Marlo's kitchen is one of my favorite cafes in Bentleigh. The new owner puts all hard work to make this business back to life. I personally love their focaccia. The quality is above par to me. Portion size is big enough to make you full and the
price is reasonable.

I also love their new 'live music' thing on weekend from 12pm. This is something we can not see from other cafes around. Oh their coffee is great too. To sum this up, if you're locals and love to have good breakfast and lunch. Marlo's is the place for you.

p.s. Marlo's is now closed on Tuesday (Nov 2012)

Why is this Italian restaurant always busy? I'll tell you now. Sofia has been a favorite restaurant for locals for many years. (some like some don't)

For the economy like this, most people look for something good valued with reasonable price. Sofia got it all. Even though their food is not that spectacular, it's still good enough to consume happily and moreover you'll leave the restaurant with full stomach most of the time. In this case, you might have to takeaway some leftovers from the table home for your next meal.

Service is ok, they come to take your order, serve you foods and drinks and that's pretty much it. Nothing to report here.

To sum this up, if you have no fuss about food and service and want something to make you fill your tummy up, this is the place. On the other hand, if you look for quality and do not care much about price, La Casalinga is my pick for you.

Longrain is only one of few Thai restaurants that are awarded "hat" from The Age Good Food Guide. I've been there quite often because friends of mine work there as a chef under Martin Boetz.

This famous Thai joint comes from Sydney and has been doing so well in Melbourne for many years. They are specializing something called "Modern Thai food". To me, The menu wise is excellent. The complexity of flavor is suitable for everyone. Dishes like 'betel leaves with smoked trout' or Egg net with pork, prawns & cucumber relish' are something that's rare to find in Melbourne. With authentic flavor and twist of some Western ingredients to suit us Aussies, it's kind of genius IMO.

Service is another thing that other restaurant's owners should learn from them. it's so professional, sleek, and attentive.

The only downside (which is not a big problem) I find is about their food price. It's tad expensive for people like me to enjoy their food more often but then again it's worth every cent we've spent to this lovely fine dining restaurant. You'll get what you really pay for at Longrain.

Harper's kitchen has got a good range of focaccia and sandwiches in the display to pick up for lunch or you could even dine in because this place has such a great ambience. Price wise is around $10-$12 for food. They also have a little cute special board which offers some exciting filling for your focaccia. I had "lemon and mint sausage" today which is really good. To sum up, Harper's the place for your everyday breakfast and lunch if you're around St. Kilda I do love to drive there from Bentleigh probable every fortnight to check on their new specials. It's worth my trip.

Chin Chin has become our talk of the town for us foodies in the past year. My experience at Chin Chin is good but not overwhelming. Let me explain, first off you can not book for a table here; so, you might have to wait for an hour to get a table if you go after 6pm (even on Monday evening) But once you get in you will feed the energy inside, this place has such a great atmosphere and you can see their open kitchen as well. The food here is all about South East Asian cuisine especially Thai. Me and my wife like the food but not fall in love with it because we are big fans of Thai food BUT (a big but) by all means taste wise is really good, it's just suitable for anybody, not too spicy, not too hot it's just right. Service could lack a little bit when this place is pumped, which they always are. Price wise, most meals are under $20 but portion size could be a little bit bigger. To sum up, Try this place out for your culinary experience and see what's up with Melbourne trend this day. But to look for something authentic Thai here, you'd better off going elsewhere.

Huffs hands down one of the best places for bagel lovers. My experience with this place is always great. With wide range of bagels and fillings to select from display and most items are under $10 you can not go wrong with it. Service is prompt and friendly. Moreover, their coffee is great too. To sum this up, you easily can get a good meal at Huffs for just under $15, including coffee; so, this is the place to get good meals for our every working day. (even our weekend)

Every time we get into CBD for breakfast, Hardware Society is our top ten choice. Fantastic ambience, friendly service, and great food. The fun thing about going to this place is that you can sit down watching all CBD white and blue collars rushing in for their coffee. It's such a pumping environment that I rarely see in suburban. My favorite dish is "Fried egg" which consists of prosciutto, water cress, Parmesan cheese, and two fried eggs served on olive bread. Baked egg is equally good. The only downside of this place is that the food price is a little bit expensive but that could only be The CBD standard IMO. Like I said, this is not the place for 'everyday meal' but the best if you'd like to have a great breakfast once you go to the city.

There are so many pizza shops in Bentleigh but Zack's IMO stands out from the crowd. Try the Zack's Special with salami, I'm pretty sure that you will love it like I do.

When it comes to Thai food this day, my family always think of Sumalee. We've been there many times lately and have never been disappointed. Pork belly is my favorite. My wife loves chicken stir fry dish (just can not remember the dish name sorry). But seriously, we've tried almost every dish now and they all are really good with reasonable prices. Service is so friendly. All the girls look after us every visit. They even remember my name now. The dining room always give us warmth. The only little problem about this place is that they have such a small dinning room so it's getting harder to get the table. I suggest to book before going there. To sum up, Sumalee for our family is probably the best Thai restaurant around bay-side.

Bent espresso is clearly one of the best cafes in Bentleigh in my opinion. The quality of the food and coffee is spot on. My corn fritter is sensational, so is the latte. However, the food price is more expensive than other places around. Also, their service is a little bit lacking when busy, which is understandable. Again, Bent is on the top of my list when it comes to dine out