10 Great Restaurants in Melbourne

Nomad is on the ground floor of the Adelphi Hotel in the city’s buzzing Flinders Lane neighbourhood. Sister to the popular Sydney-based Nomad restaurant, expect sustainable Mediterranean/Middle Eastern-influenced cuisine. Local farmers, fishers, and producers from Victoria shine on their shareable small plate menu—even the mortadella is house-made from Great Ocean ducks.

At the heart of NOMAD’s success is its wood-fired oven where everything from veggies to the unmissable flatbread with house-made za’atar gets its smoky flavour. Leave room for the olive oil ice cream sandwich for dessert and try one of the innovative cocktails, such as the beeswax-aged martini.

Gimlet at Cavendish House is chef Andrew McConnell’s restaurant. With an open kitchen and roaring wood fire grill in Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD), it features seasonal, sustainable produce from local farmers and growers. To experience the award-winning food, the best option is the seasonal tasting menu (also available for vegetarians) which offers a multi-course exploration of their hearty wood-fired cuisine.

For those who want a taste of the Gimlet experience on a smaller budget, stop by after 10 pm on Friday and Saturday for the ‘Supper service’ which offers up oysters, caviar, and treats from the grill—along with a very well-priced cheeseburger.

Tipo 00 is named after the kind of flour that they use to make their authentic Italian pasta. This beautiful restaurant is a celebration of Italian wine, food, and cocktails in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. Settle in at the handsome marble bar lining the open-plan kitchen for the best views of the team as they create some of the city’s best fresh pasta from scratch.

The chef’s tasting menu offers excellent value and changes daily, serving up a selection of starters, pasta dishes, and desserts. Dive into the excellent wine list which showcases a good selection of lesser-known Italian wines as well as local favourites. Gluten free? Just tell them in advance and Tipo 00 can make pasta just for you.

Aru in Melbourne’s CBD is a modern Australian restaurant where local ingredients meet Asian flavours. Classic techniques are used to create a culinary fusion that’s entirely new and delicious. Since opening in 2021 to rave reviews and a flurry of awards, Aru has firmly established its place on most 'Best of' lists. It even scored 2 Hats in the prestigious Good Food Guide thanks to innovative dishes such as the bánh-mì-flavoured pâté en croute.

Most of the cooking is done over open flames and the team do all their dry aging, curing, fermenting, and preserving in-house. Go with friends to eat your way around this all-too-tempting menu.

Chin Chin is nestled in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, serving up Southeast Asian food in a fun and funky space where the music’s loud and the lights are low. A staple of Melbourne’s fashionable dining scene for more than a decade, don’t be daunted by the queues as service is fast.

Try the 'Feed me' menus, which offer multi-course feasts including some of Chin Chin’s favourite dishes, such as their pork and chive wontons with hellfire chilli oil, or twice-cooked beef short rib. When everything looks so good, these greatest-hits menus mean you can beat indecision by leaving the choice to the chef!

Supernormal in the CBD’s popular Flinders Lane area celebrates Japanese and Korean canteen-style food through a modern Australian lens. Bringing the influence of Shanghai and Hong Kong, Supernormal offers up a tasty menu of bao, dumplings, and spicy Szechuan brisket. You’ll also find fabulously flavoursome skewered meats, house-made kimchi, and comforting bowls of ramen at lunch.

Down in the basement you’ll find a karaoke room, and there are even Japanese snack vending machines on-site too. Reserve seats at the bar to watch the kitchen crew work their magic. Must-orders include the legendary lobster roll and the too-good-to-share peanut butter parfait.

Embla is a sophisticated wine bar with an elevated sharing plates menu in Melbourne’s CBD. Offering up a wine list of lesser-known low-intervention names from local and international growers, you’re sure to discover something new to tickle the taste buds. With its exposed brick, dark wood, and culinary focus on flame-grilled cooking and fermented flavours, Embla may fit current trends, but thanks to the commitment to balanced flavours and simple, good quality ingredients, you’ll find plenty to keep you coming back.

Pull up a seat at the bar and see what’s new on the ever-evolving wine list and order up some dill-sprinkled sour cucumbers to snack on while you make some difficult dining decisions on the tempting menu.

Vue de Monde is on the 55th floor of Melbourne’s Rialto tower, offering up stunning city-wide views and an opulent dining experience of some of Australia’s most exciting cuisine. The inventive menu honours classic fine dining through the lens of modern Australian cuisine, using unique native Australian ingredients.

From the black basalt bar and humanely sourced kangaroo fur chairs, to the original art and Dom Perignon vending machine in the lobby, every detail of Vue de Monde is designed to delight and amaze. Pre-book the multi-course tasting menu and treat yourself to a truly decadent experience! Where else can you have liquid nitrogen frozen herbs and petals as a palate cleanser, or eat wattleseed damper bread from your own table-side charcoal BBQ while absorbing that glittering city view?

Mamasita is a popular Mexican restaurant in the CBD that features stylish wooden seating and serves up modern takes on regional Mexican dishes using local Australian ingredients. Reservations are recommended for their weekend dinner services unless you want to join the party atmosphere of the queues snaking out on to Collins Street.

Forget the standard Tex-Mex experience; at Mamasita you’ll be treated to deftly seasoned dishes, such as the ceviche with locally caught rockling lightly cured in coconut, tomatillo, and mint, or meltingly tender slow-cooked beef short ribs with chargrilled peppers, spiked with zesty lime juice. Don’t worry, you can still get tacos and tostadas, of a higher calibre than you’ll be used to, but it’s worth exploring this delicious menu to discover new favourites.

Attica is a much-awarded, casual fine dining, tasting menu-only restaurant in Ripponlea. Take just a short tram journey from Flinders Street to discover authentic native Australian ingredients delivered in innovative new combinations.

The respectful exploration of First Nations ingredients weaves multi-course magic into a fine dining experience unlike any other. Expect rare delights such as charred crocodile ribs in citrusy Geraldton Wax flower needles, with crocodile XO sauce and finger lime spiced-honey, or house-made emu pastrami on this creative ever-changing menu. Reservations are available each day at 9 am Melbourne time for 3 months ahead, but if you join the waiting list (especially for mid-week tables), you might be lucky and score a table sooner.