Melbourne's Best New Cafes of 2019

Tucked away deep in Cheltenham’s bustling industrial area, Bambam Eatery is a light-filled, family-run cafe boasting a mostly vegan menu that changes almost daily.  The super-fresh produce on the menu is sourced by Bambam owner Evan Georgopoulos and his father Angelo from Moorabbin Wholesale Farmers Fresh Market. When they aren’t sourcing produce from the market, they’re teaming up with local makers like Bromley’s Bread and Huff Bagelry to ensure every element on the plate is locally sourced. Which also includes Bambam’s vibrant house-made hot sauce.

Those visiting for a quick lunch fix can grab a Really Good Sh**t poppyseed bagel loaded with smoked trout, cream cheese and pickles, or a PB and maple bagel oozing with banana and crunchy peanut butter. If you do eat meat, though, there’s plenty on the menu for you, too, including the Bad + Boujee bowl — packed with the aforementioned smoky hot sauce, ‘njuda, creamy hummus, roast butternut pumpkin, soft eggs and sourdough.

Aside from food, sustainability is another passion of the Georgopoulos family. The cafe is powered by solar panels, is a plastic-free business and the team makes cold-pressed juices in house.

Images and words: Julia Sansone

A social enterprise cafe with a community farm has launched just outside of Melbourne’s southwest sister city of Geelong — and it’s run by some pretty major hospo vets. It’s all thanks to the Mulberry Group, the team behind beloved Melbourne cafes Top Paddock, Higher Ground and Kettle Black.

The kitchen is run by the group’s chefs, Simon Pappas and Sandy Melgalvis, and it’s open to the public for breakfast and lunch daily. All the food is made with farm-fresh produce — grown bio-dynamically on the property where possible and sourced locally from around Victoria otherwise. Expect ‘wellness’ bowls, pear hotcakes, and egg and bacon pizzas. Plus, coffees by Square One, beers by Prickly Moses and Blackman’s and house-made sodas with flavours like grapefruit, chilli and rosemary or lemon and bay leaf

Set on a four-acre farm in Freshwater Creek, the space is more than just a cafe, too, it also provides local chefs with a space to plant, harvest and collect organic produce for use in their venues. All money raised at the farm and cafe goes to support regenerative farming practices, as well as improved access to mental health support for those in the hospo industry.

Words: Marissa Ciampi. Images: Timothy Marriage.

Your flirtation with the humble crumpet can finally graduate beyond the odd Golden-branded supermarket packet, thanks to this very dedicated cafe. Holy Crumpets is a full-blown celebration of the old-school brekkie favourite.

The brainchild of local crumpet aficionado Joshua Clements, the cafe’s premise is simple, yet genius: cracking house-made crumpets paired with top-quality Melbourne coffee. Locally sourced ingredients star throughout the menu of crumpets, which are all baked in-house daily. They’re not your standard crumpets either — they’re made using naturally fermented sourdough with freshly milled wholewheat flour, for a snack that’s a little more nutritious than its supermarket cousin.

As well as six-packs of untoasted crumpets to stock your pantry, you’ll find a rotation of single-serve, ready-to-scoff options, featuring crafty toppings alongside more traditional options. Think Vegemite, jam and cinnamon, passionfruit curd with ricotta, and even a seasonal concoction of truffle butter, blackberry honey and finely grated pecorino. The perfect match? Top-notch coffee from Melbourne’s own Wood & Co. Espressos and batch brews star alongside a slew of Assembly teas and Chai Boi chai to round out your oh-so-cosy crumpet feast.

Words: Libby Curran. Images: Tracey Ah-kee

Melbourne has no shortage of minimalistic spots for breakfast and brunch, but 279 has carved out its own niche in West Melbourne with its light-filled space and (very) tasty traditional Japanese fare

According to Owner Kantaro Okada, the menu is “home cooking and Japanese soul food that has been passed down through generations”. On it, you’ll find onigiri: triangles of rice wrapped in nori and served with a variety of toppings. Once you’ve ordered your onigiri, add some osokai (side dishes) — our top picks are the tofu topped with kelp and bonito flakes, the sweet pumpkin soy and the pickled daikon with kombu broth. If you don’t want rice, you can opt for one of three types of miso soup (shiro, awase and kome), which are individually strained through a specially designed ‘pour over-style’ machine to ensure each bowl is rich in flavour and smooth in texture, with no grainy mouthfeel.

279 also has a range of Japanese sweets on offer — most notably, its mochinuts. A cross between mochi and doughnuts, these baked goods are made with tapioca and rice flour, which gives them a springy, slightly chewy texture. To get one, though, you’ll need to get there early — they’re usually sold out by lunchtime. Like the food, the coffee is strictly Japanese. Sit at one of the countertops — drowning in morning light — and order a coffee made on Fuglen Tokyo beans, which are imported straight from the capital.

Words: Elizabeth Maidment. Images: Julia Sansone. 

Already the stuff of sweet, cheesy dreams, Prahran’s go-to dairy destination Maker & Monger took things to the next level in 2019. From humble beginnings as a Euro-style artisan food cart, launched by renowned cheesemonger Anthony Femia in 2015, the operation moved into a new, bigger, permanent store at the Prahran Market. And it’s a deadset cheese wonderland.

Having made a name for its silky Swiss raclette and all-American cheese toasties, Maker & Monger celebrated its roomier digs with an expanded specialty offering, complete with dine-in menu, a booze list and a monster, seven-metre-long cheese cabinet.  Here, a custom-built maturation room acts like a natural cave, used to house and mature a curation of boutique cheeses from both near and far.  The kitchen’s celebrating this bespoke cheese selection alongside produce fresh from the adjoining market, with a series of daily menus.

Breakfast might mean bites like a labneh-topped bruschetta, or perhaps the new cuban toastie featuring free-range Berkshire pork shoulder, ham off the bone and melted Marcel Petite comté.

Words: Libby Curran

They nailed the contemporary wine bar brief with their Collingwood corner gem, Congress, then delivered design-driven mod-Japanese at Richmond’s Future Future. Now, the siblings behind Milieu Hospitality have their shifted focus to Italy, for their new all-day Northside haunt Lagotto.

Katie and Michael McCormack have created a destination for all occasions and just about every hour of the day, with an influence that’s undeniably Italian. Mornings here see espressos and bellinis matched to the likes of a cavalo nero and asiago omelette, or cacio é pepe eggs with pancetta. Roll in at lunchtime for plates including a crisp pork cotoletta with slaw, a rich chicken cacciatore on soft polenta, and creamy buffalo mozzarella paired with pine nuts and caponata. Sandwiches, perhaps loaded with a combination of porchetta, cime di rapa and salmoriglio, are primed for lunch on the go.

And, if you’d like to take home more than just memories, check out the the food store selection. Affectionately known as Lagotto To-Go, the retail corner is filled with pantry essentials, take-home feasts and reasonably priced wine.

Words: Libby Curran. Images: Parker Blain.

With its crisp pastry shell and hot, tasty filling, it’s not too hard to see why the humble pie is a dead-set favourite Aussie treat. And this year, it got a brand new home, in Footscray’s small but mighty Pie Thief. This little spot is the work of Bar Josephine owner Aaron Donato — along with friend and regular, chef Scott Blomfield (Supernormal, Mighty Boy) — who have set out to create their own solution to Melbourne’s lack of good urban pie shops.

The menu is heavy on the nostalgia, too, promising to fill you up, please your taste buds and give you a few warm and fuzzies in the process. Boosting the throwback feels, the pair also stirs hot and cold Milos and slices trays of creamy vanilla slice. The pies features six core creations, including a steak and cheese, a Thai red chicken curry and a classic egg and bacon number that you can match with Code Black coffees. The lasagne pie — yes, a pie filled with cheesy lasagne — is already a big hit. It boasts rich bolognese, creamy béchamel and even a piece of lasagne sheet.

A Pie of the Week option rotates through clever creations like nacho, and cauliflower cheese, and there’s a solid vegan option in the pumpkin and tofu cheddar combination. Oh, and they haven’t forgotten about the sausage rolls, either – here, you’ll find an old-school pork and fennel, along with one inspired by the humble chicken parma.

Words: Libby Curran

If jaffles are one of your main dietary go-tos, you’ll be chuffed to know that you can now order one while also helping out an excellent cause. In March, non-profit group Society Melbourne opened the doors to its latest social enterprise hospitality project, dubbed Home.Two.

Setting down roots at the University of Melbourne, this newcomer is slinging Wood & Co coffee alongside an all-vegan, gluten free-friendly lineup of jaffles. You’ll find hearty fillings like cauliflower and vegan cheese, mushroom and pesto, a plant-based meat and cheese pie version and even a take on the classic cheeseburger. And they’re all just $8.

The socially minded venue continues Society Melbourne’s fight against youth homelessness, with 100 percent of profits going to its education and employment program.  Home.Two’s also doing its bit for the environment, with fully biodegradable packaging and discounts encouraging customers to bring their own reusable cups and containers.

Words: Libby Curran

One of Melbourne’s original grocers has made a major comeback, with King and Godfree reborn as a three-level Italian food mecca.  The Roman-style delicatessen aims to be your ‘one-stop shop’ for everything Italian, and houses an espresso bar, deli and traditional grocer. In the espresso bar, expect house-roasted coffee by head barista Lucas Carrington (ex-All Press, London), along with Italian espresso and fair trade Guatemalan single origin. For breakfast, there are also fresh juices and smoothies, plus Italian baked goods and breakfast plates — these include the fried egg, pancetta and basil panino and scrambled eggs with cured salmon, chives and toast.

During the day, there’s a succinct list of pastas and cicchetti (Italian-style tapas) to choose from, as well as rotisserie meats, roasted veggies, ready-made Italian sandwiches and daily specials. In the deli, there are freshly baked breads, a massive assortment of local and imported cheeses, artisan salumi and DOP accredited prosciutto to look forward to. Italian smallgoods, fresh flowers and meals for takeaway round out the offering. Deciding what to buy will be the hard part, but luckily there will be plenty of tastings and demonstrations on offer, too.

If you’re here at night, you’ll find Johnny’s Green Room open upstairs, too, with snacks, cocktails and live tunes.

Words: Marissa Ciampi. Image: Kate Shanasy.

The word ‘dari’ meaning ‘bridge’ in Korean is the foundation for Hardware Lane’s newest Korean eatery: Dari Korean Cafe. Melding together Australian and Korean cafe culture, Dari boasts a large array of Korean sandwiches and sweet treats typically seen on the streets of Busan and Seoul.

At Dari, skip your morning coffee and opt for one of the many drinks made with malted rice or job’s tears (a grain native to Southeast Asia). Order the hot job’s tears latte, similar to Korean yulmu-cha, brewed with soy milk — or versions made with sweet potato or pumpkin, which are boiled down with milk and honey. For those summer months (or warmer winter days), Dari also offers Hong Cho (a fermented Korean vinegar drink, with a similar to taste to kombucha) which Yoon-Ji imports from the capital.

At lunch, Dari offers grilled and cold sandwiches, with vegetarian and dairy-free options available. But they’re not the sort of sangas you’ll find at your local corner store. The Idol Sandwich is a take on the inkigayo sandwich, which has been made famous by K-pop stars on the South Korean TV show Inkigayo. A recent viral sensation, the sandwich is said to have been created by the show’s stars using ingredients from the broadcasting studio’s cafeterias. It’s made from an unusual combination of strawberry jam, slaw and egg salad.

Words: Elizabeth Maidment. Images: Julia Sansone.