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Butcher’s Diner

10 Bourke St

Melbourne

The amount of times I’ve found myself at the top of the city looking for a late night feed after a theatre show, concert or work drinks that went through dinner time (and beyond), I’ve always been looking for the restaurant (outside chains) to fill that gap.

How thankful I was after a friend of mine, a number of years ago, introduced me to Butcher’s Diners. You expect a late night feed to consist of sub-par, greasy fast food, instead at Butcher’s Diner you get the speed and convenience of a takeaway joint with food that you wish you were a little more sober and a little less ravenous for.

It’s a funky, hole-in-the-wall, 1950s style red-and-white tiled diner with specials written on butcher’s paper. 

The menu is like an accumulation of all the best bits of any menu; for example, dessert choices are ice cream, Spanish donuts, tiramisu or sticky date pudding. All the top choices and no wasting time on extra fluff. 

The butcher part of their name is signaled by the steak mural on their front wall before you walk in and punctuated by the large, premium cuts of beef hanging from the meat cabinet at the back of the small restaurant.

These glass displays are not just for looks, the space was originally bought as the boning room for Con Christopoulos’ (of The European, Melbourne Supper Club, City Wine Shop, Siglo, Angel Music Bar) in-house butcher. 

When they figured out they were onto something they originally opened the diner 24 hours, now they open from 11:30-1am Tuesday to Saturday, which is still longer hours than any hospitality business I can think of in Melbourne off the top of my head. 

Because they have refined the menu to the good bits, decisions can prove difficult. It’s easy and very effective to opt for a hamburger for $14.50 or the Japanese fried chicken for $16.80 or even just a dim sim (or two) for $3.50 each. All of them will serve you very well. 

If you’ve arrived a bit hungrier, go for the steak at market price. I spent $48 for 300 grams of Cootamundra, NSW striploin cooked over charcoal and served with chips.

The cut, weight, intensity of flavour and freshness was that of much higher value. 

That same smokiness can be tasted in the skewer choices; the special was beef skewers marinated in a wild mushroom, soy and sesame, pepper and chilli marinade and cooked over charcoal.

We could peek into the kitchen and see them working on a small yakitori style grill. 

The chips are hand cut and crispy, so whether you’re getting them topped with poutine, by themselves or under a steak they get a big tick from me.

Proving their cooking prestige their breadth of high brow and low brow food included: duck hearts, octopus, pastrami on rye, but also Coney Island chilli dogs and a Rueben steak sandwich.

Vegetarians get their charcoal option in the broccoli on a bed of tahini, lemon and almonds.

They do open at 11:30am so there is a breakfast option in steak and eggs on toast or a grilled cheese toastie.

Here’s possibly the best part – they serve all local beer, wine by the half bottle or wine tinnies, Kentucky coffee (with a shot of whisky) or pickleback shots (to name a few) into the night.

I tried limoncello hard soda (since we’ve all developed quite the obsession with limoncello), it’s brewed alongside many craft beers in Cheltenham at Bad Shepherd and is the right amount of refreshing to either kick off any night or end it on.

They have a second story, a dining room and function space that has the elegance of their nearby Supper Club and it leads to a courtyard. 

Whether you’re sauntering around the city looking for a feed after Tina the musical, looking for a solid lunch choice during the week or just curious about what this slim restaurant with roadside seating and a definite buzz, Butcher’s Diner has yet to disappoint the hoards of people I’ve recommended it to in the last few years.

I’m glad to include you all in that recommendation pool now, thank me later.