Urban Kitchen

With all the fanfare of shopping centre Emporium’s opening, Melbournians may by now be familiar with the third-floor café court – boasting the likes of Earl Canteen, Spud Bar, Jimmy Grants and South Melbourne Dim Sims.

What they may not know is that there is now another food court called Urban Kitchen on the lower ground, adding hawker-style food offerings to the fray, and diversifying an already sophisticated selection of food within Emporium.

Unveiled through a grand opening on June 18, the cavernous food court is brightly lit and filled to the brim with yummy goodies of all sorts of extractions.

Trays of pork belly banh mi from Pho Nom were making the rounds and promptly disappearing, while the small bowls of Hanoi Pho provided a taste of what the Vietnamese eatery is best known for.

1000 Wat’s Panang chicken curry served atop a bed of rice was flavoursome and suitably mild for those intolerant to chilli, while the deep fried karaage chicken at Ramen Ya was delightfully crispy and sinfully addictive.

Carrying on with the Japanese delicacies was Tokyo Pop with melt-in-your-mouth takoyaki balls and assortments of incredibly fresh sushi and sashimi.

And what would an Asian-themed food court be without dumplings? Dumplings Plus, which you can also find on Swanston Street, was distributing pan fried pork and chive dumplings, pork dumplings in hot chilli oil, steamed prawn dumplings and steamed veggie ones too, all fresh out of the kitchen.

Needless to say, I tried them all and they did not disappoint.

Those with a sweet tooth have not been forgotten, with Tutti Frutti providing varying flavours of self-serve frozen yoghurt for all those taken in by the fro-yo craze currently enveloping Melbourne.

Emporium is proving to be more than a shopping destination and with extended opening hours – up to 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays – the shopping centre is fast gaining a reputation as a culinary hub as well as a one-stop-shop for all your favourite retail brands.

Urban Kitchen
Lower Ground Emporium Melbourne, 287 Lonsdale Street
Thursday to Friday 10am-9pm
Saturday to Wednesday 10am to 7pm