South Melbourne

Take a seat at the stone counter for a 10-course sushi degustation, or order fish-skin crackling, miso-marinated black cod, and savoury steamed custard topped with foie gras à la carte.

The humble pickle is the protagonist of every dish here. Try the juicy, double-decker burgers packed with all the trimmings and tart house-made pickles. No visit is complete without a side of Nashville chicken wings and a pickle juice-spiked cocktail.

Lamaro’s is a love letter to long lunches and refined pub dinners. A woodfired grill lends Lamaro’s steaks their smokiness and char, while the rest of the menu blends classic pub fare with Southeast Asian and French flavours.

Right next to Chez Dre, this dessert boutique is in the business of knockout petits gâteaux, macarons, biscuits and house-made gelato (with chocolate taps at the ready). It’s cakes and tarts also pull their own, especially the lemon meringue number.

Your go-to coffee spot when you're doing the shopping.

This is one of the cafes responsible for elevating chef-prepared breakfasts and brunches to the same level of respect as lunches and dinners. And, even after changing hands a few years back, it’s still one of the best places in town for a morning meal.

A spot from the team behind some of the city’s biggest cafe hits. They’re making brunches with damper, Vegemite, Kakadu plums, wattle-seed bacon and Milo mascarpone.

This daytime hangout from the team behind north-side favourite Florian offers fresh sandwiches, nourishing salads, a next-level mushroom congee, and a no-fuss takeaway menu.

This cheery cafe offers up a playful brunch menu, grab-and-go pastries and hot coffee from Dukes. Its creative brunches might include Reuben sangas (with an unexpected combo of kangaroo pastrami and pineapple sauerkraut) or cured salmon mille-feuille on a New York-style bagel.

Nano-brewed, hand-bottled beer inspired by America’s West Coast. Sample one (or a tasting paddle) of Westside's core beers, including an American pale ale, an amber ale and a red IPA. Plus, go for bar snacks and pizzas loaded with toppings.

This stylish Clarendon Street wine bar pours top-notch Coravin drops made for pairing with fried-chicken bao, kingfish sashimi, and tempura eggplant in miso custard.

An Austrian-inspired bakery serving pretzels, sachertorte and unmissable croissants.

A South Melbourne Market staple since it first opened. It's understandable – the crowd-pleasing roster of French treats here (including some stellar croissants) are baked by an owner who attended Paris's most prestigious baking and patisserie school.

Beautiful ceramic tableware, direct from the Land of the Rising Sun.

A temple to Scandinavian living.

A tiny cannoli shop inside South Melbourne Market serving delicate tubes of golden pastry filled with That’s Amore ricotta in traditional flavours and some that are more adventurous.

The shop at South Melbourne Market also runs butchery classes.