Geelong's eating-out scene has been transformed in the last decade, and the city now punches above its weight for a regional centre. The best independent restaurants and cafes cluster on Little Malop Street in the centre and on Pakington Street in Geelong West — the latter often shortened to "Pako" and considered the city's most reliable strip for breakfast and brunch.
Standouts: the contemporary Australian menu at Igni (one-hat, Ryan St) is the most ambitious cooking in the city; Cartel Coffee Roasters roasts beans for half the cafes around; Beach House on the waterfront does the seafood-and-view formula well; and 18th Amendment Bar (a few doors off Pako) is a serious cocktail bar with a small plates kitchen.