Restaurant for Special Occasion in Melbourne
 

On Feb 12 we will be staying at the Radisson Flagstaff Hotel as part of our Smartour trip and that date will be the occasion of our 50th wedding anniversary. We would like to celebrate it at a charming, good quality restaurant. A view would be great, but not essential. Price not an issue for this evening. Thank you for your help.

Can't help with the restaurant, but wanted to congratulate you - 50 years! That's incredible!

Hi Lillium,
What's your favoured cusine? Melbourne has excellent restaurants, and if you give us a hint, I'm sure you will receive lots of suggestions.

Congratulations :)

We also stayed at the Radisson Flagstaff in Dec. and we'd recommend 'PURE SOUTH' on Southbank (the riverside).Not far from Flinders St station so you take the circular FREE tram from the corner of Flagstaff gardens to Flinders.
See www.puresouth.com.au
All the produce is from Tasmania, the wines too (hence the name) and all organic. Excellent creative dishes and the desserts are too die for!
Tel. 03 9699 4600

Thank you for the good wishes, we find it hard to believe that we will be celebrating our golden, time does fly by. We are fond of most styles of cooking and enjoy trying the local cuisine, so PURE SOUTH does sound interesting. Seafood and asian fusion are favorites. Thank you again.

I'd agree with Pure South, or Florentino's (upstairs), not the bistro for classic cusine. Da Noi in South Yarra has really glorious food - but it's lacking ambiance.

Congratulations Lillium, what a great achievement!
There are lots of good restaurants to choose from in Melbourne. Pure South (www.puresouth.com.au) is located in Melbourne's best restaurant strip at Southbank. Also at Southbank, I'd recommend The Red Emperor (www.redemperor.com.au) which is a fantastic Chinese restaurant, or Scusa Mi (www.scusami.com.au) an Italian place which is probably the best known restaurant in Southbank.
My favourite Melbourne restaurant is Grossi Florentino, a fine dining Italian restuarnat. The food and service are impeccable and I'd really recommend it for a special occasion such as your Golden Anniversary (www.grossiflorentino.com). Another I can recommend is Jacques Reymond (www.jacquesreymond.com.au) a fine dining French restaurant that consistently wins "Best Restaurant" type awards. It's located in Prahran, which is about 10-15 minutes by taxi from where you'll be staying. I'd better stop now, but one final one to mention is a great Thai restaurant is South Melbourne (5-10 minutes by taxi), called the Isthmus of Kra (www.isthmusofkra.com.au).

Any of these restaurants will give you a great night out. Putting cuisine preferences aside, if I were looking for a memorable experience, I'd go for Florentino's first, then Jacques Reymond. Enjoy!

Thank you for all the fine leads. I will check out their websites. I am sorry we will not be able to stay in Melbourne for more than two nights. Off this topic, I am wondering about advice re taking an excursion to Philip Island and seeing the fairy penguins. I have read conflicting opinions. Since our time in Melbourne is limited we would like to maximize it. Perhaps I should start another post, but any advice is appreciated.

Another two restaurants worth considering are The Stokehouse and Donovan's - both on the beach at St.Kilda which is a short taxi ride away from the city. At The Stokehouse the fine dining is upstairs with lovely views of the bay. Donovan's has a more 'casual' feel, but with a more diverse menu than Stokehouse. My husband and I chose Donovan's over Stokehouse recently for our anniversary, but only because they had a few dishes that appealed to me more at the time. Both great places!

I'd skip the penguins if I were you. Go to a show (or maybe another restaurant!) instead. Phillip Island is 1.5 to 2 hours from Melbourne and you need to get there 1-2 hours before the expected penguin arrival time. So by the time you get there, wait for the penguins, see the penguins (fingers crossed!) and return to the City, the whole thing can take 8 hours or more.
We're Melburnians and have "done" the penguins a few times. They're cute but they are a night-to-night proposition. Last time we went we were very disappointed. If you do go, remember that it will be cold on the beach at night, even though it's the hottest time of the year in Victoria.

2nd vote for upstairs @ the Stokehouse or Donovans. They have great food, atmosphere, service and a view. Most of the other 'special occasion' restaurants are in the city or on the fringe, and don't have a view - but do have good ambience. You will have to catch a cab to St. Kilda for Donovans or Stokehouse (about $20?), but hopefully not a problem. Another recommendation is Langton's (no view at all - in a basement, but great food), or Radii (which is on one of the upper levels of the Park Hyatt). And, as far as the penguins go - I'd skip it. Congratulations on your anniversary!

One of the most acclaimed restaurants in Melbourne is the Flower Drum, however I doubt that you would be able to get a booking there as usually they are booked out at least 3-4 weeks in advance (3 months for a Saturday night)
It does not seem to have a website.
Three other special occasion restaurants that I would highly recommend are Vue De Monde, walking distance from your hotel (www.vuedemonde.com.au), Ezard at the Adelphi- just behind St Pauls Cathedral and across Princes Bridge from SouthBank(www.ezard.com.au) and mecca at SouthBank (www.mecca.net.au)
All these offer great food and really excellent service and ambiance.
Re the penguins,it is possible to take a short trip from Southbank on a ferry to a penguin colony in Port Phillip Bay (off the St. Kilda breakwater)
Maybe a twilight penguin trip followed by dinner
PS Congratulations on the golden anniversary

Flotentino's, Stokehouse (great views) or Langtons - no view but great food. Not sure which country you are from but just remember when dining in Australia that often the time between courses can be long - something to do with our relaxed outdoor attitude, gives you more time to experience our great wines - if you love a big Red and price is not an option - Rockfords Basket Press Shiraz - Barossa Valley and a very special occasion wine - congrats for the 50th, we are coming up to 16.

I have been to, and like, ALL of the restaurants mentioned in the above posts. Both Stokehouse and Donovans can be quite noisy, which might not be what you want on such an occasion. For many years, the most celebrated restaurant in Melbourne has been the Flower Drum. If you can get a booking, that would be my choice for such an anniversary celebration. (We're up to No. 42!)

Forgot to say: Have the Peking Duck, as the Flower Drum is famous fot it. You won't regret it!

Congratulations on your 50th. All the restaurants recommended will give you a wonderful meal, but for an anniversary I would go with either Grossi Florentino or Jacques Reymond for a lovely intimate atmosphere to go with the occasion. The others (not including Flower Drum which personally I think is overrated although many would disagree with me) are more noisy and more suited for a "fun" night out. Several years ago for our 20th anniversary I went with Jacqus Reymond and we had a lovely evening. Have a wonderful evening whereever you end up.

I can't recommend a restaurant as I'm from Sydney but we love Melbourne and have travelled there every Christmas for the last 5 yrs. I agree with the others on the penguins - not worth it - we have done it and it is FREEZING and a lot of waiting around and a LONG day for a few minutes of penguins. Frankly, you'll get a better view at a zoo. Perhaps you could fit in a show at the Crown Casino if you decide to dine at Southbank (www.crowncasino.com.au).

Tomorrow we leave for our Australia/New Zealand tour. We want to thank all the kind posters who responded to our inquiry for your suggestions and good wishes. You came to our assistance with some wonderful choices. We have emailed Grossi Florentino to secure a reservation. Have not gotten a confirmation as yet but will try again before we leave. Again, thank you.