Few cities in the world can boast the diversity and quality of Melbourne’s food and wine. The city has embraced flavours from around the world, creating a varied and vibrant wine and dining culture. Melbourne is also notable for its coffee obsession. The city sustains more than 2,000 cafés, and some of the world’s best baristas. Get your coffee ‘fix’, loosen your belt buckle and let us take your tastebuds on a tour of Melbourne.

Serious coffee

Melbourne’s love affair with coffee came with Italian and Greek immigrants after World War II—but it has since evolved into an art form.

‘Seven Seeds’

This groovy café in Carlton takes its name from the seven fertile seeds of coffee smuggled by the Sufi Baba Budan from Yemen to India in the 17th century. Seven Seeds hums with energy and is a must-go for coffee aficionados. Housed in a restored warehouse, it is the perfect place to sample speciality beans. Try a brewed cup of the Golden Gate espresso blend, with notes of cocoa and toffee, or a rotating single origin.

Queen Victoria Market

Melbourne’s epicurean heart since 1878. At around seven hectares (17 acres), it is the largest open-air market in the Southern Hemisphere. Be prepared for an explosion of activity, smells, tastes and sounds. Highlights include the Dairy Hall, where you will find all-things smoked, cured, pickled, brined and aged. Maybe the Meat and Fish Hall is more your thing, for a shucked oyster or some Aussie shrimp? Still hungry? Don’t miss out on the market’s best-loved treat—the hot jam doughnut. A bag of these, made-to-order, is a compulsory market experience!

Bon Appetit

And then it is to lunch we go! Your guide will choose the perfect inner city restaurant to further excite your tastebuds.