The Australian Open promises to raise the stakes again with a vibrant and multicultural food line up this summer.
With a mix of festive fan favourites and delicious healthy bites across the more casual AO outdoor precinct to the AO premium experiences showcasing some of the nation’s best restaurants and chefs.
Here’s our pick of what you should not miss on your trip to Melbourne Park in 2024.
1. Peach Melbourne
The AO’s signature Peach Melbourne soft serve returns in 2024 after its hugely successful debut this year.
The delicious combination of peach, raspberry and vanilla soft serve ice cream will again be a go-to for tennis fans to cool down on warm summer days.
The Peach Melbourne is inspired by the Peach Melba dessert created in the 1890s by French chef Auguste Escoffier to honour legendary Australian opera singer Nellie Melba.
2. Green-On’s AO bowl
Eating out around the grounds at Melbourne Park doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure.
As the name suggests Green-On, near the western courts, is Melbourne chef Frankie Cox’s hyper local salad bar, which serves up nutritious and tasty salad bowls.
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The AO bowl is a winner – a hyper-season summer mix of fresh leaves, tomato, peach, feta, basil, almonds and a house vinaigrette.
All produce in the AO Bowl is grown by Farmer Raiser in Bellfield, Victoria, just 12km from Melbourne Park.
3. Little Havana’s Cuban sandwich
Little Havana is a new addition to the Prahran food scene and Melbourne chef and owner Charlie Carrington is bringing it to AO 2024.
A nod to Miami’s Cuban neighbourhood, the signature sandwich comes with roasted pork, home-made ham, mustard, pickles and Swiss cheese as a toasty.
4. AO Courtside Bar’s tiger prawn roll and AO Set Point punch
Prawns and a glass of fruity punch make for quite the Australian summer combo and the all new AO Courtside Bar near Court 6 will serve up both in 2024.
Tuck into a uniquely Aussie summer bite – a tiger prawn roll with baby gem lettuce, fermented chilli-spiked mayo and guindilla pepper – by Sydney chef Joel Bennett’s Fish Shop in Bondi Beach, and pair it with the new signature AO Set Point punch for the perfect match.
Curated by The Everleigh Bottling Co, the drink combines pineapple, passionfruit, bitter aperitif, lime and soda.
5. King & Godfree’s polpette panini, Napoli and scamorza
Garden Square comes to life with European flair in AO24 and the Valmorbida family’s King & Godfree is among the Lygon Street icons bringing Italian fun and flavour from Carlton.
Paying homage to the Italian delis, markets and bakeries that have long been at the heart of Australia’s food landscape, try the warm polpette (Italian meatballs) on panini with rich Napoli tomato sauce and scamorza cheese.
6. Salamatea’s Persian falafel wrap
Entering the delicious world of Persian cuisine, eating has never felt so good when enjoying one of Salamatea’s falafel wraps.
Salamatea is a social enterprise cafe and restaurant based in Sunshine, in Melbourne’s west, and Hamed Allayari brings his highly sought-after fresh, vegetarian fried chickpea falafel with hummus, homemade mayo and salad in lavash bread to Grand Slam Oval at AO 2024.
7. Light Years’ Fish Bao
From Byron Bay to Burleigh Heads, Newcastle to Noosa, Light Years now brings their bold and punchy flavours to Melbourne for the first time.
Head to Grand Slam Oval for Light Years’ Crumbed Barramundi Bao with Yuzu Tartare and Zuni Pickle.
8. Uncle Charlie’s popcorn with native Australian flavours
Uncle Charlie’s is not salted popcorn as you know it.
This wholly Indigenous-owned offering gives the popular snack a modern twist, introducing flavours from native Australian ingredients.
Desert lime and wattle seed is a standout combo, as is the Davidson plum and Murray River salt popcorn.
9. Bar Atrium kebab
Perched on the Yarra River with views of the city skyline from Melbourne Park, Bar Atrium is home to chef Tom Sarafian’s Lebanese-inspired menu.
From this ultra-stylish rooftop bar, indulge in a shish tawouk – charcoal chicken – in pita bread with creamy, garlicky toum, chips and pickled cucumbers.
10. Fusion Feast
A vibrant and lively feast of Pan-Asian cuisines comes to the Eastern Lounge at John Cain Arena during AO 2024.
Fusion Feast allows diners to explore live food stations featuring some of Melbourne’s top restaurants.
FIND OUT MORE: AO 2024 premium dining experiences
Too difficult to narrow it down to one? We’ve included a dish from each of the five restaurants on offer to get you started:
- Jessi Singh’s Daughter In Law tandoori chicken with buttered corn masala and confit shallot, peas and paneer
- Diana Chan’s crispy Malaysian pork belly with nam jim
- Moonhouse’s Cantonese mushroom dan dan noodles with spring onion and toasted sesame
- Serai’s Filipino grilled barramundi with smoked buro butter and calamansi citrus
- Hareruya Pantry’s Japanese gelato with cream cheese, yuzu and blueberry