When I think of Melbourne, the first thing that strikes my mind is not Great Ocean Road or Phillip Island, but cafes. Call me a hardcore foodie, but there is nothing like good food in a foreign city to excite my holiday. I visited many good cafes in various parts of Melbourne on my recent trip, from the impossibly beautiful space of The Kettle Black, Top Paddock, Auction Rooms to one of the best hot chocolate café we have visited, Mörk Chocolate. Here is our list of the top 9 must visit cafes in Melbourne. Feel free to drop us a note if we have missed out on any other awesome ones.

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The Kettle Black

With a nice and modern space, Kettle Black remains one of the most popular cafes in Melbourne. The retro-Victorian facade is my favourite part of the cafe, which was fully packed when we visited on a weekday morning with locals and tourists. The presentation of the food scores well here, where you can expect instagram-worthy colours and ingredients. Don’t miss out on the hotcakes, one of the prettiest renditions I had so far.

Where: 50 Albert Road, South Melbourne VIC 3205, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9088 0721

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 4pm
Saturday to Sunday: 8am to 4pm

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Top Paddock

Run by the same guys behind Kettle Black, Top Paddock is the kind of cafe which you can have a great catch up for hours with less crowd as compared to its sister cafe. The cafe has a few dining sections, including a nice outdoor area if you need some peaceful moments, but the attentive staff will ensure you get your food. The menu and presentation of dishes are similar to Kettle Black, you can’t go that wrong with its poached eggs.

Where: 658 Church Street, Richmond VIC 3121, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9429 4332

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 4pm
Saturday to Sunday: 8am to 4pm

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Auction Rooms

After touring Queen Victoria Market, a short and pleasant twenty minutes walk brought us to Auction Rooms, a vintage and rustic cafe in North Melbourne. It was early on a weekend but the cafe was already packed, given its huge space. We had a table at the small garden lookalike courtyard section, which feels like an indoor alfresco setting. Other than the beautiful space, the menu is not to be taken lightly as well. Expect all-day options such as Press pork shoulder, Corned beef brisket, Nut, seed & puffed grain granola or simply customise your own plate. Our Breakfast board of grilled Auction Rooms’ sausage, smoked trout rillettes, avocado puree, soft-boiled eggs and mini granola was nothing short of delish.

Where: 103-107 Errol Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9326 7749

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 5pm
Saturday to Sunday: 7.30am to 5pm

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Industry Beans

Most beautiful cafe spaces are not in the CBD or city, so is Industry Beans. Located in Fitzroy suburb district, the space of this  industrial chic cafe used to be a warehouse, and it has pretty much retained this aspect as the team roast its coffee beans right at the back of the cafe. Don’t take the food lightly as well if you think coffee is their only forte, which include its own house blends. I had the Truffled Egg, which consists of porcini powder, oyster mushroom, coffee cornbread crumb and cauliflower soup. The execution and presentation are nothing short of what I can get at fine dining restaurants. Other noteworthy items on its seasonal Winter menu include the Shanklish cheese omelette, Black rice porridge and Lemongrass beef.

Where: 3/62 Rose Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9417 1034

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 4pm
Saturday to Sunday: 8am to 4pm

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Mörk Chocolate

Located right across the street from Auction Rooms is Mork Chocolate, arguably one of the best hot chocolate brand in Melbourne. Mork Chocolate has been supplying its cocoa to other cafes, and the physical concept has only been around for slightly more than a year. I fell in love with the small and minimalist space here, where you get to watch all the chocolate concoction action right at the open concept counter. We tried the Campfire Chocolate, which was all fun as it is the most sensory hot chocolate experience I had to date. Don’t miss out on the salted caramel chocolate tart and the cold chocolate milkshake as well!

Where: 150 Errol Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9328 1386

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday: 9am to 5pm
Closed on Monday

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Dead Man Espresso

In terms of space, Dead Man Espresso may not be the biggest we have visited but the coffee is definitely one of the best we had while in Melbourne. Located in South Melbourne along Market Street, the décor of the café is sleek, imagine wooden furnishings with warm sunlight casting into the space in the morning. If you fancy, there is a small outdoor balcony space to enjoy your coffee. The coffee beans here are from renowned Seven Seeds, specially customised for Dead Man Espresso. Coffee aside, the food menu is also an interesting mix of Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles, Deadman Open Steak Sandwich, Seafood Scramble, Croissants and Toast, amongst all.

Where: 35 Market St, South Melbourne VIC 3205, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9696 3912

Opening Hours
Daily: 7am to 4pm

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Market Lane Coffee

I love its coffee slogan. With various outlets across the city, we stumbled upon the popular Market Lane Coffee at Queen Victoria Market and decided to give it a shot. The small minimalist white space is designed for takeaways, but you can always choose to linger around the limited seats in the cafe. Market Lane Coffee roasts its coffee beans on-site, so you can expect some really fresh and aromatic coffee here. There is no food menu unfortunately.

Where: Various outlets, including Queen Victoria Market Food Court. 109-111 Therry Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9804 7434

Opening Hours
Monday to Thursday: 7am to 4pm
Friday to Saturday: 7am to 5pm
Sunday: 8am to 5pm

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Hash Specialty Coffee

Located in Hardware Street in Melbourne city, it was ironic that I chose to visit Hash Specialty Coffee not for its coffee, but for the Hash Hot Chocolate. The most Instagram-worthy item on the menu is served on a wooden board, where we get to pour the hot chocolate (made from our highly raved Mörk Chocolate with 85% cocoa) over the ballooning white candy floss on the cup. That aside, the industrial chic café also serves up all-day breakfast and brunch menu, with a widespread range spanning from Pork benedict, Crème Brulee French Toast to Foie Gras Sliders and Pulled Beef Burger, with a focus on locally sourced ingredients.

Where: Australia, 113 Hardware Street, Melbourne VIC, Australia
Tel: +61 3 8529 0284

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 4pm
Saturday to Sunday: 8am to 5pm

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Rudimentary Café

A container theme cafe? That pretty much sums up the sleek Rudimentary Cafe, located in West Melbourne suburb. There is a nice garden and alfresco space here, which I can imagine an ideal spot on a nice sunny weather. We tried the Smoked brisket with crumpets, charred corn and fried egg which was delish, even though we thought our latte lacks some serious punch. Other items on the menu include the likes of Pork belly, Poached kingfish and Smoked salmon sandwich. This is a nice café space to while the afternoon away in a quieter suburb of Melbourne if you have the time to spare.

Where: 16/20 Leeds Street, Footscray VIC 3011, Australia
Tel: +61 497 058 173

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7.30am to 3.30pm
Saturday to Sunday: 8am to 3.30pm

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Ranted by The Ranter