If Melbourne had a soundtrack, Milo Eastwood would be right there in the liner notes. The longtime PBS FM presenter, DJ and event curator has spent the past decade championing the city’s sounds and scenes – from sunrise radio to sweaty late-night dancefloors. A music devotee just as adept behind the decks as he is at dining around Melbourne, Eastwood shares what (and where) he’s got on heavy rotation right now.
My local is Low Key in Westgarth. It’s the perfect balance of schmick without pretention. You can splash out on a fancy IPA or grab an affordable VB from the fridge beneath the bar. The staff are gems and the cocktail menu always hits (if you can make it without a shaker, you can have it).
Another favourite is Franklin’s Bar in Thornbury. Almost no signage out front, open until 3am on weekends and always full of friendly locals and hospitality heads. Don’t skip the Pandan Colada or Franklin Spritz, built around Strangelove’s mandarin soda. Yum.
The best new thing I’ve found is… it’s not even that new anymore, but I can’t get enough of Akimbo Bread on Victoria Road in Northcote. Their sourdough is so light and airy yet still substantial and filling, not to mention the glass-like crust. The rotating list of pastries and specials keeps me coming back week after week. Special shout-out to XO sauce escargot and the confit garlic and sambal fougasse they had on a few months back, a fougasse being everything soft pretzels promise to be but never deliver on.
Also, any place that serves ready-to-go filter coffee and icy cold cans of Pocari Sweat has my heart.
One song that perfectly captures the essence of Melbourne is not a song, but an album: Calendar Days by Dick Diver. It just nails that Melbourne feeling, kinda hopeful, kinda hazy. You can almost picture the trams, the share house porches and the backyard beers. It’s everyday life but somehow still romantic. It was a big one for me in my early twenties, and probably shaped how I see this city more than I realised at the time.
When I want to celebrate an occasion with a special meal, I usually head to Neighbourhood Wine. The ambience is perfect, cosy in winter and sun-splashed in summer and the menu strikes the ideal balance of upmarket decadence with humble approachability. I like a space that feels special but still lets you exhale; Neighbourhood Wine always feels like home. I’ve had so many long birthday lunches with friends there, full of happy memories both in the dining room and out in the tiny smokers courtyard after several carafes of wine courtesy of Old Palm Liquor.
That said, if you can think to book ahead, Tipo 00 is unbeatable for a truly special meal.
When I want to show off the city to friends from out of town, I take them for a wander along the Yarra trail, via the Collingwood Children’s Farm if time allows. I always want to show off how much greenery and nature we’re blessed with so close to the CBD. If we time it right, we’ll end up at the Abbotsford Convent for lunch, dinner or a drink at Cam’s Kiosk or Julie, two restaurants that consistently shine a light on what this city does so well.
The best spot for a feed before the show is in the CBD. I love grabbing Thai at Soi 38 before a gig. With their recent move to bigger digs, it’s much quicker to get a table, though I do miss the car park ambience of the old spot. The food’s vibrant, fresh and zingy; it satisfies the palate without slowing you down or putting you to sleep. Don’t leave without ordering the crying tiger grilled beef and the larb salad (it’ll absolutely fuck you up if you’re a wimp with spice like I am, but I try not to let that stop me). Seasonally they’ve also got the GOAT of desserts, mango sticky rice.
It’s BYO too, so swing past Celebrations in Chinatown or Le Tuffeau on the top floor of the Nicholas Building (if you’re feeling fancy) and pick up a bottle or two.
And if I need a late-night feed after a gig, I head straight to… We recently suffered a huge loss in this city with the closure of Bar Margaux. May something rise to fill that boujee, open-till-3am French bistro-shaped hole in Melbourne’s food culture (did it exist before? Probably not).
For a sit-down vibe, I love a bowl of ramen and an ice-cold pint of Sapporo Black at the Elizabeth Street Shujinko Ramen location. It’s open until 1am on weekends and it’s the perfect stop-off before heading home or kicking on.
If I’m grabbing something to take home and demolish, it’s Westgarth Fish & Chips every time. They’re up there with the best and most consistent burgers in Melbourne’s inner-north and they stay open late every night of the week. No fuss, no brioche, quality burgers. Shout-outs to fellow PBS FM DJ and Low Key bartender Larry Quicksticks for being the most dedicated walking advertisement for this local spot.
My favourite place to load up on supplies is Psarakos Market in Thornbury at least twice a week. For a business run by a Greek family, their range of quality Italian groceries is second to none. It’s where I go to stock up on quality pantry staples like: La Molisana dried pasta, San Marzano tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano, guanciale and anchovies. Anytime I get home from an overseas or interstate trip, I sigh a breath of relief when I step inside Psarakos. It feels like coming home.
And while we’re on home turf, full transparency: my family owns Wild Things in Fitzroy North. So yes, I might be biased, but nepotism aside, it’s genuinely one of the best spots to get your “bits”, you know, the stuff you couldn’t find during your main shop at the supermarket monopoly we’ve somehow accepted in this country. Amazing organic fruit and veg, top-tier sourdough bread, incredible picnic-basket essentials for an afternoon at Edinburgh Gardens, and a house-made green juice that tastes as good as it makes you feel. And for the record, that green juice recipe is mine. Probably my proudest non-musical achievement.
There’s no better value in the city than the cinnamon doughnut and coffee combo upstairs at Piedimonte’s in Fitzroy North, a true slice of the old world. Sit upstairs in their newsagent café overlooking the produce section and enjoy a ’90s-style cappuccino (Italian espresso with babycino-like foamed milk, piled high with sweet, crunchy cocoa powder) with a complimentary fresh cinnamon doughnut from the bakery downstairs. Best enjoyed solo, for a bit of me-time.
Also, a special shout-out to Green’s Refectory in Brunswick. Not only is it possibly the best-value lunch you can get in Melbourne, but they also take the cake for the best sausage roll in the city.
And I wish more people would experience the excellence of Preston! I spent the early part of my adult years living there, and while it’s not by definition underrated, I wish more folks would make the trek to check out the cultural diversity and excellence the suburb delivers. The markets are world-class and the vibe of the place is infectious.
Shouts to One Noodle Friendship in the Preston Arcade (try the peanut sesame noodles), Ping’s Dumplings just across the road (use the marinade from the spicy cucumber salad as dumpling dipping sauce), Phở Hung, for my favourite bowl of phở on the strip (It’s open from 9am and one of my go-to spots for breakfast after finishing my radio show). And Takeaway Pizza, an establishment that truly does justice to pineapple on a pizza. Trust me, you just have to try it.
My defining food moment in Melbourne was going to Vegie Bar for the first time in 2001, as a child visiting from Sydney. It was the first time I remember experiencing the hustle and bustle of inner Melbourne. The posters on the wall, the loud music, waiters with piercings and tattoos. Even as a kid, I knew there was something special about this city.
Growing up as the child of health food merchants, it was kind of mind-blowing to see the food I often ate at home (and mostly resented) being celebrated and levelled up. I think that was the moment I realised my parents weren’t the weirdos I maybe thought they were; they were just a few years ahead of the curve.
In more recent memory, attending one of the final services at Supermaxi before it closed was a night I’ll never forget. It had been one of my favourite restaurants for years, and while it was sad to see it go, witnessing the outpouring of love and gratitude that night, customers hugging Rita and Giovanni as they paid their bills for the last time summed up everything I adore about Melbourne’s hospitality scene.
If there was one thing I could change about eating and drinking in Melbourne it would be… I’d love to see Melbourne lean into a gentler kind of late-night culture, with places that stay open for a chat, a bite and a drink or three, but don’t rely on chaos to do it. After DJing, I’m usually after a calm corner, not another kick-on (not always true, but still).
And while we’re at it, being able to grab a bottle of wine or a few beers to go after 11pm wouldn’t hurt either. Maybe one day we’ll be trusted with that privilege.
But the thing I hope never changes here is the multicultural fabric of Melbourne. It’s the special sauce that keeps this city interesting. When I was travelling through Europe recently, I got homesick, not for home, but strangely for a bowl of phở. I ended up trekking two hours across Berlin to find one. That’s when it hit me: no one does food culture like Melbourne.
And it’s not just the food. It’s the music, the community radio, the way people here genuinely care about culture. I hope we never take that for granted. The rest of the world couldn’t dream of a scene like ours.
Milo Eastwood hosts PBS FM’s The Breakfast Spread from 6am to 9am, Wednesday to Friday. He also hosts parties, gigs and events across Melbourne – follow him on Instagram at @miloeastwood to keep up with what’s next.