What is *actually* the best restaurant? I get people asking me all the time. The best restaurant is a big call, because like most things, it's subjective. What are you in the mood for?
Melbourne's Best Restaurants In August At A Glance
- Bistro X
- Molli
- Barragunda Dining
- Kolkatta Cricket Club
- Marmelo
- Malin
- Maison Bâtard
- Lagoon Dining
- Ishizuka
- Society
Are you after fine dining, somewhere new or something in the suburbs? What about sky-high views, a degustation that just doesn’t end, or a bunch of tiny plates and fun wines?
Here I’ve whipped up a stack of options for you, a solid mix of new spots, casual fun and funky themed restaurants, classic spots you need to hit, and fine diners for when you're feeling flush.
These are spots I've dined at recently and reckon you should too. And each time you check back, there’s going to be something new for you, promise.
There’s plenty of cuisines on offer in Melbourne, check out our best Italian restaurants, best Indian restaurants, best Japanese restaurants, best Chinese restaurants and best cheap restaurants if you’re after those cuisines.
For the best restaurants in Melbourne CBD, head over here for our comprehensive list of must-visit old faves and bumpin’ new spots.
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Here's what I reckon are Melbourne’s best restaurants as of August, 2025:
Bistro X
The Standard X Hotel, 62 Rose Street, Fitzroy
Image: Bistro X | Supplied
It’s not often you can tuck into hearty fare from ex-Vue De Monde chefs in a casual atmosphere (and without the hefty, but on point price tag).
Shannon Bennett’s pop-up Bistro X with long-time collaborator Cory Campbell at the helm really delivers. The menu itself is all killer, no filler. It’s all the dishes you actually want to order when you go out, not the ones you saw on Instagram with all the dots and gels, and sauces and smoke and get side-tracked by.
At its essence, Bistro X is a bistro and the thoughtful and tight menu reads accordingly—however, there’s decades of skill, technique and thought that’s gone into it.
Snack-wise there’s the crayfish flatbread which is gluten-free and perfectly bouncy, duck terrine, deviled eggs (they’ve had a glow up and you can even cop caviar on top if you’re feeling flush) and a champagne trolley that rolls up to the table.
Moving into the entrees and mains there’s a french onion soup with a gruyere pastry top, austerely puffed out as it comes out of the kitchen, butterflied prawns and seared tuna loin.
For mains, dive into a Gundagai hotpot, a deep pot pie covered in flaky pastry and doused with a hefty red wine and a M6 whack of scotch fillet served alongside a selection of mustards and topped with a bone marrow-enriched red wine jus that’s unforgettable. Pair it up with some chips and salad and enjoy—this is hearty fare.
Dessert? You can’t walk past the pear tarte tartin you’ll see flooding your social feeds, served tableside in a whopping iron skillet. The caramelisation on the pastry, is unreal, it’s taken right to the edge and is the perfect way to finish up. Smaller sweet plates include a honey brulee and even a nostalgic ice cream sundae.
“Honestly throw a dart at the menu and you’re going to be stoked with what you order, but if I had to pick it’s that lamb hotpot. Cracking open the pastry and pouring the wine in is so satisfying. So much of service is done tableside as well which is a really nice touch,” Urban List editor Navarone Farrell says.
Molli
20 Mollison Street, Abbotsford
Image: Molli | Supplied
Molli has made this list before, and you know, it’s back again for a good reason. The funky diner, heavy on the smoky grill and local produce has flipped their own script after feedback from locals that it wasn’t quite what they were after.
Headed up by international darling chef Caitlin Koether who has worked at Bar Tartine in San Francisco and Relæ in Copenhagen (they’re a big deal, if you haven’t heard of them) her ethos on colour, texture and flavour has given the venue the overhaul it (apparently) needed.
The venue is now noticeably more relaxed, but that doesn’t mean they’ve lost anything in the process, in fact, quite the opposite. The addition of ferments and pluck—that’s a nice way of saying hearts, livers and all sorts of wonderful other things—on the menu make Molli the kind of fun place you want to come back to and check in on to see what’s new.
Dishes like the Hazeldene’s chicken served with sweetbreads, or the fried bread and mussel dip, lacto-fermented pickles and beef heart pastrami show a dedication to sustainable dining. “The menu is nourishing, colourful and sometimes a little bit thought-provoking. Our food is ever-changing, a bit unexpected and genuinely informed by seasonality,” Koether says.
Our pick for what to do when you’re there? Grab a pal, perch up at the bar and indulge in a full girl dinner (they actually do what’s called a girl lunch as well, FYI) with all their pick plates and work your way through Kayla Saito’s incredible cocktail list.
Barragunda Dining
13 Cape Schanck Road, Cape Schanck
Image: Barragunda Dining | Arianna Leggario
Nestled within the rugged beauty of Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula, Barragunda Dining is a next-level destination restaurant about 90 minutes from Melbourne. This intimate 40-seater, housed in a converted farmhouse on the 1000-acre Barragunda Estate, celebrates hyperlocal seasonality and sustainable farming. Executive chef Simone Watts, a now-Peninsula local with stints at Melbourne’s Coda and Pearl, crafts a menu that heroines the estate’s bounty—think organic vegetables, orchard fruits, and nose-to-tail meats. Dishes like brined almonds in pastries or hibachi-charred silverside with preserved fennel reflect the land’s cycles.
But the vision goes beyond food; Watts is reimagining food systems by supporting young farmers and fostering a deep connection to the land. With floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking native grasses and out onto the kitchen garden itself, dining here is an immersive experience. When you go to Barragunda, expect to eat with the seasons; what is beautiful and what is ripe at that time.
“That might be from the market gardens, that might be from the orchards, or that might be what is flowering in season in our coastal native borough. So to eat something means that you are immediately connected to the natural world,” Watts says.
Open Friday to Monday, Barragunda offers a $145 degustation that’s as much about the landscape as it is about the plate.
Kolkata Cricket Club
8 Whiteman Street, Level 1 Casino, Crown Melbourne, Southbank
Image: Kolkata Cricket Club | Chege Mbuthi
Kolkata Cricket Club, the new venue by Toddy Shop’s Mischa Tropp is serving up what we’re calling the best butter chicken in Melbourne, alongside a stack of spicy cocktails and vibes for days.
The flow of the menu is similar to your local Indian spot, but elevated: the feast begins with puchka, a regional version of the Indian street food snack pani puri. Moving on from the tiny snacks there’s a stack of things grilled on the tandoor like the Seekh Kebab and a series of stuffed breads for medium sized plates which are perfect for whetting your appetite.
The curries though—the curries are what you came for. We can’t give away too much but the butter chicken has to be one of the best in Melbourne, delicately smoky and not too heavy, it’s perfect to mop up with some charred garlic naan. The okra, toothsome and topped with crunchy peanuts is an incredible contrast to the creaminess of the butter chicken.
Urban List Melbourne editor Navarone Farrell says, “Hot tip, drinks wise jag yourself a Kolkata Colada, the pineapple and creaminess is perfect for the spicy curries. And perch up in one of those gorgeous red velour booths with a bunch of mates so you can try everything, including that okra, it’s so good.”
For more of Melbourne's best Indian food, head over here.
Marmelo
Ground Floor/130 Russell Street, Melbourne CBD
Image: Marmelo | Supplied
Us Melburnians don’t really get around a hotel restaurant. Why? We really should, especially when they’re as good as Marmelo.
This wonderfully open and airy restaurant is on the ground floor of the Melbourne Place complex and besides a bangin’ Portuguese-influenced menu. Let’s start with the table-side anchovy service picked delicately from a dish and placed on your plate for you to enjoy with cultured butter and toothbreakingly-excellent sourdough.
Help yourself to the hollandaise soaked cod croquettes (sauced tableside—there’s a lot of that going on) and savoury takes on the Portuguese sweet classic pastel de nata, with cauliflower puree and sliced radish on top. To fill up? The roasted cockerel with a side of tomato rice.
Urban List Melbourne editor Navarone Farrell says, “Treat yourself to a before or after bevvie at their sister venue Mr Mills, they do the best twist on a gimlet I've had in ages. Plus, it's nice and moody and there's snacks if you still fancy a bite."
Malin
687 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North
Image credit: Malin | Tash Sorensen
Malin, Carlton North’s mini fine diner taking over the former La Tonada spot is serving up eye-popping deliciousness and a decor that would be at home in an expat French chef’s petit resto in a souk in Marrakech.
Think technically complex dishes like chicken ballotine (a must order—this isn’t the boring choice, trust us), beef and oyster tartare topped with sabayon; a white wine custard, and hibachi kissed octopus and tender Western Plains lamb rump.
And if you're after a more casual vibe, owner Tash Sorensen says you have to sit up at their bar for a cocktail, namely a martini. “If we’re going to serve a martini, it should be to the standard that you would expect from any of the best cocktail bars in the city–it’s the attention to detail,” she says.
Maison Bâtard
23 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Image: Maison Bâtard | Supplied
Everything restaurateur Chris Lucas touches turns to gold, but none more-so than this four-storey homage to all that is the French joie de vivre.
Working our way from the top down, upstairs and half inside, half outside like only Melbourne knows how La Terrasse is serving up cheeseburgers and steak tartare (plus the signature Dirty Bâtard martini which is a must). Coming back down the grand staircase are two floors of restaurant which just bump with 20s Parisian style—along with a huge oyster bar and flaming grill.
Executive chef Adam Sanderson says while simplicity is key on the menu, there's often a lot more to the food here than meets the eye, just like that cheeseburger up on the terrace which is technique-driven, choc-full of remoulade and a signature bend of beef and fat, cooked just right.
“That’s my kind of vibe with food. The dish looks very simplistic but you get a bit of a surprise—and full flavour and produce driven," he says.
And more good French restaurants here if that's what you're after.
Lagoon Dining
263 Lygon Street, Carlton
Image credit: Lagoon | Supplied
Lagoon Dining is a hidden gem in Melbourne. This moody little Lygon Street spot serves up a modern twist on Chinese food with a few Thai and Malay influences.
Chef Keat Lee's sticky lamb ribs on garlic butter bread and the stir-fried rice drop noodles with Xinjiang spiced beef are both incredible. And don’t forget to try one of their signature cocktails. Last time I was there it was the sherry martini and it was awesome.
They also do a steak tartare with szechuan peppercorns and chinese donut to dip and that's the biz, a must-order if it's on.
Lagoon Dining is one of those unreal, hidden gems in Melbourne that just keeps bumping and is a fave of MasterChef and Three Blue Ducks' Andy Allen, as well as yours truly. Get along.
Ishizuka
Basement, 139 Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
Image: Ishizuka | Supplied
Melbourne’s finest Japanese diner, Ishizuka is an intimate spectacle, serving up elaborate, thoughtful and tantalising banquets, tucked away on a basement level down a lane off Bourke Street. The tremendous sense of theatre and elaborate, yet satisfying fare makes Ishizuka perfect for special occasions and wow dinners, and with their seasonal menu there’s always a reason to head back—which is always important. Their kaiseki starts at $315 with matched alcoholic beverages for $250, while a non-alc pairing runs only $80, fair play for a restaurant that’s earned itself two hats in 2025. For more of Melbourne's best Japanese restaurants, head over here.
Society
80 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD
Image credit: Society | Supplied
Feeling fancy? Head to Society for a night of glitz and glam. This upscale bistro from Chris Lucas (the powerhouse behind Lucas Restaurants) is a feast for the senses. Imagine crystal chandeliers, a massive wine cellar, and a menu packed with top-notch Aussie produce.
Right now they're serving up a winter menu that's as hearty as it is delicious. Starting out with a series of little delicate bites like a spanner crab choux bun and a one-shotter beef tartare crumpet, working your way up to (what I'd call the star of the show) a little lobster agnolotti, delicagely wrapped and topped with yuzu and a beurre blanc. For mains, there's no need to argue because they're serving both chicken and beef, with perhaps the most elite take on a roast chook you could imagine, saddled up with chips and salad.
Dare to rub shoulders with the who's who of Melbourne and dine under the monster chandelier in the Society Dining Room for the full experience, it's one you won't forget.
Hot tip, start your night in the lounge with a martini and a lobster croquette, it's a fabulous indulgence that can't be missed. Alternatively, Lillian Brasserie, Society's sibling diner in the same building, is great for a more casual dining experience.
Main image: Marmelo | Supplied
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