Top Five Fancy Restaurants in Melbourne
Whether you’re in the mood for a special dinner or an epic night out, Melbourne has a plethora of fantastic dining options. We’ve rounded up some of the best.
Kazuki’s is a fine-dining restaurant that offers a wide range of courses. The menu changes every few months and includes dishes such as pickled mussels with meaty tomatoes or hapuka in yuzu-spiked beurre blanc.
Vue de monde
Located on the 55th floor of Melbourne’s iconic Rialto Tower, Vue de monde has been a high-class restaurant in Australia for more than 20 years. It’s the perfect choice for weddings, anniversaries and corporate events.
The menu is classically inspired, evolving from recipes dating back hundreds of years and presented with a modern interpretation. It reflects chef Bennett’s commitment to native Australian ingredients.
You’ll also find an 88-page wine list covering old and new worlds with a Master Sommelier on hand to guide your tastebuds. The bespoke eight-course tasting menu ($310 a head) pays tribute to classic fine dining while exploring the sublime beauty of native Australian flavours.
Ideas
If the idea of fancy dining is what you’re after, Melbourne has plenty to offer. Here, top chefs combine a love of local ingredients with technique-heavy dishes.
The city’s most adventurous eateries meld cooking with fire, fermentation and minimal intervention wine. It’s a symphony of flavour and balance, a visceral joy you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
Flower Drum
One of the city’s most refined restaurants, Flower Drum combines great food, fine wine and impeccable service to create an experience that will not disappoint. Known for its famous Peking duck, this Chinese restaurant has been making Melburnians happy since 1975.
Upon entering from charming Market Lane in Chinatown you’ll find yourself in an elegant space that is a blend of formality and subtlety. The interior is full of flowers and artwork that sets a perfect tone to this dining experience.
Cutler & Co.
In a city that’s littered with fine dining establishments, Andrew McConnell’s Cutler and Co is a standout. Its eponymous menu is focused on exceptional in-season ingredients, and McConnell has built a long-standing relationship with his artisan suppliers, so you can trust that the produce is fresh.
The food here is unfussy yet refined, and it’s the fusion of Australian cuisine with French techniques that really sets it apart. For example, the duck breast with blackberries and liquorish is a classic Australian dish elevated to gourmet status.
Society
Society is a statement of modern Australian design and sophisticated dining culture. It boasts two restaurant spaces, a luxurious lounge bar and two customised private dining rooms that promise to redefine dining in Melbourne.
This stylish Euro-style brasserie — named after the former couture salon of Lillian Wightman — has soft timber walls and curvy banquettes creating an elegant and relaxed atmosphere. The menu offers a wide selection of seafood, pasta and wood-fired meats dishes alongside an impressive by-the-slice tart selection tempting desserts.
The a la carte menu is accompanied by a wine list that is stocked with more than 10,000 bottles from across Australia. A range of cocktails are served in the lounge bar which is resplendent with sparkling mirrors, inviting sofas and a swirling marble bar.
Yakimono
A high-energy Japanese eating house with a uniquely Melbourne sensibility. Chris Lucas’ latest 80 Collins venture, Yakimono is fuelled by fire and a love letter to Tokyo’s late-night izakayas (where he spent three years living and working).
A modern take on inner-city fine dining, this two-storey eatery serves bites like curried sweet potato gyoza with miso apple yoghurt, wagyu beef intercostal in a smoky soy glaze, and pulled Korean BBQ hog shoulder. There are also a range of small dishes and cocktails, and a wine list boasting Japanese influences.
Tipo 00
A tiny new pasta bar on Little Bourke Street, Tipo 00 reminds us that eating spaghetti — the good stuff, crafted by talented chefs with their focus honed tight — is still one of the best experiences this city can offer.
The menu focuses on modern Italian-Australian dishes, inspired by the season’s finest ingredients. It’s a restaurant that shows the best of what Melbourne has to offer in a beautifully designed space and it’s not hard to see why it’s a popular choice among locals.
Wine is also very important here and their climate-controlled wine room houses around 2,000 bottles of mostly Victorian produce. The wine list is also very comprehensive and features top-notch wines from a range of renowned producers.