30 October 2023
13 mins Read
Parents looking to ignite their children’s appetite will find a lot to inspire in the multicultural capital of Victoria. Make Melbourne your next food-focused getaway at these sought-after spots attuned to pleasing the palates of diners young and old.
ACMI is Melbourne’s museum dedicated to film, TV, videogames and art. After exploring the exhibitions, attending a talk or workshop, head to HERO, chef Karen Martini’s new on-site restaurant, which champions the produce of local farmers and purveyors. Line up for a house-made choc top or Maker & Monger cheese platter from Martini’s carefully curated cinema cart before heading in to see a cult classic or anime film.
Address: Federation Square, Melbourne VIC 3000
Inside HERO at ACMI. (Image: Peter Tarasiuk)
Dine at HERO at ACMI. (Image: Peter Tarasiuk)
This restaurant inside the funky new Ovolo South Yarra hotel is the perfect way to get vegetables into your kids without them even knowing. The kitchen here is helmed by chefs Ian Curley and Shannon Martinez, whose vegetarian and vegan food at Smith & Daughters has made root-to-stem dining seriously cool. The heavily vegan menu here is influenced by Martinez’s Latin roots and includes incredibly flavoursome dishes like whole peri peri cauliflower, tortilla (Spanish omelette) with aioli and moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew with prawns fashioned from konjac (and painted pink for full effect) and tofu that looks just like fish fillets.
Address: 234 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
Inside Lona Misa.
What’s a visit to Melbourne without a visit to 400 Gradi? Melbourne’s pizza game has been strong for decades but founder and pizzaiolo Johnny di Francesco has taken it to the next level at 400 Gradi, which brings a slice of Naples to Brunswick in the form of his pizza, judged to be the World’s Best Pizza in 2014. Go for the marinara, or the award-winning margherita verace. Budding pizzaiolos can also sign up for a class to learn to make pizza Napoletana.
Address: 99 Lygon St, Brunswick East VIC 3057
This informal Chinese restaurant has a playful vibe that children will love. Beautiful red lanterns, dark-wood tables and ornate latticework set the scene in the casual restaurant where the large Chinese character symbol for ‘double happiness’ is everywhere. Double your family’s happiness by ordering a banquet comprising dishes such as deep-fried squid in salt and pepper, special fried rice, stir-fried Chinese broccoli and stir-fried pork in plum sauce.
Address: 206 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Melbourne’s big-city culinary smarts are on show for all to see at Brunetti, a glitzy 1500-square-metre eye-popping emporium where children will love browsing the dazzling display cabinets full of pizza, cakes, pastries, macarons and gelati. Brunetti’s cafe is part of the renaissance of the city’s Little Italy, and while much of the business revolves around its ‘grab and go’ menu, there are also multi-generational families celebrating over polpette, parmigiana, pizza and pastries.
Address: 380 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
Brunetti Carlton is a treasure trove of eats.
Situated next to Scienceworks and five kilometres from the CBD, Grazeland is billed as a ‘Playground for Foodies’, where a riot of colourful custom-built food stalls have created a thrilling place for lovers of good food to wander. Arrive by bike via the Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail and pinball around the precinct where you can pluck food from 50 vendors including Doughville (doughnuts), the Hooked Fish and Chipper, BBL Tea and Lucky Little Dumplings.
Address: 20 Booker St, Spotswood VIC 3015
Take your pick from vendors at Grazeland. (Image: SDP Media)
Higher Ground is a hip café that extends over six levels in a heritage-listed powerhouse on Little Bourke Street. The post-industrial space, all tall arched windows and exposed brick walls, is full of discerning Melburnians who you will find scattered around bars and tables, and draped over lounges and easy chairs. Children will find ricotta hotcakes or seasonal avocado with a Vegemite emulsion enticing propositions.
Address: 650 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Inside Higher Ground.
Creative dishes at Higher Ground. (Image: Carmen Zammit)
Glimpses of life around Richmond’s bustling Church Street are unavoidable when ensconced in Top Paddock. That’s perhaps part of the appeal as those threading past the space – all warm woods, floor-to-ceiling windows and wall panelling – become part of the performance art. Located near to the Botanic Gardens, families dining at Top Paddock will also enjoy the creativity on the plate on show in simple dishes such as buttermilk waffles and chilli scrambled eggs.
Address: 658 Church St, Richmond VIC 3121
Dine at Top Paddock.
The exterior of Top Paddock.
When Tim Ho Wan staked out a place in Melbourne’s CBD mid-2020, locals couldn’t be happier. While the original Michelin-starred institution was a humble hole in the wall in Hong Kong, the Melbourne version of the franchise is big, bright and boisterous. Here, you can order dim sum for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the no-frills space. We recommend sweet-and-savoury pork buns, prawn and pork dumplings, and spinach and shrimp dumplings to get the party started.
Address: 206 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
The Children’s High Teas at The Langham, Melbourne, are both satisfyingly decadent and innovative. The hotel, which runs a range of themed high teas throughout the year, offers a morning or afternoon tea which arrives on a three-tiered cake stand. Kids are encouraged to dress up and dig into treats that could range from rainbow cupcakes to mermaid doughnuts and unicorn cake pops.
Address: 1 Southgate Ave, Southbank VIC 3006
High tea at The Langham.
This one is capital F fun: Notel is a collection of six sleek silver 1970s Airstream caravans assembled on an inner-city rooftop, and little ones can be accommodated in an extra bed or cot. Each trailer comes with an en suite, its own private deck, mini-bar with complimentary snacks, free wi-fi and Netflix via an iPad Pro, and an HP Sprocket Photo Printer to print out happy moments and selfies.
Notel is a collection of six sleek silver 1970s Airstream caravans (Image: Andrew Curtis)
Inside Notel’s 1970s Airstream caravans. (Image: Andrew Curtis)
Your teens will adore SoYa (it stands for South Yarra, don’t you know), a 1960s apartment complex transformed into a boutique hotel of one- and two-bedroom apartments complete with kitchens, Netflix, funky mid-20th-century furniture (which you can buy), arresting wall murals, and even a pet-friendly room.
Stay at the hip SoYa (it stands for South Yarra, don’t you know).
The kids may never want to go home after staying at this CBD property which boasts an indoor pool, private cinema, rooftop tennis court and rock climbing wall. You are going to love the bright and cheery apartments, laundry service, on-site supermarket and terrace barbecue area.
The pool at Milano Serviced Apartments.
Located in Melbourne’s bustling Southbank precinct, this ultra-modern tower juts into the sky offering expansive views from its family-friendly two-bedroom apartments. While in residence be sure to make the most of the facilities including an indoor pool, gym and private cinema.
Stay inside an ultra-modern tower at Arise Australia 108.
This Little Lonsdale Street laneway property has 153 rooms spread out over 21 storeys, with great views through floor-to-ceiling windows. The rooms are all sleek and modern, and families can be accommodated in two interconnecting rooms that create a private wing. There’s a self-service laundry, casual dining and 24-hour reception.
Stay at Brady Hotels Jones Lane.
Enviably positioned on Russell Street in the heart of the city, rooms here include one- and two-bedroom apartments with all the facilities needed for a comfortable stay. The real selling point for the kids is the indoor pool where they can splash away rain, hail or shine.
Mantra on Russell is in prime position in the city.
Leave your preconceived notions at the door and embrace this hotel’s bright and stylish interconnecting family rooms with kitchenette and two bathrooms, the free wi-fi, the lobby with its coffeehouse vibe (and grab-and-go café for morning caffeine hits) and the great position close to all the action.
Treasures of the Natural World, Melbourne Museum
12 June – 16 January
Let London come to you by heading to the Melbourne Museum to be transported to the Natural History Museum via some of its most fascinating treasures on display in Australia for the first time. This family-friendly exhibition invites visitors to journey through the natural world and marvel at more than 200 objects that changed the course of scientific history, including the rare Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, the biggest butterfly in the world, and the Latrobe Nugget, one of the largest clusters of cubic gold crystals. Add on a screening of Museum Alive 3D at IMAX, where Sir David Attenborough leads you on a nocturnal adventure through London’s world-famous museum.
See Treasures of the Natural World at Melbourne Museum. (Credit: Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing Butterfly, The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London)
Skywhales: Every Heart Sings, MPavilion
11 December
Earlier this year, two monumental sculptures by artist Patricia Piccinini in the form of hot-air balloons graced the skies above Canberra in a spectacle staged by the National Gallery of Australia. Now those two strangely compelling whale-like mammals, Skywhale and Skywhalepapa – together the Skywhale family – are on tour across the skies of Australia, arriving in Melbourne in December.
Don’t miss Skywhales: Every Heart Sings, MPavilion. (Image: Patricia Piccinini: Skywhalepapa, 2020; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra)
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, Princess Theatre
Ongoing
Believe the hype. Our sources say that the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play absolutely deserves the buzz it has generated but can’t spill any secrets about what exactly goes down in the five-hour spectacle in two parts. The first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage, it finds the protagonist as a grown-up father of three. A fully immersive experience, the Princess Theatre has even undergone a makeover so that it looks and feels like it’s straight out of Hogwarts.
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, Princess Theatre.
Disney: The Magic of Animation, ACMI
Until 17 October
Australia’s national museum of screen culture, ACMI, has had a huge revamp and the first big show off its newly polished ranks will spellbind the whole family. It celebrates nearly 100 years of Disney animation through more than 500 original artworks from the 1920s through to the present day, with classics ranging from Mickey Mouse’s first talkie Steamboat Willie to Bambi and all the way to Frozen.
See Disney: The Magic of Animation at ACMI. (Credit: Artwork: Bambi, 1942, Disney Studio Artist, story sketch, coloured pencil and graphite on paper @Disney Enterprises)
Dates for the diary
The Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges
The Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges combine to offer day-trippers a grab bag of quaint towns and stunning natural landscapes. Drop in at Healesville to visit Healesville Sanctuary to see our fabulous fauna up close, then head to the Rainforest Gallery/Donna Buang in Yarra Ranges National Park. When tummies start to rumble, visit Meletos Garden and Café in Coldstream for gyros overlooking the vineyard and then venture into the lush natural landscape of the Dandenong Ranges to ride the Puffing Billy Railway on your way back to the city.
Visit Meletos Garden and Café in Coldstream. (Image: Rob Blackburn)
Torquay
Driving the Great Ocean Road needs to be undertaken over a few days to do it justice, so in the case of a day trip head straight to one of its sparkling coastal towns. In Torquay, less than 1.5 hours from Melbourne, life revolves around the water so spend the day paddling at Torquay Front Beach or Cosy Corner. The kids can take surf lessons (try Torquay Surfing Academy) and you will all love the Australian National Surfing Museum ($25 for a family ticket).
Stop by the Australian National Surfing Museum,
The Mornington Peninsula is where Melburnians day-trip to in search of beaches, cute towns and great food and wine. There is so much to do here that you will need to plan ahead (or go back for a longer stay), but some suggestions include a visit to Mt Martha to see the colourful bathing huts, a tour of Pt Leo Estate’s Sculpture Park in Merricks, and zip lining at the Enchanted Adventure Garden in Arthur’s Seat.
Mornington Peninsula boasts beaches, cute towns and great food and wine.
Churchill Island
In spite of the fact it’s right next to Phillip Island, Churchill Island (the land of the Boon Wurrung /Bunurong people) is definitely a secret gem. Head here to wander the wide open spaces, do a spot of birdwatching and see the historical buildings dating back to European settlement in the 1850s. Spend the arvo at Churchill Island Heritage Farm watching displays of blacksmithing, cow-milking, sheep-shearing and whip-cracking, and enjoy a horse-drawn carriage ride, too.
Churchill Island is a secret gem.
Just 90 minutes’ drive from the city, Phillip Island is famed for its penguins (32,000 versus just 10,387 people), its motorbike race and as the spot where the Hemsworth brothers spent their formative years. It’s also a great day trip with lots to explore, from visiting the Penguin Parade Visitor Centre and watching the little cuties shuffle ashore to wandering the treetop boardwalks to see koalas in their natural habitat at the Koala Conservation Reserve to spotting whales in season and spending time in the island’s townships of San Remo, Newhaven, Cape Woolamai and Cowes.
Discover the many sights of Phillip Island on a day trip from the city.
An attraction that combines dressing up and a sneaky history lesson is worth a 1.5-hour drive, ask any parent. Sovereign Hill in Ballarat recreates life at the height of the gold rush complete with hands-on gold panning and the chance to dress in Victorian-era school clothes.
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