Spring in Melbourne is certainly an odd time of the year for picnics and horse races. One minute you're choosing some place with outdoor tables and calling for ice, the next, sprinting for cover! But summer in the Australian capital is another thing. This is when the city emerges from closed eateries to the terraces and courtyards of the restaurants to make what they can of the great outdoors, a sauvignon blanc in hand. Besides, the metropolis has a moment for every mood - from the cultural and artistic wonderland of Federation Square to balloon rides above the city and toothy smiles from sharks in the Melbourne Aquarium.

The city's sense of culinary indulgence comes alive during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Between March and April every year the metropolis hosts an array of outstanding events including the Hawker's Market and World's Longest Lunch. Another Melbourne ritual is the riverside stroll along the tranquil Yarra and city skyline. Such is the array of restaurants between Federation Square and Crown Casino that the riverside interlude usually ends up with a special candlelit dinner.

Flashing lights and slot machines…the last thing you'd expect to find is a good restaurant, but at the Crown Casino there are a couple, Number 8 being one of them. A swanky eatery, it has a great view of the Yarra and has a long and expensive wine list. Renowned chef, Dan Szwarc, who is known in Melbourne for his salt and pepper calamari and brown sugar panna cotta, is the head chef of this posh hotel.

Buzzing and loads of fun, Number 8 is comfortable: No clutter, just an elegant setting. At night, the popular eatery is somewhat transformed. The twinkling lights along the Yarra provide an attractive backdrop with the occasional blast of heat and blinding orange light from the enormous Casino gaslights.

"Melbourne is known for being a foodie city," says Marg Ryding, a resident, as I join her for a Queen Victoria market walk. Seriously, I think it's the biggest plaza I have ever seen, with every single variety of everything you could wish for, from fruit and vegetables to boomerangs and didgeridoos, Iron Maiden and Morrison T-shirts. You can find the veritable Victorian food section, where endless stalls sell olives, strong cheeses, Germanic sausage, wine and balsamic, most of which is organic.

Locals turn soft at the sight of a tree-ripened cherry, just-picked white corn and organic goat's cheese at Vicky Market, which has existed since 1863. It's a place where you can find multicultural fresh food to satisfy every taste bud. The fish is from fresh rivers and streams, and yes, the pears are huge.

If seeing all that food makes you feel hungry, you can settle into the elegant surroundings of the Windsor Hotel, where afternoon tea may be enjoyed on a starched table-clothed time warp, reminiscent of the days gone by, or watch and be watched in buzzing cafes and bars, or hand-pick a bottle of Yarra Valley chardonnay at a chic hang out. Alternatively, head out a little further and explore one of Melbourne's specialist eating destinations. There are Turkish and Middle Eastern delicacies along Sydney Road in Brunswick, Richmond for Vietnamese dishes, Carlton for Italian classics and Fitzroy for Spanish tapas or Chinatown for ducks and dim sums.

But if you want to dine at the capital's funkiest restaurant, all roads lead to Federation Square. The Taxi restaurant perched atop the Transport Bar in the Square is the venue with the city's longest queue on a Friday night (not counting the Melbourne Cricket Ground). It is an imposing ultra modern building with slick views of Flinders Street Station, Southgate, the Arts Centre and the Botanical Gardens side of the river. Chef Michael Lambie's cuisine is modern and delicious. His new menu incorporates classics such as an entrée of pumpkin and goat cheese Gyoza with coriander, walnut pesto and miso mustard dressing and mains such as Tempura Whiting Fillets with toasted coconut salad and chilli dipping sauce. The sushi and sashimi dishes I see going to other tables look great, as does a passion fruit pyramid with hazelnut parfait and citrus salad.

Incidentally, Federation Square has been described as modern, distinctive architecture - that alone may spark a debate, which you may like to continue in one of the bars and cafes inside the atrium. Interspersed through the Square's numerous eateries and shops are chill spaces including a giant screen and stage area. Here, Melbourne crowds gather to watch rock concerts, gospel music and other shows, creating quite a stir.

The action moves onto Collins Street, where a harpist plucks away on a pedestal. In the packed space of Block Arcade, skilled baristi are working the levers at the coffee cafes. Café Segovia invents the formula for the quintessential Melbourne snack bar. Take one historic laneway, add a big airy space and cheek-by-jowl tables, chuck in a timber bar, a flock of black-clad staff and a good espresso machine, and you're set. Late in the week, Segovia transforms with live Latin American music making a second glass of wine justifiable.

The promenade is crammed with people sipping, chatting, nibbling and giving their designer outfits a workout. You can actually be forgiven for thinking you are in Europe as you walk through some of Melbourne's quaint laneways and arcades. The smell of espresso wafts from the Italian coffee shops, competing with the aromas of garlic and bread from the cafes and eateries.

The problem with chilling in Melbourne, if you're in any way interested in food, as I am, is that if you're only there for a few days you run the risk of running out of meal times when you want to eat at all the joints. It's a case of so many restaurants, so little time, but I just had to do Flower Drum.

The legendary Flower Drum requires some forward planning. During Grand Prix, Melbourne Cup and Chinese New Year, reservations can take up to two months, so when you know you are going to the Australian capital, pick up the phone. If your trip is less than a month away, don't expect to get a weekend booking. If you're lucky, you'll get Monday night like we did. Don't be tempted to have that little pre-dinner snack and prepare for a truly amazing experience.

Flower Drum has been included in The World's 50 Best Restaurants and more awards line the walls in the reception area. It is a classic, fine dining Chinese restaurant, which looks similar to many of those all over the world. The menu features the same classic Cantonese food you might find at a hundred other places. But that is where the similarity ends. Something magical happens in that kitchen.

You think you've had Peking duck before? Not till you have experienced it here. Barney Soo, our charming host, set us up with scallop dim sums before hitting us with the duck. As they say, this duck is not a dish, it is an event. It's brought to your table on its own little trolley, unveiled in true theatre fashion by two waiters, and expertly rolled, silver-service style, into its delicate tender pancake, smeared with the plum-hoi sin sauce and served with delicate sprinklings of green onions. Bite into it and you may well be speechless. From that point on, you'll surrender yourself utterly, but resist the temptation to order more.

I also had the pleasure to take a peak in the kitchen. The staff, all recruited from Hong Kong and dressed up in whites, work in a huge kitchen, with specialisation in specific types or styles of cooking. Here, no ingredient sits around in stock for more than a day or two; if it is not used by then, it is tossed out or given to the kitchen help.

The best dishes aren't always on the menu. Engage the waiters who are eager to tell you the day's specials. Listen, as they tell you about flapping fresh seafood, like King George whiting just landed from South Australia. Quiz the waiters about another of the kitchen's specialties, such as the Baked Crab or the Mongolian lamb dish spooned into Mediterranean pockets.

Gilbert Lau sold his interest in Flower Drum to three staff members who were involved with the business for more than 20 years; now he remains a consultant to the business. As expected, the transition has been seamless, the menu is Cantonese done exceptionally well, and the service is exemplary and so intuitive, it borders on ESP. Clearly, the restaurant continues to outwit the ravages of 30 long years of business.

Nowhere has Melbourne's successive wave of immigrants exerted more influence than in the city's kitchens. "You can dine every day without repeating the same cuisine," says Guy, owner of the Grossi Florentino restaurant. Food hubs include Chinatown (Little Bourke Street in central Melbourne) and Little Italy (Lygon Street in the suburb of Carlton), as well as Fitzroy's Brunswick Street, renowned for its multicultural fare.

Today's celebrated restaurants of the capital include the intimately elegant, Asian-influenced Ezard at Adelphi; the Waterfront for excellent seafood and views; Young and Jackson, Victoria's oldest and most famous pub that houses Australia's most famous nude, Chloé, the heartbroken maiden who took her own life; and the organic Zukini. For a unique Melbourne experience, hop aboard the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, an elegant 1927-vintage tram that serves up an ever-changing backdrop with its kangaroo, steak, and seafood dishes.

Other great eateries include Red Orange, where you can eat a Wasabi Tagliatelle and sautéed prawns, finished with sake, chili, coriander and garlic. While George Bilionis of the glamorous Souk restaurant does a super Boned Ras el Hanout Spiced Quail with Baba Ghanoush, Celery and Hazelnut Salad.

At the Green Grocer café and organic vegetable store you can sit between rocket and zucchini, tucking into a delicious avocado on toast and finishing off with a creamy soy latte. For a relaxed start to the day, there's also the Richmond Hill Café and Larder, a food emporium owned by Stephanie Alexander (doyenne of the Australian food scene) where you can eat great Baghdad eggs (fried eggs on flatbread with sumac and mint), followed by tea and crisp espresso shortbread.

Whether you desire an avalanche of seafood, moist lamb medallions or a traditional plate of pasta, Melbourne will not disappoint you. What can be better than this? Only the next meal at Flower Drum.