Melbourne Eats: My Must-Try Spots
Updated March 2026
Here’s the lowdown on all the food I enjoyed while on my recent trip to Melbourne in March 2026.
Rocco’s Deli
📍 Yarraville
If you love Italian rolls, Rocco’s is the place. They do made-to-order rolls with your favourite deli meats and marinated vegetables. My roll included their offered marinated vegetables, mortadella, ham, chicken, hot salami and cheese. While extra meat costs more, they’re not shy about loading it up and giving you a solid feed. I’m yet to find an Italian deli like this in Brisbane, so Rocco’s will always be on my go-to list when I visit Melbourne.
Kosmos Greek
📍 Altona North
Solid Greek gyros. We had their traditional chicken gyros with a side of their biftekia, tirokafteri (spicy fetta dip) and tzatziki. The first time I went there in 2024, I found the addition of mustard to their traditional gyros unusual. My family recently visited northern Greece and told me that mustard was a common addition to gyros. I think the combo of tzatziki worked; my partner found the mustard overpowering and prefers it without. Biftekia were juicy and tasty. This would be my second visit to Kosmos, and both times have been very good gyros, so I definitely recommend you visit and try their food.
Johnny, Vince and Sam’s
📍 Carlton
This is the restaurant opened by the comedy group Sooshi Mango. We were pleasantly surprised by the food we ordered. We ordered their garlic focaccia, bolognese arancini, pasta with meatballs and salami pizza. The focaccia was great; it tasted homemade with good texture. I found the arancini quite plain tasting, it didn’t seem like it had much bolognese flavour to it. The winners for us were our mains. The meatballs were tender and well flavoured with a tomato-based sauce that wasn’t overpowering. We enjoyed the pizza very much. It’s much different to the typical Italian Neapolitan pizza we’re used to getting, with a thick, soft, chewy crust throughout, rather than just at the crust.
The comedy troupe opened the restaurant as an homage to their ethnic heritage and the influence of their Italian Nonna’s cooking for them. I loved the ethnic vibe of the restaurant with the paintings, tableware and the stained windows near the bar. It was very reminiscent of my ethnic upbringing when visiting with my Greek grandparents. It’s definitely somewhere I’d eat at again.
Eleni’s Kitchen & Bar
📍 Yarraville
We ordered the tirokafteri with house-made bread; dolmadakia with tzatziki; a mixed gyros plate (lamb and chicken) with salad, lemon potatoes, tzatziki and pita; and pastitsio. We enjoyed the house-made bread with our dips; it was a nice touch when most restaurants serve premade bread. The dolmadakia were quite plain; I was expecting more of those Greek flavours to be present. The highlight was the mixed gyros plate; the lamb was tender and the meat was beautifully seasoned. We did think the salad was overloaded with lettuce and lacking in some of the other salad ingredients and that there could’ve been more potatoes. I enjoyed the pastitsio; the cinnamon in the meat sauce wasn’t too overpowering, which I liked; however, it could’ve used some more bechamel on top. I’d love to return next time and try more of their menu.
Maximoon
📍 Moonee Ponds
We were looking for a late-night feed and stumbled on Maximoon. We both got smashed burgers and were very happy with them. Thin, crispy and still juicy, well flavoured, and I enjoyed their special burger sauce. We will definitely be back next time to try the chicken burgers.
Niko’s
📍 Fairfield
There are many Greek sweet shops in Melbourne, and for me, Niko’s is up there as one of the best. We tried the cinnamon and regular koulourakia, paximadia, kourabiedes, melomakarona, revani and the cigar-shaped baklava. Some of the sweets were hit and miss; however, they were still better than some other shops I visited.
My personal favourites:
Melomakarona – perfectly soaked in the syrup so it wasn’t too dry or overly soaked and the syrup was balanced in flavour – sometimes too much clove is added.
Koulourakia – a vanilla-flavoured biscuit, sometimes mixed with chocolate or cinnamon – which we also enjoyed from Nikos – these biscuits are very good.
Paximadia – it’s very similar to biscotti, a crunchy, twice-baked biscuit, with a hint of orange. Nikos has theirs topped with blanched slivered almonds, which I personally don’t enjoy.
Cigar baklava: I love these; they’re the perfect size for that baklava taste without eating a big piece of baklava. It was perfect – crispy, with a good amount of nuts and the perfect amount of syrup soaked into the baklava.
Not so great:
Kourabiedes – I really enjoyed the way my mum made them, and I struggle to find kourabiedes similar to hers from any place I’ve been to. I found the shortbread texture to be a bit like chalk.
Revani – I love a good syrup-soaked cake. I didn’t hate it, but I felt like the upper half of the slice was dry and there was too much coconut dusted on top.
Brother Hen
📍 Moonee Ponds
We went twice while we were in Melbourne, not just for the food but for the chickens in the courtyard at the back of the cafe. We had to go back and get their breakfast burger with an added hash brown inside the burger. It was beautiful; I loved the addition of the caramelised onions. I feel like it complemented the burger really well. The only gripe I have is that I love crispy, well-done bacon, but most restaurants cook it a standard unless you ask to have it cooked a certain way, so I’ll make sure I ask for my bacon to be crispy for next time. I’m keen to visit again and try more of the menu.
