Traditional Australian Food: What to Eat in Australia

What should you eat in Australia, and is the "kangaroo and Vegemite" reputation actually true? Start with a meat pie, the closest thing to a national dish, and Vegemite on toast for breakfast. Kangaroo is easy to find in supermarkets and butchers nationwide, though it only occasionally appears on restaurant menus; emu and crocodile turn up more as a novelty than a regular order. Add a flat white, a lamington and a slice of pavlova to the list, and know before you order that pavlova's origin is disputed with New Zealand.

Start with a meat pie, the closest thing to a national dish, from a bakery or petrol station.
Buy kangaroo at a supermarket or butcher; treat emu and crocodile as a novelty rather than an everyday order.
Spread Vegemite thin, not thick, on buttered toast at breakfast.

Iconic savory dishes and mains

Meat Pie

Iconic dish

From: nationwide
When: lunch, any day; a football-match staple
Contains: meat (usually beef)

The meat pie is widely considered Australia's national dish. Minced meat and gravy fill a hand-held pastry shell, eaten plain or finished with a squeeze of tomato sauce. Buy it at a bakery or petrol station rather than a sit-down restaurant; pie warmers do steady business at football matches too.

A meat pie from Milang Bakery, South Australia

Chicken Parmigiana

From: nationwide pub food
When: pub lunch or dinner
Contains: meat (chicken)

A "parma" or "parmi" is a crumbed chicken schnitzel topped with tomato sauce and melted cheese, served with chips or salad. The dish is believed to have reached Australian pubs from the United States sometime in the 1980s. Go on a pub's parma night, when a parma and a beer come at a special price.

An Australian-style chicken parmigiana at the Newpark Tavern in Girrawheen, Western Australia

Sausage Sizzle

From: nationwide, a community-fundraiser institution
When: weekend community fundraisers, elections
Price: A$3.50 for the sausage, A$2 for a soft drink
Contains: meat (beef or pork)

A grilled sausage goes onto a single folded slice of white bread with fried onions and tomato sauce, sold outside hardware stores and at school and community fundraisers on weekends. A sausage sizzle at a polling station on election day is called a "democracy sausage". Look for a fundraiser table outside a Bunnings hardware store on a Saturday if you want the classic version.

A sausage sizzle put on for skiers at the Snowy Valley Resort

Sausage Roll

From: nationwide
When: snack, any time
Contains: meat (pork)

Minced pork sausage meat bakes inside flaky puff pastry for a sausage roll, served hot or at room temperature with tomato sauce. Bakeries and milk bars sell them everywhere, usually beside the meat pies in the same warmer. Grab one as a quick stop between sights.

Chiko Roll

From: Bendigo, Victoria; invented in 1951
When: snack, any time
Contains: meat (beef)

A Chiko Roll looks like a Chinese spring roll grown oversized, a deep-fried pastry tube stuffed with cabbage, barley, carrot, beef and seasoning; it carries no chicken despite the name. Invented in Bendigo, Victoria, in 1951, it was sold at football matches in East Melbourne, designed as a one-handed snack for the stands. Eat one at a football ground for the setting it was built for, though fish and chip shops and supermarket freezers stock it everywhere too.

A Chiko Roll in its paper bag, held in hand

Schnitzel

From: nationwide pubs and cafes
When: pub lunch or dinner
Contains: meat (chicken or beef)

Order a plain schnitzel and you get a crumbed, fried chicken or beef cutlet with no sauce or cheese on top, the base the chicken parmigiana builds on. The German dish has been thoroughly Australianised into a pub staple, served with chips or a side salad and usually a wedge of lemon. Choose it over the parmigiana for the plain cutlet.

A pork schnitzel with chips and gravy at Cafe de Vili's in Elizabeth, South Australia

Kangaroo

Iconic dish

From: nationwide, supermarkets and butchers
When: any meal
Contains: meat (game)

Kangaroo isn't a regular part of most Australians' diets, though it's easy to find in the meat case of larger supermarkets and at butchers nationwide. The lean, gamey red meat also turns up as a mince or burger at some restaurants, mostly in tourist areas. Order it medium rare; the lean meat dries out fast if a kitchen overcooks it.

A kangaroo fillet at a restaurant in Pyrmont, Sydney

Emu

Iconic dish

From: nationwide, specialty butchers
When: occasional, a novelty order
Contains: meat (game)

Emu is sold at fewer places than kangaroo, mostly at specialty butchers rather than restaurants. The low-fat meat turns up in burgers, meat pies and even as a pizza topping. Stick to a steak or burger as the standard order, and treat the pie or pizza version as a bonus.

Crocodile

From: farms in the Northern Territory and Queensland
When: occasional, a novelty order
Contains: meat (game)

White, chicken-like meat from farmed crocodile shows up as a burger or steak at restaurants in the Top End. It tastes much like chicken, which makes it an easy place to start if kangaroo or emu sounds like too much.

Spreads, sweets and snacks

Vegemite on Toast

Iconic dish

From: nationwide, invented in Melbourne
When: breakfast
Contains: vegetarian

Spread Vegemite super thin, scrape it rather than schmear it, since a thick layer tastes far saltier than most first-timers expect. The thick, salty spread is made from brewers' yeast extract, invented in Melbourne as a wartime substitute for Marmite. Every cafe and supermarket in the country sells it, usually on buttered toast at breakfast.

Toast with butter and Vegemite (left) beside toast with strawberry jam

Tim Tam

Iconic dish

From: made by Arnott's, Australia's largest biscuit maker
When: any time, with tea or coffee
Contains: vegetarian

A Tim Tam sandwiches a chocolate-cream filling between two malted biscuits, then coats the whole thing in chocolate. Bite off two opposite corners and the biscuit becomes a straw for the "Tim Tam Slam": suck a hot drink through it until the chocolate softens, then eat it fast before it collapses. Supermarkets and petrol stations stock multiple flavors beyond the original.

Pavlova

Iconic dish

From: disputed between Australia and New Zealand
When: Christmas, Easter and other special occasions
Contains: vegetarian

Australia and New Zealand both claim the pavlova as their own, and the dessert is named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova's 1920s tour of both countries. A crisp meringue shell gives way to a soft, marshmallow-like center, topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Look for it at Christmas and Easter, when it comes out as the special-occasion dessert.

A strawberry pavlova served with two long spoons at a restaurant at Circular Quay, Sydney

Lamington

Iconic dish

From: named after Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland 1896 to 1901, or his wife
When: afternoon tea, barbecues
Contains: vegetarian

A lamington is a cube of butter or sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut, sometimes split and filled with jam or cream. It's popular on both sides of the Tasman, but its Australian origin, unlike the Anzac biscuit's, is not seriously contested. Buy one from a local bakery with afternoon tea.

Lamingtons covered in chocolate and coconut

Fairy Bread

Iconic dish

From: nationwide, a children's-party staple since the 1920s
When: children's birthday parties
Contains: vegetarian

Fairy bread is buttered white bread covered in "hundreds and thousands," the Australian name for sprinkles, sliced into triangles for children's birthday parties. Don't plan on ordering it: only one restaurant in the country is known to serve it outside a children's party.

A plate of fairy bread cut into triangles

ANZAC Biscuit

From: tied to the First World War
When: around Anzac Day, April 25
Contains: vegetarian

An Anzac biscuit mixes rolled oats, golden syrup, flour, sugar and desiccated coconut into a dense cookie, baked crunchy or chewy depending on who's making them. The biscuits were reputedly sent to Australian and New Zealand soldiers overseas in care packages during the First World War, though at least one guide calls the story likely apocryphal. Pick up a pack at any bakery; the recipe was built to keep well during naval transport.

Vanilla Slice

From: nationwide bakeries, adapted from the French mille-feuille
When: afternoon tea
Contains: vegetarian

A vanilla slice stacks a thick custard layer between two sheets of puff pastry, iced on top and nicknamed the "snot block." Victoria holds an annual competition for the best vanilla slice in the state. One Melbourne-raised writer points to Ackland Street, St Kilda, for the best.

Macadamia Nut

From: native to Queensland and New South Wales
When: any time
Contains: vegetarian

The macadamia is a native Australian nut grown commercially for food, originally from Queensland and New South Wales and now farmed nationwide. Supermarkets sell them roasted and salted, bakeries fold them into cookies and cakes, and some native-spice blends use ground macadamia alongside bush tomato and native pepper.

Raw macadamia nuts, some whole in the shell and some cracked open

Seafood

Barramundi

From: northern Australian river systems
When: any meal
Contains: seafood

Restaurants across the country put barramundi on the menu. Up north, the buttery, flaky white fish is often pulled straight from wild rivers, grilled, pan-fried or battered into fish and chips. Order it up north for the freshest catch.

A barramundi dish at a restaurant in Yeerongpilly, Brisbane

Moreton Bay Bug

From: Moreton Bay, Queensland
When: any meal
Contains: shellfish

The Moreton Bay bug is a flat, sweet-shelled slipper lobster rather than a true lobster. Seafood restaurants grill or barbecue it with butter, especially in Queensland near the bay it is named for. Its cousin the Balmain bug, another slipper lobster, turns up on Sydney menus too.

A whole cooked Moreton Bay bug on a dinner plate

Prawns

From: coastal regions nationwide
When: barbecues, any meal
Contains: shellfish

Australians call them prawns, not shrimp, and they turn up at barbecues, seafood restaurants and fish markets the length of the coast. Buy them at a fish market on the coast, or order them grilled whole at a barbecue.

Fish and Chips

From: originated in the UK, a fixture in coastal Australia
When: takeaway lunch or dinner, beach days
Contains: seafood

Fish and chips here is battered flake, flathead or barramundi with chips, wrapped in paper with tartare and tomato sauce on the side. Virtually every neighborhood and small town on the coast has its own fish and chip shop, even though the dish itself traveled over from the UK. Order it wrapped in paper to take to the beach, and ask which fish is in the batter.

Fish and chips wrapped in paper from a shop in Hobart

Coffee and brunch

Flat White

From: claimed by a Sydneysider; disputed by a New Zealand-based barista
When: any time, especially morning
Price: a regular cappuccino runs about A$5.70 in Sydney
Contains: vegetarian

A flat white pours steamed milk over an espresso shot with less microfoam than a latte, so the coffee comes through stronger and the layering stays thin. The drink became popular in Australia some time after 1985, and a Sydneysider claims its invention, though a New Zealand-based barista disputes it. Order a flat white over a latte if you want the coffee to come through stronger.

Smashed Avocado on Toast

From: popularised in Sydney in the 1990s; Brisbane claims an earlier version
When: weekend brunch
Contains: vegetarian

Roughly mashed avocado goes onto toasted sourdough, usually with feta, a squeeze of lemon and a poached egg on top. Popularised in Sydney in the 1990s, its first recorded sighting may have been on the menu at Bill Granger's cafe, bills, though Brisbane has its own claim to an earlier 1920s version. Save it for weekend brunch, when cafes are most likely to serve it.

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Smashed avo on toast at a café in Melbourne

Bush foods

Damper

From: traditionally baked by swagmen and drovers traveling the bush
When: historically on the trail; now mostly a tourist experience
Contains: vegetarian

Damper is a wheat-flour bread traditionally baked in the coals of a campfire by drovers and stockmen crossing the outback. It's traditionally eaten with butter and golden syrup.

Damper being prepared over hot coals near Broome, Western Australia

Wattleseed

From: native Australian acacia seed
When: an ingredient, not a dish on its own
Contains: vegetarian

Wattleseed turns up on a tasting menu more than a casual cafe's: high-end restaurants seek out the roasted native acacia seed to add flavor and texture to modern Australian dishes. Ground into a spice with a nutty, coffee-like flavor, it most often gets baked into bread or worked into a savory sauce.

Roasted and ground wattleseed from the elegant wattle (Acacia victoriae)

Australian Finger Lime

From: rainforests of Queensland and New South Wales
When: a garnish, not a dish on its own
Contains: vegetarian

The finger lime is an elongated native citrus whose flesh breaks into small, caviar-like pearls of juice rather than typical lime pulp, native to the rainforests of Queensland and New South Wales. Look for it spooned over seafood or a dessert at a Modern Australian restaurant rather than expecting to order the fruit on its own.

A finger lime cut in half, its juice vesicles and seeds visible

Kakadu plum, quandong, witchetty grub and lilly pilly round out the bush-food shelf, more often used as a flavoring or jam than served as a dish on their own.

Ingredient	What it is	From
Kakadu plum	native fruit used in jams and preserves, sought-after in high-end restaurants nationwide	Kakadu region, Northern Territory
Quandong	tart, peach-like desert fruit, eaten raw or preserved as jam	arid and desert regions
Witchetty grub	large white larvae, a traditional Aboriginal bush-tucker protein, traditionally eaten raw and also served barbecued	outback deserts
Lilly pilly	native tree with bright pink berries, eaten raw or made into jam	nationwide

What to drink in Australia

Order the local state's beer: XXXX in Queensland, Coopers in South Australia, or VB and Carlton in Victoria.

Drink	What it is	Price
Australian beer	regionally loyal brews, VB and Carlton in Victoria, XXXX in Queensland, Coopers in South Australia, plus a large craft-beer scene	A$11.50 a draft pint at a bar, A$6.06 for a half-liter bottle from a shop, Sydney
Australian wine	produced across more than 60 designated regions, from Barossa shiraz to Clare Valley riesling
Milo	chocolate-malt powder mixed with hot or cold milk, invented in Sydney in 1934
Bundaberg Rum	a dark rum distilled in Bundaberg, Queensland, where many drinkers won't touch any other brand

More dishes by state

Several of Australia's most distinctive dishes belong to one state or city: a pie floater in Adelaide, Sydney rock oysters in Sydney, a scallop pie in Tasmania.

Dish	What it is	Region
Pie floater	a meat pie served upside down in a bowl of thick, mushy pea soup	Adelaide, South Australia
King George Whiting	a prized coastal fish, baked or served as sashimi	South Australia
Conti roll	an Italian-style cold-cut and cheese sandwich	Perth, Western Australia
Sydney Rock Oyster	a native oyster, best eaten fresh with a squeeze of lemon	Sydney and New South Wales estuaries
Dim Sim	a deep-fried or steamed meat-and-vegetable dumpling, inspired by Cantonese dim sum	Melbourne, Victoria
Scallop pie	Tasmanian scallops baked into a pie with curry sauce	Tasmania
Leatherwood honey	wild honey from the leatherwood tree, prized for its floral, spicy flavor	Tasmania
Savoury toast	toast baked with egg, cheese, bacon, Worcestershire and tomato sauce until crisp	Tasmania
Possum	a niche bush-tucker meat, mostly eaten in Tasmania, especially on Bruny Island	Tasmania
Bowen mango	Queensland's Kensington Pride cultivar	Bowen, Queensland
Halal Snack Pack	halal doner kebab meat over hot chips, covered in sauce and often cheese	nationwide, kebab shops
Australian sushi hand roll	a large, uncut hand roll wrapped in nori, priced from under A$3 in Melbourne to about A$8 cut and boxed in Western Australia	nationwide
Chicken salt	a chicken-flavored, meat-free seasoning sprinkled on hot chips	nationwide
Steak sandwich	a thin grilled steak on toast or a roll, often with beetroot and pineapple	nationwide
Neenish tart	a small tart with cream and jam filling, iced in two colors	nationwide
Weet-Bix	a whole-grain wheat breakfast biscuit cereal	nationwide
Burger with "the lot"	a hamburger stacked with a fried egg, canned beetroot and pineapple	nationwide
Fairy floss	Australia's name for cotton candy, sold at fetes, carnivals and royal shows	nationwide
Golden Gaytime	a vanilla-and-toffee ice cream on a stick, coated in chocolate and crushed biscuit	nationwide
Violet Crumble	a chocolate bar with a crumbly honeycomb-toffee center	nationwide
Carpetbag steak	a thick steak cut and filled with oysters, pan-fried and served rare; the dish itself traces to Wales, not Australia, but stayed on a long-running Canberra restaurant's menu as of 2025	Sydney, since about 1950

Eating out in Australia: tipping, the bill and water

Tipping is not customary in Australia, since restaurants are required to include the cost of service in their posted prices. A small tip for exceptional service is welcome but not expected, and bartenders and taxi drivers are usually not tipped at all. A restaurant may add a weekend or public-holiday surcharge, which it must disclose on the menu.

Tap water in urban Australia is always safe to drink, with public drinking fountains and bottle refill stations common in cities and at tourist attractions. The taste varies by city; Adelaide's ground-water supply has an unpleasant flavor but remains perfectly safe. Carry your own water when driving or hiking in the outback, where treated water is not guaranteed on tap.

Plan your Australia trip around the food

The Australia travel guide covers how long to stay and how to move between cities. The 10-day Australia itinerary opens in Sydney and Melbourne, then spends its final three days in Cairns, where barramundi and the rest of the fresh seafood above are easiest to find.

A MonkeyEatingMango itinerary names the lunch and dinner for each day, matched to the city on the schedule.

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Common questions

What food is famous in Australia?

The meat pie, the lamington and the pavlova are Australia's best-known dishes, alongside Vegemite, kangaroo, Tim Tams and fairy bread. Barramundi and the flat white round out the group from the seafood and coffee side.

What is Australia's national dish?

The meat pie is widely considered Australia's national dish, eaten plain or topped with tomato sauce at bakeries, milk bars and petrol stations nationwide.

Is pavlova from Australia or New Zealand?

The origin of pavlova is disputed between Australia and New Zealand, and the dessert is named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova's 1920s tour of both countries. It's a meringue cake with a crisp shell and soft center, served at Christmas, Easter and other special occasions.

What is Vegemite, and how do you actually eat it?

Vegemite is a thick, salty spread made from brewers' yeast extract, invented in Melbourne as a wartime substitute for Marmite. Spread it very thin on buttered toast; a thick layer tastes far saltier than most first-timers expect.

What is the Tim Tam Slam?

The Tim Tam Slam is a way of eating the chocolate-coated biscuit: bite off two opposite corners, then use the biscuit as a straw to suck a hot drink through it until the chocolate softens. The biscuit is meant to be eaten quickly once the slam starts, before it falls apart.

What do Australians eat for breakfast?

Vegemite on toast and a bowl of Weet-Bix are the everyday breakfasts; smashed avocado on toast, with feta and a poached egg, is the weekend cafe version a Sydney cafe popularised in the 1990s. A flat white is the usual coffee order alongside any of them.

Can you really eat kangaroo, emu and crocodile in Australia?

Yes. Kangaroo is easy to find in the meat case of larger supermarkets and at butchers nationwide, though it only occasionally appears on restaurant menus, mostly in tourist areas. Emu and crocodile turn up more as an occasional novelty, usually as a steak or burger.

What are some classic Aussie snacks?

Tim Tams, fairy bread and Anzac biscuits are the classic snacks, followed by the vanilla slice, nicknamed the "snot block." Fairy bread, buttered white bread covered in rainbow sprinkles, is a children's party food rather than something sold in shops.

Do you tip when eating out in Australia?

No, tipping isn't expected and restaurants are required to include the cost of service in their posted prices. A restaurant may add a weekend or public-holiday surcharge instead, which it has to advertise.

Is tap water safe to drink in Australia?

Yes, tap water in urban Australia is safe to drink, and public drinking fountains and bottle refill stations are common in cities. Occasional recycled-water taps for watering plants are meant to be colored purple so they are not mistaken for drinking water.

What's the difference between a meat pie and a pie floater?

A meat pie is a hand-held pastry filled with minced meat and gravy. A pie floater is Adelaide's own variation: the same pie served upside down in a bowl of thick, mushy pea soup.