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The Best BYOs For When You Want A “Chilled Vibe” With Your Crew

By Morgan Reardon
28th May 2022

We love a good glass of vino as much as the next person, especially when we can take it to our favourite restaurant for a cheeky dinner date or a mid-week catch up with our mates—it’s the ultimate chilled evening. Our go-to at drop at the moment? Jacob’s Creek Lively Bunch, a juicy chilled red that pairs perfectly with everything from zingy Asian eats to moreish Italian. 

So, grab a bottle (or two) and make tracks to your city’s best BYO restaurants—we’ve done you a solid and rounded up the tastiest joints in your neck of the woods. We’ll drink to that.

Brisbane’s Best BYOs

If you like your food fat and juicy (just like your wine), then make tracks to Fat Dumpling. The Bowen Hills institution is notorious for slinging tasty morsels seven nights a week. Think: scallop jian dumplings and spiced squid bao buns. Just make sure you save room for their sweet lava dumplings filled with black sesame, nuts and honeycomb.  But the best bit? BYO is $15 a bottle. Over in Newstead, book yourself a spot at the Golden Pig and their drool-worthy banquet where you’ll feast on smoked duck, Korean fried chicken and fried Sichuan pork pastries - they also have a vegan and coeliac banquet available. Head there on a Thursday night to take advantage of their $15 BYO corkage. 

Just down the road, feast on traditional Turkish fare at Caravanserai. Housed in a rustic cottage and bathed in candlelight, devour mezze plates, almond honey butter chicken, and spiced Turkish meatballs. Here corkage will only set you back $4.5o per person. Finally, for authentic Greek eats, book a table at Lefka’s Taverna on Wednesday or Thursday night where BYO is just $8 per bottle. That means more room in the piggy bank for an extra serve of their ridiculously good saganaki. 

Sydney’s Best BYOs

Take your tastebuds on a trip to Italy - minus the airfare - with a trip to Spaghetteria in Randwick. Offering free corkage on BYO (not a typo), dig into bowls of handmade tonnarelli cacio e pepe and truffle-stuffed gnocchi with porcini butter - the perfect accompaniment to a bottle of Lively Bunch. Still on the Italian train, if you find yourself in Darlinghurst you have to snag a seat at BYO institution Bar Reggio. The family-owned eatery offers ​​BYO wine with a $3.50 per person corkage fee, plus over 30 different types of pizza and 20 delicious pasta sauces - it doesn’t get much better than that. 

Just around the corner you’ll find Phamish, a low-key Vietnamese joint slinging some of the best dumplings, curries and rice paper rolls in Sydney. The legends here offer BYO wine for just $3 per person. Heading North? Make your way to Crows Nest no frills beauty Last Train To Bombay. Come for the no corkage fee and stay for the Kerala prawn curry and juicy tandoori chicken. You’re welcome. 

Melbourne’s Best BYOs

Grab a bottle of juicy chilled red and settle in for a night of thin crust pizza and plates of hearty lasagne, melt-in-your-mouth cured meats and mozzarella at DOC Gastronomia - one our favourite BYOs in Melbourne. With locations at Southbank and Carlton, corkage here will only set you back $15 per bottle. 

Tuck into plates of tender lamb back ribs, spiced eggplant and delicate samosas at the Afghan Gallery. Filling the bellies of Melbournians since 1983, this Fitzroy gem offers BYO at just $5 per person. Scoff shao-long bao and juicy dumplings until you feel like you’re going to burst at ​​HuTong Dumpling Bar. Offering BYO at just $5 per person (at their CBD outpost only), it’s the perfect spot for a cheap and chilled dinner. 

If you’re feeling a little fancy, book a table at Estelle on Mondays where they offer $20 BYO per bottle in their cosy wine bar. Sample chef Scott Pickett’s innovative dishes (think: Yarra Valley quail with plum and pickled radicchio or Lamb rump with rhubarb, cos and peas) and settle in for a seriously special culinary experience. 

Perth’s Best BYOs 

Tuck into some of the tastiest authentic Lebanese eats in Perth at The Prophet Cafe in East Victoria Park. At just $5 per bottle, you’ll have more coin in the bank to feast on mouth-watering plates of baked kibbeh (seriously, it’s a game-changer), shish kebab and baklava. 

At just $2 per person corkage, Pizzaca is gentle on the wallet and big in flavour. The Scarborough eatery slings woodfired pizzas (the Prawn Star with WA king prawns, chilli and chorizo is a must) and generous bowls of pappardelle bolognese and lamb ragu - so no one will go hungry, or thirsty, here. Grab a bottle of Lively Bunch and make a beeline for a long lunch at Pappagallo in Leederville. Offering BYO wine for $8 per bottle during lunch Monday to Saturday, fill your belly with Roman-style pizzas, handmade pasta, local seafood and steak. Whatever you order, just make sure you finish your meal with their ricotta doughnuts for dessert - they’re little bites of heaven. 

If you like your wine paired with a drool-worthy burger then Short Order’s CBD digs are where you’ll want to head on your next night out. Open seven days a week, tuck into their famous Nashville hot chicken sandwich, BBQ bacon cheeseburger and buffalo wings and thank us later.

Wondering what to BYO? Jacob's Creek's newest Lively Bunch range is a fresh, fruit-forward wine that is lively on the nose and palate. Best served chilled, it's a guaranteed table pleaser to bring along and crack open. Click here to find out more. 

And always remember to Drinkwise. 

Editor’s note: this article was produced in partnership with Jacob's Creek. Thank you for supporting the partners who make Urban List possible. To read our editorial policy, click here.

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