Melbourne Restaurants

Melbourne has fabulous food, and is known in some circles as Australia's food capital. The restaurants themselves are often exceptionally stylish and elegant—or totally edgy and funky in their own individual way. Some are even deliberately grungy. The dining scene is a vast array of cuisines and experiences that's constantly evolving. The swankiest (and most expensive) restaurants all have five- to eight-course degustation menus (with the opportunity to wine-match each course), but newer restaurants are opting for tapas-style or grazing plates. Flexibility is the new word in dining—restaurants are often also funky bars and vice versa.

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  • 1. Donovan's

    $$$ | St. Kilda

    Grab a window table at this very popular bay-side restaurant (housed in the former 1920s bathing pavilion), and enjoy wide-open views of St. Kilda beach and its passing parade of in-line skaters, skateboarders, dog walkers, and ice-cream lickers. Start with the day's oysters, move to the fish and meats cooked superbly over charcoal, and slow it down over wine and cheese at this long-standing St. Kilda icon. Owners Kevin and Gail Donovan are such natural hosts you may feel like bunking down on the plush cushions near the cozy fireplace.

    40 Jacka Blvd., Melbourne, Victoria, 3182, Australia
    03-9534–8221

    Known For

    • Top-notch seafood
    • Ocean views
    • Extensive wine list

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential
  • 2. Farmer’s Daughters

    $$$$ | City Center

    You’ll find your place in one of the three levels at Farmer’s Daughters, in the fine-dining restaurant, in the deli, or up on the rooftop---its focus is the produce drawn from the rich farmlands of Gippsland, a region the size of Switzerland, to Melbourne’s east. Share small plates in the deli or opt for the chef’s selection (A$70), choose the Gippsland Getaway set menu in the restaurant (A$110), or take a cocktail made with locally sourced spirits up on the roof, for a true farm-to-plate experience. Its pantry serves coffee from 7:30 am on weekdays.

    95 Exhibition St., Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
    03-9116--8682

    Known For

    • Locally grown ingredients
    • Excellent cocktails
    • Offers fine dining and a more casual deli

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
  • 3. Higher Ground

    $ | City Center

    Serving restaurant meals at breakfast and brunch, Higher Ground leads the pack for early morning dining. Grab a well-crafted pour-over and pastries, or linger over eggs paired with cauliflower, market fish, or the best ricotta hotcakes in town. The dinner service takes it up a notch with 12-hour lamb and a drinks menu that featuring Australian craft beers and wines. With its vast ceilings and raw brick walls, the decor is pure industrial chic. Avoid the busy peak periods.

    650 Little Bourke St., Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
    03-8899--6219

    Known For

    • Excellent coffee
    • Innovative food pairings
    • Soaring interiors

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: No dinner Sun.--Wed.
  • 4. Big Esso by Mabu Mabu

    $$ | City Center

    This all-day bar and kitchen brings Indigenous food and culture to the center of the city. First Nations chef Nornie Bero draws on her upbringing in the Torres Strait Islands to create a menu loaded with uniquely Australian herbs, spices, and teas. Seeking to use sustainable and social enterprise suppliers, try the house damper and wattleseed coffee, and get adventurous if you find emu fillets or pickled watermelon salad on the menu.

    Flinders St. and Swanston St., Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia

    Known For

    • Indigenous music
    • Artworks by First Nations artists
    • Supporting social enterprises
  • 5. Charcoal Lane

    $$ | Fitzroy

    Charcoal Lane is a social enterprise restaurant providing vulnerable young people with an opportunity to transform their lives by gaining a traineeship in the restaurant business. The inventive menu includes many Australian bushland ingredients, and the dishes have an Aboriginal influence. Named after a song by acclaimed Aboriginal singer/songwriter Archie Roach, it is housed in the former health service community center, dubbed Charcoal Lane by the many Aboriginal people, who for decades would drop in and swap stories and wisdom. They might include starters of roasted emu fillet or a wild food tasting plate of native produce. Mains include wallaby wrapped in Parma ham and pumpkin and wattleseed gnocchi. Desserts also have a "bush tucker" influence.

    136 Gertrude St., Melbourne, Victoria, 3065, Australia
    03-9235–9200

    Known For

    • <PRO>feel-good dining</PRO>
    • <PRO>native meats</PRO>
    • <PRO>chic decor</PRO>

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon., Credit cards accepted
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  • 6. Krimper

    $ | City Center

    Designed to showcase the building's warehouse origins, Krimper's design is rough-hewn but warm. Hidden away among former motorcycle repair shops and a burgeoning dining laneway, Krimper serves innovative food, excellent coffee, and hot chocolate from local company, Mork. Breakfast includes Australian classic Avo on Toast, you'll find barramundi fillets and an Aus-Asian fusion in its ribs, burgers and green bowls on the lunch menu.

    20 Guildford La., Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
    03-9043–8844

    Known For

    • Great coffee
    • Hip vibe
    • Classic breakfast with a twist
  • 7. The Little Mule Cafe

    $ | City Center

    Melburnians love to head out for breakfast, and Little Mule is one of many popular laneway cafés satisfying the hunger. Excellent coffee is teamed with simple meals made in the tiny, open kitchen. Look for the fresh cookies and make your own dream breakfast with the flexible mix-and-match menu.

    19 Somerset Pl., Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
    03-9670–4904

    Known For

    • <PRO>quirky decor</PRO>
    • <PRO>fresh bagels</PRO>
    • <PRO>homemade staples</PRO>

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun.

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