Modern Australian restaurants in Melbourne
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Taxi
It takes a space this big to accommodate the reputation of head chef Michael Lambie. He creates audacious Asian-inspired dishes that have earned him a loyal following. The sushi menu is one of the city’s finest. All glass, steel and concrete, the hangar-sized dining room looks over the river and Flinders Street Station. It’s stagy, or as some Melburnians might mumble, a little bit ‘Sydney’. After dinner, sip a digestif at Transit and watch the lights sparkle.
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O'Connell's
This posh pub is a long-time leader in the gastropub stakes. Forget about fronting up for a plate of cheap food cooked until it's colourless. O'Connell's is fancy down to the glassware, though good value. Choose to dine in the casual front room, or take yourself off out the back to the formal dining room - the same hearty menu's on offer.
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Matteo's
A plush interior, starched double-dressed tables, impeccable service, impressive wine list and outstanding modern Italian-Australian cuisine are the ingredients that make Matteo's one to bookmark. Degustation menus (including vegetarian) and platters to share round out the offerings at this warm and welcoming restaurant.
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Cavallero
A supersmart, subtle fit-out lets the charm of this grand Victorian shopfront shine. Served under the gaze of a deer's head, morning coffee and brioche make way for fancy toasties and Pinot Gris then shared plates galore and cocktails.
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Verge
Enclosed in glass, this stylish split-level corner establishment has a gorgeous leafy aspect out to Treasury Gardens. But you'll likely be looking at the staff whose personal service could be likened to performance art (in a good way). A back-slapping bar with a loyal following of chic city dwellers tempers the sleek, minimalist interior. The menu combines Asian and European influences, with dishes as refined and lustrous as the décor.
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Pearl
Owner-chef Geoff Lindsay proclaims himself 'a fifth-generation Aussie boy who is seduced by ginger, chilli and palm sugar, Turkish delight, chocolate and pomegranate'. We're seduced too: his exquisitely rendered food really does epitomise Modern Australian cooking. The space is slick but comfortable, though service can be lax. For a cheaper taste of the Pearl ethos for breakfast or lunch head to Pearl Cafe, 50m down the road.
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Ezard at Adelphi
Teague Ezard runs one of the city’s enduring fine dining rooms. The space, a lanky basement beneath the Adelphi Hotel, is elegant but not as desperately fashion-forward as some. The food has an emphasis on Chinese and Thai flavours, though not exclusively so. Ezard’s plating is bold, his pairings inspired. An eight-course tasting menu ($135; $115 for the vegetarian option) is available as well as à la carte.
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Rockpool Bar & Grill
The Melbourne outpost of Perry’s empire offers his signature seafood raw bar, but it’s really all about beef, from grass-fed to full-blood wagyu. This darkly masculine space is simple and stylish, as is the menu. Even a side of humble mac’n’cheese is done with startlingly fab ingredients. The bar provides a respite from the formality of the dining room, but offers the same level of food service.
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Circa at the Prince
This dining room has a persistent, all-pervading glamour and produces some of the city’s finest food. Exec Chef Andrew McConnell no longer mans the stoves nightly (at time of writing he was busy relocating his famed Carlton restaurant Three One Two to Gertrude St, Fitzroy) but his stamp is all over the menu in its precise, intense tastes and eclectic influences. Bookings required.
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St Jude's Cellar
A cavernous warehouse space has been given a clever, cool and humanising fit-out while not losing its airy industrial feel. The restaurant stretches out from behind the shopfront cellar, affording respite from the Brunswick St hustle. Mains include mussels and leek in Coldstream cider and goat ragout, but try their innovative desserts, too.
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Cumulus Inc
One of Melbourne's best for breakfasts, lunches and dinners; it gives you that wonderful Andrew McConnell style along with really reasonable prices. The focus is on beautiful produce and simple but artful cooking: from breakfasts of sardines and smoked tomato on toast at the marble bar to suppers of freshly shucked clair de lune oysters tucked away on the leather banquettes.
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Jacques Reymond
Reymond was a local pioneer of degustation dining. Degustation plates are now entrée-size, and there's an innovative vegetarian version. Expect a French-influenced, Asian-accented menu with lovely details including house-churned butter.
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Botanical
With its languid location opposite the Botanic Gardens, a bold menu and seductive décor, this is one of Melbourne’s favourite fine-dining options. Prime produce is partnered cleverly with an emphasis on Mediterranean flavours. There’s impeccable service and a serious wine list, of course. Bookings advised.
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Comme Kitchen
Comme does great produce-driven European dishes that eschew prissiness in favour of robust flavours. The space is grand but not stuffy. It’s unashamedly chic, filled with statement contemporary furniture and black-clad locals lounging on the broad banquettes.
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Montague Hotel
No architect’s wit at work here, just a smart, comfortable and essentially old-fashioned space. The mainly French food, with some Northern Asian ideas as well, is cooked with precision and care; it’s definitely not just an adjunct to a bottle or two.
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Morning Star
The food is as comfortable as the surrounds at this delightful old local in the backstreets of Williamstown. Old-school English-style fare graces the linen-dressed tables that are often full.
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Cutler & Co
Hyped for all the right reasons, this is Andrew McConnell's latest restaurant and though its decor might be a little over the top, its attentive, informed staff and joy-inducing meals (suckling pig is a favourite) have quickly made this one of Melbourne's best.
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Charcoal Lane
This training restaurant for Aboriginal and disadvantaged young people is one of the best places to try native flora and fauna; menu items include wallaby tartare and native peppered kangaroo.
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