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Joel Young (Butcher Joel Young), Sarah Norris, Nik Hill (Porcine), Callan Boys, Junda Khoo (Ho Jiak), Bianca Hrovat and Danielle Alvarez (Sydney Opera House) take on Christmas hams at Porcine in Paddington.

The ultimate Christmas ham blind taste test reveals cheaper can be better

Chefs, butchers and restaurant reviewers tackle supermarket hams. This year’s winner is salty, sweet, smoky and one of the least expensive.

  • Bianca Hrovat
Eat chocolate and cakes (and muffins) - in moderation.

The most searched recipes of 2024 prove we don’t really give a Google about good food

From the viral cucumber salad to a suggestive-sounding cocktail, this year’s top-10 recipes show that when it comes to setting recipe trends, TikTok rules.

  • Andrea McGinniss
Siblings Kate and Cam Reid of Lune Croissanterie.

Why Melbourne chefs are heading to Brisbane in droves

The sunny climate, a vibrant hospitality scene and the looming Brisbane Olympics have Melbourne restaurateurs flying north.

  • Matt Shea and Roslyn Grundy
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Chickpea and tomato salad.

Five ways to survive the festive season, according to a dietitian

Susie Burrell shares her easy step-by-step plan to have your Christmas pudding minus the holiday weight gain.

  • Susie Burrell
Vinesmith is a new venue in Melbourne CBD spanning wine bar, bistro, cellar door and bottleshop.

A new Flinders Lane venue channels what’s hot right now in France

This new spot spanning restaurant, cellar door and wine bar promises to be more French than most of our French bistros. And there’s a bargain lunch menu.

  • Emma Breheny

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Christmas

Good Weekend Christmas menu 2024.

Season’s feastings: The Good Weekend Christmas menu 2024

Chicken salad with cranberries and raisins.
EASY

Pick up a cooked chook for Adam Liaw’s festive salad with cranberries

  • < 30 mins
  • Adam Liaw
Danielle Alvarez’s mustard and sherry vinegar-glazed ham.
EASY

Danielle Alvarez’s go-to ham glaze is the ‘easiest and best’ she’s ever had

  • 2 hrs +
  • Danielle Alvarez
A slab of cheesy pepperoni goodness.

Holy sheet! Four hot new tray-bakes for easy entertaining

  • Katrina Meynink
Australian tiger prawn nicoise salad by Hayden Quinn.

Nine summery foods a dietitian always has on stand-by

  • Susie Burrell

Eating out

Tortelli filled with asparagus, goat’s cheese and wild garlic sings of the fragility of seasons, food, life.
Good Food hat15/20

Eat it and weep: The pasta dish so good it brought our critic to tears

It’s been a decade of masterful pasta and good cheer from Tipo 00, the city Italian joint that’s become a Melbourne drawcard.

  • Besha Rodell
The entrance to the main dining room at Marmelo, the new restaurant from Sydney restaurant royalty, Ross and Sunny Lusted.

An insider’s guide to Marmelo, Melbourne’s much-anticipated new party season hotspot

  • Ardyn Bernoth
The ground-floor restaurant at Maison Batard has smoked-glass mirrors, plump velvet seats and a custom-built oyster bar.

Your December hit list: Hot, new venues to check out, right now

The Gardiner Hotel’s rooftop overlooks heritage buildings along Glenferrie Road.

Four new Melbourne pubs to meet your mates at this summer

  • Daniela Frangos

Lists & guides

Chef Nick Deligiannis helms signature restaurant Mid Air.

Your December hit list: Hot, new places to check out, right now

The original jam doughnuts of American Doughnut Kitchen are hard to beat.

From doughnuts to cult nuggets: Where to find Melbourne’s top 20 snacks

The Age Good Food Guide 2025.

The Age Good Food Guide 2025: The full list of hats

The brand new Good Food app is like having a reviewer in your pocket.

The Good Food app is live, with new Guide reviews, maps, recipes and more

Drinks and snacks at Mirror Mirror.

Golden hour: 12 of Melbourne’s best rooftop dining and drink specials

The Age Good Food Guide 2025 Critics’ Picks.

Tacos to char kwai teow: 20 restaurants you’ll find Good Food Guide critics dining in their downtime

Lake House has set the standard for destination dining over the last 40 years.

Five regional restaurants worth a road trip – and the best spots to stop on the way

Finalists for The Age Good Food Guide 2025 Young Chef of the Year, presented by Smeg, from left: Henry Salt, Saavni Krishnan, Emie Vitteaut, Viveik Vinoharan, Kimberly Tang.

Young gun chefs reveal 21 restaurant gems you should totally know about (but probably don’t)

Caffe Amatrice’s porchetta focaccia is worth travelling for.

From ‘extraordinary finds’ to fully loaded focaccia: Melbourne’s top 30 cafes

Arbory Afloat is the sunny spot to lunch this summer.

Where’s good for lunch? 10 new-ish and nice (but not too pricey) CBD gems

Shyun’s pork butter corn ramen.

Ramen, Russian cold cuts and bullfrog: The street where you can find – and eat – almost any delicacy

Look out for classic buffalo wings (or garlic-and-parmesan) at JollyGood Diner, Collingwood, on Wednesdays.

$4 pizza, free gelato: 12 top dining deals to stop you overspending in October

Recent reviews

Go-to dish: Goat’s cheese souffle.
14/20

Discover fluffy souffle near Puffing Billy at Cognoscenti, a local favourite in the hills

  • Dani Valent
Tortelli filled with asparagus, goat’s cheese and wild garlic sings of the fragility of seasons, food, life.
Good Food hat15/20

Eat it and weep: The Tipo 00 pasta dish that was so good it brought our critic to tears

  • Besha Rodell
Takeaway kiosk Eek Charm is cute, cheap and convenient.

Hole-in-the-wall Eek Charm is one of the cutest (and cheapest) food spots in the city

  • Dani Valent
Peel back the lid of the chicken curry pot pie to uncover big chunks of chook and vegetables.
Critics' Pick

He runs a two-hat city restaurant, so why is this chef serving pies at SilkSpoon?

  • Besha Rodell
The optional seafood platter (market fish, mussels, salmon caviar and lemon-pickle-spiked butter sauce).
Good Food hat15.5/20

Manze’s add-on is like the designer dress you stumble upon in an op shop: an absolute steal

  • Dani Valent

Good Food Guide 2025

The Age Good Food Guide Awards 2025, held in the Plaza Ballroom, Melbourne.

Everything you need to know about The Age Good Food Guide 2025

The Age Good Food Guide 2025.

The Age Good Food Guide Awards 2025: The full list of hats

The Baba’s Place crew, winners of the inaugural Bill Granger Trailblazer Award.

Everything you need to know from the SMH Good Food Guide 2025

A selection of iconic dishes from Sydney restaurants for the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.

The 40 defining dishes from 40 years of the SMH Good Food Guide

  • Callan Boys and David Matthews
Ben Shewry at Attica.

We know Ben Shewry doesn’t like the Good Food Guide. And we don’t care

  • Besha Rodell

Recipes

Double chocolate peppermint cookies.

Get your festive bake on with Emelia Jackson’s cookies

Handmade biscuits are the perfect way to spread some holiday cheer – delicious, fun, and a treat everyone will enjoy.

  • Emelia Jackson
These irresistible hash brown prawn toasts may not make it as far as the table.

How to make the simple snack of dreams: Chef Rosheen Kaul’s hash brown prawn toast

  • Rosheen Kaul
A slab of cheesy pepperoni goodness.

Katrina Meynink’s ‘sheet pan pizza of the gods’

  • Katrina Meynink
Mozzarella and olive salad.
EASY

If you love a caprese salad but your tomatoes aren’t ripe enough this twist will hit the spot

  • < 30 mins
  • Adam Liaw

Recipe collections

Adam Liaw’s mango lassi parfait.

20 refreshing ways to make the most of peak, cheap mango season

Natalie Paull’s favourite chocolate cake, the cocoa sour cream layer cake.

Counting down Good Food’s most popular recipes of 2024

Salad nicoise makes a protein and vegetable-rich lunch.

14 sensible and simple recipes to cook before we hit peak silly season

Good Weekend Christmas menu 2024.

Season’s feastings: The Good Weekend Christmas menu 2024

***EMBARGOED FOR GOOD WEEKEND, JANUARY 19/19 ISSUE*** Helen Goh recipe : Cherry, Lemon and Olive Oil Financier Photograph by William Meppem (photographer on contract, no restrictions)

10 juicy fruit-filled bakes to celebrate the start of summer

The black vinegar sauce on these Sichuan-style cumin and lamb skewers also serves as a glaze.

Put a stick in it, we’re done with November (and these were the top 20 recipes)

***EMBARGOED FOR SUNDAY LIFE, NOVEMBER 3/19 ISSUE*** Adam Liaw recipe : Peanut Butter Noodles with Roast Chicken Photograph by William Meppem (photographer on contract, no restrictions) 

When it’s too hot to cook, these barbecued chook recipes are your friend

RecipeTin Eats’ Greek chicken salad with dried oregano.

14 delicious dinners ready in under 30 minutes to cook this week

Green salad with cool yoghurt dressing.

Five very simple green salads to have on standby this summer

Ham and pea risotto.

Give peas a chance with these 40 easy recipes

Fast four-ingredient pizza with sopressa and tomato. Sage Creative summer recipes for Good Food online and Home Front. November 2021. Good Food use only.

14 no-fuss throw-together dinners to cook this week

Adam Liaw’s baked chicken and tomato risotto.

14 affordable freezer-friendly dinners to cook this week

Our recipe writers

Explore recipes

Tips & advice

Thin crisps contain roughly 5 per cent more fat than regular crisps.

Crinkle-cut to oven-baked: A dietitian rates seven types of crisps

  • Susie Burrell
Chef Benny Lam pictured at his Central restaurant with the claypot he uses to cook rice at home.

The one rice cooker you need at home? It’s not a rice cooker, says this top chef

  • Matt Shea
Fragrant Syrian chicken with lemon and pistachio cous cous.

Beat the 3pm snack attack with a low-GI diet – plus three easy recipes to get started

  • Sarah Pound
Dishwashing liquid can be a multitasking cleaning product.

10 things in your kitchen you’re probably forgetting to clean (but should)

  • Debora Robertson

There are a multitude of reasons why this is the perfect Christmas gift for foodies

  • Terry Durack

From our partners

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Drinks

Do wine preservatives cause headaches?

  • Huon Hooke

Cap or cork: Which is better for ageing a wine

  • Huon Hooke

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Jackalope Hotel, Mornington Peninsula.

Competition: Win unparalleled luxury courtesy of Lexus

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All your FAQs, answered: The ultimate guide to the Good Food Guide

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Popular on Good Food

Vinesmith is a new venue in Melbourne CBD spanning wine bar, bistro, cellar door and bottleshop.

A new Flinders Lane venue channels what’s hot right now in France

  • Emma Breheny
Sriracha, butter and roasted tomato noodles.

14 quick and easy yet interesting dinners to whip up this week

Eat chocolate and cakes (and muffins) - in moderation.

The most searched recipes of 2024 prove we don’t really give a Google about good food

  • Andrea McGinniss
Chickpea and tomato salad.

Five ways to survive the festive season, according to a dietitian

  • Susie Burrell
Perry’s is an all-day cafe at Valley Lake estate, hosued in a former quarry.

One of Melbourne’s most perfectly situated cafes is hiding in plain sight

  • Dani Valent