Guidebook for Kensington

Greg & Jason
Greg & Jason
Guidebook for Kensington

Food Scene

This is the closest cafe to our apartment. It is operated by a community organisation called AMES, with profits going towards helping migrants into education and work. Try the shakshuka.
Fifty-Six threads cafe
56 Derby St
This is the closest cafe to our apartment. It is operated by a community organisation called AMES, with profits going towards helping migrants into education and work. Try the shakshuka.
An alternative place with a record bar out the front and a nice courtyard out the back. It can take a while to get your food at brunch times... a little patience is needed. 7 min walk from apartment.
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White Rabbit Record Bar
176 Bellair St
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An alternative place with a record bar out the front and a nice courtyard out the back. It can take a while to get your food at brunch times... a little patience is needed. 7 min walk from apartment.
The local pub with decent food and a Tuesday trivia (book in advance). 5 minute walk from apartment.
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Hardimans Hotel
521 Macaulay Rd
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The local pub with decent food and a Tuesday trivia (book in advance). 5 minute walk from apartment.
The most popular café in Kensington. Beautiful food and good service.
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The Premises.
202 Bellair St
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The most popular café in Kensington. Beautiful food and good service.
Decent Thai food by night, a café by day.
Thai By Night
170 Bellair St
Decent Thai food by night, a café by day.
The best laksa in Melbourne. On Friday and Saturday nights, be prepared to wait half an hour for a table as it gets really busy. Very fast service. Try any of the laksas and roti chanai.
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Laksa King Flemington
6-12 Pin Oak Cres
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The best laksa in Melbourne. On Friday and Saturday nights, be prepared to wait half an hour for a table as it gets really busy. Very fast service. Try any of the laksas and roti chanai.
Next door to Laksa King. If you can’t get a table at Laksa King, come here. A bit more expensive, but similar Malaysian cuisine and quieter, so you can talk.
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Chef Lagenda Malaysian Kitchen
16 Pin Oak Cres
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Next door to Laksa King. If you can’t get a table at Laksa King, come here. A bit more expensive, but similar Malaysian cuisine and quieter, so you can talk.
Closer to Flemington, this is our favourite Ethiopian restaurant. Staff are friendly… you share a big platter with multiple curries and bread (injera) and eat with your hands.
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The Abyssinian Restaurant
277 Racecourse Rd
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Closer to Flemington, this is our favourite Ethiopian restaurant. Staff are friendly… you share a big platter with multiple curries and bread (injera) and eat with your hands.
Japanese / South American fusion, this place is awesome. Lots of sashimi, so you need to like raw fish. We recommend the degustation options.
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Nobu
8 Whiteman St
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Japanese / South American fusion, this place is awesome. Lots of sashimi, so you need to like raw fish. We recommend the degustation options.
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare; the Soufra degustation is highly recommended.
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Maha
21 Bond St
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Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare; the Soufra degustation is highly recommended.
Fine dining Italian, Modern Australian. Owned by Guy Grossi celebrity chef. The food is sensational, and the staff will really look after you.
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Florentino
80 Bourke St
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Fine dining Italian, Modern Australian. Owned by Guy Grossi celebrity chef. The food is sensational, and the staff will really look after you.
Our all-time favourite restaurant… we like it so much we bought the cookbook and try to replicate the recipes! Asian fusion food, the pork belly in caramel sauce is the best you will find anywhere.
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Red Spice Road
141 Queen St
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Our all-time favourite restaurant… we like it so much we bought the cookbook and try to replicate the recipes! Asian fusion food, the pork belly in caramel sauce is the best you will find anywhere.
This is not visible from the street and up a few flights of stairs. The décor has period charm and the menu has a European flair. Groovy music. Always busy.
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Panama Dining Room
231 Smith St
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This is not visible from the street and up a few flights of stairs. The décor has period charm and the menu has a European flair. Groovy music. Always busy.
A Melbourne institution, this place gets very busy and the stairwell gets cramped with people waiting for tables. If you book, it’s a lot easier. Try the crispy-skinned chicken. BYO.
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Supper Inn Chinese Restaurant
15 Celestial Ave
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A Melbourne institution, this place gets very busy and the stairwell gets cramped with people waiting for tables. If you book, it’s a lot easier. Try the crispy-skinned chicken. BYO.
Plenty of trendy restaurants.
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Hardware Lane
Hardware Lane
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Plenty of trendy restaurants.
Plenty of awesome cafés.
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Degraves St
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Plenty of awesome cafés.
Lively café and bar strip with cheap and decent eats. The west end of Johnston Street has Spanish restaurants and cafés.
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Johnston St/Brunswick St station
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Lively café and bar strip with cheap and decent eats. The west end of Johnston Street has Spanish restaurants and cafés.
Decent and fast Chinese food. BYO.
Ants Bistro
7 Corrs Ln
Decent and fast Chinese food. BYO.
Cheapest Chinese dumplings ever. The service is atrocious (they can throw the food on the tables at times) and the cleanliness is questionable, but we don't know anyone who ever got food poisoning.
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Shanghai Dumpling House
23 Tattersalls Ln
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Cheapest Chinese dumplings ever. The service is atrocious (they can throw the food on the tables at times) and the cleanliness is questionable, but we don't know anyone who ever got food poisoning.
Good Japanese food in the middle of the city.
Izakaya Hachibeh
143-145 Bourke St
Good Japanese food in the middle of the city.
Asian fare in a lovely restaurant setting. Busy, so you should book.
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Longrain Restaurant
44 Little Bourke St
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Asian fare in a lovely restaurant setting. Busy, so you should book.
A converted laundry in the centre of the city, the food is Asian inspired and the restaurant is small and intimate.
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Seamstress Restaurant & Bar
113 Lonsdale St
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A converted laundry in the centre of the city, the food is Asian inspired and the restaurant is small and intimate.
The best all-you-can eat buffet in town with a huge amount of fresh seafood, short-order cooks in different world cuisines and a chocolate fountain! Very pricey though. A special treat!
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Melba Restaurant
1 Southgate Ave
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The best all-you-can eat buffet in town with a huge amount of fresh seafood, short-order cooks in different world cuisines and a chocolate fountain! Very pricey though. A special treat!
Good fast service and decent café food.
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Fruits of Passion
188 Bellair St
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Good fast service and decent café food.
They do great pho here. Hidden down an arcade near Laksa King.
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Green Tea Vietnamese
320 Racecourse Rd
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They do great pho here. Hidden down an arcade near Laksa King.
Great neighbourhood hangout with nice food and coffee.
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Pepper
44 Pin Oak Cres
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Great neighbourhood hangout with nice food and coffee.

Drinks & Nightlife

Thai food in a quirky bar / restaurant. The rooftop bar upstairs from here has a rooftop cinema showing movies on the fake turf during the summer.
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Cookie
252 Swanston St
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Thai food in a quirky bar / restaurant. The rooftop bar upstairs from here has a rooftop cinema showing movies on the fake turf during the summer.
Awesome Spanish tapas, you need to book well in advance. Alternatively, go to MoVida Next Door, who take walk-ins.
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MoVida
1 Hosier Ln
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Awesome Spanish tapas, you need to book well in advance. Alternatively, go to MoVida Next Door, who take walk-ins.
Sophisticated feel, with beautiful views of Melbourne city. Free entry, but trust us, they make the money with the drinks! We only stay for a couple of drinks just to prep ourselves for fancy dinner.
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Lui Bar
525 Collins St
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Sophisticated feel, with beautiful views of Melbourne city. Free entry, but trust us, they make the money with the drinks! We only stay for a couple of drinks just to prep ourselves for fancy dinner.
Themed bar…think European country clubs from the 70s…cheap cocktails purchased by the jug.
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Madame Brussels
59 Bourke St
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Themed bar…think European country clubs from the 70s…cheap cocktails purchased by the jug.
Amazing view of Melbourne city, walk in entries can be problematic, so call ahead if you really want to go. They usually have live jazz/soul bands playing.
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Blue Diamond
123 Queen Street
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Amazing view of Melbourne city, walk in entries can be problematic, so call ahead if you really want to go. They usually have live jazz/soul bands playing.
Irish bar, with lots of Irish people, Irish gigs, Irish beer and Irish fun.
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The Quiet Man Irish Pub
271 Racecourse Rd
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Irish bar, with lots of Irish people, Irish gigs, Irish beer and Irish fun.
Busy local pub opposite Newmarket train station. Serve decent pub food too.
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Doutta Galla Hotel
339 Racecourse Rd
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Busy local pub opposite Newmarket train station. Serve decent pub food too.
In an out-of-the-way alley (lane way off a lane way…off another lane way), past some rubbish bins, this place is set up like a chemistry lab; order a syringe drink.
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The Croft Institute
21 Croft Alley
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In an out-of-the-way alley (lane way off a lane way…off another lane way), past some rubbish bins, this place is set up like a chemistry lab; order a syringe drink.
This is a tiny bar (max 15 customers at a time), again, very hidden. Best cocktails in Melbourne! Only standing room, so it is not a place you will be spending all night at.
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Bar Americano
20 Presgrave Pl
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This is a tiny bar (max 15 customers at a time), again, very hidden. Best cocktails in Melbourne! Only standing room, so it is not a place you will be spending all night at.
This place is divided into the affluent West Berlin, and the grungy East Berlin; ask to sit in East Berlin preferably on the bunk beds) and order a German cocktail (they are quite strong!) or beer.
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Berlin Bar
16 Corrs Ln
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This place is divided into the affluent West Berlin, and the grungy East Berlin; ask to sit in East Berlin preferably on the bunk beds) and order a German cocktail (they are quite strong!) or beer.
Large venue with a big screen and regular drag shows with the usual topless male backup dancers through the night; upstairs is quieter and offers a good view of the dancefloor. Cover charge $20. LGBT.
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GH Hotel (Greyhound Hotel)
1 Brighton Road
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Large venue with a big screen and regular drag shows with the usual topless male backup dancers through the night; upstairs is quieter and offers a good view of the dancefloor. Cover charge $20. LGBT.
Free entry. A great night with unpretentious gays… however, the downside is all women need to be escorted by a male. Don’t bother trying to get in if you are a group of girls. Open till 6am.
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The Peel Hotel
46 Peel St
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Free entry. A great night with unpretentious gays… however, the downside is all women need to be escorted by a male. Don’t bother trying to get in if you are a group of girls. Open till 6am.
Molly Meldrum’s local…you are bound to find him there on the weekend.
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DT's Hotel
164 Church St
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Molly Meldrum’s local…you are bound to find him there on the weekend.
Very hidden bar (on a lane way, off a lane way). Really nice chill out place, a little alternative where most of the bartenders are covered in tattoos, but it appears to attract all kinds of people.
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Sister Bella
9 Sniders Lane
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Very hidden bar (on a lane way, off a lane way). Really nice chill out place, a little alternative where most of the bartenders are covered in tattoos, but it appears to attract all kinds of people.
Palm trees on the roof…has a tropical feel about it.
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The Carlton Club
193 Bourke St
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Palm trees on the roof…has a tropical feel about it.
Most popular of roof top bars, so it can be too busy for our liking.
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Rooftop Cinema
252 Swanston St
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Most popular of roof top bars, so it can be too busy for our liking.
Cool bar up plenty of stairs. Quirky and have table service.
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New Gold Mountain
21 Liverpool St
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Cool bar up plenty of stairs. Quirky and have table service.

Sightseeing

The defining landmark of Melbourne at the junction of Flinders Street and Swanston Street; a popular meeting spot.
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Flinders Street Railway Station
Flinders Street
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The defining landmark of Melbourne at the junction of Flinders Street and Swanston Street; a popular meeting spot.
A new precinct with restaurants and bars; Harbourtown is the shopping centre there, which can be quite dead at the best of times.
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Docklands
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A new precinct with restaurants and bars; Harbourtown is the shopping centre there, which can be quite dead at the best of times.
The tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere with views of Melbourne.
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Eureka Skydeck
7 Riverside Quay
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The tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere with views of Melbourne.
Huge and colourful with an assortment of fresh and dry produce and tacky souvenirs.
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Queen Victoria Market
Queen Street
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Huge and colourful with an assortment of fresh and dry produce and tacky souvenirs.
Popular meeting place with cafes and galleries.
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Federation Square
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Popular meeting place with cafes and galleries.
Promenade on the south bank of the Yarra, with restaurants, bars and a Sunday art and craft market.
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Southgate
3 Southgate Ave
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Promenade on the south bank of the Yarra, with restaurants, bars and a Sunday art and craft market.
On St Kilda Road, the major war memorial with a Ray of Light demonstration every half hour.
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Mindesmærket
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On St Kilda Road, the major war memorial with a Ray of Light demonstration every half hour.
Beautiful trees and greenery, not if you have hayfever; watch out for the beautiful people on their daily run around ‘the Tan’.
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Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
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Beautiful trees and greenery, not if you have hayfever; watch out for the beautiful people on their daily run around ‘the Tan’.

Arts & Culture

You can pick up some cheap tickets at Half Tix at Melbourne Town Hall for shows playing that evening… hit and miss though. If you are keen on seeing a certain show, we recommend buying in advance.
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Halftix Melbourne
208 Little Collins St
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You can pick up some cheap tickets at Half Tix at Melbourne Town Hall for shows playing that evening… hit and miss though. If you are keen on seeing a certain show, we recommend buying in advance.
Includes the Crown Casino, many bars and restaurants, high-end shopping and Village Cinemas.
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Crown Melbourne
8 Whiteman St
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Includes the Crown Casino, many bars and restaurants, high-end shopping and Village Cinemas.

Entertainment & Activities

The largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Melbourne Museum
11 Nicholson St
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The largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere.
If you like animals.
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Melbourne Zoo
Elliott Avenue
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If you like animals.
Good day out for the kids, learning about science.
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Scienceworks
2 Booker St
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Good day out for the kids, learning about science.
Historic amusement park with the big mouth; small but fun.
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Luna Park Melbourne
18 Lower Esplanade
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Historic amusement park with the big mouth; small but fun.

Shopping

A kilometre-long strip of fashionable shops and cafes and beautiful botoxed people; the cheaper shops are toward the southern end; South Yarra and Prahran are the ‘pink’ area and are gay-friendly.
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Chapel Street
Chapel Street
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A kilometre-long strip of fashionable shops and cafes and beautiful botoxed people; the cheaper shops are toward the southern end; South Yarra and Prahran are the ‘pink’ area and are gay-friendly.
Expensive gourmet market, good for a nosey.
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Prahran Market station
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Expensive gourmet market, good for a nosey.
Plenty of shopping, including Myer, David Jones, H&M, Zara and others.
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Bourke Street Mall
Bourke Street Mall
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Plenty of shopping, including Myer, David Jones, H&M, Zara and others.
Large shopping centre with a broad range of shops.
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Chadstone Shopping Center
1341 Dandenong Road
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Large shopping centre with a broad range of shops.
Factory outlet shopping and IKEA.
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Bridge Road
Bridge Road
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Factory outlet shopping and IKEA.
Outlet shopping centre next to the Convention Centre.
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DFO www.catalogclothing.com.au
20 Convention Centre Pl
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Outlet shopping centre next to the Convention Centre.
Highpoint Shopping Centre… the west’s answer to Chadstone.
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The Bavarian Highpoint
120-200 Rosamond Rd
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Highpoint Shopping Centre… the west’s answer to Chadstone.
Factory outlet shops and boutiques.
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Smith Street
Smith Street
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Factory outlet shops and boutiques.

Essentials

Local Woolworths, with BWS and Thirsty Camel liquor stores, and Chemist Warehouse next door.
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Woolworths Newmarket Plaza
338 Racecourse Rd
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Local Woolworths, with BWS and Thirsty Camel liquor stores, and Chemist Warehouse next door.
Closest place for basic groceries.
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FoodWorks
484 Macaulay Rd
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Closest place for basic groceries.