Magic happened when Gemma Gange and Matt Germanchis took over the dining room of their local Surf Life Saving Club in Anglesea late last year. Last summer, it was a well-kept secret, but this summer, prepare to join the pilgrimage outside of Melbourne and tick the Great Ocean Road off your bucket list, as that’s where you’ll be. Plus, unfussy but polished service and chef Germanchis’s clever take on coastal food, including the biggest prawn cracker you’ve ever tasted.

Tel Aviv, Vienna, Paris, and now Melbourne have an outpost of Eyal Shani’s Israeli street-food diner. Each incarnation celebrates the diverse nature of the city in which it lives. Here, it’s buzzing, vibrant, and fun. As with other locations, house-made pita, tahini, and cauliflower dominate the menu, and everything comes served in a paper bag. But meat lovers won’t miss out: beef, lamb, and fish dishes all make a good showing as well.

Anyone who has been to Tipo 00, Little Bourke Street’s smallest and busiest Italian restaurant, will love the team’s new sister restaurant, located next door and double the size. The menu leans toward Mediterranean flavors, and it’s not strictly pasta — the octopus and ’nduja is an Instagram-worthy knockout. There’s a solid drinks focus that extends past the borders of Italy. Tables up front are for walk-ins, but just make sure you get there early.

Jerry Mai opened her new Vietnamese diner just a stone’s throw from the Chinatown arches of Little Bourke Street. It’s a nice transition from the street food of Mai’s Pho Nom eateries. There’s still an emphasis on ethically sourced meats, but at Annam, there’s extra finesse on the plate. A charcoal grill gives everything a lick of smokiness, the sharing vibe is playful, and the cocktails are knock-out.

Tucked down a shady alleyway, Arlechin’s doorway would be easy to miss if it weren’t for the spaghetti mural directing you to the Grossi family’s latest offering (Grossi Florentino, Ombra Bar). It’s a sweet combo of classic cocktails, food to make you drink (think smoked-eel parfait and chile-fried quail), and late-night mischief — and it’s open until 3 a.m.

Tucked inside the neon pink-tinged basement lair of sibling restaurant Punch Lane, Juliet is a welcome addition to the late-night scene. Food, like the show-stopping raclette, is the main draw: It’s warmed and shaved gooey in front of you. A tight and constantly changing wine list puts the focus on female winemakers. If wine isn’t your thing, the cocktail list hits the right notes, as do the jazz musicians who play live every Thursday night.

Step off the bustling CBD sidewalk and into a warm and opulent room full of old-world charm. Restaurateur David Mackintosh (Lee Ho Fook) and bar maestro Joe Jones (Romeo Lane) have captured a decadent time and place reminiscent of 1930s supper clubs. The dining room is plush and elegant, the bar highlighted by a stunning wall of antique decanted spirit bottles. The food plays on a French bistro theme, a stand-out dish the house-made crumpet with a tangle of crab, mayonnaise, and trout roe on top. A shorter supper menu is available from later in the evening until 1 a.m.

Every couple of months this restaurant takes its direction from a different country in its culinary passport. Past themes have included Vietnam, Israel, and Korea. Currently, Atlas is in Mexico, serving habaneros, green tomatoes, and a 37-ingredient mole. Plus, almost everything is cooked on the the fire pit located in the internal courtyard. The prix fixe menu is a great value and, although it opened just over a year ago, it won the recent honor of Time Out’s Best New Restaurant. It’s the perfect spot for an early dinner after a long afternoon shopping in the boutiques of nearby Chapel Street.