Where to eat on Friday Night in Melbourne CBD?

TGIF!! But where to eat on a Friday Night (that does not require you to make an advance booking since like four weeks before or make you wait till 9PM to be seated) ?

I believe it is definitely one of the hardest tasks (I know my sister would comment and say “First World Problems”). 

Now to discuss the adventure we had in deciding where to eat...

A few weeks before the dinner date with the girls, we kick started this adventure with “Let’s do Korean” it’s easy, delicious and there’s an abundance of them (in no particular order Shinssi Hwaro, Oriental Spoon, Guhng, G2, Joo Mak, Cafe de Kikaku, Mook Ji Bar, the list could go on forever) – but this was short lived, we didn’t want to smell like BBQ after the meal – even if we didn’t eat BBQ.

Mamasita, Chin Chin, Meat Balls and Wine, Cumulus, Movida – in and around Flinders Lane – always gets a mentioned, but then reality comes and spoils the fun… “Are we really going to get a table?” or “Do we want to wait 2hrs to get a table?” I told them about my sister’s story; she got to Mamasita at 5.45pm on a Tuesday that week and still had to wait 30mins to get a table. There is hope though!! Yak Bar – this is always the fall back option, not a bad fall back option at all, it is one of the best pasta places in Melbourne and they’re so friendly.

We then set our minds on Movida Aqui, thinking it should be ok since it is on the quieter side of town. We were planning to make a booking (at some stage), but we totally forgot about it till the afternoon of the day and to our disappointment there was nothing for 6 till 8.30pm.

Then there are the New Kids on the Block – Sezar, Burma Lane, Gazi, Grain Store (not new new, but new for dinner) - if you go like right NOW, there is still a possibility you can get a table, but we've recently been, so our adventure continues…

*Time lapsed*

It ended up that we didn't actually have 6 people dinning, only 3 and hence managed to get a bar table at Movida Aqui. But as it turned out, we asked nicely to be seated at a proper table and they let us. A win for us. Here are some photos of the food we had.

In no particular order, here are some places to try out on a Friday if you ever get stuck (apologies in advance for those who don’t get a table at these places in the future, I would strongly advise giving them a call before you head there):

• Movida Aqui - Lvl 1, 500 Bourke St, NAB building, (via Lt Bourke St), Melbourne
• ShanDong Mama - this was a hidden gem, now there is slowly a crowd of regulars (like me) - Mid City Arcade, Shop 7, 200 Bourke St , Melbourne
• Sezar - newest Armenian restaurant in town - 6 Melbourne place , Melbourne
• Burma Lane - from Red Spice Road to Burma Lane, get it while its still not that hot - 118 Little Collins St, Melbourne
• Chick-In - another hidden gem and maybe the reason why you should be able to get a table! - G23/620 Collins Street (Laneway off Collins & Francis St), Melbourne
• Gami - there is a quieter store, find it
• Yak Bar - always my fav - 150 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
• Merrywell (downstairs) - Crown Towers/Clarendon St (Spencer Street end), Southbank
• Ramen Ya - the new-ish Bourke street store - Shop 9 The Paramount, 108 Bourke St, Melbourne
• Kokoro Ramen - 157 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
• Gazi - 2 Exhibition St, Melbourne - strongly recommend you give them a call

- jkl