Melbourne is fast becoming a city of aperitivo excellence and at the forefront is the Italian community. We enjoyed a stellar evening (invite) at the Italian International Chamber of Commerce (ICCI) hosted Una Cena Raccontata - "a dinner, told" - at Al Dente Enoteca in Carlton, one of Melbourne's best Italian restaurants and a venue I've appreciated for years.
This great event was a guided journey through the Italian aperitivo tradition, built around a bespoke four-course menu from Al Dente Enoteca and Carnegie's Nuvoletta Gelateria, paired course-by-course with Cocchi Vermouth - the storied Piedmontese house that's been quietly shaping Italian drinking culture since 1891.
Upstairs at the old Melbourne Supper Club on Spring Street, this authentic Greek taverna is quietly one of the city's most underrated dining experiences — and our second visit only confirmed it.
We were invited to dine at Kafeneion. As always, our thoughts and opinions are entirely our own.
Melbourne has a little slice of Athens hiding above Parliament, and we couldn't wait to return. Kafeneion — a play on kafeneio, the traditional Greek coffee house — occupies the first floor of 161 Spring Street, in the storied space long known as the Melbourne Supper Club. Created by acclaimed restaurateur Con Christopoulos (City Wine Shop, The European, Siglo) alongside Stavros Konis, the taverna began life as a pop-up before proving popular enough to become a permanent fixture. Our second visit confirmed why: this is home-style Greek cooking, made with heart, in one of the city's most atmospheric rooms — and one of the standouts in our guide to the best Greek restaurants in Melbourne.
Truffle season in Melbourne is one of the great annual rituals for anyone who loves food — and this year Cha Ching on Flinders Lane has jumped headfirst into the celebration with a limited-time Winter Truffle Banquet that makes a strong case for being the city's most exciting truffle dining event right now. I've long been a fan of Cha Ching's bold modern Asian banquets — the venue consistently punches well above its price point — and this seven-course truffle feast at $99 per person confirms everything I love about eating here.
The menu showcases premium Western Australian black truffles across every course, weaving them through the kitchen's signature flair for big, confident flavours. It's indulgent without being overwrought, and it captures exactly what truffle season should feel like: luxurious, seasonal, and best shared with people you like.
Some nights in Melbourne's food scene remind you why this city punches so far above its weight. Monday, 6 July 2026 was one of them. At Il Caminetto in Moonee Ponds, two of Australia's most awarded pizzaiolos — both ranked among Asia's Top 50 Pizza makers — joined forces for a one-night-only collaboration dinner. The result was one of the finest pizzas I've eaten in fifteen years of doing this.
Winter means one thing for Melbourne food lovers: truffle season. From decadent long lunches and luxurious banquets to affordable cheese-laden indulgence, Melbourne knows how to celebrate one of nature’s most prized ingredients. Whether you’re after fine dining or comfort food elevated by generous shavings of black truffle, the city offers no shortage of memorable experiences.
Here are four of the best truffle dining experiences in Melbourne this winter.
Melbourne's City Loop isn't just the easiest way to get around the CBD — it's also your gateway to some of Australia's best restaurants. Whether you're heading to a show, catching up with friends after work, or simply exploring the city by train, there are outstanding dining options just minutes from every station.
This guide features our favourite restaurants within an easy walk of Flinders Street, Parliament, Melbourne Central and Flagstaff stations. From award-winning fine dining to hidden laneway gems, every venue has been personally experienced by The World Loves Melbourne.
Forget expensive parking. Jump on the train and let Melbourne's food scene do the rest.
Melbourne's laneway bar scene is one of the great urban drinking cultures anywhere in the world. Behind unmarked doors, down cobblestone alleys, through wardrobe doors and bookshelves, hidden inside shipping containers and 19th-century heritage buildings — this city has spent decades perfecting the art of the hidden bar. These are not gimmicks. The best laneway bars in Melbourne are serious cocktail destinations: venues with world-class bartenders, rare whisky collections, impeccable food and atmospheres you will not find anywhere else on earth.
Sam and I have visited every bar on this list personally, some many times. We've drunk whisky behind bookshelves, sipped dirty martinis in moody basement rooms, sat elbow-to-elbow with 11 other guests at a bar where every cocktail is a masterpiece and the bartender knows your name by your second visit. This guide covers the very best — the venues that define what Melbourne's laneway bar culture is all about in 2026.
Whether you're after hidden speakeasies, world-class cocktails, intimate whisky bars or just the thrill of finding a great bar down an alley most people walk straight past, this is your guide. Also see our guide to the best bars in Melbourne and best rooftop bars in Melbourne for more.
Melbourne is one of the world's great dining cities, and when you combine exceptional food with a spectacular backdrop — whether that's a glittering skyline from 300 metres up, the silver shimmer of the Yarra River, or a rooftop panorama stretching across the suburbs — you have something genuinely unforgettable. I've been fortunate to dine at some of Melbourne's finest view restaurants over the years, from iconic skyscraper dining rooms to casual waterfront gems, and in this guide I'm sharing the ones that have earned a genuine place on my personal list.
These aren't restaurants chosen purely for the scenery. Every venue here also delivers on food, wine, and experience — because a view without substance is just a window. This is my personally curated guide to the best Melbourne restaurants with a view, updated for 2026.
Melbourne is extraordinarily well positioned for day hikes. Within an hour or two of the city you can be standing on wild ocean clifftops, deep in ancient fern gullies, gazing across Victoria's volcanic plains from a jagged ridgeline, or walking a peaceful lakeside circuit with coffee in hand. I've explored all of these with family over many visits — some destinations I've returned to a dozen times, others reward a first visit in a way that immediately makes you plan the next one. Here are the best day hikes from Melbourne, drawn from personal experience.
Melbourne is home to one of the largest Greek communities in the world outside of Athens — and it shows at the table. From late-night souvlaki institutions that have fed generations of Melburnians to refined modern Greek kitchens reinterpreting Hellenic classics, and from the buzzing tavernas of Oakleigh's 'Little Athens' precinct to the fireplace-centred dining rooms of the inner west, the city's Greek food scene is extraordinary. I've eaten my way through a good portion of it, and here are the restaurants I keep returning to and recommending.
Melbourne's pie scene has come a long way from the servo warmer. These days you'll find chef-driven fillings, artisan pastry, and proper provenance behind the meat — sitting right alongside the classic suburban bakery pie that's been getting it right for decades. I've been working my way through the city's best, from Collingwood bakeries to CBD pub kitchens, and here's where to go.
Melbourne's pub scene is one of the finest in the world. I say that having spent fifteen years exploring the venues of this city — from its legendary institutions to its most exciting new openings. Whether you're chasing a pint poured straight from a working brewery, a Sunday roast that could silence a table, a chicken parma worth making a reservation for, or elevated gastropub dining that rivals any restaurant in town, Melbourne delivers. These are the best pubs in Melbourne right now — personally visited, personally assessed, and listed with the honest opinions that fifteen years of drinking in this city earn you.
Straddling the Murray River on the Victoria–New South Wales border, Echuca Moama is one of the most satisfying slow tracel close-to-home weekend escapes from Melbourne that doesn't feel compromised. Ancient river red gums line the banks, paddlesteamers churn slowly past historic wharves, and a genuinely excellent food and wine scene has quietly grown up alongside it all.
We spent a sunny weekend escape here recently - and came back wondering why we'd waited so long. The river is calming. The town moves at its own pace. And the eating and drinking, it turns out, is seriously good.
Melbourne’s hospitality scene turned out in force for one of the most talked-about events of the year as the launch of innovative new bottle shop Drop Shop rolled seamlessly into a spectacular celebration at Daphne, one of the city’s hottest dining destinations.
The evening brought together great wine, martinis, exceptional food, music and some of Melbourne’s best hospitality talent, proving once again that Melbourne does hospitality better than almost anywhere else.
Looking for a premium truffle experience in Melbourne in the winter season? We recently experienced one of the best truffle experiences in Melbourne (if not Australia) and you can too. The famous Truffle Brunch at NOMAD Melbourne is a fabulous celebration of local truffles and is not to be missed.
Looking for Melbourne's best vegan cafe? Melbourne's plant-based food scene just got a landmark new address. Mister Nice Guy's BakeShop has opened in South Melbourne, and if the launch day crowd snaking down the block is any indication, this neighbourhood has been waiting for exactly this.
Established in 2010 in Ascot Vale, Mister Nice Guy's is Melbourne's first 100% plant-based bakery - a place built on genuine craft, creative baking and the quiet conviction that extraordinary food doesn't require eggs, dairy or meat. The new South Melbourne store, featuring the best of hospitality from the warm and welcoming Manny and Josephine, carries that spirit beautifully into one of the city's most beloved community precincts, just a short stroll from the South Melbourne Market.
I was there on launch day amidst the community buzz. The line went down the block and didn't let up all afternoon. The vibe was electric, the community turned out in force.
Melbourne's love affair with premium Western Australian wine has never been more alive. The Great Southern region - and Frankland River in particular - is producing some of the most exciting, terroir-driven wines in Australia right now, and Melbourne drinkers have noticed. So when one of WA's most celebrated family producers comes to town for a single evening, you pay attention.
On Wednesday July 29, Mr L's Bar & Restaurant on Toorak Road, South Yarra, will host an exclusive five-course wine dinner with the legendary Alkoomi Wines from Frankland River, Western Australia. Just 50 seats are available at $150 per person - intimate, considered, and already building strong interest. This is one of the best-value premium wine events we've seen this year, and with only 50 covers, it will not last long.
Melbourne is one of the world's great food cities, so it makes sense that its buffet scene is world-class and punches well above its weight. We are not talking about the sad sneeze-guard spreads of stereotype - we are talking live sashimi stations, Tasmanian oysters on ice, unlimited king crab legs, slow-roasted prime rib, wood-fired pizza, yum cha baskets, wagyu at your table, and curries fragrant with coconut and spice. Whether you are planning a celebratory splurge or hunting for outstanding value, Melbourne has a buffet that delivers.
I have eaten my way through many a Melbourne buffet, and what follows is an honest, first-hand guide to the best buffets in Melbourne right now - with ratings, price notes, and the key things to know before you book.
There are food destinations in Melbourne, and then there is Grazeland. A place where we believe there is something for everyone and gems to be discovered. Set in Spotswood at 20 Booker Street, Grazeland is one of those rare places that genuinely earns the word “destination” - a sprawling open-air food and entertainment precinct that brings together more than 50 street food vendors under one roof of sky, live music and big-screen energy. It is family-friendly, festive, and the kind of place that feels like a celebration regardless of the season. We’ve visited multiple times across summer, spring and now winter, and Grazeland never disappoints. This is our complete guide to dining at Grazeland Melbourne.
Melbourne has one of the great wine bar cultures of the world. Not just in Australia — the world. The city's lanes, inner-north strips and neighbourhood corners have quietly nurtured a scene that rewards curiosity, celebrates the obscure, and takes the glass in your hand seriously. Whether you're after a premium bottle from a cellar with serious depth, an affordable by-the-glass pour from a winemaker you've never heard of, or just a warm corner stool and a plate of something excellent, Melbourne delivers.
We've been visiting these bars for years — some since their opening nights. This is our considered guide to the best wine bars in Melbourne right now.
South Yarra has always been one of Melbourne's great dining precincts. Toorak Road, Chapel Street and the surrounding streets hold an extraordinary concentration of restaurants — from a beloved French institution that has been serving celebrities and locals for decades, to a ten-seat omakase serving the world's finest Kobe Wagyu beef, to buzzing Italian joints, elegant hotel dining rooms and long-running neighbourhood favourites that have earned their loyalty the hard way.
We've been dining in South Yarra for years, many of these restaurants multiple times. This is our considered guide to the best restaurants in South Yarra right now — updated for 2026.
Updated June 2026. All venues personally visited by The World Loves Melbourne.
Box Hill is arguably Melbourne’s most exciting food suburb. From legendary Cantonese roast duck and fiery Sichuan noodles to premium Korean BBQ and modern brunch cafes, this eastern suburb delivers extraordinary diversity and value.
Whether you’re chasing authentic Chinese regional cuisine, comforting Vietnamese classics, or stylish Japanese dining, Box Hill rewards hungry explorers with some of Melbourne’s most memorable meals.
Fitzroy and Collingwood are where Melbourne's food culture lives and breathes. Brunswick Street, Gertrude Street, Smith Street — these are strips shaped by decades of creative energy, migrant cooking, and an unwillingness to settle for average. The good news for your wallet is that the best eating here has never required a big spend. Locals have always eaten well and cheaply in the inner north, and that culture is very much alive in 2026.
I've spent more hours eating my way through Fitzroy and Collingwood than I could possibly count — with Sam, with groups, and on solo missions chasing down the best of a very competitive field. This is my personal guide to the best cheap eats in Fitzroy and Collingwood in 2026.
