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Beef cheek rendang topped with a lacy cracker made from kremes, a crunchy topping of chicken stock and seasoned flour.

Collection

Here’s your April dining hit list, Melbourne (featuring this ‘genius’ beef cheek rendang)

Also this month: we revisit fine dining stalwarts Ten Minutes by Tractor and Florentino, under a new chef and new owners respectively; after winning our fast-food chip taste test during Chip Month, does American chain Five Guys’ burger cut the mustard?; plus two great-value supper clubs − one where everything is $14 (Frenchie), the other with dinner and a burlesque show (Le Bar Supper Club).

16 stories
Moreton Bay bug tortellini.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Twenty years on, Ten Minutes by Tractor still stops our critic in her tracks

  • Besha Rodell
The Five Guys' build-your-own cheeseburger with chips.

Five Guys looks like other burger chains, but it’s better value, with top-rated chips

  • Emma Breheny
Bar Carnation has taken over the former Gerald's Bar space.
14/20

Opened in the shadow of its predecessor Gerald’s, Bar Carnation is shining bright

  • Besha Rodell
Mote hin kar (noodle soup).

New eatery Ka Gyi spotlights Burmese comfort food (feat. this famous fish noodle soup)

  • Dani Valent
Bar Local Drop is an extension of wine delivery business the Local Drop.
14.5/20

This all-day wine bar and its handwritten little black book has our reviewer hooked

  • Dani Valent
Huevos rancheros is one of few Mexican dishes on the menu.

‘It says Chile more than anything’: Empanadas are the order at Cafe Valentina

  • Sanka Amadoru
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Beef cheek rendang topped with a lacy cracker made from kremes, a crunchy topping of chicken stock and seasoned flour.
13.5/20

Indonesian cafe Roemah’s ‘genius’ rendang is cheffy trickery meets street-food

  • Dani Valent
A latte at Cafe Effe made with Proud Mary coffee beans.

A ‘futuristic pitstop’, Korean doughnuts, gelato in the hills: Three new Melbourne cafes

  • Frank Sweet
Nothing is over $14 at Frenchie.

With nothing over $14, CBD bistro Frenchie was built for buzz. But is it good value?

  • Tomas Telegramma
Oyasters are shucked to order at Olala.
14/20

Freshly shucked restaurant Olala − and its $98 oyster − a treat for seafood lovers

  • Besha Rodell
The room buzzes during the burlesque performance.
14/20

Le Bar Supper Club’s two-course dinner and a show is ‘outstanding value’ for $69

  • Dani Valent
Florentino's storied dining room.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

The iconic Florentino enters a new era, but it has never been of this era

  • Besha Rodell
Moondrop is Fitzroy's new Chinese-inspired bar where the Everleigh once was.

When the Everleigh closed, cocktail bar Moondrop moved in. How does it rate?

  • Tomas Telegramma
Somewhere between shoestring and thick-cut, the chips are painstakingly placed vertically on the buttered bread, creating four or so layers, and the perfect cross-section.

No ifs, only butties: Glory Us’ chip butty is a carb-on-carb crowd-pleaser

  • Tomas Telegramma
Hannah Green (in blue) on the floor at her sophomore restaurant, Daphne.
14/20

With a flexible menu built for maximum flavour, Etta’s sister Daphne is easy to love

  • Besha Rodell
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Dingo ate my Taco is bringing its signature birria tacos to the former Range Brewing site in Abbotsford.

Coming soon to Melbourne: 15 pubs, cafes and more to get excited about

  • Tomas Telegramma