Five years ago, Lygon Street was dying. Now diners are queuing out the door

Five years ago, Lygon Street was a fake-parmesan-dusted relic of its vibrant Little Italy past. Today, it’s transforming with a slew of innovative and exciting places to eat and drink, with a renewed fondness for old players. The strip’s recent glimmering suggests this is the street that never says die: it’s a key Melbourne destination that reflects immigrant waves and the culinary innovation that surges with them.

“There are ebbs and flows, but you always know Lygon Street will come back,” says Luca Sbardella, whose family have been custodians of Lygon’s landmark King and Godfree deli since 1955. “I feel Lygon Street has never been more interesting than it is right now. People love it because there’s so much to discover.”

On a recent Saturday night, the strip throngs with a million Melbourne stories. Students line up for chicken parmigianas at perennially busy Universal. A hotted-up V8 vrooms past Papa Gino’s pizza place like a big-haired messenger from the 1980s. Date-nighters debate: will it be pistachio gelato from Pidapipo or a durian scoop from Indonesian-leaning ice-cream shop Beku? At El Giza, men suck on shisha pipes and order halal doner kebab pizza.

At Johnny’s Green Room, on King and Godfree’s rooftop, Sbardella reflects on the changes. “We stood here five years ago, just after we renovated, looked down at the street and half the shops were vacant,” he says. “We had just 10 people up here. We asked ourselves what we had done.” Now there are lines out the door.

“Melbourne loves its eat streets, more than any other town I know,” says Sbardella. “When you have a high level of service and offering, it makes the next venue be that little bit better. It keeps building and building. We’ve seen that here.” That push to improve flows through the whole street.

“It’s always been an important food strip,” says Michael Harden, author of the 2008 book Lygon Street: Stories And Recipes From Melbourne’s Melting Pot. Surveyed as part of the original Hoddle Grid in 1852, the street was Melbourne’s Jewish centre from the 1890s: you could use your Yiddish to buy a kosher chicken in the shtetl in ek velt (little town at the end of the world).

After World War II, Italian migrants gradually overtook the Jews. By 1960, about a quarter of Carlton’s population was Italian. Restaurateur Marco Donnini’s grandparents arrived in 1952 and his family installed Melbourne’s first proper espresso machine in their University Cafe. “No one knew what it was,” says Donnini. “They created a little Italian ghetto where everyone felt comfortable.”

In 1966, Stephanie Alexander and her then-husband Rupert “Monty” Montague wanted to open a Jamaican foodstore. “Lygon Street was the obvious choice,” she says. “Carlton was the centre of anything interesting in the way of food and people.”

Over the decades, heart-and-soul cooking gave way to more commercial operations. At the same time, lax planning meant no limit on the number of restaurants. “The strip closer to the city became lined with cookie-cutter restaurants, the bohemia moved to Brunswick Street and St Kilda; Lygon Street felt grimy and touristy,” Harden says. The original mid-century immigrants were ageing, and their kids often moved further afield. With pizza and pasta all over Melbourne, and new eat streets burgeoning, Lygon Street became less compelling, for Italian food anyway.

‘There’s nowhere else as enduring and exciting as Lygon Street.’

Luca Sbardella

In the past decade, a new spark has come from international students moving to the northern CBD and Carlton, near the University of Melbourne. “A lot of students don’t cook in their apartments,” says Donnini. “They may not spend much, but they go out five nights a week.”

The southern portion of Lygon Street caters to those thrifty students with places such as Universal and D’Penyetz. Halal Mandina Kitchen, which serves Yemeni food, is part of a new clutch of restaurants catering to Muslim diners. North of Grattan Street, classic but spirited Italian restaurants such as University Cafe and Donnini’s have innovative new neighbours like Lagoon and Madeleine de Proust.

For Lygon Street lifers, it’s an exciting era. “There’s nowhere else as enduring and exciting as Lygon Street,” Sbardella says.

Kazuki’s

They call themselves “a slow restaurant on a fast street”, which goes some way to describing two-hatted Kazuki’s calm, intentional approach to hospitality. Their style of Japanese fine dining is expressed over five- or seven-course tasting menus, offered with beautiful wine and sake matches, and with a deft melding of Japanese and French cooking and premium Australian produce.

121 Lygon Street, Carlton, kazukis.com.au

Universal Restaurant

See that person holding their hand over their chicken parmigiana as though they’re some kind of energy healer? Well, they’re (most likely) not a reiki master. They’re checking if this $17.90 main course really is as big as their hand. (Answer: it is.) Universal has been serving Italian comfort food since 1969 and the menu here is a pizza-pasta-parma parade. Though the offering is similar to other classic restaurants on the strip, clever updates such as Bubblegum Sour cocktails and Nutella tiramisu draw a younger crowd. Lining up has become part of the experience and cheery waiters work the queue with free tidbits.

141 Lygon Street, Carlton, universalrestaurant.com.au

Mandina Kitchen

Whether you’re seated at a table or cross-legged on a mat, this Yemeni restaurant rolls along generously: each meal begins with a complimentary lamb broth. Good dishes include flaky mulawah bread, sizzling lahsa (a claypot scramble of tomato and egg), mandi (baked rice served with bone-in spiced lamb or chicken) and maglooba, a layered rice and lamb dish that’s tipped upside down to serve.

143 Lygon Street, Carlton, mandinakitchen.com.au

Beku Gelato

There’s a flurry of Indonesian places at the southern end of Lygon Street near Lambs, the famous late-night souvlaki joint on the corner of Queensberry Street. Beku distils ideas from South-East Asia to create smooth, creamy treats in cups and cones: pandan rice pudding is a winner.

Nearby, Martabak Pecenongan 78 serves sweet and savoury stuffed pancakes, D’Penyetz offers all kinds of chicken, rice and seafood dishes, and Kantin prides itself on home-style Indo fare such as nasi ayam jamur, a chicken and mushroom stew.

150 Lygon Street, Carlton, beku.com.au

Good Measure

A gorgeous cafe by day and a cool bar by night, it’s easy to love this place for its flexibility and hospitality. Wine and beer are all on tap and cocktails bring the noise, especially the Tres Chile Margarita with jalapeno, habanero and guajillo fighting for attention beneath a well-salted rim. There’s a courtyard out back for sheltered outdoor sipping and snacking.

193 Lygon Street, Carlton, goodmeasure.au

Madeleine De Proust

Embracing both tradition and innovation, Hyoju Park and Rong Yao Soh’s cake shop crafts madeleines that lean into Australian ingredients and Asian flavour combinations, always with a respectful French underpinning. But what to try? Brown butter with leatherwood honey is a good place to start, and the ube with caramelised chocolate is a beautiful madeleine to dip into hot coffee. On weekends, there are freshly baked madeleines for $4: inhale, enjoy, stroll.

253 Lygon Street, Carlton, madeleinedeproust.com.au

University Cafe

Open since 1952, this Italian restaurant has a clubhouse feel. Last time I was here, a table of blokes was telling each other tall footy tales (“I was on my knees in the goal square … I jumped up … spun around … goooal!” ), a group of 10 was celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary and a shy couple gave “I think there’ll be a second date” vibes. What about me? I was alone with my penne al telefono, a pork sausage pasta with mozzarella that stretches like an old telephone cord.

257 Lygon Street, Carlton, universitycafe.com.au

Kahaani

The name of this two-year-old Indian restaurant means “story” and its tales are rendered in redolent dishes inspired by every part of their country of inspiration. You might travel from India’s north (besan-battered kale chips that riff on a popular spinach street snack) to the centre (Mumbai-style minced lamb rolls) and onward to the south for Kerala-style coconut prawns. Don’t miss the Indian-inflected cocktails: I love the surprising Swagat with gin, beetroot, pomegranate and fennel.

262 Lygon Street, Carlton, 0470 585 390, kahaanimelbourne.com.au

Lagoon Dining

Expressive and fun, Lagoon leans into Chinese culinary traditions to deliver a key Melbourne dining experience. I am always sending people here and they always love it. In just two examples of the cheeky mash-ups at play, crispy lamb ribs come with doubanjiang romesco, while an ox tongue crepe is served with jalapeno sambal.

263 Lygon Street, Carlton, lagoondining.com

Johnny’s Green Room

The multilevel food paradise on the corner of Grattan and Lygon is anchored by King & Godfree. Its apex is Johnny’s Green Room, a rooftop hangout that has reimagined the sometimes scandalous and sleazy pool hall that pre-dated it. Karen Martini has recently refreshed the menu. Owner Luca Sbardella reckons you can’t go wrong with a prawn pizza with green chilli and capers, and the limoncello margarita is a good bet, too. “Lygon Street is a unique melting pot,” he says. “You go overseas or interstate, and anyone who knows Melbourne knows about Lygon Street.”

Level 2, 293-297 Lygon Street, Carlton, johnnysgreenroom.com

Tiamo

Doing its thing since 1978, I have fallen in love with Tiamo a thousand times over. I’ve been here for tumblers of red wine, cheap lasagne and important conversations during my uni days. There was that date with a platter of antipasto and knees touching under the table. And more recently, it’s a reliable place to choose between pasta, pizza and the daily rabbit special, with multi-generational groups who don’t mind waiting on the footpath as the world wanders by.

303 Lygon Street, Carlton, 03 9347 5759, tiamo.com.au

Donnini’s

The Donnini family are Lygon Street royalty, having opened University Cafe in the middle of the last century and since 2002, having the trattoria just opposite. Handmade pasta, sincere hospitality and Italian wines are the centrepiece of the experience at this warm, classic and essential Melbourne venue.

320 Lygon Street, Carlton, donninis.com.au

Heartattack and Vine

Simple and sublime, open early till late daily, this is the neighbourhood cafe and wine bar you’d build in a dream. Come by yourself, come with a small bunch of mates – it’s all cruisy and it’s all good. By day, maybe a bocconcini roll or almond croissant; later, it might be oysters, pickles, meatballs and excellent wine.

329 Lygon Street, Carlton, heartattackandvine.com.au

Jimmy Watson’s

If you think the Melbourne wine bar is a contemporary invention, then you better hightail it to this venerable, spry institution which has been pouring good drops since 1935. Utterly averse to trends, Jimmy’s is a welcoming place with an easygoing Italian menu and a courtyard with draping greenery. Walk out the back (or sneak via the side lane) and you’ll stumble into Snack Monster, a secret pintxos bar.

333 Lygon Street, Carlton, jimmywatsons.info