Dining solo? Here's where to go in Melbourne

There's been a lot of chatter about the rise of solo dining lately. Everyone's doing it, apparently. In August, restaurant reservations site Dimmi reported an 83 per cent rise in bookings for one in the past financial year (compared to a 44 per cent rise in overall bookings), while over in Amsterdam, pop-up restaurant Eenmaal, which caters only for single diners, has sold out every event since it launched in 2013.

It seems we've reached the same consensus about solo dining as we have about internet dating: it's not just for travellers, eccentrics and lonely losers anymore. Yet we still seem to talk about the act like it's simply now slightly less awful and shame-filled. But let's talk for a second about how amazing it can be.

It's not all about hating other humans and not sharing your pie. Bartenders and waiters know what's about to open and where you should be eating/drinking next long before that information hits the internet. Sit at a restaurant bar on a quiet night and you can unlock the secrets to the city. Rolling solo presents the opportunities we usually only have when travelling. Eat with a group and you're insulated in a bubble. Eat alone and the barriers drop. Sometimes it forces you to engage – and that can be a good and bad thing, depending on your mood – but you absorb twice as much about the restaurant you're in and the food on your plate.

If you couldn't give less of a damn and really do just hate other people, there are the logistical perks, too. You sift through the line at no-bookings restaurants a lot more quickly. And if you don't count the judgment of random strangers, you can eat whatever and however you like.

Melbourne has always been a good place to eat alone, thanks to our rich Italian immigrant heritage. Pellegrini's has been catering to onesomes since 1954. Things are only improving too, with almost every new restaurant that opens installing communal tables and well-stocked bars where you can access the whole menu.

It's still not always easy. There's always the risk of strangers and waiters throwing a pity party in your honour, and phone battery fails or uninterested servers can make for a long night.

Here are some tips to cope:

• The bar is your friend. It's set up for singles; you're closest to a source of company (and the sauce) and you get to avoid the awkward ritual of a second place setting being cleared and chairs being scavenged. Just make sure the bar isn't a squashy holding pen where pre-gaming diners are going to elbow you in the kidneys.
• By all means take backup entertainment for an emotional crutch. Your smartphone means you're never alone. Just remember that staring incessantly at it makes it look like you've been stood up.
• Call ahead. Good restaurants are sympathetic and will usually make sure there's a non-awkward space set aside. Smart restaurants will sit you in front of the kitchen pass for entertainment or by the best bar station. They know you've nothing else to do but judge everything for the one to three hours you're there.
• Ramen houses, Italian pasta joints, cafes and pubs are your allies. Greek restaurants and yum cha temples are cruel reminders of your lonesome predicament.
• Keep it clean. No one can pull off classy drunk-in-public.

Melbourne's best spots for solo diners

Supernormal

Andrew McConnell's pan-Asian eatery in Flinders Lane has a mile of bar seats and a sake-savvy crew who will also let you order half serves of most menu items, solving the dilemma you face at most share-style eateries of either having to over-order or stick to bar snacks.

180 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 03 9650 8688

Il Bacaro

Forever and always. This is the secret second home to almost every food fan in the city. The crew here always make sure they put on the whole show, even for one person having one bowl of pasta. From 6pm every night, you'll always find at least one person propped at the bar eating the famous garlicky spaghettini and drinking something mind-blowing from one of the best Italian wine lists in town.

168-170 Little Collins St, Melbourne, 03 9654 6778

Tipo 00

The new pasta bar on Little Bourke Street is following the same principles as Il Bacaro. The welcome is warm, the dishes are built for one, and the Cocci Americano is thrust into your fist the second you enter. Head in for a plate of butter-drenched tortellini filled with an asparagus and parmesan goo, while Luke Skidmore plies you with wine.

361 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, 03 9942 3946

Bar Di Stasio

Everything can be ordered in singular serves at this long marble bar, joined at the hip to Ronnie Di Stasio's landmark Cafe Di Stasio restaurant. You can get one lamb chop, singular gnocco and a simple bowl of spaghetti, all backed by the sharp drinks and sharper service for which the place is legendary.

31 Fitzroy St, St Kilda, 03 9525 3999

Belle's Hot Chicken

Getting into Morgan McGlone and Aaron Turner's Nashville-style fried chicken diner during peak times can be awful, but chances are high you'll find a perch at the counter if you're flying solo. It's unlikely you'll leave without a fresh coating of chicken grease down your front, and that's a state you might like to get into alone. Or head in on Sunday afternoons, when you'll generally find an older crowd working their way through the seriously interesting natural and biodynamic wine list.

150-156 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, 03 9077 0788

Mister Jennings

Places like Mister Jennings are the best thing to have emerged from the fine-food-meets-casual-dining trend. Chef Ryan Flaherty's cooking pushes boundaries - hey, frozen kangaroo carpaccio – but he also serves the likes of a whole fish or a steak for singles, and the casual space with its blonde timber bar at the heart of the action and the friendly service of Malcolm Singh make dropping in for a degustation for one, or just a couple of his fancified dagwood dogs an inviting prospect.

142 Bridge Rd, Richmond, 03 9078 0113

Pei Modern

Matt Germanchis has headed to Sydney to open Pei Modern up north, but ex-Silo chef Florent Gerardin has taken over and kept the menu as fresh and challenging as ever, putting kohlrabi with everything and sprinkling bistro-style dishes with native Australian ingredients. Being positioned beneath the Sofitel, you're never alone in your solo dining quest here and the forward-thinking wine list and sea urchin sandwiches ensure you won't be bored.

45 Collins St, Melbourne, 03 9654 8545

Do you have a favourite spot to dine solo? Share your recommendation in the comments below.