Top Restaurants In Melbourne’s South East

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Simple on both the outside and inside, the Jake and the Beans Talk café is a jewel for the locals. The staff and the menu are kid-friendly, evident by the number of families in the café. The coffee is generous in flavor and the food sticks closely to the format of the traditional English and Australian breakfast. It’s a homely, warm place to have a great breakfast at the weekend.

This tiny and humble Japanese restaurant is easy to miss, but is one of the best Japanese food outlets Melbourne has to offer. The cozy restaurant is decorated with drawings and paintings of the chef’s daughter, giving the restaurant a personal touch. If you have tried Japanese food in Japan, you’ll know Japanese food is actually very salty. But Aoba successfully retains the authentic taste of Japan without making the dish too sodium-laced, delivering delicious, affordable and healthy food.

This shop in the middle of the busy township of Malvern has a simple and rustic interior of wooden tables and chairs with coffee bean sacks hung on the walls like art works. Do not worry though, the food is worth the wait. And the best part about Eden Espresso is how fresh and nutritious the food is without making healthy food the central theme of the café.

Spanish food, Spanish songs and Spanish guys. Remy Bar is known as ‘The Spanish Gem’, and definitely lives up to that name. The restaurant has a vintage interior which honours the Spanish culture as much as possible. The presentation and quality of the food is comparable to any five-star restaurant, and the most popular options is Spanish tapas. Order the sangria to set the meal off wonderfully.

Named after the shop’s previous incarnation, Coin Laundry still retains much of the vibe of a launderette, with shirts hanging on the ceilings and clothes hooks on the walls. The smell of coffee hangs in the air and it’s as good as the taste. The food is the same, with well balanced flavors and textures and beautiful presentation.

Get ready to be transported to France when you enter Bistro Thierry. Waiters dressed in waistcoats addressing customers as ‘Mademoiselle’ and ‘Monsieur’ and the dishes are authentic French food; the experience is probably the closest you can get to France in Melbourne. Portions may not seem big on the big plate compared to big Australian meals, but they are delicious and more than enough over a long, languid meal with plenty of wine.