We’ve been on two whirlwind 24-hour trips to Melbourne in the past few months, where we sipped and supped our way through the city’s bars, restaurants and markets.

Here’s our round-up of some of the foodie highlights from our trips …

The first stop during our June visit to Melbourne was South Melbourne Market. The city is famous for its fresh food markets and while we’ve been to Queen Vic Markets on numerous occasions, it was exciting to wander through  South Melbourne Market for the first time.

It was such a fun, bustling spot. We loved pottering around, eating creamy Sicilian cannoli and devouring crab fried rice at Bambu, a slick restaurant on the edge of the markets.

Then we jumped on a tram and a train to visit Pentridge in Coburg, which housed some of Australia’s most infamous criminals during its nearly 150-year history. The jail closed in 1997 and has been turned into a lively dining, entertainment and residential precinct.

We took a harrowing tour of H Division while we were there. Known as Hell Division to its inmates, the tour covered the dark heart of Pentridge.

We’d been planning on having a stiff drink afterwards at a bar in B Block, which is now home to the Adina Pentridge hotel. However, a wedding reception had run over time and our table wasn’t available yet, so we caught an Uber to cool new CBD bar called Death & Co … as you do after a visit to a jail.

Since its 2006 establishment in Manhattan’s East Village, Death & Co has become one of the world’s most influential bars, and opened its Melbourne outpost on Flinders Lane in November last year.

We slipped into a booth and ordered delicious Kaikoma Highballs with Japanese whisky, single malt Scotch, yuzu and soda.

Later, we ducked to D.O.C at Southbank for a quick dinner, where we ordered the carbonara pizza, which was rich, tasty and memorable.

The next morning kicked off with a tasty turkey club sandwich at Bowery to Williamsburg, a New York-style deli in Oliver Lane. We’ve had breakfast there many times over the years and it never disappoints.

Then we burnt off the calories with 10km of walking and shopping—including a visit to the atmospheric Queen Vic Markets—before heading to the airport.

A few weeks later we returned for another quickie visit, kicking off our adventure with lunch at The Tea Rooms in the Block Arcade on Collins Street. The Block Arcade is a stunning must-see, designed to emulate the famed Galleria Vittorio in Milan. The arcade features a magnificent etched glass roof and dome, alongside elegant walkways embellished with intricate mosaics imported from Italy.

The Tea Rooms opened in 1892 and is the oldest tea rooms in Australia. We ordered club sandwiches and shared two pieces of cake. Check out The Tea Rooms’ remarkable front window filled with stunning, sugary creations …

When happy hour arrived, we wandered over to 1806, a speakeasy-style bar in the theatre district.

It was the last day of an initiative by The Gospel Whiskey called Rye July, so we ordered Ruby Manhattans, which were both elegant and delicious.

Our next stop was a banquet at the city’s most famous Cantonese restaurant, Flower Drum. The fine-dining restaurant is located in Melbourne’s Chinatown and was founded in 1975. It’s renowned for its luxury setting, tableside service and iconic dishes such as Peking duck and stuffed crab. After reading about all the awards it has won over the years, we were excited to finally try it.

Flower Drum has a lovely bar designed by Studio 103 that serves innovative cocktails including the Ginger Snap (Cointreau, Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, lemon, crushed ginger, cinnamon and bitters).

As we sipped our drinks, dumplings circulated the room, then we sat down to a spectacular array of the restaurant’s most famous dishes including the aforementioned baked crab shell and Peking duck pancakes, alongside Patagonian toothfish with mushroom sauce, quail san choy bow, eye fillet with Sichuan sauce, special fried rice and deep-fried ice cream.

We also tried our first Chinese Chardonnay, from a vineyard in the Ningxia region called Silver Heights. It was excellent, more akin to a Burgundy white than an Aussie Chardonnay, elegant and full bodied. We later discovered that the winery was founded by Bordeaux-trained Emma Ga—one to put on your radar if you’re a chardy or Chablis lover.

All too soon it was time to head home to Sydney again, but we’re already planning our next trip south. Stay tuned!