In This Guide
The 82 tram drops you on Nicholson Street and the first thing you smell is pork bone broth. Not artisanal, small-batch pork bone broth — just broth, the kind that's been going since 4 a.m. in a kitchen with fluorescent lighting and no Instagram handle. This is Footscray in September, when Melbourne finally stops pretending winter will last forever and the suburb's food scene shakes off its quiet months.
I've been coming here since 2019, mostly because I'm too cheap for the city side of the river. But Footscray has made that frugality feel like taste. The restaurants here don't compete on fitout. They compete on whether your soup has enough tendon in it.
1. Barkly Street before 9 a.m.
Most people arrive at Footscray Market around lunchtime. This is a mistake.
Get there before nine on a Saturday. The produce vendors along the indoor aisles are still stacking stone fruit and the African grocery stalls on the eastern side have just put out fresh injera. The light is grey-blue through the roof panels and nobody is taking content. You can buy a bag of Vietnamese mint, three bunches of morning glory, and a kilo of lamb shoulder for under $25 AUD. Try doing that at Queen Vic.
The coffee at the market itself is forgettable. Walk two minutes south to Rudimentary on Barkly Street instead — they pull a better shot and the space is small enough that you'll actually talk to someone.
Pro tip:The market's fish vendors drop prices on whole barramundi after 1 p.m. on Saturdays, but by then the selection is picked over. If you want choice, come early. If you want a deal, come late.
2. The pho argument
Everyone has a Footscray pho opinion. I'll give you mine: Pho Hung Vuong 2 on Hopkins Street is better than Pho Nom, and I will not be debating this further. The broth is cleaner, the rare beef is sliced thinner, and a large bowl is $16.50. Pho Nom gets the press because it photographs well and it's closer to the station. But flavour doesn't care about your commute.
Order the large. The small is not enough food.
Across the road, African restaurants line up without much signage. Karibu Kitchen does a goat stew that arrives in a steel bowl with ugali on the side. It costs $14 and it's one of the most satisfying plates of food I've eaten in Melbourne this year. No wine list, no reservations, no mood lighting. Just stew.
3. What to do with an afternoon in Footscray
Skip the Footscray Community Arts Centre unless there's a specific exhibition listed on their site. Most weeks in September the gallery space is between shows, and wandering in hoping for serendipity will get you a locked door and a poster for something that ended in August.
Instead, walk west along the Maribyrnong River trail. September is when the wattle blooms — fat yellow clusters along the path between Footscray and Flemington. The trail is flat, paved, and empty on weekday afternoons. You'll pass rowing clubs and a concrete skatebowl and eventually hit Anglers Tavern, an unremarkable pub with a remarkable river deck. A pot of Carlton Draught, the river, fifteen minutes of nothing.
The Savers on Paisley Street is enormous and I once found a Le Creuset Dutch oven there for $12.
Pro tip: The river trail connects to the Capital City Trail if you have a bike. You can ride from Footscray to Docklands in about 20 minutes without touching a road.
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Expedia →4. Dinner, and why you should eat Ethiopian
Melbourne food media talks about Footscray's Vietnamese food constantly and its Ethiopian food almost never. This is an oversight that borders on negligence.
Habesha on Nicholson Street does a combination platter — doro wot, misir wot, gomen, laid out on a single round of injera — for $22 per person. You tear the bread, you scoop, you don't need cutlery. The doro wot has enough berbere to make your ears warm. Last time I was here in early September, the dining room was half-empty on a Thursday night, which is criminal given how good the food is.
For dessert, walk to the Vietnamese bakeries near the station. Bánh mì Ngọc Hương does a pandan coconut cake that costs $3.50 a slice. Dense, sweet, not trying to be anything other than cake.
Pro tip:Habesha doesn't serve alcohol but doesn't charge corkage either. BYO a bottle of something dry.
5. Getting there and getting out
Footscray station is on multiple Metro lines — Werribee, Williamstown, Sunbury. From Flinders Street it's eight minutes and a Zone 1 fare. The 82 tram from Moonee Ponds also works but takes longer. Do not drive. Parking in Footscray is a specific kind of hell involving one-way streets and a council that loves its parking inspectors.
A full day of eating here — market produce, pho, Ethiopian dinner, cake — will cost you around $60 AUD if you don't drink. That's less than a single main at most Flinders Lane restaurants, and you'll eat better.
September weather in Melbourne is unreliable in the way that Melbourne weather is always unreliable. Bring a layer. Expect sun, rain, and wind in the same afternoon.
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Expedia →Essential tips
Myki cards work on trains and trams to Footscray. A full day cap in Zone 1-2 is $10.60 AUD — cheaper than a single Uber from the CBD.
Many Footscray restaurants are cash-only or have minimum card spend of $10-15. Bring a $50 note and you'll avoid the ATM fee at the dodgy machines near the station.
September averages 14 rainy days in Melbourne. The Footscray Market building keeps you dry, but the walk between restaurants doesn't. A compact umbrella earns its bag space.
Google Maps listings for Footscray restaurants are frequently wrong on hours. If a place matters to you, call ahead — most kitchens pick up.
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