1 Movida Bar de Tapas, Spanish
2 Moroccan Soup Bar, Moroccan
3 Cicciolina, Mediterranean
4 Cafe Vue, Coffee (It does a bit more than coffee)
5 Vue de Monde, French (I’m not sure French is the correct description for its whimsical high end dining)
6 Camy Shanghai Dumpling, Chinese
7 Rockpool Bar & Grill , Modern Australian
8 Botanical, Modern Australian
9 Flower Drum, Chinese
10 Longrain Melbourne, Thai (ish)
source: Urban Spoon
Once all that really counted was what the printed food guides told us were the best restaurants in Melbourne. Now we have great lists voted for by the punters, the best being in my mind Urban Spoon mainly because of its gob smackingly simple and quirky iPhone interface pictured above.
Saying that, these things are imperfect and being based in Seattle Urban Spoon does miss some nuances of local market and language. For instance, a while back Gill’s Diner was listed as a diner although that now seems to be corrected. As you can see from above the labelling on restaurants can be a problem and they really don’t compare like with like. The full list of Melbourne’s 100 best restaurants also includes cafes. It also misses some big names and blogger favourites such as Attica which perhaps reflects the broad demographic that votes on these sites.
As far as Movida being top dog, I think we’ve all known for a while that it has been the top destination for anybody visiting town. That includes all the Michelin starred chefs in town last weekend for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Asked where they were going to eat, the names “Movida” and “Vue de Monde” were inevitably interchangable.
These lists rely on punters to vote and restaurants to put their details on. And if you are a restauranteur and prefer not to be on these restaurant sites that are powered by the crowd of us great unwashed consider this.
Apple is running an ad campaign for the iPhone on TV using Urban Spoon. I saw the one on SBS in which the application spins to Trunk (watch out for annoying but quite funny music on this site). Apparently last year Trunk was voted best pizza in town and that’s why Apple contacted Trunk and asked if it could use it’s name. Silks at Crown has also featured I’m told.
What? You hate social media? You don’t want to be in an Apple iPhone ad?
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Huh??
The idea is correct but the execution is completely flawed.
Having cafes on here makes it a worthless exercise and quite simply does not compare apples and oranges.
The only reference point is the price, but even with that equal there are some wild variations. ie Movida has only a single $
I think looking at this list as numerically rated is insane. Carefully reading user reviews of each restaurants (plus other reviews) gives are fall more balanced outcome.
I pity the tourists who deem this their culinary bible….
I agree with Trojan Horse, a good idea, quite a few flaws though.
I guess it’s handy if you go somewhere and look for good food when you get there.
As food tragics we always research and book quite a few meals before we depart, occasionally, well often, travel destinations get picked on the back of a place to eat there..
So I think it’s good for some people….there weren’t any real duds on the list, so it’s better than a tourist magazine recs !
Damn straight Camy Shanghai Dumpling should be in the top 10! Oh, and for so many reasons. I stupidly moved away from Melbourne a couple of years ago, and on return, I head straight for Camy every time. Usually directly from the airport, luggage in tow.
I approve of this Urban Spoon business. I don’t have an iphone, but by the time I get one (possible never) all the bugs will have been ironed out, and this application will be perfect.
Hi Ed.
at risk of sounding like a techophobe or luddite, can I say that isnt this just another list of the ‘best’ according to the latest happening & topical technology available? I am sure that you would argue the merits of listing the merits of the ‘alleged’ top 100 especially if they conflict with yours.
You mate, are very tekked up, so start you own for crissakes & then we wont have to tip out hats to anyone who dosn’t ‘get’what we do or what we are about.
Ed, do it for OZ!
There is no best restaurant in Melbourne for all diners. I have a personal preference for Vue de Monde. It is really good in every department – front of house, variety of food, presentation, imagination, theatre, wines, quality of cutlery, crockery and glassware and linen and a pleasing venue. Never to noisy nor tables to crowded. On the down side it is $$$$ and occasional overseas staff have accents which may be delightful but are unintelligible. In my book there are a lot of other really good restaurants around but you can get a bad meal anywhere if you’re unlucky.
I also love Jacques Reymond, Phillipe Mouchel ‘The Brasserie’ Flower Drum and a heap of other places – Matteos, Bacash, Mercers to name a few
Hi guys, I think these comments demonstrate the flaws. There needs to be better categorisation. Vue de Monde and Jacques Reymond are the top two fine dining spots locally and Camy is great. But they are different and shouldn’t be on the same page.
The good news is, Steve, I’ve been approached by a developer to pull together a locally made app that will be better. Watch this space.
Any hospitality venue that chooses to opt out of being included in online guides like this needs psychiatric help; not that they’ll be able to afford it as they’ll soon be bankrupt. Having said that, the data provided by US sites for non-US locations is uniformly terrible. $$ for Peko Peko and only $ for The Commoner? This is inaccurate and misleading for the owners and customers of both. Guides like this should implement systems to enable users to correct their data, which would increase accuracy as well as interaction and engagement.
Yeah, agree with Fitz re the accuracy, it’s great to be on there but I question why Cafe Vue has 5 votes and a 100% approval rating and is positioned at No5 in the top 100 list whereas, as of the other day, The Commoner had 20 votes, a 100% approval rating and yet was floundering in the 50′s….since then there’s been a negative vote yet The Commoner jumped up about 14 places! Me no get it….someone’s algorithims are a little wonky.
Also, as Fitz pointed out, it lists The Commoner’s mains at under $15! If it isn’t mainatined regularly then the integrity of the info declines dramatically…hence the argument for user amendments.
Fitzroyalty, Davy
I think the answer is a combination of unique content by people who know what they are doing – the expensive bit – combined with diners reviews comments and tips. As I’ve said before urban Spoon lacks local knowledge and most of the sites all fail for not having that really good input. Sort of like the Good Food Guide with user reviews and comments.
So what do you think of drink.melbourne? It’s put out by the dudes behind Deck of Secrets, afaik.
I think the Eat and Drink ones are good – they are the same as the cards but half the price and with a few more features. Also they focus on the cooler places rather than with some online guides that give hundreds with ratings that aren’t always up to scratch.
Hey Ed, I’m heading over to Melbourne later in the year. Any 2010 recommendations? Would you add Maze to the list, or is it famed for name only?
Hi J.S.L.
Maze is distinguished by slow delivery of expensive morsel sized serves. Give it a few months to settle down. Re the best it depends on what you want. MoMo is beautiful but you have to like that sort of food, Matteo’s is very good, sort of Italian, Vue du Monde is excellent, inventive and reliable, as is Attica, JaquesReymond more classical and less reliable usually excellent. Silks at Crown has a very good banquet at $100 in great surroundings. Cutler & Co is another place that offers a dining experience. There are also a lot of excellent Japanese places.
Chose your poison and we’ll recommend a venue!!
Thanks Eliott for helping Jen out.
I’m with all your comments.
People also forget Bar Lourhina. You can’t book but it never takes long to get a table and the food is every bit as good asMovida.
Don’t forget cafes either. Seven Seeds, Proud Mary, St Ali.
the big news is Philipa Sibley at Il Fornaio in St Kilda. the food now is really a cut above the usual cafe fare.
Thanks guys. I’m pretty keen to try the up-scale places. Haven’t been back to Melbourne in years so am completely out of touch with what’s good in re to high-end dining these days.
Thanks again for your reco’s, hope you get some good dining experiences in Perth, Ed!
Thanks.. I’m not from Melbourne but this has given me a good list of places to try when I visit soon. I’ll be sure to come back & give my feedback after I have dined at a few of these places. bon appetit