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Discover Melbourne's Sweet Heart

From chocolate to donuts, the city is a haven for the traveller with taste for the sweeter things in life. You need never go sugar-free again.

Do you have a taste for the sweeter side of life? If the answer is yes, you’ve come to the right place. Melbourne is renowned for its food culture, and there are plenty of options if you’re looking for dessert or high-quality treats.

Let’s fulfil any chocolate cravings first. To find all the best bars (of the non-alcoholic kind) in the city join Chocoholic Tours. Its Melbourne’s Chocolate Wonderland Tour leads participants through the laneways and arcades, stopping off at some of the most decadent stores for tastings and a delicious afternoon tea. Don’t have time but want to stock up on choc anyway? You can’t go past Ganache Chocolate, Koko Black or Cacao.

High tea, that long-held tradition taking in finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones and plenty of sweet treats and petit fours all served on a tiered platter, is a fixture on Melbourne’s social scene. Head to the Hopetoun Tea Rooms in historic Block Arcade or Aria Barat the Langham Hotel, where the Chocolate Bar is a feature on the weekends. Not to be missed is the Windsor Hotel, where afternoon tea has been on the menu for the past 130 years.

For a real treat, Om Nom Kitchen & Dessert Bar is the specialist dessert restaurant at the stylish Adelphi Hotel. Chef Christy Tania – famous for challenging Masterchef contestants with her Mango Alphonso creation – crafts exquisite offerings that are almost too beautiful to eat. Luckily, they taste even better than they look.

If you’re happy to shop and run, you’ve got even more opportunities to indulge sugary fantasies. Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio in South Yarra has all sorts of scrumptious desserts and cakes, many of them available in individual servings. Macarons may have had their moment, but everyone still loves the pretty mouthfuls from LuxBite.

What has everyone talking at the moment is the hottest foodie trend: fancy donuts. Score a hole in one at Short Stop, where the flavours include Earl Grey and rose and red velvet. If you’re shopping at Emporium Melbourne, drop into Top Shop where you’ll find a Doughnut Time concession. The flavours change weekly, but you could fuel up with The Elvis (filled with jam and topped with a banana-peanut glaze and pancetta) or a Slim Shady covered in vanilla glaze and mini M&Ms.