Melbourne's Food Precincts

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Melbourne is preoccupied with eating food and drinking coffee. That's hardly surprising as it is one of the great cities of the world when it comes to eating out. In terms of culinary delights, this is the capital of Australia. Here you have literally thousands of restaurants, cafes and coffee shops to choose from, and, what's more, most of them are probably ethnic.

Australia's immigration policy during the past 50 years has seen the acceptance of European, Middle Eastern and Asian cusines as part of Melbourne's culture. Australia's second biggest city is a wonderful example of how different ethnic groups can enrich a culture, and this is wonderfully reflected in the myriad of small ethnic restaurants and cafes seen throughout the city and suburbs. There are now clearly defined food areas, most of them in in the inner suburbs and close to the CBD. Some of them are distinctly ethnic, some are what could be described as "Bohemian", and others are best described as "modern", drawing on the influences from lots of different cultures. people and food all go together to make one big melting pot.

Some restaurants and cafes are upmarket, some are quite the opposite. They all sit well together and its fantastic food discovering them.

The other serious food thing that has happened to Melbournites in the past decade is that they have adopted eating outdoors. With such a favourable climate, why sit indoors when you can be outside watching the world go by! Most cafes now have tables and chairs on the footpath, and some of the larger ones have outdoor areas to match those seen in Italy and France.

Some of Melbourne's most popular eating out areas are:

• Lygon Street, Carlton (Italian)
• Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (Bohemian)
• Acland Street, St Kilda (Bohemian)
• Chapel Street, South Yarra (Modern)
• Victoria Street, Abbotsford (Vietnamese)
• Southbank (Modern)
• Smith Street, Collingwood (Bohemian)
• Chinatown, City (Chinese)

The theme of eating out, restaurants and sidewalk cafes is also firmly entrenched in other parts of Melbourne's inner suburbs, including Albert Part, Middle Park, South Melbourne, Williamstown, Yarraville, Elwood, Footscray, Hardware Lane (city), Port Melbourne, Brighton, Hampton, Hawthorn, Kew and Brunswick . There are few suburbs left that don't have at least one good restaurant and/or a cafe with tables and chairs set up on the footpath (and which sell quality expresso coffee).