Whether it’s spicy ramen, porridge finished with brown sugar apples at a South Melbourne favourite, rich laksa or one of 30 creamy congees, these bowls hug back.
Coats, scarves and gloves are a daily essential during winter. So too is a cosy bowl that promises to warm you from the inside. Thankfully, Melbourne’s restaurants and cafes know how to craft a cosy noodle soup, braise and more. From casual spots built for solo diners craving steaming soup to delicate broth at a hatted restaurant, these nine bowls will help you beat (heck, maybe even enjoy) the chill.
Laksa Wednesdays, Etta
Etta’s head chef, Lorcán Kan, has been working on his laksa recipe for most of his life. “It’s a 30-plus ingredient dish, so getting it perfect is sort of endless. I’m a little bit obsessed with it.”
This winter, the Malaysian-Irish chef is letting us in on the obsession with a weekly laksa special. The coconut-curry soup base is vegetarian, made with a slow-roasted paste of lemongrass, galangal, shallots, red chillies and more. Kan adds greens from Remy’s Patch and house-made soy milk and egg tofu; on the side are skewers for dipping (known as lok lok in Malaysia). Fried school prawns come included, others (including veg skewers) can be added.
60 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, ettadining.com.au
Spicy miso ramen, Kikanbo
Melbourne’s newest ramen restaurant to hail from Japan is not for the faint-hearted. The room glows red, oni (Japanese demon) masks glare at you from above, and every bowl that’s served is marked by the strike of a taiko drum. The hellish ambience foreshadows the fire of Kikanbo’s miso ramen, which features a gleaming orange-red broth, slabs of braised pork belly and baby corn. Despite the soup containing peppercorns and tongue-numbing chilli oil, rice-based shinshu miso paste lends a mellow note. Plus, spice levels are adjustable on a scale of zero to oni.
5/260 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/kikanbo_melb
Salmon saikyo-yaki chazuke, Kombu
This wholesome Japanese breakfast specialist joined a pocket of popular bakeries and sandwich spots near Queen Victoria Market last year. Its chazuke – made by pouring tea or, here, dashi over a bowl of rice and toppings – has quickly gained a following, with eight versions on offer. The bestseller pairs grilled miso-marinated salmon with yuzu-dashi broth, alongside a flurry of toppings like tobiko (flying fish roe), pickled wasabi stem, furikake and more.
10 Dhanga Djeembana Walk, Melbourne, instagram.com/kombu_qvm
Mohinga, Burmese House
Only a handful of spots serve Burmese food in Melbourne. Richmond’s Burmese House has offered curries, pickled tea-leaf salads and more since 1998. Owner Soe Htike Lwin often fields questions about how Myanmar’s food differs from that of its neighbours. His answer? Try it.
The national dish of mohinga is a good start. The breakfast noodle soup is traditionally prepared with catfish stock, but this version uses salmon. Toasted rice powder is added for a velvety finish. The broth is served with rice noodles and extras like a chickpea cracker and sliced boiled egg. Chicken coconut noodle dish ohn no khao swe is a standout too.
303 Bridge Road, Richmond, burmesehouserestaurant.com
Kimchi kalguksu, Misty Pot
Known for its home-style Korean dishes, ranging from garlicky oxtail stews to ginseng chicken soups, Misty Pot has embraced winter by adding bold kimchi kalguksu to the mix. Although the rustic noodle soup is traditionally made with anchovy stock, owner-chef Jun Kwon uses chicken stock layered with well-fermented kimchi. Chewy, knife-cut noodles swim alongside slices of braised beef, hard-boiled egg and seaweed. It’s a true one-pot meal.
35 Dryburgh Street, West Melbourne, instagram.com/mistypot_melbourne
Bone marrow broth, Julie
For this hatted restaurant’s winter residency program, chef Harriet Tomlinson (a regular on the pop-up circuit) is sharing lighter cold weather dishes. On the four-course menu is a clear bone marrow broth infused with house-made citrus kosho, a punchy Japanese condiment made with mandarins or other citrus Tomlinson has on hand plus green chillies. Garden peas sit atop the marrow bone, adding pops of freshness. The dish follows a starter of sunchoke-filled kohlrabi, which “nods to the little cracks of sun coming through the leaves” – a sign of brighter days. Be quick: her menu runs until July 27.
1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford, julierestaurant.com.au
Preserved egg and pork mince congee, Sanhe Congee
Silky and creamy, rice porridge is the ultimate comfort food. At Sanhe, there are 30 variations, each made with a base that’s slow-cooked for two to three hours before toppings are added. Owners Nikki Ee and Emily Lin have three favourites: the quintessential preserved egg with pork mince; a lighter shiitake mushroom and chicken; and the delicate scallop and fish combo.
185 Victoria Street, West Melbourne, instagram.com/sanhe_congee
Brown sugar, apple and spiced cardamom porridge, Juniper
This South Melbourne cafe has a knack with humble grains. Mushroom congee is already a fan favourite; cue the praise for a new sweet porridge made with oats. Spiced syrup is rich with cardamom, cinnamon and whole lemons, and caramelised apple slices are dusted with more cardamom. A generous tumble of toasted almonds completes the apple crumble cosplay.
269 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, instagram.com/juniper.eatery
Soup Series, Hanoi Hannah
Feel-good soups are on the menu at Hanoi Hannah’s Elsternwick and Windsor venues. Now in its seventh year, Soup Series features a line-up of classic Vietnamese soups that also raise money for suicide prevention, with a dollar from every bowl donated to mental health organisation R U OK? Running until August 10, each Monday brings a new soup, with oxtail and brisket pho available this week, followed by turmeric chicken pho and chargrilled beef rib pho.
186 High Street, Windsor, expresslane.hanoihannah.com.au
306 Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, vol2.hanoihannah.com.au
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