Thunderduck

My foodie partner has a few more questions about life in Melbourne.

How expensive is food there compared to the UK?

Is it possible to buy most of one's food from small retailers and farmers markets and keep supermarkets for toiletries and other similar goods?

How is the fruit and veg there? We've heard mixed messages about the quality of it.

Are there some good places to buy fresh fish?

Are there a few Japanese restaurants there? We love our sushi.

And finally anywhere to buy nice chocolate? I've tried Aussie Cadburys and it's a poor substitute for the UK version imho. Though DP is convinced that Darrell Lea makes the best sweets ever. I'm not convinced. Though it's probably a good thing if I eat less chocolate.

Vanessa

Eating out is cheaper than the UK and there are some fabulous restaurants around - get yourself a copy of The Good Food Guide and Cheap Eats for restaurants. There is also a guide to food markets and small shops for melbourne called the foodies' guide to melbourne and one called Melbourne's Best Picnic Spots and Beaches - all issued by The Age (one of the two Melbourne newspapers)

Shopping in the supermarkets/markets etc is about the same price as the UK, particularly when you are doing your weekly shop.

I do most of my meat, fruit and veg shopping from markets and local shops. I also go up to a place in the Fitzroy called Casa Iberica for all my Spanish goods - much cheaper than the local deli.

Fish is not cheap, particularly if buying fresh and from Australian or NZ waters only. I go to a place in Hampton called Fegaris where the fish is sushi grade. However, most shopping strips have a fish mongers as do the markets. The foodies' guide will help you on this.

Japanese restaurants are plentiful as are small sushi bars.

Chocolate - Not being a huge fan myself (or only at that time of the month) I can't really help with this except to say that Koko Black and Haighs are supposed to be two of the best.

Hope this helps.

Thunderduck

Thankyou, that's extremely helpful. We'll try to get those guides before we go.

Petals

Victoria Market, South Melbourne Market, Dandenong Market are all good for fresh food. Farmers markets happen most Saturdays in an outer suburb. They are in the papers on a Friday.

If I want fish I usually go to Springvale as its cheaper there and there is a lot of it. As Springvale is a largely asian community and fish is a favourite for them there are lots and lots of fish shops. Also like the asian supermarkets there to get spices and things. Butchers are good at Springvale as well if you want offal, duck, pork etc.

For curry spices I go to Hindustani Imports in Greens Road Dandenong who have every spice you can think of and they are not expensive. They also have a web site for those of you who do not live in Melbourne.

We grow some of our own veg as well.

I love Sushi and there is a nice Japanese Restaurant in Mornington. There are a lot of Japanese restaurants around and a lot of Sushi bars.

bigAPE

In the supermarket about the same. Eating out is anything from 50%-80% of the cost. Wine and booze is not cheap in restaurants, but can be staggeringly cheap in bottleshops.

Yes, pretty much. Lots of markets, but you need to know where they are. Organic is hyper expensive, they have yet to embrace it but it is growing. Some Macro (organic) supermarkets are dotted around. Buying farmers online is possible and they deliver it.

Not the best in the world, quite a but of GM. You have to buy seasonal to get the best quality. As an example of an in-season fruit, 1Kg of Nectarines is $4.50, Organic is $14.50

You're joking right ? We are on the bay. Staggering seafood everywhere. You can even go out and catch it yourself.

Thousands. Melbourne has a strong Asian community and some of the best Thai and Japanese food around. Sushi is everywhere.

Generic Australian Chocolate is awful. You can get Green and Blacks and Lindt here, but go to Koko Black for the best.

bigAPE

Yep, just down the road from us!

bigAPE

double-post

hereshoping

I find food to be much cheaper here- contrary to other poster. We rarely buy any food from the supermarket and do most of our shopping at Vic market, Footscray market or Conways fish Trading in Footscray. The seafood is so much cheaper than the UK and very fresh.

Fruit and veg seems to me to be the same as the UK- I neither know nor care if it's organic/ GM. The fruit/ veg in the supermarkets is not good- but that's because no-one buys it from there.

Noocat

After spending a few years living in the UK then coming back to Oz a couple of years ago, I would say supermarket food is slightly more expensive here in Oz than Tesco but cheaper than Sainsburys. For two of us, I would spend about £80 on the weekly shop in the UK at Tesco. Here I spend around $200 at Coles.

What you will find here in Melbourne, however, are plenty of non-supermarket alternatives - butchers, fish mongers, markets, etc., - that haven't been as dominated by the supermarket industry as I found in the UK. I especially love shopping at Macro (several stores in Melbourne) where just about everything is organic, including fruit & veg, meat, and a big range of grocery items.

http://www.macrowholefoods.com.au/home.html

The Preston Market and Prahran Markets are also great and there's loads and loads of specialty food stores throughout Melbourne. Where I live in Brunswick, we have a number of Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern grocers plus a couple of Southern European delis and mini-supermarkets.

Eating Out
Erm, where do I even begin? Melbourne has many thousands of restaurants covering every possible cuisine. Japanese is one of my favourite and there is no way I could ever go to all the Japanese restaurants or sushi bars - there's too many! Chinese is also very big here. The Chinatown on Little Bourke Street is big. I'm heading down there today actually!

http://www.chinatownmelbourne.com.au/index.html

Italian is also big. Check out Lygon Street, Carlton.

http://www.melbourne.com.au/lygon.htm

Then you've got a mix of vegetarian, modern, and other cuisines at Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

http://www.brunswickstreet.com.au/

This is only scratching the surface. The inner city area in particular has distinct villages that each have a particular identity and with that comes particular types of food. Check out the guide books that others suggested. We buy them every year. They are a must in order to navigate all the possibilities.

As far as prices go, on average, a bowl of pasta costs about $16. A chicken parmigiana also about $16. A steak would be about $28, same with fish. A cooked breakfast (eggs, sausages, spinach, etc.) is about $12. A sushi pack with 10-12 pieces is about $8.

You could never eat your way through Melbourne. It would take years, but this is what many Melburnians love about their city - lots and lots of cafes and restaurants. Melbourne is also well known for a really good cup of coffee.

Chocolate

Cadburys and Darell Lea are considered REALLY low brow! I would never eat them. You can buy almost any chocolate here that you can buy in the UK. Head to David Jones in the Bourke Street Mall. You'll find Godiva, Neuhaus, Green & Blacks - the works.

But most Melburnians head to some of the chocolate/cafe houses, including San Churro, Koko Black, and Max Brenner. These all have chain stores throughout Melbourne. My personal favourite is San Churro, where you can get some great chocolates and seriously rich chocolates drinks, cakes, and of course, their signature dish, churros - dipped in melted chocolate.

http://www.sanchurro.com/
http://www.kokoblack.com/
http://www.maxbrenner.com/

San Churro and Koko Black are Melbourne-based. Not sure if they have stores in other parts of Oz. Max Brenner is a Sydney-based chocolatier.

Anyway... I'm sure others on here will give you even more info.

JR230898

We shop regularly between Dandenong and Springvale Markets because, the fruit, vegetables, fish, and meats seem to be fresher and $cheaper$.

A wider variety of all foodstuffs, especially meats (simply everything between the front end to the back end). My view on it being fresher relates to them having many more customers and therefore a faster turnover of product. I love being in Springvale and watching the two main stallholders competing for customers by spruiking and knocking down the prices on their mangoes, lychees, etc.

Geelong Gent

Just beware that Springvale and dandenong is a major redistribution point for unsold supermarket meat. Nothing wrong with any of the other produce just watch the meat.

I say this after hearing the same from several chinese stall holders.

JR230898

Hearsay, or fact? Several chinese stall holders at Dandenong/Springvale or, Geelong?

Your use of the word 'is' gives a certain gravity to something that may, or may not, be happening. Can your claim be substantiated?..other than overhearing several chinese stall holders.

Geelong Gent

Not overhearing - conversation with. It is also from colleagues who work in logistical side of supermarkets.

Over lunch just now was the surprising comment on how people could not tell the difference in taste - some assuming it was fresh when in fact it was 4 weeks old.

In terms of substantiation??? I trust these people and although we shop at Springvale do not touch the meat ourselves.

P.G.H

[QUOTE=Thunderduck;7110906]My foodie partner has a few more questions about life in Melbourne.

How expensive is food there compared to the UK?

Is it possible to buy most of one's food from small retailers and farmers markets and keep supermarkets for toiletries and other similar goods?

. .

I use the larger markets (Queen Vic, South Melb, Preston) for fresh food shopping then supplement it with dry goods stores or places like Aldi. When I am looking for something special I use the White Hat listing of food stores at:
http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne...oodStoresM.asp

One of their food newsletters has some useful commenst about food shopping and prices. It also has a funny description of how Australians use the words sheep and lamb.
http://www.whitehat.com.au/Newslette...ous/080807.asp

Some farmers' markets can be quite expensive. If you a real foodie, choosing to live within walking distance of a good market that operates regularly can make quite a difference to your lifestyle.