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Bread, a crown-shaped brioche brushed with a caramel made from vegetable scraps, is complimentary.

Collection

Here’s your March dining hit list, Melbourne (featuring this free bread that’s good enough to pay for)

Find the glossy brioche at The Lodge, a fine dining restaurant from New Zealand menswear label Rodd & Gunn. Also this month: our guide to one of Melbourne’s best suburban dining hubs, and discover a Middle Eastern restaurant in a pub, plus a secret bar inside a pub inside an old train station.

14 stories
The Wooden Spoon.

Sooshi Mango’s late-night panini bar Sangaweech ‘had to be’ on Lygon Street

  • Tomas Telegramma
Nightbird is nesting at the back of Godby Hotel.

Eight new bars to try, from a secret rooftop to a pub in an old train station

  • Tomas Telegramma
Wonderful, natural light gleams on black floorboards of The Lodge Dining Room on level one of Rodd & Gunn’s flagship store.
Good Food hat15/20

Why Rodd & Gunn’s The Lodge Dining Room won over our shopping-phobe critic

  • Dani Valent
Koi Toy’s kingfish sashimi is dressed with pink grapefruit, coconut cream and yuzu kosho.

Pentridge is the place to be as rule-breaking modern Asian restaurant Koi Toy moves in

  • Dani Valent
Pork belly num pang with green apple slaw.

Try num pang, Cambodia’s answer to Vietnam’s banh mi, at Kampot Kitchen

  • Sanka Amadoru
The bruschetta of the day changes with the seasons, with the charred bread perhaps topped with ricotta mousse, tomato, shaved zucchini and prosciutto.
14/20

Italian restaurant Tavola in middle-suburban Melbourne is slicker than your average

  • Dani Valent
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Ophelia’s $20 pasta night is twice-weekly.

$20 pub meals, Korean lunchboxes: Six workday deals for winners

  • Haymun Win
The Pinnacle’s new team (L-R): venue manager Jamie McDonnell, chef Scott Eddington, owner Michael Bascetta.

Quirky corner pub Fitzroy Pinnacle Hotel reopens with one big difference

  • Tomas Telegramma
If you crave raw fish, the Sachi don is one of the best uses of $35 you’re going to find.
13.5/20

Sachi’s ‘bargain’ rice bowl is one of the best ways to get a fancy sushi fix

  • Besha Rodell
Il Bacaro’s wait staff know how to gauge a table.
Good Food hat15/20

Why city Italian restaurant Il Bacaro has earned its place as a Melbourne classic

  • Besha Rodell
Lamb naye balls coated with sesame seeds, crushed pistachio and dried rose petals.
14/20

Discover Sama, a Middle Eastern restaurant tucked inside a grand old pub

  • Dani Valent
Kingsway in Glen Waverley is one of Melbourne’s best suburban dining hubs.

Insider tips for eating and drinking your way along Kingsway, Glen Waverley

  • Dani Valent
Orson restaurant is housed in Rosebud’s former Broadway Theatre.
14.5/20

Why you should book Orson, a peninsula destination diner in an old theatre

  • Besha Rodell
Chilli prawn pizza.

Bring the gang: Nora’s, a pizza spot opposite the beach, is a big, friendly party

  • Emma Breheny