EAT > AEGLI, South Melbourne (16/20)

Behind a modest terrace facade on Coventry Street, in the space that once housed the experimental fine-diner Lume, Aegli has quietly become one of the most convincing Greek tables in Melbourne, a chef’s love letter to the villages and islands of home, plated with genuine restraint. Modern Hellenic cooking, done with real conviction. AMBIENCE >…

ByCrispin2 days ago

STAY > AUSTRALIA STAY > MORNINGTON PENINSULA STAY > VIC WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > Hotel Sorrento, Sorrento Victoria (17/20)

Perched on the limestone cliffs above Port Phillip Bay, Hotel Sorrento is the Mornington Peninsula's oldest hotel and its most enduring symbol of coastal glamour — a family-owned 1872 landmark that has just closed out a multi-year redevelopment without losing the salt-worn soul that made it famous in the first place. a place to stay…

ByCrispin2 days ago

ALMANAK Restaurant Review - Bommie Restaurant, Hamilton Island QLD

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > QLD EAT > WHITSUNDAYS WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > BOMMIE, Hamilton Island QLD (17/20)

Perched inside the Hamilton Island Yacht Club with Dent Passage unfurling beneath its floor-to-ceiling glass, Bommie is the Whitsundays' most credentialed fine-diner. A place to see and be seen. Fine dining above Hamilton Island Marina There's a particular kind of restaurant that only works on an island: it has to serve the yacht crowd walking…

ByCrispinAugust 23, 2026

226 (ii.ii.vi) Restaurant Melbourne - ALMANAK Restaurant Review

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > MELBOURNE EAT > VICTORIA WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Restaurant 226, Melbourne (14/20)

Beneath the heritage bones of Invicta House on Flinders Lane, Restaurant 226 (styled II.II.VI) has turned a basement into a subterranean altar to fire, and in doing so has given Melbourne a theatrical new steakhouse. There’s a particular thrill in restaurants that commit fully to a single idea rather than chasing trend after…

ByCrispinAugust 22, 2026

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > QLD EAT > WHITSUNDAYS WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Pebble Beach, Qualia Hamilton Island QLD (18/20)

Set right on the sand at the northern tip of Hamilton Island, Pebble Beach is qualia’s beachfront dining room, and it remains the most relaxed serious meal in the Whitsundays. In our opinion, Pebble Beach is the best lunch (and probably the best meal) on Hamilton Island, full stop. There’s a specific pleasure in…

ByCrispinJuly 25, 2026

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > MELBOURNE EAT > VICTORIA WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Vue de Monde, Melbourne (19/20)

Twenty-five years On and 55 floors above the CBD, Vue de Monde remains the benchmark by which Melbourne fine dining measures itself: theatrical, meticulous, unapologetically expensive, and still capable of genuine surprise. In our opinion Vue de Monde is the most complete fine-dining experience in Melbourne, and arguably in the country. There is…

ByCrispinJuly 19, 2026

STAY > AUSTRALIA STAY > QLD STAY > WHITSUNDAYS WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > QUALIA, Hamilton Island, Queensland (19/20)

Qualia on Hamilton Island remains the benchmark for barefoot Australian luxury, adults-only, 60-pavilion resort on the Great Barrier Reef where privacy, understated design and genuine sense of place outweigh any single showpiece amenity. AMBIENCE > Qualia occupies the secluded northern tip of Hamilton Island, set within roughly 30 acres of tropical gardens above the Coral…

ByCrispinJuly 12, 2026

STAY > San Francisco STAY > USA WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > The Clift Royal Sonesta, San Francisco (17/20)

The Clift Royal Sonesta San Francisco is a century-old grande dame that has reinvented itself as a polished, design‑forward base camp a block from Union Square – equal parts historic theater district icon and contemporary city crash pad. For ALMANAK’s readers, it hits that sweet spot between character and comfort: a lobby that still nods…

ByCrispinJune 14, 2026

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > MELBOURNE EAT > VICTORIA WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Marmelo, Melbourne (18/20)

Marmelo is a suave, wood‑fired love letter to Portugal that feels purpose‑built for Melbourne: ambitious but relaxed, visually dramatic yet quietly comforting, and already one of the CBD’s most compelling hotel dining rooms. In our opinion Marmelo is the best Portuguese restaurant (in Australia) There is something about Portugal that I find incredibly appealing,…

ByCrispinJune 14, 2026

STAY > NYC STAY > USA WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > HOTEL PUBLIC, New York (17/20)

New York is a city of infinite choice but when one of the choices is a place that a lower east side base to work and party, then Ian Schrager has made the perfect hotel for you. Hotel PUBLIC is more than a hotel it is a party base on the Lower East Side AMBIENCE…

ByCrispinJune 7, 2026