Taste Melbourne – History, Food & Culture – VIP private tour
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Not just another food tour, on this 4.5-hour cultural experience of Melbourne our Foodie guides share the stories about the different cultures that call
Melbourne home. Uncover the layers of people, food and history as you learn about the migrant communities and how these cultures have brought their cuisines to the city, the history of their foods and the stories of some of the cultural precincts of Melbourne. Taste the flavours of Native Australian cuisine and discover the beautiful ingredients and their benefits. You will leave this tour, having a nice walk around town, belly full and stories from our multicultural communities.
Included in your tour
- Your own private tour guide
- A visit to the immigration museum, an introduction to Melbourne’s migrant stories.
- 4 -5 tasting stops in unique eateries from different cultural cuisines, including the history and stories of the eateries and cuisines.
- A drink with your main meal
- Meet and Pick up / drop off from your CBD hotel – walking or using free trams
- Flexibility with small adjustments to tour offerings to suit customers, tastes and interests.
- Walk between each venue is no more than 15 mins with a total walking time of about 45 mins on tour
- The food tastings are substantial and are a light meal for most people
All dietary
requirements can be catered for. Please advise yours at the time of booking.
Total walking time is only 50 mins between stops.
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Wonderful way to spend an evening in Melbourne Kim met us right on time and became a friend and guide immediately . Her expertise and knowledge made for a wonderful evening . She made sure that we celebrated my birthday in style! And all food was delicious . I love that this is a woman owned tour business and the attention to detail was perfect .
Five star all the way! Great tour, 5* all the way! We started with a quick introduction in the Immigration Museum to the history of multicultural Melbourne, and then spent the next 3 3/4 hours or so exploring the diversity of Melbourne's food scene. From Vietnamese bao buns with betel leaf, started by a refugee from the fall of Saigon, to a second generation pastry and gelato Italian coffee shop and restaurant; from authentically Cantonese dim sum in the heart of Chinatown to a venerable old Aussie pub complete with the life size female nude painting that shocked polite 19th century Melbourne society (just ask to see Chloe); and taking in two fabulous handmade chocolateries, a little old English tearoom, and a cocktail bar that serves Bowls of Heaven, along the way. Simon was a brilliant guide, explaining the stories behind the restaurants and throwing in tidbits on history, architecture and geography to help set the context for the dood stops.. Plus we saw an inspired piece of public art - the singing ceramic bowls - inside a corporate atrium I would never have thought to explore. Top tip: ask Simon about places to visit in the Yarra valley. Second top tip: pace yourself - you will not lack for food on this tour. Highly recommended!
Good trails and speakeasy bars Absolutely fabulous tour. Kim our guide was so interesting and informative. Easy walking. The bars and food were amazing. All so different. I would highly recommend this tour.It was our privilege and a pleasure to participate in this small group.
So much more than food! Our Foodie Tour was one of our highlights of our stay in Melbourne. This experience occurred on the first day of our trip and helped better orient ourselves to the city, and find new restaurants and bars to explore for the remainder of our stay. Our guide Christine was flexible, knowledgeable, and engaging. She made our experience personal to us and provided insight into the history of Melbourne and Australia. This tour was worthwhile and a family favorite!The company was also very accommodating to dietary restrictions.
Melbourne foodie culture Foodie trail.Christine was an excellent tour guide. Extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic to share the city’s history. I would highly recommend this tour.
Fun A part of the code that I am not familiar with and great food along with informative tour
Sophia, our tour guide, was exceptional! Our tour guide Sophia was exceptional!! She was very passionate and went above and beyond to go the extra mile. She cared about us as individuals and delivered a tour that felt curated just for us!! Thank you Sophia for a truly memorable tour!!
Superb experience of Melbourne history, culture, architecture and food. We decided to take some out of town family on a foodie tour and got so very much more. Christine was excited to share and show us all around the vibrant and interesting city of Melbourne. From the history, through the culture and influences of immigration we got a comprehensive understanding about all the things that have contributed to making Melbourne what it is today. The quality of information and knowledgeability of the guide made this a truely memorable and inspiring experience. Not to mention the selection of food venues- oh my, so good!!
Showcasing the very best of Melbourne This showcases the best of Melbourne. Paddock to plate venues, some hidden gems and some quintessentiaal stops all thoughtfully chosen to compliment each other. Honestly, it was such a treat — our guide Will was an absolute delight and the other guests were great company with wonderful conversation.
Last year we spent three months in Europe and did fifteen food tours. I can honestly say none compared to this one. It made us feel so proud of our incredible city and the amazing produce we have here. And it was lovely to discover something new too.
We can't wait to to book another one!
Excellent tour The tour we went on was vey good. The guide, Sophie, was excellent. She took us to interesting places with good food and told us lots of interesting and fun facts along the way. There was a lot of food, more than we could eat, so we even had delicious left overs for dinner the next night. We thought it was really good value.
Great starting point for Melbourne's food scene Will is an easy going, personable guide with local knowledge of the Melbourne area. Had a great time with tour group.Perfect tour to dip your toes into Melbourne's food culture.
The highlight of the tour for me was definitely Baha. The food was exceptional and the atmosphere was perfect. If you're looking for a unique and delicious way to explore Melbourne's culinary culture, I can't recommend this tour enough. Thanks again, Christine!
Incredible Experience! We had Christine as our guide for our foodie tour in Melbourne and it was the best experience we had while in Australia. Christine was wonderful, knowledgeable, and engaging throughout the entire day, and took us to some incredible restaurants! Such a fun tour, would recommend to anyone visiting Melbourne.
Foodie Tour tasted so yummy We started our Foodie Trails tour at the impressive & intriguing immigration museum on Flinders Street, to the west of the city, away from the main train station & across the river from a moneyed symbol of modern Melbourne, the looming Crown Casino. Our engaging, informed & often funny guide Simon takes us through a potted history of the immigration waves into Melbourne over the past century or so & the culture & cuisine that arrived with each of these mainly crowded boats. For the next almost four hours we wandered through architectural wonders - some recognisable some really surprising. A highlight was the Gothic Bank, once the headquarters of the English, Scottish and Australian Chartered Bank, now a major branch of the ANZ Bank. On the food front we had some particularly Melbourne coffee - known as a magic coffee, it’s a ristretto with the bitter taste squeezed out - before sneaking into a Vietnamese restaurant for a delicious rice paper roll. A visit to Shane Delia’s original Maltese/!Lebanese restaurant, Maha, followed, where we were treated to some very slow cooked lamb shoulder. An amble through notable arcades (including a quick stop to sample some chocolate), led us to Chinatown where, at Mr Bo’s, we slurped some yummy dumplings - the famous soup in a dumpling, xiaolongbao, & a spicy pork “ear shaped” variety. Our finale was at a gelato show-stopping hole-in-the-wall at one end of the iconic Degraves Street. Choose your fancy & loosen the belt or buttons on your pants: what a superb end to a wonderful morning & afternoon. This is one of the best food tours we have been on & we’ve tried many at home & overseas.
What a great way to spend our first day here!
Thank you !
I highly recommend you book this tour , you won’t be disappointed !!
Excellent experience with Foodie Trails The Foodie Trails team is professional, warm and extremely ‘in the know’ when it comes to Melbourne’s food history and culture. Linking lanes and sights with food, they bring to life Melbourne’s vibrant food scene As a family, it was a great way for us to experience the city in a short time (totally doable for kids ) . The ‘group’ experience was enriching as we got to meet people from all over the world. They truly are bringing people together one delicious bite at a time. Special mention of our guide Sophia and a big thank you to the owner, Himanshi!
Great walking food tour around central Melbourne Great and varied walking good tour with 5 stops. Our guide Sofia was engaging and interesting and gave us dome history sbout Melbourne too! Food was great and the tour lasted about 4 hours
We explored the story of Melbourne’s growth through its food, starting from her insights at the immigration museum to tasting dishes that reflected every wave of immigration: from fresh oysters and marlin to tender lamb shoulder, delicious dumplings, aromatic spices, artisanal gelato, and of course, Melbourne’s famous “magic” coffee.
It was the perfect tour. thoughtful, delicious, and full of heart. You can truly tell Christine loves what she does. Her logistical planning made sure we never felt rushed. Highly recommend!
I am full! Full of food, full of interesting info, full of ideas for future visits! Christine knows her stuff and shares it with a twinkle in her eye. This was more than a food tour - architecture, culture, history and food all rolled into one interesting morning (til early afternoon.)taken aro
und to some of Melbourne's best
dining/bar experiences,
Our guide Simon from foodie trails kept
the night interesting and was seamless
in delivering us to our different venues
and tables and ordering a selection of
delicious food while we relaxed and
soaked up each different atmosphere.
Highly recommend the experience!
Absolutely fantastic! Exceeded all expectations!! Our Foodie Trails “Melbourne Foodie Culture” tour in September, 2025, was absolutely fantastic. Our terrific tour guide, Christine, raised the bar for tour guides — she was extremely knowledgeable about Australian and Melbourne history as well as the history of immigration to Melbourne and how it naturally influenced the food here. Everything Christine shared with us was so interesting, some being her own fascinating experiences and anecdotes. We ate a variety of food including Australian, Chinese, and Indian, and Christine’s choices for us were ultra delicious, but also were thoughtful and well-balanced, plus sensitive to our preferences.
Another dimension of the tour was Melbourne architecture of which Christine has vast knowledge and appreciation.
By the end of our tour we felt as if we’d spent the day eating and exploring with a dear friend, and a very fun one at that! Another experienced tour guide, Verity, joined us because she was learning for herself more about the food culture in Melbourne. She was also a delight.
Many thanks to Christine and to Foodie Trails for the outstanding and unique journey through this wonderful city.
Great walking food tour We and a great experience with Christine! She's very knowledgeable of the city and took us amazing restaurants. Everything was great!
A fun way to try different types of restaurants & cafes in Melbourne while meeting people from around the world. Last week I enjoyed a transformative culinary adventure with Foodie Trails' CBD tour, where you'll discover Melbourne's rich cultural tapestry and savor its diverse gastronomic delights alongside a knowledgeable guide. Our journey began at the Immigration Museum, where Christine expertly wove together the city's history and development, setting the stage for our culinary exploration. As we meandered through the city, we indulged in an array of international flavors, from Vietnamese, Chinese, and Indian cuisine to a standout Australian food-to-fork restaurant. This tour not only broadened my palate but also fostered meaningful connections with fellow travelers from around the world. Christine's intuitive guidance ensured a seamless experience, expertly balancing exploration and relaxation. This tour is a testament to the power of food and culture to unite and inspire. Thank you, Christine, for an unforgettable experience!
Foodie Trail Tour of Melbourne City My husband and I had such a lovely experience doing this Foodie tour of Melbourne city with our great Tour Guide Christine. We started off at the Immigration Museum where she gave us a brief snap shot of not only how we developed into the country we are today but also how we developed our amazing food culture through the waves of immigrants coming to our shores. A great way to begin what was a very interesting, delicious and happy day.We began our walk with a hot coffee from a hole in the wall. We walked at a comfortable pace so that Christine could stop and talk about the history of numerous places of interest throughout the city. We went to a variety of eateries. Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Australian and one of my favourites a delectable gourmet cake shop then an to an ice creamery and a gorgeous aromatic spice shop.
Each Restaurant served up beautifully presented fresh food that we all loved. By the time we finished our tour we were not only full, but all felt that we had made friends with our fellow foodies as well as Christine. I would highly recommend going on this great Foodie trail.
Sharyn & Jeff Richards
A walking tour throughout Melbourne CBD exploring the many different foods and culture the city has to offer. The Melbourne Cultural Foodie Trail was a wonderful experience — SO MUCH FUN, lots of extremely delicious, different food, and great cultural insights and history throughout Melbourne. A big thanks to our host Christine Guilfoyle. She was warm, knowledgeable, and made everyone feel welcome. She went above and beyond to make our day special and filled with laughter.
Highly recommend to anyone looking for a unique, fun and tasty way to explore the food and culture of Melbourne.
Footscray Foodie Trails is a cultural foodie’s delight. The Footscray Foodie Trail in Melbourne's west is a culinary hotspot! 🍴👌 Our tour took us to heaps of diverse eateries, cafes, Footscray Market and food shops serving up everything from Vietnamese banh mi to African cuisine and Indian curries. It's a real melting pot of flavors! 🌮🌯The trail's all about exploring the local food scene, meeting the people behind the produce, and enjoying the unique flavors of Footscray. I highly recommend this tour & am telling my friends to give it a go - you won’t be disappointed.
Try bites of Melbourne's tasty food culture Christine is such an informative, fun guide! She knows so much about Melbourne's history, architect and food. Starting at the Immigration Museum adds to the richness of this tour.Highly recommend!
Fantastic Day Exploring Melbourne! This tour was the perfect blend of Melbourne’s rich history, stunning architecture, vibrant culture, and incredible food. Our tour guide was exceptionally knowledgeable and shared fascinating insights throughout the day, making the experience even more memorable. If you’re looking to truly immerse yourself in what this amazing city has to offer, I highly recommend this tour!
Tourist in Your Own Town Kim, our guide, was vibrant, engaging and very knowledgeable. The tour highlighted the mix of cultures and, importantly, foods that make Footscray so interesting. While I live in Melbourne I rarely go to Footscray and this was a great reminder of what a fabulous foodie place it is. We enjoyed fantastic Italian cannoli, the best Bahn mi I think I have ever had, a first introduction to Ethiopian food, India masala chai and Filipino inspired gelato. Wow!!!! Now I have had this guided tour around foodie Footscray I am inspired to return and do some more of exploring. So come and be a tourist in your own city. It’s great!!!!
A great Melbourne foodie experience Our Foodie Trail guide was extremely helpful and friendly. Not only did she show us around the CBD, but we got to know one another a little bit during the time we spent together. And all of the food stops were fun and the food was great too. More than we could eat!!! An all around worthwhile travel experience.
What a wonderful (and tasty) time we had in Melbourne Our tour guide was intelligent, warm, supportive and fun on this extensive tour of the foodie scene in Melbourne,
Well worth touring in your own city. We had booked for a Footscray Foodie Trail. When we couldn’t find a mutually suitable date, we were asked if we would like to do the Melbourne one instead. It’s amazing the places that you don’t usually go to, or see, in your own city.
Christine was our informative and cheerful guide. We were able to visit places that we had never been, or had overlooked in the past.
We were so pleased that we took the opportunity to do this walk as the architecture of the Victorian times is truly remarkable and the food was delicious.
The stand out was Big Esso by Mabu Mabu. It was a restaurant that we’ve been meaning to go to for ages and haven’t, so that was a big plus, as was finishing the tour with gelato in Degraves Street.
Thank you Christine and Foodie Trails for showing us something new in our own city.
Not one complaint! Himanshi did a great job reading her audience and she kept us all engaged from beginning to end. Her restaurant/food choices and knowledge of Melbourne’s best was top notch!
I can’t recommend Foodie Trails enough!
The trail was a wonderful amalgamation of food with melbournes cultural heritage, highlighting some iconic structures and the history behind it!
The restraunts picked out in this trail held true to their authenticity and told a story with the delicate balance of flavours and their origin! Our foodie guide Christine gave a lot of importance to the comfort of her guests curating an experience suited to a finer palate.
Having not been very adventurous with food myself it was an absolute delight to have made this trip with other fellow foodies!
This is a wonderful way to experience the city and I would love to explore more :)
A food adventure A spur of the moment decision to go solo on a food adventure! The trail was a wonderful amalgamation of food with melbournes cultural heritage, highlighting some iconic structures and the history behind it!
The restraunts picked out in this trail held true to their authenticity and told a story with the delicate balance of flavours and their origin! Our foodie guide Christine gave a lot of importance to the comfort of her guests curating an experience suited to a finer palate.
Having not been very adventurous with food myself it was an absolute delight to have made this trip with other fellow foodies!
This is a wonderful way to experience the city and I would love to explore more :)
Highly recommended walking tour of MEL food and drinks scene Himanshi's team did an amazing job in organizing our Foodie Tour. This was a special group of US-based travel advisors in Melbourne for a travel trade convention, so I believe the tour may have been a little different than the regular tours. We began around 5pm and went to 2 different places for cocktails. The first was Torino's, a very small place with creative drinks and tapas. The other was a speakeasy called Nick and Nora's, complete with private entrance. A busy place with more elaborate drinks (like smoke and fire), and very fun. Even though we had more tapas/small plates here, Himanshi made sure we had a "proper" dinner, and we went to The George and had a family-style feast of southeast asian fusion food. All delisious. If that weren't enough, we had to go for dessert, and walked to a wonderful pastry/gelato shop (very large), where we forced our way to eat delicious gelato. A wonderful night--only complaint? Too much food :) I highly recommend this.
Foodie extravaganza Met our guide Christine at the Immigration Museum. She was very personable, informative and had many funny anecdotes to amuse us along the way, After showing us through the museum, the foodie tour stared in earnest. We began with Vietnamese street food, then on for some dumplings in China town. Along the way Christine showed us through some amazing buildings and gave us a running commentary on how each of the different cultures have helped to shape the city of Melbourne. Then on to taste some wonderful Indian food, with more anecdotes. Federation Square was next where we had an amazing feed of Octopus, Emu and pickled watermelon. Just when we thought we couldn't eat anymore, we topped it off with gelato. A truly amazing tour which I highly recommend. Thanks Christine for an exceptional experience.
Interesting Tour Tour was a mix of culture and food and began with a tour of the Immigration Museum where we met. Great that only 3 of us attending, so good personal feel. Christine, our guide was friendly and informative. Our first food stop was about an hour in when we each had coffee and a hot cross bun. We had 3 more stops, Chinese, Indian and Indigenous based where we sampled either the guides recommendation or were asked for our preference(s). I believe that we could have had one more stop for gelato but we opted to stay at the 4th place (indigenous) to sample their desserts instead. We also went into a herb and spice shop. Personally, I would have preferred less time in the museum at the start as it was something that could have been done in our own time. This tour is advertised as food and culture so not as much information on food culture as I have experienced on other tours; again, the preference would have been fewer full sit down stops to allow more sampling 'on the hoof'.
Valentine's Day Foodie Tour Tour was very informative, we've learned a lot and have tried a lot of different authentic food on the tour, our guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant person.



















































