing.

Where do you go when you want Korean food?
The boys from Ondo are super nice and I like the set meals there a lot.

Where do you take visitors when they’re in town?
South Melbourne Market. It has so much to try and so much to see. And I love that you can get La Colmena pastries there now!

What’s the best place for a drink and snacks?
Napier Quarter is always a great idea. If the weather is nice, I like to take my dog Kong, sit outside and just relax.

What’s your favourite ice-cream or gelato spot?
Olive oil ice-cream from Luther’s Scoops. It’s so good. Interesting and clever, but also so creamy and delicious.

Where do you go for a special occasion?
I went to Scopri for the first time a little while ago and now I want to go back – any excuse I can find. The pastas, especially, are so good.

What Melbourne restaurant do you think is the most underrated?
I’m a little biased here, but I really love going to Public Wine Shop. I think the food is delicious, but I also love that I always get to try a super interesting wine. And the staff are all very nice and so passionate.

Where can you find your favourite dessert in Melbourne?
Joy Jaune’s strawberry panna cotta is excellent! I also really like the mango and coconut noodles; you can really see the care [owner, Joey Leung] puts into her work.

What’s the best place for a late-night feed?
Butchers Diner is dangerously good for a late-night feed. I would have supper there every day if I could.

What’s your bucket list restaurant?
I have always wanted to try Corey Lee’s cooking at Benu and San Ho Wan in San Francisco. It looks so meticulous and so well thought out – it’s very inspiring.