Gold class: five places to cross off your Ballarat foodie bucket list

This French-inspired restaurant within boutique accommodation option the Provincial Hotel offers a combination of classic European fare with a modern twist. It's named after the colourful Lola Montez, a controversial personality and noted dancer who entertained miners in the Ballarat goldfields during the 1850s in exchange for gold nuggets. You can order a piece of fish accompanied by the timeless combination of confit leek, roasted truss tomato and Champagne citrus beurre blanc, and like everything on this menu the flavours pack a walloping punch. If it’s open, pencil in some after-dinner drinks at the ‘Clara’ cocktail caravan in the courtyard garden. Also named for another trailblazing Ballarat belle – the first female editor of The Ballarat Times newspaper – it provides an excellent setting for a nightcap.

It was high time that someone reinstated a distillery in Ballarat – a notable chapter missing in the local story since the 1930s – and when Kilderkin Distillery launched a few years ago it was a most welcome addition to the scene. Owners Chris Pratt and Rebecca Mathews are planning to open their brand-new cellar door in a new location this autumn, offering their trademark Larrikin gins and liqueurs for a quick taste. Proudly distilling and hand-bottling their wares in Ballarat for the past ten years, Pratt and Mathews released their first ‘Larrikin’ back in 2017 – and with the opening of their new outlet imminent, we’ll bet they’re itching to get some gin-loving taste testers through the door.

This Ballarat brunching hotspot revels in the thriving multicultural food heritage established over the past 150 years in the region by celebrating John Alloo – the goldfields’ first Chinese restaurateur. The café’s textural brick interior harks back to the building’s history, but the menu is thoroughly modern under the direction of ex-St Ali head chef Andy Gale. You’ll be equally at home here if you’re looking for a simple set of hotcakes (topped with a not-so-simple symphony of apple and blueberry crumble, caramel sauce, strawberry coulis and mascarpone cream) or the more adventurous combination of housemade hummus, vincotto, mint, tomato medley and grape on toast. Highly recommended with a cheeky glass of mid-morning pet nat.

A gold digger who saw mixed success across the various local goldfields, Raffaello Carboni found himself a footnote at the forefront of Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade history, one of the 12 charged with high treason and later acquitted. And so, Carboni’s Italian Kitchen pays homage to the notorious Italian, delivering traditional Italian dishes in a relaxed atmosphere. If you’re weekending with picky eaters, you’ll be relieved to know that all the favourites are here: from Nonna’s traditional meatballs in rich sugo to fresh casarecce pasta topped with slow-braised ragù. Because sometimes you just want the good stuff with a glass of great Italian vino, you know?

Located on the corner of Lydiard and Sturt, Cobb’s Coffee nods to the historic mid-1800s parking bay for Cobb & Co’s horsedrawn carriages. Dealing out all-day toasties and lunchtime sangas alongside Melbourne’s own Rumble Coffee, this cute local café is just the spot for your morning brew. Just jump on one of the city’s zippy e-scooters, and you’ll be off and buzzing on your regular espresso high.