Translating the perfect European wine bar experience to Australia rarely works. Predominately because we have all had so many amazing experiences at perfect little local venues in Italy, Greece, Spain or France. But Woods Yard have nailed it with all the bits you love and retaining a little Australian edge.
AMBIENCE >
Woods Yard…
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On the corner of Lygon and Faraday streets, in the ground-floor space that housed the beloved King & Godfree deli for more than a century, Delmonte has arrived: a glamorous Italian wine room built by hospitality entrepreneur Jamie Valmorbida on the bones of his own family's history.
There's a particular kind of pressure that comes…
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 >…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
There are pubs that age badly, and there are pubs that age magnificently. The Victory Hotel, perched on the brow of Sellicks Hill with a panorama stretching across Aldinga Bay and the Fleurieu coast, belongs emphatically to the latter camp. This is one of Australia's great gastropubs — weathered, warm and quietly formidable, with a…
Blackbird Melbourne is a three-level, moodily newcomer on Flinders Lane that feels built for long, steak lunches built around fire, flesh and a little theatre. It’s the Brisbane icon reimagined for Melbourne, with an open kitchen anchored by a Josper grill, a serious cellar and a cocktail bar that leans hard into nostalgia.
Blackbird is…
