10 great bars and restaurants to visit as soon as lockdowns lift

Andrew McConnell and partner-in-crime Anthony Hammond have dragged the pub to the present with a whip-smart whitewash paint job, which will either thrill or dismay you – depending on how you felt about the place when it was fuchsia. Save for a weathervane-style light sculpture, there’s naught but a few charcoal chairs and tables to prevent photokeratitis (Google it). The front bar is casual, but in a Cumulus way rather than a pub way (read: you’ll still need to wear pants), and the counter meal game is a serious cut above. It's a nominee in the Revive Awards in the category of (what else?), Favourite Pub.

The first thing you’ll notice when looking at the menu is that you’re going to want to eat everything. There are snacks from the street including a thali plate with charred, pliable naan and various chutneys sitting on every table, ‘pots’ of curries including a butterless butter chicken, a range of curious naan pizzas, and proteins from the tandoor like a 350g O’Connor rib eye with curry chips and sides. Chef and restaurateur Jessi Singh is constantly paying it forward, not only raising funds for medical supplies in India during its Covid crisis but also offering countless free meals to those in need in Melbourne, and as a consequence Daughter-in-Law is up for the Community Service Award in the Revive Awards. 

Eau de Vie may no longer be the best bar you’ve never heard of, but it still stands as one of the greats. At any given time someone here is shaking, freezing or setting drinks on fire, which makes this bar both a thrilling and hazardous place of refreshment. They have a whole room dedicated to whisky, and your Martini is snap chilled with liquid nitrogen. This beautiful Prohibition-style speakeasy is washed with jazz music and daring drinks. We can't wait to darken its door once again and have nominated in the Revive Award for Favourite Cocktail Bar. 

Their pastries fly out of the shop by noon most days, but does Lune really cut the mustard? In short, yes. Created in a climate-controlled lab, Lune croissants are almost mathematically perfect: crisp and golden with visible layers of delicate pastry. Come early to nab the lemon curd cruffins, piped to the gills with a tart curd and sprinkled with citrus sugar. During lockdown, many a day has been made by a delivered Lune kouign amann, pain au chocolat or lemon curd muffin; vote for them in the Revive Award for Favourite Dessert Delivery if you concur.  

The Marquis' new owners, a group with serious hospitality chops, have struck a perfect balance between modernising the Marquis and retaining her classic charms. The timbers of this backstreets pub are worn smooth by the devoted throngs who head here after dark for a pub dinner that’s a cut above. Can't wait for them to reopen so you can get a creamy, salty plate of taramasalata skewered with crisp shards of pita bread or some your pillowy gnocchi with garlic and greens at your rooftop perch? Show them some love at the Revive Awards voting site, where you'll find them nominated under Favourite Pub. 

This Footscray favourite didn't want the people of Melbourne going without a good tipple while we had to stay home. The contactless 'click and collect' service had us covered: browse a range of good wines, crafty cans, and cocktail 'bagnums' including a 1.5L bag of Espresso Martini. The Revive Award for Favourite Overall Booze Delivery pays tribute to bars who have helped us out this way, and Mr West is a proud nominee.

Head chef Josh Fry (Marion, Cumulus Inc) takes kitschy dishes and gives them a signature Italian-inspired makeover. Order the Padrón peppers, or flaky vol-au-vents filled with garlicky taramosalata, spanner crab and fish roe. Fry’s magnum opus is a nod to the surf and turf: a monster charcoal-grilled, dry-aged 800g hunk of O'Connor rib-eye steak, glistening in a pool of prawn butter (a concoction devised of butter and heavy prawn bisque) and deep-fried school prawns. We're a fan, and have nominated Poodle for Favourite Restaurant as well as Favourite Food & Drink Reinvention for Rocco's Bologna, the lockdown pop-up famous for its meatball subs that will soon open as a venue in its own right.

Experts in Syrian cuisine, Shamiat in Northcote offers its signature Syrian dishes like mouthwatering, spice-loaded kibbeh nayyeh for you to take home and enjoy. Grab it to go from the venue or order it delivered to your doorstep via the website. Order using your American Express card and get an extra 3 points per dollar spend. And if you like what you're eating head to the Revive Awards page to vote for them as Favourite At-Home Restaurant Experience – Casual Gems.

Shop Bao Ngoc in Brunswick is not only a Vietnamese eatery but a community-minded venue, too. The venue not only offers free meals to those in need when it has the capacity to, but also raises money for various social justice-related campaigns too. It often has a community fridge out the front which offers meals and essentials for anyone to take. Find out if it's offering meals to those in need and stay up-to-date with its campaigns via Instagram, vote for these legends in the Community Spirit Award in the Revive Awards, and be sure to show them your support by ordering pickup or takeaway or eating here as soon as restrictions are lifted.  

Stalactites is a late-night favourite that's open for pickup and delivery, and they’ve got their prep game down to an art here: souvas arrive  ready for takeaway in five minutes or less. The lamb souva comes with copious amounts of crunchy lettuce and yoghurt sauce – just the hit of freshness you need with the smoky lamb. The same speedy service applies even when you order something a little less portable. We can't wait to sit under the famous ceiling adorned with plaster stalactites and order a small mixed lamb and chicken giro platter. Bring your American Express card when you do, and in the mean time vote for them in the Revive Awards – we've nominated them under Favourite Casual Diner.