The 50 Best Restaurants in the Melbourne CBD

Owned by renowned restaurateur Scott Pickett (founder of Estelle, Matilda and Pastore), Longrain is a vibrant modern Thai restaurant set in an impeccably restored horse stable, featuring a relaxed and communal eating experience. Head here for the impressive banquet menu or go a la carte, trying a series of inventive sharing dishes.

Longrain, one of the best Thai restaurants in Melbourne, also has a prolific list of wines by the glass — both local and international. After you dine, head upstairs to Longsong — a buzzing bar with Thai-inspired cocktails and local wines aplenty — to keep the good times (and good Thai) rolling.

Image: Eugene Hyland.

When people are queuing for a table on a Wednesday night, you know there’s got to be something damn good about Melbourne’s Bar Lourinha. Seasoned regulars know that it’s got a combination of the three all-important aspects of any great venue: food, wine and service. It also helps that it feels like a tiny slice of Spain right here in Melbourne’s CBD.

The wine list is heavily focused on European offerings; Spain, France and Italy are the main contenders here. As for the Iberian food menu, start the evening with smoked chilli and corn croquettes before moving onto the Portuguese prawn rice with turmeric butter or the grilled skirt steak. You can take your time at this beloved restaurant in Melbourne CBD, ordering food and drinks as you go.

Image: Jo Gamvros

If you’re after the real deal when it comes to Sichuan hot pot, you’ll find yourself in expert hands at this Melbourne CBD restaurant — the first local outpost of a brand that originated in hot pot’s heartland of Chengdu. It’s buzzy, colourful and has the crowds flocking for traditional Sichuan-style broths.

The kitchen’s boldly flavoured soup bases marry classic ingredients with top-quality Australian beef tallow; options ranging from the signature spicy broth, to a laksa-style number, to a luxurious dried fish maw and chicken soup. Choose from four levels of heat, and a vast array of add-ins to pimp your pot — including lobster balls, pork belly and braised short rib. Round out your feast with some classic fried snacks and a few cold Chinese lagers and you’ve got a bloody good meal.

An oldie but a goodie, Mamasita is one of the OG players in Melbourne’s Mexican wave, first opening its doors back in 2010. That famous front staircase has seen many a lengthy queue as people scramble to get their food fix amid an atmosphere of a perpetual party.

The menu at arguably the best Mexican restaurant in Melbourne is a broad-ranging one, with snacks like tostadas, ceviche and terrific tacos, plus a handful of heartier shared dishes of meat to stuff in Mamasita’s stretchy hand-pressed tortillas. What’s more, the obsession with agave spirits here is clear with just one glance at the drinks list, loaded with tequila, mezcal and tasting flights.

Melbourne’s CBD is no stranger to a brilliant Italian restaurant, but 2023 saw a new legend join the game — Quando Quando Cucina & Bar. This Sicilian restaurant comes from Pino Trigilia, who used to own and cook at Il Nostro Posto on Hardware Lane (now home to Funghi e Tartufo).

Traditional and semi-formal Sicilian food is the name of the game here. Don’t come expecting rustic cheap eats. Everything is more refined, but has a pleasing, well-considered simplicity. A must-try? Any of the hand-made pastas, be they on the regular menu or one of the daily specials.

From the minds behind Sunda, this top Melbourne CBD restaurant draws culinary inspiration from those early days of trade between Indonesian seafarers and northern Australia, championing the flavours of Southeast Asia, Japan and China, alongside native Australian ingredients.

The kitchen is guided by ancient techniques like curing and smoking, with a woodfired hearth and an on-site dry-ageing room that turns out the likes of cured pork and Viet-style duck sausage. A creatively-charged menu pushes familiar flavours into innovative new directions — an Aussie barbecue staple might be reborn as a duck snag sanga with leatherwood honey and peanut hoi sin. You might even spy a sourdough riff on the lamington finished with Vietnamese coffee.

Image: Ari Hatzis.

A pop-up turned perennial favourite, Supernormal first opened the doors to its current Flinders Lane digs in early 2014 and has been earning fans ever since for its crafty fusion fare — including the famous signature New England lobster roll.

It’s also where you can have one of the most fun private dining experiences in Melbourne. Kick it off with a long lunch or dinner for up to 40 guests and follow it up with karaoke in the very same room. The team has a huge screen and all the gear required to keep the dancing and singing going til late. Otherwise, the main dining room is always busy with people taking over seats at the bar and down in the booths. A vibe.

Image: Nikki To.

Hidden in a basement just off Little Collins street, Dodee Paidang is a vibrant eatery bursting with aromatic fragrances and bustling conversation which perfectly captures the energy of a Bangkok diner. Opened in 2017 by Somporn Phosri, who grew up working in his mother’s kitchen, this Melbourne Thai restaurant now has seven locations. But this one is the original and, fair to say, the best.

The menu is vast and can be daunting. Thankfully, it features photos of every dish so you won’t be ordering blind. This is extra important as you’ll purchase all your food and drinks through the website (no personalised recommendations for you, you’ve got to trust in your choices!), then your order is delivered to the table by a robot.

Le Ho Fook has been serving up creative and stylish modern Chinese fare in Melbourne since 2013, when it opened its doors in Collingwood. Now located in the CBD, the brainchild of head chef and owner Victor Liong has become a Melbourne dining institution. The focus is Chinese-Australian classics with a contemporary take, designed to please everyone from the grandparents to the kids.

The a la carte menu features a large list of house specialties, which rotates from time to time. If you haven’t been to this Melbourne Chinese restaurant before, as it to you dining bucket list, stat.

Yet another hit from legendary chef Andrew McConnell (Cumulus Inc, Cutler & Co, Marion) Gimlet is a suave Melbourne restaurant and cocktail bar located in the 1920s-built Cavendish House. A dapper fit-out features soaring ceilings, geometric tiles and honeycomb chandeliers, while the food and drink offering is that of a very chic French bistro.

The menu boasts plates like wood-roasted rock lobster with bisque sauce, and a gnocco fritto featuring bresaola and parmesan; deftly mixing old-world elements with a touch of modern flair. Like the space, the menu is also incredibly indulgent — expect caviar bumps, champagne and truffles aplenty. Gimlet has even scored international acclaim, taking out #84 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards in 2022.

Image: Earl Carter

When entering Reine & La Rue, it’s hard not to be enamoured by the interiors — which won the top gong at Australia’s Interior Design Awards in 2024. The 150-seat restaurant (Reine) boasts tall granite columns, lofty ceilings, ornate neo-gothic details and a showstopping stained glass window right behind one of the bars. It’s an absolute beaut. But the interiors are but just one part of the Reine & La Rue experience, providing a great backdrop for some truly spectacular food.

Contemporary French fare is the name of the game here, and it can be sampled in a myriad of luxurious ways. Either simply sit at the bar with snacks and cocktails, order a lavish seafood platter for two (with a bottle of champagne and caviar service), or go all out with a multi-course feed. Yes, the size of the bill will astound many, but it’s one of those places where you won’t feel ripped off by any measure. Spend big, and you’ll be rewarded ten-fold.

This ambitious Melbourne restaurant venture by chef Alejandro Saravia champions the whole of Victoria and its diverse regions. Overlooking the Yarra, it’s a multi-faceted homage to our state’s produce, people and places. A hand-carved interactive ‘Ingredients Table’ displays each season’s highlight produce and the dedicated wine library showcases over 3000 local bottles.

The ever-evolving food offering hops right across the state, promising plenty of theatrical flair as ingredients are lovingly cooked over wood and charcoal. And alongside that fiercely seasonal a la carte lineup, a second provenance menu rotates through a different region at any one time, specifically celebrating its ingredients, winemakers and chefs.

Images: Arianna Leggiero

There’s no way you’ve ever had omakase like that at Ronin. Most Melbourne omakase joints are all about hushed tones and sophistication. At Ronin, Chef Patrick Kwong has no interest in such formality. From the moment you sit down at the ten-seat omakase bar, the young chef will beckon you to “get lit” with him and every other guest. He’ll likely join you in shooting some tequila and sake throughout the night while the tunes of Taylor Swift, Natasha Bedingfield and Miley Cyrus play in the background.

But despite Kwong’s friendly laidback attitude when it comes to service, he’s incredibly serious about his food. Classically trained in the Edo period omakase style, Kwong has fine-tuned his skills and learnt when to follow tradition and when to toss it aside. He regularly infuses his Malaysian heritage into dishes — like adding laksa butter to nigiri — while also bringing more contemporary Australian flavours to the experience. If you love omakase, be sure to check out this alternative version.

The Mulberry Group’s Hazel graces two levels of the T&G Building where the team is cooking with a woodfired grill and oven fuelled by Aussie ironbark. At Hazel there are myriad things to tempt snackers and feasters alike, from crafty small plates to larger gems such as the wood-roasted pork belly with charred leaks and wild garlic.

The generous wine selection has broad appeal, as do the simple yet snappy cocktails. Meanwhile, the light-filled space is primed for lingering with its restrained mix of elegant curves and natural linens. And for post-dinner nightcaps, see downstairs sibling bar Dessous.

Image: Kate Shanasy.

The family who used to own Thai Culinary and Raan Kan Eang on Elizabeth Street (both sadly closed during Covid) returned with a new venture in Melbourne’s CBD in 2023 — Kan Eang. Set within a narrow space on Flinders Lane, the two-storey Thai restaurant is a sleeker, more refined version of the older haunts. This is partly because the original owners’ children have taken over the reins to give the venue a contemporary refresh.

Loyal fans needn’t fret though, because the siblings have stuck true to what made their family’s previous restaurants so popular — serving up generous amounts of great Thai eats at really decent prices. Many of the most popular dishes from the previous venues remain, and the parents still pass through to make sure they don’t mess around with family recipes.

Brought to you by those clever folks behind the Town Mouse (which sadly closed back in 2018), this Russell Street wine bar is instantly inviting with a slick yet warm European charm. The cosy confines mark it as perfect date night material, while stools lining the bar and open kitchen lend themselves perfectly to sophisticated solo dining.

A considered pouring list plays to both the curious and the more conservative. Technique-driven, but not pretentiously so, the food at Embla is as great as you’d expect from this team; the menu proves a winning blend of comforting flavours and chef flair. All of this combines to make one of the very best restaurants in Melbourne CBD.

Luke Mangan is well known for serving up classic French cuisine in Sydney — with restaurants in the Hilton Hotel Sydney, Kimpton Margot Hotel Sydney and the Pylon Lookout inside the Sydney Harbour Bridge. His latest venture Bistrot Bisou follows the same tried-and-tested formula. Mangan has set up a contemporary French restaurant in another city hotel — this time, Melbourne’s Hotel Indigo.

Here, you won’t find food that challenges or feels particularly playful. Instead, the team has stuck to nailing the classics — think: steak tartare, cheese soufflé, confit duck legs, lobster thermidor, tarte tatin and crème brûlée. There might not be any surprises, but the dishes are executed with great finesse and also showcase top local produce.

Soi 38 is an authentic Thai street food restaurant in the CBD with an atmosphere that echoes the vibrant hustle and bustle of a Bangkok market. With plastic stools and bright plastic tables, this is the kind of place you come to experience terrific Thai flavours with zero pretensions.

The menu here, at one of the best Thai restaurants in Melbourne, never seems to end, staying true to the inventiveness of the country’s street food scene. The spot is low on frills but it proves that it doesn’t need them if a great feed is what you’re after. It’s still up there with some of the best restaurants in Melbourne’s CBD when cheap and cheerful is the order of the day.

Scott Pickett’s Chancery Lane resides in the historic Normanby Chambers site at 430 Little Collins Street. The space is kitted out with moodily lit dining zones, curved banquettes and arched windows framed in dapper black steel, while the Euro-accented bistro serves up fare that’s at once timeless and unafraid of modern technique.

The expansive seafood selection features a range of caviar served by the gram or the tin, alongside bites like prawn cocktails with apple and cantaloupe. A grand, globe-trotting wine cellar rounds out the fun at one of Melbourne’s best French restaurants, including a pick of top-shelf wines displayed artfully in a former safe within one of the dining room walls.

Image: Tania Bahr Vollrath

Nestled in The Archway on Katherine Place, Delhi Streets brings authentic Indian market food to the city of Melbourne. Owner Charan Singh prides himself on running an atypical Indian restaurant in Melbourne. Expect a more snack-based, market-style affair that includes classic Indian eats as well as more Western fare. The Indian-flavoured pizzas and wraps will certainly keep you guessing.

Keeping it all in the family, Singh’s dad is even manning the tandoor oven. He’s a total pro who is unrivalled in Melbourne’s Indian dining scene. Try the mixed grill platter or stick with the classic chicken coated in a garlic and ginger marinade — a favourite of Singh’s dad.

No one understands the magic of a comforting bowl of quality pasta quite like the cosy, ever-buzzy Tipo 00. Named in a nod to the traditional flour used to make pizza and pasta, the restaurant serves some of the city’s best interpretations of the classic Italian food group.

For perfectly executed simplicity, go with the likes of squid ink tagliolini, spaghetti with Moreton Bay Bug and tomato butter, or rigatoni in a ragu of wagyu, tomato and confit chilli. Throw in some top-notch Euro snacks and starters, a daily-changing salumi lineup and a knowledgable, Italian-leaning wine list, and prepare to be transported right back to the homeland.

Image: Kristoffer Paulsen

Filling the shoes of now-closed CBD institution Ezard, is the first Melbourne outpost of Sydney’s much-loved Mediterranean restaurant Nomad. Owners Rebecca and Al Yazbek transformed the Adelphi Hotel’s lower ground floor into Nomad’s 100-seat southern iteration, replicating the ethos of the original while championing a whole new menu.

Celebrated Executive Chef Jacqui Challinor works closely with Nomad Melbourne’s Head Chef Josh Moroney to develop the eatery’s signature offering, centred around house-made cheese and charcuterie and the kitchen’s prized woodfired oven. Fans will find a handful of menu mainstays backed by a lineup of Melbourne-specific dishes, with plenty of locally-sourced meat and veggies cooked over flames among the mix.

The team behind The Everleigh and Heartbreaker created this chic yet relaxed underground French bar and restaurant. At Bar Margaux, the fun kicks on till midnight on weekdays and 3am on Fridays and Saturdays (a rarity with venues of this sort in the CBD), with a substantial supper menu of classic French fare on offer right through to close.

So, if your late-night munchies tend to sway closer to crème brûlée than kebabs, this is the place to go. Order some champagne or cocktails and pair it all with some oysters, ratatouille and pomme frites. It’s for those feeling fancy after midnight in Melbourne CBD.

Internationally recognised for outstanding Cantonese cuisine and exceptional service, Flower Drum’s menu emphasises fresh seafood and meat with a creative modern twist. You’ll find all the Cantonese classics at this lavish restaurant, from silky duck wontons and steamed tofu to delicate pieces of crab and tender Peking duck.

We also highly recommend you try the Flower Drum lunch banquet, with delicate seafood rice paper rolls, sang choi bao, Peking duck pancakes, wok-fried barramundi fillet and stir-fried eye fillet with mushrooms and soy. It’s a no-brainer for those wanting classic Chinese fare in old-school fine-dining surrounds.

Tucked away in a cosy basement space on Little Bourke Street lies this late-night mezcal bar and taqueria slinging good times and ripper tacos right through until 1am. The menu’s entirely gluten-free and boasts vegan options aplenty — kick off your fiesta with the likes of prawn ceviche or some chilli and lime salted fried chicken before moving onto tacos loaded with combinations like spicy chorizo and braised pork.

Also a fitting match to late-night visits is the sprawling collection of agave, with curated flights for those looking to explore. And for a daytime Mexican fix, try Bodega’s bottomless brunch, offering five lively courses and 90 minutes of free-flowing cocktails every Saturday and Sunday.

Image: Jean-Louis Carvalho

The team behind South American restaurants San Telmo, Pastuso, Palermo and Asado has taken a jaunt to Japan for this Tokyo-accented eatery set within a playful, minimalist space sporting futuristic elements and neon lights aplenty. It’s embracing the art of charcoal grilling, with Japanese techniques and traditions at the forefront, and a custom-built robatayaki grill taking centre stage in the kitchen.

Robata’s izakaya-style menu is headlined by yakitori and kushiyaki skewers, cooked over charcoal, moving onto snacks like sashimi and tataki. Deeper in, further Japanese flavours are reworked with fresh twists. Meanwhile, a list of top-notch drops trip happily from Japan’s craft breweries and whisky distilleries to the vineyards of Victoria.

The boldly executed Chef David on Elizabeth Street is a vision of marble, metallics and neon blue — and it serves up some seriously tasty eats. You’ve got an incredible Peking duck, over 15 different kinds of barbecued skewers, a whole selection of grilled fish (these are some of Chef David’s signature creations) and an impressive lineup of wok-cooked dishes. Starters like popcorn chicken, tempura soft-shell crab bao buns and spicy pig trotters are also crowd-favourites.

When it comes to drinks, you can get on the classic and signature cocktails, wines and beers in either bottles, jugs or towers. This spot can get a bit rowdy come Friday or Saturday night, when the crew often hosts live music and DJs. Dancers have been known to make their way around tables from time to time as well. All in all, it’s fun, vibey and absolutely one of the best Chinese restaurants in Melbourne.