Time Out Food & Drink Awards 2023: Best Relaxed Dining Venue Nominees

For weeks, it was the name we’d heard most on the lips of our food-obsessed friends: Alta Trattoria. What could be so extraordinary about yet another Italian joint in a city brimming with some of the best of them? We couldn’t yet know, but we weren’t about to wait a minute longer to find out. After all, pasta is good, but good pasta is everything – even when you’re privileged enough to have already tasted some of the silkiest, sauciest and slurp-worthiest in all the land.

Melbourne loves to talk big about its multicultural credentials but until now, there’s been a Philippines-sized gap in the city’s eating CV. We’re totally down with Thai jungle curries, Shanghainese xiao long bao and Malaysian char kway teow, but the Filipino dinuguan, kinilaw and sinuglaw have flown under the popular radar in defiance of Australia’s fifth-largest migrant community. It’s double the reason to immediately fall in love with a restaurant delivering such a catchy modern hook on Pinoy cuisine you can almost dance to it. 

I knew I wanted Rue De Thanh to succeed from the moment I entered. Maybe it was the calm and inviting energy, the warm welcome from the host behind the bar or my spider-sense-like gluttonous intuition for greatness kicking in. But atmospheric intangibles had me rooting for them before my derrière hit its chair. Rue De Thanh is situated on the quiet end of Brunswick Street, and on a particularly frigid Tuesday night, we're part of a mere sprinkling of diners. This can make you feel vulnerable and a bit awkward, but the venue is cleverly designed to have "malleability", so it adapts well to any energy that fills it, and I'm left feeling comfy and cosy.

Untitled, sister restaurant to adjacent cocktail bar Ugly Duckling, is the latest in a slew of restaurants to resuscitate Swan Street’s aspirations to be a dining destination. Shades of brown, orange and beige lend the multi-level Untitled a distinctly early '70s feel, accentuated by the bright splashes of art, leather swivel stools framing the bar, wooden blinds and textured walls. The current menu on offer is distinctly Italian with some flourishes from around the globe – harissa is present in more than one dish, while the beef tartare, pommes puree, and fennel and potato gratin point to French influences. The snacks come in individual servings, the entrees are designed to be shared, and while you could choose to share a few mains among you, who wants only a spoonful of pasta and the corner of a steak? No, these dishes are best enjoyed solo. 

Not that we needed it with the likes of Soi 38, Dodee Paidang and Nana Thai now in our midst, but Thai Tide is further proof that Melbourne’s Thai food scene is more alive and thriving than ever. Standing out in a city where standing out is never easy, Merica Charungvat’s pristine gem of a restaurant is treating our city to what may just be the boldest (and rarest) Thai flavour experience we can get our hands on yet, at least without booking flights to the Land of Smiles itself. 

Is there anything better than a long lunch, especially on a Friday? Sure, we can debate the pros and cons of a solid brunch sesh, or a late-night, post-theatre cheeseburger and cocktail combo, but there’s just something about luxuriating over a gorgeous meal and a couple of cheeky tipples in the middle of the day that’s intoxicatingly addictive. Plus, who doesn’t love getting all their socialising out of the way by 5pm? It’s a no-brainer.

If the name ‘Tamura’ sounds familiar, it’s because this new izakaya is the culinary brainchild of  Fumi and Takako Tamura, the same owners behind Fitzroy favourite Tamura Sake Bar. With more space to create a sprawling pub offering in their recently acquired heritage bluestone digs, the duo’s second project is a nod to the izakayas they remember (and dearly miss) from back in Japan.