Restaurants in Melbourne

Melbourne’s reputation as a vibrant food and wine destination is continually rising with a good number of cafes, bars and restaurants opening each week. Mobile food trucks heralding the rise of “pop-up” street cuisine have become popular and prominent throughout the city over the past few years.

Melbourne has a wide range of restaurants, with a high concentration within walking distance of the city centre. Try one of the many laneway alfresco eateries in Degraves Street, Centre Place or Hardware Lane. Chinatown on Little Collins Street offers Chinese food as well as some Malaysian, Thai, Indonesian, Japanese and Vietnamese fare. Head to Lygon Street Carlton for Italian, Richmond for Greek and more Vietnamese, and Fitzroy for cheap Asian, Turkish, Mediterranean and vegetarian food. Chapel Street and Toorak Road in South Yarra offer high-class restaurants, while St Kilda's Fitzroy and Acland streets have long been popular for their diverse array of eateries.

The Melbourne restaurants below have been grouped into three pricing categories:
Expensive (over A$80)
Moderate (A$40 to A$80)
Cheap (up to A$40)
These Melbourne restaurant prices are based on a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of house wine or equivalent, and include tax and service. Tipping is optional.



Rosetta

Price: Expensive
Cuisine: Italian

Neil Perry, leading Australian chef and the creative force behind Rosetta, has delivered a menu harnessing the best of regional Italian produce. With a wood fire oven and char grill for preparing authentic dishes such as roasted duck and slow roasted pork loin, and two chefs responsible for handmaking 16 different types of pasta daily, this is a restaurant whose food compliments its incredible chandelier illuminated décor. Great glamour and classic Italian ingredients make this a stand out mouth watering treat.

Address: Crown Complex, South Bank, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: +61 3 8648 1999.

Flower Drum

Price: Expensive
Cuisine: Cantonese

Chinatown's premier Cantonese restaurant is certainly up there with the best in Australia. Don't go past the signature dish, the magnificent Peking duck pancakes, and if you've never tasted abalone, a large sought-after shellfish, then this is the place. The service is courteous, the interior pleasant, and there's an impressive wine list too.

Address: 17 Market Lane, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: +61 3 9662 3655.

Donovans

Price: Expensive
Cuisine: Australian seafood

Magical beachside dining, views across Port Phillip Bay and a homely, smart interior. What more could you want? Perhaps a taste of some of Australia’s freshest seafood – barramundi, oysters, Moreton Bay, prawns? Black Angus T-bone steak, rack of lamb or organic pork chops? Housed in one of the original bathing houses on the foreshore in St Kilda, Donovans' views are enough to stimulate any appetite.

Address: 40 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: + 61 3 9534 8221.

Cumulus Up

Price: Moderate
Cuisine: Modern

Both a wine bar and a restaurant, Cumulus Up serves up a selection of modern delights in a European atmosphere (think parquet timber floors and dark colours balanced by playful jelly ‘pill’ lights). Some of the highlights on the menu include organic asparagus, haloumi and burnt honey; whole flounder, cos hearts and preserved lemon; and rhubarb and hibiscus jelly, coconut sorbet and ginger beer. There is also a four-course chef’s selection menu, which changes daily.

Address: 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: + 61 3 9650 1445.

Estelle Bistro

Price: Moderate
Cuisine: Modern bistro

Pairing modern European fare with exposed-brick walls, reclaimed timber and hanging plants, Estelle Bistro is the go-to destination for a culinary journey like no other. Start with quail, barley and black and wild rice before digging into Berkshire pork with cauliflower and golden raisins, and ending the evening on a sweet note with a vanilla crème, rhubarb and macadamia. Alternatively, guests can opt for the three- or five-course tasting menus, or a three-course Sunday lunch.

Address: 243 High Street, Northcote, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: + 61 3 9489 4609.

MoVida

Price: Moderate
Cuisine: Spanish

This little slice of Spain in the heart of Melbourne could easily be at home in downtown Barcelona. Located down a graffiti-strewn laneway, it embraces all that is great about Spanish cuisine and culture: traditional and modern tapas combined with the fun, camaraderie and zest for life you’ll find in many a Spanish bar. Bookings essential, or if you’re out of luck getting a reservation, try MoVida Next Door (no reservations) or MoVida Aqui or MoVida Terraza.

Address: 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: + 61 3 9663 3038.

Radio Mexico

Price: Cheap
Cuisine: Mexican

Choose from a Mexican menu rich with tacos, botanas and pinchos at this healthy, cheap and cactus-decorated, bar cum restaurant (which oddly resembles a caravan). Open from 4pm each day, it’s the place to sample pickled jalapenos, lamb tacos or a prawn and corn strew. Mexican brand beers and tequila will help ease your way from the day to the evening.

Address: 11-13 Carlisle Street, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: + 61 3 9534 9990.

Hopetoun Tea Rooms

Price: Cheap
Cuisine: Tea rooms

In a city renowned for its fine coffee culture, it’s quite something that the refined Hopetoun Tea Rooms have been pouring pots of tea since 1892. If you’re doing a spot of shopping in the city, pop in for a light salad, heavenly cakes, scones and teas with such intriguing blend names as Bolivian Green, Mademoiselle Grey, Snow White and Strawberry Kisses. Hopetoun’s breakfast menu is also a great way to start your day.

Address: Shops 1 & 2 Block Arcade, 282 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: + 61 3 9650 2777.

Mamak

Price: Cheap
Cuisine: Malaysian

For a taste of Malaysia at seriously good prices, with all the bustle and buzz of a street market, Mamak is a treat. Start with a roti (the popular Malay flatbread) served on a metal tray, and then choose from a range of lamb, fish or chicken curries with coconut rice or wok-tossed hokkien noodles. With a fast turnover and a chance to witness the restaurant’s chefs equally hard at work in the background, Mamak has a no-nonsense café type buzz, where the food reigns supreme.

Address: 366 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone: + 61 3 9670 3137.
Website:
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