Inner Melbournes Hidden Gems

Melbourne City; popular for it’s trams, international culture and the home of Neighbours and Offspring, but Melbourne has a little known yet exciting underbelly of street trading, live music and cuisine that would rival any city in the world.

There used to be a saying that you could get anything at any hour in New York City but this is fast becoming true of Melbourne too. Sunday afternoon horse drawn carriage ride – tick. Authentic Mexican Tacos at 3am – Tick. Hair extensions to try and buy from a converted news cylinder on the street – tick.

Melbourne prides itself on it’s coffee and little wonder. Tiny cafes specialising in the world finest coffees can often be found in train station corners and literal holes in the wall. 

So, heres a round up of the best and most unusual that Melbourne has to offer:

Coffee: Start your day with an espresso from Cup Of Tru th, an obscure train station alcove that became one of the cities best cafes. A must try are the peanut butter dougnuts or pistacchio syrup cakes. Brother Baba Budan – great for coffee and spotting Asher Keddie on weekends. Where: Cup Of Truth Flinders St Station, Elizabeth St Exit. Brother Buba – 359 Lt Bourke St

Breakfast: You could have your hotels continental Corn Flakes OR venture to Myer Emporium. At basement level exists Botica, truly the science of coffee and the most delectable berry ricotta bagels OR be really different and try the chicken tacos at Guzman Y Gomez in the food court. Where: Emporium Melbourne Little Bourke St. 

Street Trading: The City Of Melbourne have ingeniously started a program where news cylinders along Swanston St have been converted into quirky pop up stores. Among the mix is a ‘to-die-for’ French creperie, The Dazzle Strands BEAUTY BAR – a branded space specialising in hair extensions (a Qantas Travel Insider f avourite) and unique funky art hand-made on vinyl LP’s. Where: Cnr Swanston and Bourke St. 

Lunch: Of late, small stores which are cheap and specialise in one or two particular items of food have become SOOO good they are even trumping Melbournes fine dining scene. Rice Workshop does delicately spiced Teriyaki to rival any you would find in Japan. Huxtaburger makes incredibly succulent burgers and fries and nothing else. Emporium really is a good choice for anything at lunchtime with the cities best food court hands-down. Some picks include Jimmy Grants – which make fresh, super tasty authentic souvlakis (and is partly owned by Masterchef judge George Koloumbaris) and you cant go passed a pork belly sandwich at Earl. Where: Rice Workshop 238 Little Bourke St. Huxtaburger Fulham Pl 

Shopping: For everything from top of the line hair products (Hair2Go Superstore) to plus-sized womens clothing (Myer Level 3) Melbourne really does have it all. Need ‘Bad Karma’? ( a pungent practical joke spray) Bernards Magic stocks that. Shoes that are on-trend but also wearable? Mountfords has both a retail store and outlet off Bourke St mall. In Melbourne top brands rub shoulders with high quality local brands to give visitors the best there is to offer in shopping. Where: Hair2Go 62 Elizabeth St. Myer Bourke St Mall. Bernards 1/187 Elizabeth St. 

Drinks: You wouldn’t think that roof-top bars would be popular in a city where the weather motto is ‘Melbourne, beautiful one day, terrible the next’ however the roof-top bar scene has exploded. For vibe and great drinks you can’t go passed Cookie Bar (Swanston St) or The Ainsbury (Lonsdale St)

Dinner: Trendiness is always a factor when it comes to dining in Melbourne, and there are good options at either end of the fine dining and food truck spectrum. Taxi Dining Room has some of the cities best views and fine dining to match. The Food Truck Project, set amongst upscale international brands like Chanel & Dior offers everything from hipster-ish burgers to tacos. Degraves St offers more traditional Italian fare in a romantic laneway and then there’s D.O.C pizza and mozarella bar which is so GOOD and authentically Italian you may need a passport when dining at one of their 4 locations. Where: Taxi Federation Square. Food Trucks Collins St Paris End. D.O.C 295 Drummond St Carlton 

Live Music and Bars: As Kath from Kath & Kim would say “I’ve got one word for you Kimmy” St Kilda-St-Kilda-St-Kilda when it comes to seriously fun live music and bars. Abbey Rd serves great cocktails and has a live band that will have you bopping and singing along on a Friday night. Vinyard and Big Mouth offer the best in live music, r&b and 90’s on a Saturday night. Where: Acland St, St Kilda 

Melbourne is so cultural and urban, that when you’re coming to inner Melbourne City expect vibe, eccentricity a nd a seriously sublime gastronomical ride.