Cafes are Melbourne’s superchargers. They provide us with sustenance and crucial caffeination every day, but they’re also anchors for community and sites of experimentation. Naarm’s daytime darlings shine with creativity at all points of the compass, providing perfect cremas and brunch every which way, always with a side of joy.

In the lead up to The Age Good Food Guide 2025, we charge our lattes and reveal our best.

279

Sure, there’s excellent coffee, but 279 is also the city’s premier onigiri specialist. The Japanese rice balls are topped with chilli-cured cod roe, salted kelp, or bonito flakes with grilled cheese. Supersize yours with a bento at lunch, and don’t forget a mochi doughnut − made with glutinous rice flour − on your way out.

279 Victoria Street, West Melbourne, 279victoriast.co

All Are Welcome

East Ivanhoe is the third lucky suburb to be adopted by this regularly mobbed bakery. Crusty loaves are a grab-and-go mainstay, but take a seat for supersized sausage rolls, seasonal sandwiches (perhaps chicken with crunchy apple slaw), and something from the dazzling pastry display. Chase it with an Everyday Coffee espresso.

255 Lower Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe East, all-are-welcome.com

BKK Lab

Boundary-pushing BKK takes Aussie brunch staples and turns them into cultural mash-up marvels. Chilli scramble comes with roti, and a meatball sub is made with massaman flavours. There are also Asian classics like congee and souffle pancakes. The coffee hits right but you can caffeinate more wildly with Thai milk tea tiramisu, a dessert and drink in one.

63 Koornang Road, Carnegie, instagram.com/bkk_lab

Bola Bake

This roller-doored backstreet warehouse is an extraordinary find. It’s been transformed into a vintage-inspired, plant-filled hangout with excellent coffee and matcha. Key dishes include honey-butter shokupan with creme caramel, and squid ink breakfast spaghetti with a sauce made from the Japanese salted roe mentaiko.

22 Fraser Street, Airport West, instagram.com/bolabake.melb

Caffe Amatrice

The terracotta and marble interior channels northern Italian style, and the menu balances classic and contemporary. Brunch might be stracciatella with smoked salmon, herb oil, a boiled egg and rye bread, or thick-cut focaccia sandwiches of porchetta and apple slaw. A rooftop restaurant, Amatrice, has opened too, just in time for summer.

16 Stephenson Street, Cremorne, amatrice.com.au

Cathedral Coffee

Its footprint may be smaller than some cafe’s coolrooms, but Cathedral is no lightweight. Pedestrians escape Swanston Street for Baker Bleu pastries and generous sandwiches, and at night there are cult wines, martinis, duck rillettes and tinned fish. Sore heads are handled the next day with caffe corretto: espresso and a shot of liqueur on a silver tray.

Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/ccmelbourne

Chiaki

A calm and elegant space belies the obsession that goes into every cup of coffee here, whether a single-origin Burundi filter or a refreshing long brew mixed with coconut and peach. Ochazuke – rice with toppings such as wagyu doused with dashi – are comforting, and at night there are izakaya-style snacks with sake.

49 Peel Street, Collingwood, chiaki.com.au

Code Black Morning Bar

The local roaster’s newest location is a clubby den of dark timber and soft light. Fuel up with egg breakfasts on soda bread, or head to the filter bar for single origin specials and sommelier-style service. Need more kicks? The Smoky is made with cold filter, mezcal, raspberry and elderflower.

189 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, codeblackcoffee.com.au

Core Roasters

There’s no better place to nerd out on coffee than Core. Bring your dog, head through the roller door and enjoy impeccable coffee from small-batch, sustainable growers, as well as pastries baked on site. The only hard part? Choosing between pandan kaya croissant toast and mushroom rendang hand pie.

14 Barkly Street, Brunswick East, coreroasters.cc

Emil’s Cafe

Emil and Houda El-Khoury brought up six kids in the house behind their milk bar; now the next generation has turned the whole place into a cafe. There’s heartwarming memorabilia on the walls, and food nods to the family’s Lebanese heritage with hummus shakshuka and chargrilled spatchcock with toum.

347 Reynard Street, Pascoe Vale South, emils.com.au

Florian

This Euro-coded spot is the star of Rathdowne Village for good reason. Marble-topped tables, antique crockery and elegant bric-a-brac set the stage for greeting the sun, ditto the breakfast plate of soft-boiled eggs, gravlax and rye. Lunch is about comfort-centric pastas and loaded sandwiches. A new homewares range brings the je ne sais quoi to all.

617 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North, floriancarlton.com.au

Glory Us

You might not think Fitzroy North needed any more cafes but turns out there was a gap shaped just like Glory Us. Grab Rumble coffee from the takeaway window or sit at the communal table in the plywood-lined space for a crunchy salad sandwich or modern ploughman’s platter with goat’s cheese, onion jam and pickles.

73 Reid Street, Fitzroy North (also at 64 Woodland Street, Strathmore), gloryus.com.au

Hector’s Deli

Melbourne’s pioneer of the statement sandwich elevates the form to an art. Beef brisket with mustard pickles and kraut on rye will whisk you to Brooklyn, while a chicken schnitzel flaps satisfyingly over the edges of its bun. A square, maple-glazed doughnut is the perfect companion piece.

253 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, hectorsdeli.com.au

Ima Asa Yoru

You’ve got choices. Are you up for lingering? Settle into the blue-splashed Ima Asa Yoru for a teishoku set: a tray crammed with pickles, rice, miso soup and a nourishing hot dish such as rice porridge. Just after a quick fix? Head to Ima Pantry down the street for takeaway onigiri, chicken karaage sandwiches and matcha lattes.

1 Duckett Street, Brunswick, imaproject.co