Best restaurants for a special occasion in Melbourne and Victoria
Whether celebrating an anniversary, a birthday or just because, here are the best restaurants in Melbourne and around Victoria perfect for a special occasion.
Eating Out
Don't miss out on the headlines from Eating Out. Followed categories will be added to My News.
TULUM
Those in the know long knew that Balaclava’s modern Turkish restaurant, Tulum, was one of Melbourne’s best, but a recent refresh of both looks and direction has elevated it even higher.
Coskun Uysal, whose cooking takes Istanbul training and mixes it with a Melbourne sensibility, has evolved his destination diner into something more accessible.
The new-look room is beautiful, comfortable and sexy, with dark panels and exposed bricks, timber, marble and leather all adding good looks.
The lighting is flattering, the Anatolian pop infectious, the staff welcoming, knowledgeable and efficient. And the food?
Better than ever.
CITTA
Milan comes to Melbourne in the most spectacular way at Città.
Rinaldo ‘Ronnie’ Di Stasio’s CBD outpost of his St Kilda stalwart made a multimillion-dollar splash upon opening earlier this year with its mix of modern art – video art screens on austere concrete walls – and hospitality’s timeless arts.
Racy red leather chairs surround double-clothed tables set on a glorious terrazzo floor around which a phalanx of white-jacketed waiters spin, but it’s the elegantly long, seductive marble bar that’s the true focal point of the restaurant.
Citta offers a salve for a bad day, a salon for a good one; somewhere to celebrate or commiserate with equal passion.
It’s expensive, it’s timeless.
It’s one of Melbourne’s most exciting restaurants.
LAURA
The vast arc of the building at Pt Leo Estate spans fine-diner Laura at one end, the no-bookings wine terrace at the other and the 110-seat Pt Leo Restaurant in between, all with killer views of the winery’s sculpture park, Western Port Bay and a distant Phillip Island.
At Laura, the five-course set menu opens with warm brioche and freshly-pressed Cape Schanck olive oil and proceeds with beautiful snacks like the nori tartlet flecked with house-made bottarga.
The custard fondant – a recent invention when a batch of custard didn’t set – is a revelation of creaminess and texture, offset by a fluffy berry mousse.
The deep cellar is there to splash the cash, but happily make the estate wines your default.
This is destination dining at its best, big on budget but also big on welcome.
BRAE
Dan Hunter’s little farmhouse in Birregurra might increasingly cater to gastro-tourists from near and far but this is no po-faced,pinky-up affair: with music as carefully curated as the art on the walls, it’s the perfect synergy of city cool and country charm.
The connection to the almost ten hectares of Otways hinterland only grows stronger – organic wheat for the famous sourdough is now grown on site – while a spirit of innovation and adventure informs the experience such that no two meals are ever the same.
Memorable moments abound, whether a crisp Jerusalem artichoke shell filled with Southern rock lobster, sublime abalone with pork jowl skewered over coals, or the simple pleasure of a patch of garden herbs and flowers dressed with sharp Shaw River pecorino.
Follow a meal with a night in one of the super-luxe on-site suites for a truly unforgettable experience.
WICKENS
Some things never get old. And the view from Wickens, the signature restaurant at Dunkeld’s Royal Mail Hotel, is as timeless as it is spectacular.
The rugged Australian bush and craggy faces of Mounts Abrupt and Sturgeon, framed by the elegant dining room, provide the perfect backdrop for a meal that makes the daily-changing most of the famed kitchen garden.
But it’s not just out the window that looks good. More rustic, less fussy than in the past, the food is better than ever.
Allow one of the best sommeliers in the state to lead you into one of its best cellars and, while four-figured burgundies remain a drawcard, Matthew Lance also has brilliant, exciting drinking at entry-level prices, with six pages of wines by the glass affording ample opportunity for exploration.
Coupled with the elegant, accessible bistro charms of the Parker Street Project, you have a weekend away that remains one of our most delicious.
AMARU
Clinton McIver’s intimate fine diner continues its quiet rule, turning out beautifully judged odes to Aussie ingredients every single time.
It’s a pleasure to watch McIver and his honed team toil humbly in the open kitchen, but it’s not just the food that makes the experience, for there is quality and coherence in every aspect of Amaru, from service and fit-out to well-spaced tables,warm welcome and gracious goodbye.
With two set menus to choose from, each dish is served and explained by chef, sommelier or waiter in the supremely luxe yet comfortable dining room.
Drink well from an extensive cellar of wines covering all price points.
Amaru’s minimal fanfare and maximum flavour and style will always be a classy combination.
ATTICA
At Attica, chef and owner Ben Shewry heroes homegrown produce to lure visitors from here and abroad to his world class Ripponlea restaurant.
First stop lets you forage for sour Northern Territory green ants, tart emu berries and nutty bunya bunya paste, and your journey ends with a single-bite ‘rainforest cherry ripe’.
In between there’s a childhood favourite: a steamed Vegemite scroll, then a flurry of Australia’s best from land and sea:menthol-tasting saltwater crocodile ribs, kimchi-spiked kangaroo tartare, a citrus-drenched marron tail and an emu-liver smeared bagel (a nod to Ripponlea’s Jewish community).
Book for a special occasion, and splurge on a bottle from the impressively long (and pricey) drinks list.
LUME
A new chef, a new direction for South Melbourne’s fantastical fine diner, Lûmé. Young gun chef John Rivera has taken the reins from founder Shaun Quade, changing from the tricksy, what-you-see-isn’t-what-you-get molecular styles of Quade to a less prescriptive,shorter carte that draws broadly on his Filipino heritage.
There’s still an extraordinary amount of detail that goes into each dish now served across three ($100) through seven courses($170) – see: a one-bite take on Filipino barbecue pork glazed with black banana – but it’s now less formal, more fun.
The room is still one of Melbourne’s nicest to spend time in, and service as a whole is calm and engaged – though the worldly wine list comes at a whistlingly steep price.
Still edgy and experimental but now with added accessibility, Lûmé is shining bright.
VUE DE MONDE
For those who are yet to dine at Vue de monde, don’t worry. The hits you’ve heard about are still on show: the “snags” to cook on the barbie, the marshmallow to twirl over fire and that extraordinary cheese trolley. Then there’s the chocolate souffle,that’s like eating the clouds you can see just outside the window of the sleek 55th floor dining room.
But with young chef Hugh Allen now at the helm – fresh from a three-year stint at Noma – you might find the new creations even more memorable.
Vue de monde is still one of the most expensive dining experiences in the country and the wine list needs a redraw facility to properly explore, but for a for a clear vision of contemporary Australia on the plate, there are few that do it so well, so consistently.
DINNER BY HESTON
Dinner by Heston has plenty of ‘wow’ moments: the aperitif whisky cocktail that tastes of mushrooms and beef jerky. The juiciest chicken breast you’ll ever try. A glorious saffron risotto with puffs of chicken skin and veal sweetbreads bustling for attention on the same plate. Then there’s the deliciously delicate raspberry and lemon myrtle lamington cake.
You can try all of Heston Blumenthal’s clever creations on the new (and expensive) $295, multi-course tasting menu at his Crown Melbourne restaurant - though midweek dinners and weekend lunches offer shorter menus.
Sit back, drink in million-dollar Melbourne views while marvelling at the kitchen-wizardry, where each creation leaves you hungrily anticipating the next.
LAKE HOUSE
This refined restaurant and retreat might be well into its fourth decade but Lake House is as relevant as ever, rarely missing a beat under founder and culinary director Alla Wolf-Tasker and her phalanx of honed wait staff.
Menus still sway with the seasons, with the lion’s share of produce now supplied by the restaurant’s own 15ha farm just minutes down the road.
Dishes are cutting edge but comforting, and always a pleasure on the eye – as is that view over Lake Daylesford.
Lake House might be synonymous with Daylesford, but it’s also the benchmark for regional dining that’s incredibly and memorably spot on.
NAVI
With its quiet backstreet location, ghostly gauze curtains and spotlit tables, the fridge full of craft beers, cellar of low-intervention local wines and months-long wait for a table, Navi might have given the inner west its first taste of fine dining.
Navi is chef/owner Julian Hills’ year-old celebration of contemporary Australia which is served across eight courses on artful ceramics made by Hills himself.
For such precise, enjoyable contemporary cooking that doesn’t forget to be fun – see the ultimate dinner party soundtrackthat gives airtime to Led Zep, Stevie Wonder and Outcast in equal measure – Navi delivers unbeatable big night out bang for buck.
CUTLER & CO
A decade on and Andrew McConnell’s sleek and sexy flagship fine diner remains a candlelit vision of arty and artful Fitzroy in all its glory, with the choice of a la carte or full chef’s menu a welcome offering.
While the front bar is now a destination in its own right, the dining room is where most head to impress.
Whether delicate King George whiting brightened with brown butter, watercress and pickled onion, or albacore tuna teamed witha hit of Tasmanian wasabi heat, seafood at Cutler remains a strong point.
The wine list remains a dense worldly work of considered beauty that’s aware of trends without being enslaved by them with service a masterclass in awareness and anticipation.
Ten years young and still going strong, Cutler remains one of the best Big Nights Out.
READ MORE:
HOW TO HAVE A LUXE XMAS FOR LESS