Hotel Phillip Island is centrally located in Cowes on the esplanade with simply one of the best views from any eatery I have been in. The food is good with a quite extensive menu with plenty of seafood listed.
Quite a nice spot to while away the time with a drink, a meal and the view.

11-13 The Esplanade
Cowes 3922

Phone +61 3 5952 2100

www.hotelphillipisland.com/

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Another nice little find in my local neighbourhood... Sarands presents a Mediterranean-based menu of seafood or meat dishes. The restaurant itself is light and airy (with an upstairs private dining area for functions), service is pleasant, the wine list small but well chosen and the (mains) servings huge. The prices are reasonable too. Coffee is excellent.

532 Hampton St, Hampton
3188 Vic (200m south of South Rd)
Ph 9598 8944

www.greateats.com.au/restaurants/au/Melbourne_Inner_South/Hampton/14489/Sarands_Mediterranean

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Ten years old this year, makes the Gin Palace a venerable old man among Melbourne's hip young cocktail bars. It has lost none of its greatness though. Well trained bartenders, a bookshelf of cocktail books, hundreds of bottles (including dozens of types of gin) means that if you want to stray from the ten martinis printed on their cocktail list, you can have just about anything. Also, the chairs are stuffed with goose feathers, the music is never too loud and it is open every day of the year (including Christmas). I don't live in Melbourne any more but if I did, I'd be there right now.

Russell Place, Melbourne

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Named after a notorious Victorian brothel keeper, Madame Brussels has a deliciously kooky garden party theme, complete with grassed interior, trellising and parasols.

Bright young things in tennis whites will bring you iced Pimms and cucumber sandwiches. Scrumptious in every way.

Level 3, 59-63 Bourke Street, Melbourne
www.madamebrussels.com
+61 (0)3 9662 2775

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Dining at Mirka is a tasty visual experience. Surrounded by murals by Mirka Mora, you dine on food from the kitchen of Melbourne's famed Guy Grossi. Based widely on a mediterranean style (Grossi is Italian), the menu here is about making one feel cosseted and at home.

The wine list is superb with wines from France and South America as well as the best of Australia. Superb service along the art of the dining room makes 'Mirka' one of Melbourne's best culinary experiences. We will be going back.

42 Fitzroy St
ST Kilda
03 9525 3088
100m from St Kilda Light Rail station

www.mirkatolarno.com/

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A pub with a view, a great view across Melbourne's bay. A pub with decent food in the bistro, a TAB, a lounge bar and accommodation all within 15km of the CBD.

A pretty good local pub with one of the best outlooks in Melbourne.

Cnr Beach & Bay Road, Sandringham,
just around the corner from Sandringham station
Telephone: 9598 7255

www.sandringhamhotel.com.au/

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Recently renovated inside, the Flinders Pub has moved to improve its eating areas with a formal dining room in addition to the bistro.

The pub is a favourite of motorcycle riders (it's a great place to start or end a ride) who frequent the bistro but the dining room is a nice place for those wanting something more formal... nice thick linen and quality tableware. It's a nice place to eat for those who have been tramping the wineries in the area or having a hit at Flinders Golf Club.

Cook St
Flinders
Mornington Peninsula
about an hour from central Melbourne
ph 59890201

www.flindershotel com.au

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A local hotel with plenty of different beers, decent service and an interesting food menu.

157 Moray Street, South Melbourne Tel. 9690 4511

www.melbournepubs.com/v/59/

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Cafe Latte is not a drink, it's a nice little Italian restaurant in swanky Toorak. Great pasta dishes (mainly southern Italian style), nice wine list, central bar and a fantastic atmosphere make this a place 'to eat out' at.

521 Malvern Rd, Toorak, VIC, 3142
Phone: (03) 98265846

www.cafelatte.com.au

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The Boundary is a pub with a history,
although today it fronts as a pub with decent food, kid-friendly even for those with ankle biters or rugrats who want a meal out and, of course, it has the obligatory pokies and TAB. Oh, and a decent wine list in the dining room.

The history bit? The Boundary pub gets its name from being on East Boundary Rd which gets its name from being the former east boundary of a large farming estate (back in the 1880s through to the 1920s)

Take the kids (leave them in the playroom) and have a meal or play the pokies.

cnr East Boundary Rd and Centre Rd
East Bentleigh
Vic 3165
ph 9570 7044
free on site parking

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Wheelers is a pub that has gone through a bit of a transformation and turned into a top class hotel with good food, good entertainment (especially Thursday and Friday nights) and a view to die for.

Having a lazy lunch in the fancy class restaurant overlooking the valley is a great way to spend a Sunday. The Wheelers is a fave with locals. And did I mention the views too?

Wheelers Hill Hotel
Ferntree Gully Road (cnr Jells Road), Wheelers Hill (about 20 mins from the centre of the city along the freeway) Tel. 9560 8922
car parking on site is free

www.melbournepubs.com/v/794/Wheelers-Hill-Hotel.html

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The Windsor (Melbourne's elegant 1883 magnificent gothic hotel) has a public bar - The Cricketers Bar. The bar is full of cricketing memorabilia including photos of Australian and English teams from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Don Bradman fans will not be disappointed either. The bar is just across the road from the victorian houses of parliament, so watch for you favourite political or sports people. The cricket, of course, is televised on 2 large screen TVs.

103 Spring St
Melbourne
ph 96336000
www.thewindsor.com.au/
or
www.discoveraustralia.com.au/hotels/the-windsor-an-oberoi-hotel-melbourne-14851.html

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The best place to meet before and after a test match or one-day international. An institution with the die hard fans of any sport played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG or "the G").

Punt Road, Richmond, next to the Richmond train station and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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Take an old building in a swanky street in one of Melbourne's best suburbs, renovate it, add a top chef (who also is the owner), add a top menu based on french influences and you get one of Melbourne's fave eating spots...Vèra!

Superb food, immaculate tables and layout, attentive staff. The wine list is also top class. Go!

Barry also holds food classes covering everything from 'classic french desserts ' to 'Help, I can't cook!'.

118 Church St
Brighton 3186
ph - 95931880
it is next to Mid Brighton Station

www.vera.com.au/

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Another find in our local High St. and one whilst naming itself 'Urchin Bar' is really a Mediterranean/Middle eastern restaurant serving a great array of different foods ...with a bar with fold back windows overlooking the street.

The food covers many different areas of the Middle East…Moroccan, Tunisian, Greek, and Turkish etc and there is also a great choice of vegetarian courses. In contrast, the small wine list is distinctly Australian. Given that it is a bar (says the name), there is a fine list of cocktails spirits etc as well.

On Sunday afternoons and Wednesday nights there is live music and they also hold (out of hours) belly-dancing classes.

Highly recommended!

424 Hampton St, Hampton
Phone (03) 9598 1453
A short walk (100 metres) from Hampton railway station

www.theage.com.au/news/restaurant-reviews/urchin-bar/2006/05/05/1146335912992.html

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Where to start?  Melbourne is a great town. Go to the Victoria market in the centre of town, or the smaller and groovier South Melbourne Markets at the weekend. Take a surfing lesson in Torquay after a trip along the Great Ocean Road, or a breathtaking dawn hot air balloon ride over the Yarra Valley wineries. Inner city Melbourne has some excellent bars down its lane ways: check out Honky Tonks for great cocktails or the Hi-Fi bar for grungier action. Brunswick Street Fitzroy is a haven for great food and drink and funky clothes.  

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Dining at the upstairs restaurant at the Middle Brighton Baths is a quality experience, with MBB splashed on the glassware and tableware. Our lunch experience was a terrific way to spend a Sunday afternoon on a fine, clear but cool winters day. The food is fab, the service and attention from the young staff terrific and the view... even better. Sunday lunch is a'la carte or a fixed price affair (3 courses and a glass of wine for $30) there were quite a few families there.

For something less ritzy try the downstairs cafe where you can eat inside or outside on the balcony overlooking the baths.

251 The Esplanade, Brighton;
tel: 9539 7008 (upstairs restaurant); 9539 7004 (downstairs café)
www.middlebrightonbaths.com.au/main/Restaurant.htm

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A great local cafe and bar with inside and outside eating areas, a very modern menu and a great wine list. Drop in for a latte and cake or have a full meal. An afternoon next to the fire here is a lazy way to while away a Sunday. The locals (including me) love it because it’s also 'kid friendly'. Babyccino anyone?

382 Hampton St, Hampton 3188;
tel: 9521 0547;
miettas.com/Australia/Victoria/Hampton/Brown_Cow.html

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Melbourne bar/restaurant that’s located on the beach at Hampton (although the locals call it Brighton Beach because that’s the name of the adjacent railway station). Great outlook (check the website), nice food, plenty of parking, with a place upstairs for a drink and meal with a view. The hotel also hosts live music at times, check out the gig guide.

Cnr South Rd and Beach Rd (aka the Esplanade) in Hampton (aka Brighton Beach), 50 metres from Brighton Beach Station (20 min trip from the city);
tel: 9592 3555;
www.milanos.com.au

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The Portsea Hotel (aka the Portsea pub) has one of the best outlooks of any pub in the world. It’s a favourite of those who live in Portsea, as well as those visiting. Drives to the Mornington Peninsula end at the pub, motorcyclists arrange their rides to end at the pub. The views are awesome, and the food and service are very good. Eat in the restaurant or outside in the beer garden. They also offer accommodation.

3749 Point Nepean Rd (Nepean Hwy), Portsea. It’s on the right-hand (beach) side as you enter Portsea.
tel: (03) 59842213
www.portseahotel.com.au

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