Where to from here?

1. PHILIPPINES » Chibog, West Footscray

The team at Chibog (that's "to eat" in Tagalog) are doing what no one else has achieved in Melbourne: making very traditional Filipino food accessible beyond the Filo community. It’s an impressive feat, given they’ve only been open since February and have existed in lockdown longer than they have as a dine-in restaurant. Traditional dishes here resemble something you might see at a mod-Asian restaurant in Flinders Lane, more so than the big, messy serves over rice at classic establishments that are sometimes a barrier to entry for those tasting the cuisine for the first time. Share fried pork knuckle with house achara (papaya pickle) or kare kare, an oxtail peanut better stew with bok choy, snake beans, eggplants and bagoong (fermented fish paste). There's also pork sisig made from triple-cooked chopped pork, onion, liver pate and chicharron, as well as a vegetarian tofu version. Sweet tooths should order either ube waffles or an ube milkshake (ube is purple yam). Or order both, which is what I'd do. Thursday to Sunday only for now.553 Barkly Street, West Footscray, 03 9078 4472, chibog.com.au

2. SOMALIA » New Somali Kitchen, Flemington

284 Racecourse Road, Flemington, 03 8589 7631, newsomalikitchen.com.au

3. MALAYSIA » Hawkers Lane, Newport

Cash and pick-up only, Hawkers Lane is a real win for Newport. The tidy store was geared mainly for takeaway pre-COVID, with only a few stools in the window and fast service. There are familiar starters like satay chicken, roti and curry puffs (try the sardine version of the latter) and plenty of noodles smoked in a wok (hello, seafood mee hoon with fishcakes and house belachan shrimp paste). Hawkers Lane also shines in the laksa department with a traditional chicken kari (curry) option complete with a boiled egg. Stick to what you know with nasi goreng, nasi lemak and beef rendang, or opt for seafood cooked in belachan or sambal. I'm most excited by Nyonya fish curry (for more on Nyonya cuisine, check out this past Seasoned Traveller dispatch) and Malay mapo tofu with chicken mince.12 Hall Street, Newport, 03 9391 0611

Images with thanks to Kenny Weir, considerthesauce.net

4. SOUTH INDIA » Parotta Station, Brooklyn

I have two questions for you:1) Did you know there was a suburb called Brooklyn in Melbourne?2) Are you aware that there’s an awkwardly-shaped, bright red South Indian fast-food restaurant on the main road that connects the West Gate freeway to Princess Highway? Enter Parotta Station, specialising in dishes from Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state. Alongside flaky flatbreads you'll find elumbu soup made from mutton ribs and aatukal paya, lamb trotters simmered overnight in gravy. Less challenging for some might be dry-fried veruval chicken, prawns or cauliflower. Try rich Chettinad goat curry with coconut, ginger, garlic and tomato gravy or kothu parotta, where the flat bread is chopped and tossed with vegetables and either chicken, lamb or egg. Feeding a crowd? Family biryani packs (goat or chicken) feed five to eight people. Finish on a sweet, spiced and sticky note with carrot halwa and gulab jamun.28A Millers Road, Brooklyn, 03 9314 9934, parottastation.com.au

5. TORRES STRAIT ISLANDS » Mabu Mabu, Yarraville

Filmed by

Liam Neal

6. VIETNAM » Xuan Banh Cuon, Sunshine

When I crave Vietnamese flavours in warmer weather I turn to banh cuon: wide, flat rolled rice noodles (kind of like what lasagne sheets are to pasta) that are slightly fermented, steamed and filled with minced pork, prawn, and wood ear mushrooms. The matriarch here makes hers the traditional way, spreading white rice batter over a cloth and steaming it to form the delicate crepes. Sizeable square plates come with a slippery pyramid of the rolls with sides of processed pork sausage loaf, bean sprouts, herbs, sliced cucumber, fried shallots and nuoc cham. Order yours with banh tom chien (sweet potato hash). The banh da do rieu cua cha ca is also worth a look in: crab and fish soup with red noodles and house fish cakes.232 Hampshire Road, Sunshine, 03 9364 8992, Doordash

7. COLOMBIA » El Toucan, Maribyrnong

8. ETHIOPIA » African Taste, Seddon

Footscray doesn’t get all the fun when it comes to Ethiopian restaurants – Seddon locals know that African Taste is up there with the best. I love the way these guys make their menu more familiar for non-African customers, calling the gomen be ayeb "Ethiopian spinach ricotta" and referring to genfo fufu (boiled barley flour balls in clarified butter, African spices and yoghurt) as “gnocchi”. There are different tibs dishes (tibs being anything sauteed with vegetables) including marinated lamb, beef, chicken and spicy fish served on injera; as well as Sudanese molokia, a thick, stew-like soup made from jute leaves with stewed lamb, chicken or mushroom over rice. A menu item called “African Fasting Food”, technically for fasting days in the orthodox Ethiopian calendar, is great for vegetarians: pumpkin and eggplant, red lentils, split beans, cabbage and carrots with injera.3011/124 Victoria Street, Seddon, 03 9687 0560, MenulogImage with thanks to Amanda Chan, gourmanda.me

9. NEPAL » The Everest Momo, Braybrook

10. VIETNAM » Hem 27, Flemington

When friends are keen to try a Vietnamese noodle soup that isn’t pho, I send them to Hem 27, which has a huge range of regional varieties. Hem means alleyway, but this restaurant is in a car park within spitting distance of Melbourne Showgrounds. Skip the banh mi, it will only fill space that could be occupied by nibbles like banh beo chen (steamed rice flour disks scattered with sweet pork mince from Hue). Soup-wise, I order either banh canh cua (bright orange crab broth with chewy tapioca noodles, fish cakes, sliced pork and soft shell crab) or canh bun, northern Vietnamese shrimp and crab water spinach noodle soup with pork loaf, fried tofu and thick round vermicelli noodles in pork and shrimp broth. Also try a soursop smoothie or jasmine milk tea, naturally dyed blue with butterfly pea flowers. The traditional dessert menu is extensive, too.Shop 27/320- 380 Epsom Road, Flemington, 03 9376 2961, hem27.com.au

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