Napier Quarter
Asked to name his quintessential Melbourne experience, Alejandro Saravia described a piece of toast: anchovies on crisp sourdough, big dollops of mayonnaise, sliced egg and salsa verde. It is on the menu before noon and after it.
Why go
Daniel Lewis and Simon Benjamin have run this corner since 2016 and both live about ten steps from the door. The building is bluestone, probably 1860s, and it holds about 25 people. What Dani Valent found inside is the reason chefs keep naming it: pickles, butter, creme fraiche, spaghetti and ricotta are all made here,
in a kitchen with no room to be doing any of that (Good Food). The daily roast could be half a chicken with a rye bread sauce and crisp sage, or lamb shoulder, or a snapper the size of the plate under lemon verbena butter. Steve Harry runs the kitchen now, and the pasta changes. The wine list leans on small producers and the by-the-glass options get read out at the table.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the anchovy toast. Whatever the daily roast is. The zucchini, hazelnut and farro salad with the house ricotta. Then whichever single cake is sitting on the counter, which Valent describes as
daring you to eat it
1. - Avoid: Sunday night. Doors shut at 6pm that day while the rest of the week runs late. Big groups do not fit.
What locals & experts say
- Alejandro Saravia, chef-owner of Farmer's Daughters and Morena:
my go-to is Napier Quarter, the anchovies on crisp sourdough with big dollops of mayonnaise, sliced egg and salsa verde is a must.
6 - Andy Allen, chef and MasterChef Australia judge:
Whether you sit inside or outside, you get this feeling where you just slow down, block everything out that's going on with life.
7 - Eun Hee An, chef-owner of Moon Mart:
Napier Quarter is always a great idea. If the weather is nice, I like to take my dog Kong, sit outside and just relax.
8 - Dani Valent, Good Food, 4 out of 5:
It's simple, careful stuff with many of the basics nurtured in the petite kitchen.
Read it as a 2018 verdict; Steve Harry has taken over the stoves since.1
Good to know
- Where: 359 Napier Street, a backstreet corner in Fitzroy. This is not the Napier Hotel, which is a different pub a few streets away.
- Timing: Monday to Friday from 8am until late, Saturday from 9am, Sunday noon to 6pm. Closed public holidays.
- Booking: worth making for dinner. Morning espresso is a stand-at-the-bar affair.
- Also: the venue describes itself as a wine bar and guesthouse, so there are rooms above it.
- Safety: Victoria publishes no per-venue hygiene rating. Safe Food Victoria's register of court convictions under the Food Act 1984 was read in full on 1 August 2026 and does not list this venue.5
Verdict
should-visit — Alejandro Saravia, asked for his quintessential Melbourne experience, described a piece of toast: anchovies on crisp sourdough with big dollops of mayonnaise, sliced egg and salsa verde. That dish sits on both the before-noon and the after-noon menu, which tells you what this room is. It is a bluestone corner probably built in the 1860s, about 25 seats plus whoever is on the footpath with a dog, and Dani Valent's four-star review found the pickles, butter, creme fraiche, spaghetti and ricotta all being made in a kitchen barely big enough for it. Daniel Lewis and Simon Benjamin have run it since 2016 and live ten steps away. Three chefs name it across three separate pieces. It opens at 8am and runs late, and it will do you a croissant, a sandwich, a glass of something small-producer, or a whole roast bird. It holds at should-visit rather than higher because the only scored review is eight years old and the kitchen has changed hands since.