What we covered in Melbourne food and drink this week

• First look: new Armadale restaurant Pony has top-notch cheeseburgers and drinks from an ex-Gimlet bartender.

• First look: find Thai street food dishes and coffee shop desserts at Rong Cha in the CBD.

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• First look: Queen Vic Market’s colourful chai cart Original Chai Co opens a permanent cafe (and they’re now selling street food, too).

• Where Melbourne chefs – including Rosheen Kaul and Shannon Martinez – eat when they’re hungover (and what they order).

• Festive mince tarts from some of the city’s best bakers that are available up until December 24.

• The viral jiggly, dancing Korean pudding cats are finally available in Melbourne.

• An Iron Chef protégé opens Sara Craft Ramen and Bar in the CBD.

• Former Lume chef Shaun Quade is set to lead a new dining precinct in Canberra.

• Andrew McConnell, Helly Raichura, Dan Hong and more lead the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2024 line-up.

• Why 2023 was officially the year of the sandwich.

You might have missed
• Famed New Yorker and cultural critic Fran Lebowitz shared her thoughts on restaurants (and Taylor Swift) with us. “What I really liked about Melbourne was that there were a lot of places open late … And there were like 70,000 places to choose from.”

• Vue de Monde chef Hugh Allen gives us a tour of the newly renovated Rialto Tower restaurant.

Listen up
• This week on Broadsheet’s podcast Around Town, we talked about the best new restaurants of 2023.

More, please
• The teams at Kenny Lover and Carwyn Cellars have collaborated on boozy Zooper Dooper-inspired icy poles for summer. Flavours include Negroni, Mojito and Pina Colada and the treats are available at both Kenny Lover and the Carwyn Cellars bar.

• Self-serve acai spot Blitz Bar opens its second location in Brighton. Get acai on tap, then head to the toppings bar – choose from crunchy granola, peanut butter or Nutella, house-made raspberry chia jam, seasonal fruit, and more.

As seen on the web
• The Gilda Age – Bettina Makalintal for Eater.