5 Best Restaurants in Melbourne, Victoria

This all-day bar and kitchen brings Indigenous food and culture to the center of the city. First Nations chef-owner Nornie Bero draws on her upbringing in the Torres Strait Islands to create a menu that uses 100% Australian products, and its packaged herbs, spices, and teas make unique Australian gifts. 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.

Grab a window table at this very popular, very stylish 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 afterward.

Melbourne celebrates its Italian community in this new hub, the first overseas outpost of the hugely successful markets in Florence and Rome. Step in the huge halls to find 23 stalls dedicated to things like fresh-baked bread, coffee, cannoli, pizza, fresh fish, and aged meats—there's even a gluten-free risotto stall. Shop for a to-go meal or take a seat in the restaurant or pizzeria upstairs for table service—they take reservations here. Shop for organic wines or cozy up in the cocktail bar for an aperitivo. il Mercato is open until midnight on Friday and Saturday night but bring your credit card, as the market is cashless.

A local favorite, this stellar Italian bistro emphasizes flavor over starchy linen and stuffy attitude. Wood-fired pizzas, which some insist are the best in the city, put this suburban gem on the map (thankfully, it's only a short walk from the city). Nonpasta options might include a shellfish risotto or lasagne, and the service is as upbeat as the wine list. Vegan and gluten-free options are available.

Vegan and vegetarian fare is the focus of this restaurant, set in the Ovolo South Yarra hotel. With a strong Latin American vibe, choose the vegan versions of chicken tamales, moqueca (Brazilian seafood stew), or the queso con chorizo, and vegetable dishes from its charcoal oven. The hotel restaurant is an all-day affair, morphing into a wine bar later in the evening, with cocktails with Latin zing. For more plant-based goodness by pioneer chef Shannon Martinez, try her vegan bellwether restaurant and deli  Smith & Daughters, in Collingwood.