The 100 Essential Restaurants in Victoria right now

If you want the opinion of people who eat at restaurants for a living, you want Good Food’s 100 Essential Restaurants for 2027. While we still review 500-odd restaurants for every edition of The Age Good Food Guide, this list is a distillation of what it’s like to eat in Victoria today.

Hatted and not, our 100 Essential Restaurants each bring something fresh to the conversation about where to eat right now.

You’ll find Thai-spiced charcoal chicken in St Kilda and a Japanese rendition in Bright, a morning-till-late-night Bangalorean restaurant in Carnegie, and a Russell Street shop specialising in one kind of Korean soup. You’ll see nods to Athens, Rome, Colombo, Caracas and Biarritz. There’s a Mexican restaurant so hidden the only giveaway is its queue out the door. A French-Chinese bistro from one of our state’s most thrilling chefs. And a gorgeously decorated wine bar with a weekly changing menu (whose younger sibling made it onto our cover).

What all these restaurants have in common is that they’ve been visited and reviewed impartially by one of our 40 reviewers – and handpicked for the list by the editors of the Guide.

An Essential Restaurant could be a legendary, once-in-a-lifetime institution. It could be just a few months old. It might be in a town or suburb you’ve never visited but now want to. Or around the corner from your house. Whatever the case, an adana specialist in Campbellfield is just as essential to the community as France-Soir is to Burgundy nerds.

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

You’ll see a wide range of scores. Numbers aside, the main thing to know is that every single restaurant in there has impressed our reviewers in some way.

It’s a hit list for how to eat well in the year ahead. We hope you enjoy working your way through it. —Emma Breheny and Frank Sweet, The Age Good Food Guide editors

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

Contemporary 18/20 (Three Hats) $$$$

Magic happens in Melbourne’s suburban reaches

What does it take to be a top restaurant? A good whack of creativity. Ambition, certainly. And in the case of Amaru, an off-Broadway location that defies expectations. The Armadale setting of Clinton McIver’s high flyer is one surprise; the simpatico pairing of snow crab with the sweetness of pumpkin and the citrus jolt of sudachi is another. Over 15-plus dishes, the set menu plays with form, flavour and native ingredients. Coral trout and coconut with the sour lilt of green ants. Macadamia miso grounding a velvety slip of wagyu. The final flourish of a chocolate filled with mandarin and Geraldton wax is petit four-meets-art-project. Backed by a well-drilled team of waiters brimming with pride and a wine list that takes off in unexpected directions, it’s a bravura performance from a restaurant cementing its place in the firmament.

Good to know: Feeling more casual? Sibling wine bar Auterra across the road brings the same finesse to bar snacks

5/1121 High Street, Armadale, amarumelbourne.com.au

Zero-compromise craft fuels this cultural landmark

Eleven years in, Anchovy just won’t stay still. When they’re not busy with banh mi and broken rice next door at their second venue Ca Com, Thi Le and partner Jia-Yen Li are tending to barrels of fish sauce. Dozens of labelled glass jars holding fermented and preserved treasure overflow to the back of the timber bar. It’s never easy threading South-East Asian and Australian culinary cultures, but Le walks the line effortlessly with crisp prawn mousse wrapped in earthy betel leaves and, later, a spatchcock grilled so perfectly its juice binds with the pool of burnt butter underneath. Duck neck sausage comes with head dramatically intact, and banh mi is served with a claypot of braised beef shin, marrow included. Custard apple sorbet rounds out the night, matching smooth coconut notes against a provocative edge of licorice that dares you to either love it or leave it.

338 Bridge Road, Richmond, anchovy.net.au

Good to know: Head next door to Anchovy’s sister restaurant Ca Com for excellent banh mi by day and broken rice by night

Japanese 17/20 (Two Hats) $$$$

Omakase brilliance on a heaving arterial road

The anticipation. The hush. The blond wood and precise lines. Fancy fish is serious business, and if you love the omakase experience, you’ll know the drill. Aoi Tsuki is different. For starters, you enter from Melbourne’s least-zen thoroughfare, Punt Road. Inside, chef Tei Gim keeps things playful and easy throughout, but it bears no ill consequence on the food: 20-odd courses of precision, perspective and identity. Parallel ridges are carved into supple, steamed abalone, maximising its surface area to take on more of its liver sauce. “Did you feel harmony in your mouth?” A thousand times yes, chef. A robe of A5 Kobe wagyu is dusted with foie gras snow for decadence untold. The 11-piece nigiri parade is as good as Melbourne’s finest establishments, spanning ultra-savoury torched mackerel to impressively firm kingfish. Sake guidance is just as peerless.

384 Punt Road, South Yarra, aoitsuki.com.au

Good to know: The lunch sittings are a few courses shorter and excellent value at $145 per person

Cosy local favourite brimming with banter, creativity and Venezuelan flavour

On the surface, this reads like a classic local wine bar. It’s not. Scott Eddington and Lauren Chibert helm a place thrumming with the kind of intimate warmth made from friendly chatter, an open kitchen, eclectic artwork and a record collection put to good use on two turntables. Let the team fix you a Coco Daiquiri that tastes like crystals and sunbeams while you plan your assault on chef Frankie Hadid’s Venezuelan-leaning menu. Mussels undergirded by lively coconut and aji panca chilli sauce come with a couple of arepas for mopping – save one for the ugly-delicious goat sausage with black beans coming next. Guava and sea-salt flan brings the beach to Kensington and sees you out with a jaunty wobble. The menu changes with the seasons, but the care and consideration of the staff, and the relaxed retro-chic vibe, don’t. A great excuse to hop on the Craigieburn line.

192 Bellair Street, Kensington, arnoldskensington.com

Good to know: Pooches are welcome at the footpath tables

A hot city hideout where heritage dishes go high-def

Askal knows Filipino food already has all the drama it needs. The brilliance is in watching it peak under fine-dining lights. Oxtail kare-kare, the peanut-rich stew, is folded into a fried bao with black garlic and fermented shrimp butterscotch. Tempura-battered lumpia rolls hold Moreton Bay bug seasoned with five-spice; Thousand Island sauce (patriotically renamed “7000-island”) is there for the dunk. Sweet, sour, salty, fatty instincts are given room to roar. Take the showstopping dry-aged duck: skin so lacquered you can almost see your reflection, it holds a seam of longganisa sausage stuffing that gives way to juicy breast. Fried rice, fragrant with both soft and crisped-up garlic, completes the saucy feast. Artful cocktails made with calamansi, coconut sap and ube keep pace. By the time leche flan is doused with rum and flambeed tableside, Askal has made its point: polish is no enemy of pleasure.

167 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, askalmelbourne.com

Good to know: Build in rooftop cocktails and snacks at upstairs sibling Inuman

Eight seats, three staff, impossibly light dumplings

There are dumplings and then there are Aunty’s. Never frozen, plump yet light as chiffon, as many as 1600 fly out the door some days. They’re made by three family members: Guixia Li, her husband Hua and their daughter Joris. Each tender wrapper becomes one with delicately seasoned fillings, perhaps sweet hunks of prawn bound with minced pork or wood ear and shiitake mushrooms with carrot and vermicelli. Guotie, the “why not both” pot-sticker dumpling with one crunchy side, brings texture to smooth beef and onion. Carrot, beetroot and cucumber salad dressed with chilli oil and black vinegar equals a hard reset for your palate. You may need to wait for a table and you might not score a kitchen-side spot to watch the Zhaos in their orange aprons making dumplings. But after the first bite, nothing else matters.

Must-order: Sauerkraut and pork dumplings (boiled)

A sessionable neighbourhood favourite with killer cocktails and a keen French sensibility

You could, in theory, swing by Bellamy for a quick drink, soaking up golden hour with a seasonally shifting martini as the day’s last rays illuminate the vinyl collection, the wooden bar and its vintage pendants. But as the name suggests (think of the French “bel ami”, beautiful friend), this champion bar-slash-bistro exudes a comfort that’s hard to leave. The cocktail list is FOMO distilled – each creation is made only 100 times – and while chicken parfait cannoli are a given, the kitchen’s restless bistronomy makes each visit an adventure. Devilled eggs bring the 1970s dinner party while a tumble of wild mushrooms with Jerusalem artichoke and egg yolk is a garden of earthly delights. And that single drink will turn into two once beef bourguignon arrives bedded in gruyere polenta: it demands a riffle through a wine list that kicks boring to the kerb.

164 Rathdowne Street, Carlton, barbellamy.com

Good to know: The big communal table is a favourite meeting spot for local groups of all stripes

An A-list clubhouse primed to revisit memories of Milan and the Amalfi Coast

Rarely has a duo been as in tune as Karen Martini and Bar Carolina. Since taking over the slick bolthole last year, the Melbourne super chef has displayed an easy grasp of South Yarra’s needs, delivering the familiarity to keep regulars happy and the fireworks to win new fans. Her menu works the nexus between dependable and luxe. Take the roast chicken, an exemplary wood-fired bird with burnished skin and a rosemary jus you’d happily bathe in. Pasta also strikes gold, particularly the trifecta of sweet prawn meat, garlicky oil and supple house-made spaghetti. But first you might want to spend time with a classic vitello tonnato, flavours amped to 11 with Martini’s maximalist touch. There’s a matching buzz to the crowd who are almost as soignee as the bigne, an Italified eclair that’s a note-perfect finish.

44 Toorak Road, South Yarra, barcarolina.com.au

Good to know: Kick on with a martini at next door sibling bar Tetto Di Carolina

Finesse, fun and the antidote to a bad day

A regular’s name remembered. A favourite off-menu dish conjured without fuss. Cutlery laid in intricately folded napkins. Self-care takes many forms. Perhaps it’s time to put on something nice, slip past the curtained doorway, and let Bar Olo look after you. Now you’re settled, how about a few immaculately shucked oysters, draped in the bittersweet salinity of Campari vinaigrette? Or tuna tartare bound with anchovy mayonnaise, as plush and elegantly dressed as you are? Throw in a bowl of rabbit and leek spoja lorda – ravioli’s rustic cousin – just because. There’s space between tables, but not distance. Strangers chat convivially, clinking glasses from an almost entirely Italian wine list. Feeling frisky? Indulge in the grassy verve of a green tomato Gimlet. A night at Bar Olo feels like a trust fall into Italian velvet-clad arms. Go on, treat yourself.

165 Nicholson Street, Carlton, barolocarlton.com.au

Good to know: Pull up a stool between 4pm and 6pm for generous complimentary aperitivo snacks

Controlled chaos meets confident wood-fired cooking

If there’s ever a hush in this lively room, with its polished concrete, brick and glossy rendered plaster, it’s when people take their first bite of lamb: a sublime balance of char, salt, fat, lemon juice, olive oil and plenty of oregano. Food doesn’t get more honest. Former Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year Nick Deligiannis is cooking the cuisine of his origins for the first time. Halloumi is made on Wednesdays and sizzled to order, and whey from the cheesemaking is used in flatbread topped with wild garlic butter. Order it with bright, silky tarama. The restaurant’s 60-odd seats are turned over thrice some nights, the chaos held in check by an unflappable front-of-house team that makes dinner service a rolling party. Meet for prawns and peppers, snapper and skewers, and learn to tell your flinty assyrtiko from your fruity malagousia.

161 Burke Road, Glen Iris, barsophia.com.au

Good to know: The smart game plan is to build lunch or dinner from a spread of mezze

An impressive spinoff from one of Melbourne’s most singular restaurants

Melbourne has no shortage of great banh mi, but Ca Com is in a class of its own. The hearth is the beating heart of hatted Anchovy’s casual sibling, grilling bread and meat for banh mi by day, smoke lightly perfuming extra-crackly roasted pork belly and luring passersby. Herbaceous Laotian sausage and Vietnamese charcuterie are among the many items made in-house by chef Thi Le and her team. Other fillings include tinned sardines braised in a spicy tomato sauce and reinvigorated by the brightness of fresh dill and red onion. By night, bread makes way for broken rice served with grilled hanger steak and lacy fried eggs; a quietly brilliant match for a salted-lime soda. Service can be choppy, but guess what? You’re getting Chef of the Year quality at chain-restaurant prices.

336 Bridge Road, Richmond, cacom.net.au

Good to know: Don’t sleep on the pandan-flavoured sweets

Produce-driven cooking with an impeccable eye for detail

Owner-chef Audrey Shaw is a former architect, and her design sensibility lingers in every detail here: the pink marble-topped bar, handmade tables, fresh flowers that contrast beautifully with the cracked paintwork. Farmers, fishers and makers are credited on the back of the handwritten menu, and staff speak about them with genuine enthusiasm – so too the low-intervention producers who populate the wine list. Cubes of raw eye fillet are tumbled over soft Grecian cheese and bread rubbed with purple garlic: gloriously messy, keenly balanced. Baby snapper, charcoal-grilled and finished with olive oil and lemon, is measured yet thrilling. Lamb backstrap lands with tomato sugo, reduced over many hours, alongside sweet negi leeks in cumin-spiked yoghurt: rustic cooking with real finesse. Flan Parisien veers gently towards Greece, glazed with honey and sesame and resting on filo pastry. Done this well, simplicity never feels too simple.

165 Gore Street, Fitzroy, carnationcanteen.com

Good to know: The walk-in courtyard is heated through the colder months

Forget time, loosen the belt and linger over lunch in this basement bunker

Nebbiolo is flowing and conversation swirls around deals, golf and school fees. It’s past 3pm on a regular Wednesday and Caterina’s antique-filled, timber-beamed dining room is still humming. And why not? The (mostly male) diners have been warmly welcomed by owner Caterina Borsato, shown to a linen-clothed table with bread rolls awaiting, and enjoyed the generosity that underpins Italian cooking. A novel take on tricolore unites golden pan-seared scallops, peas done two ways and a scatter of ruby-red pomegranate seeds. Parcels of duck leg tortelli bask among dabs of creamy squacquerone cheese and a scattering of sweet potato crisps. Tender baby goat stew – a menu mainstay – rests on soft golden polenta that catches every drop of cinnamon-scented jus. Back to the office? No. Cancel that afternoon meeting and book a session with vin santo (from the 600-plus bottle wine list) and light-as-air cheesecake.

Basement, 221 Queen Street, Melbourne, caterinas.com.au

Best for: Old-school power lunches with old-school hospitality

A laidback education in one of the world’s most complex cuisines

If you were able to bottle the essence of this conviviality, you’d have a priceless commodity on your hands. Right now, Chabela’s brick-walled, softly glowing room feels like the heart of Thornbury. The masa-based items are all made in-house, from blue corn tortillas to huaraches: boat-shaped vessels thicker than tortillas. You might top them with nopales – cactus that eats like savoury kiwifruit – or sticky, crunchy, slow-cooked lamb rib. Chicken enchiladas are bathed in rich pipian sauce, made with toasted peanuts, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, as well as tomato, garlic and chilli. Enfrijoladas are filled with Yucatan-style cochinita pibil, a tender and long-cooked pork, and topped with a mellow refried black bean sauce. This is the kind of cooking you might find in regional Mexico or in the homes of Mexican friends – it’s almost miraculous to find it in Melbourne.

832A High Street, Thornbury, chabela.com.au

Good to know: The Mezcalita de Jamaica, a deep-purple hibiscus cocktail, is a great jumping-off point for the mezcal-curious

Healing, artisanal and brilliant – a true escape

How often do you leave a fine diner feeling calmer, healthier – better – than when you arrived? Those who land one of Australia’s most coveted reservations in the monthly ballot often report an experience like no other. Out the front, earthenware crafted by seventh-generation artisans age jangs, the fermented bedrocks of Korean cuisine. Inside, six charmed diners witness a master building quietly serious flavour. Fried shiitake mushroom cosies up with pork inside a crisp-skinned meatball. Pearlescent Murray cod is wrapped around scotch fillet and lowered into beef and radish broth. The palate cleanser – persimmon-vinegar granita with jubey cherry tomatoes – isn’t just genius, it’s restorative. You’ve only got two-ish hours here: purchase some nectarine vinegar or walnut doenjang and relive the fantasy at home year-round. Once-in-a-lifetime magic.

33 Mountain Road, Cockatoo, chae.com.au

Good to know: There is no wine list; not a bad thing considering the 75-minute drive back to Melbourne

A warm Southern Chinese bolthole frequented by off-duty chefs

There’s a tagine on display in the dining room. A Yankees cap on a shelf. A mishmash of tables on a tiled floor. But the most disorienting detail might be the front sign that bears a different name. Then the food arrives and clarity is restored by way of Aunty’s exemplary treatment of Teochew cuisine. Duck meat, fatty and spiced, is fried in a blanket of mashed taro, served with sweet chilli. Charred cabbage, pork and pickled radish create crunchy, umami crescendos against the smoky hum of flat noodles. The oyster omelette has a seared crust that gives way to the gooey, oceany inside. Service is brisk yet effective. But if you’re lucky, you’ll get to slow down and watch Aunty catching up with regulars in the kitchen. Proof you should never judge a restaurant by the derelict arcade it exists in.

5/70 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North

Good to know: Book ahead and ask about the special orders section

It’s clear owner Adriel Reddy is a man obsessed. Last year, while fixating on his next ChickyBoi pop-up, he lost an engineering contract because he appeared “distracted” during his day job. Now, ChickyBoi is the day job, with a permanent home in Fitzroy serving the city’s favourite chicken burger – sorry: sandwich. The “OG” hits the table with gravitas. At its centre, a humongous chicken breast glowing like a meteorite under a thick, dill-flecked ranch sauce. The HoneyBoi builds on the original with a hot honey glaze and purpose-made jalapeno pickles subbed in for the dill variety. The SpicyBoi, on the other side of the flavour continuum, offsets “Nashville-dipped” chilli oil ferocity with cooling ranch sauce. They all come with a handful of Smith’s Salt and Vinegar chips, and they’re best chased with a cold one pulled fresh from the tap. Cluckin’ excellent.

375 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, chickyboi.au

Good to know: Get there early to beat the queue

A drink, a snack or something more?

Step into the ultimate all-rounder. How many weary Melburnians have stood hopefully upon the wooden stair of this timeless wine bar, praying their favourite perch is available? Whether you’re a people-watcher at a pavement table bathed in the glow of the Princess Theatre or a fixture at the green-tiled bar inside, if you’re here, you understand the magical formula that keeps City Wine Shop abuzz, year after year. Ice-cold martinis help, and unruffled staff play their part, deftly handling one-glass catch-ups or more languorous visits that mine the impressive cellar amassed from near and far. Polenta chips are bouncy and light. Grilled snapper comes with high-wattage vadouvan curry butter, pickled guindilla chillies and shredded fennel. Chicken schnitzel is always there, juicy and golden, while steak tartare and plump gnocchi are as reliable as the hours this place keeps. Stopping by – whatever the occasion – feels like slipping on a favourite jacket.

159 Spring Street, Melbourne, citywineshop.net.au

Best for: Those in-between moments when it’s past lunch, too late for dinner or simply time for a glass and a snack

Contemporary 15/20 (One Hat) $$

Wood-fired wine bar that stands out in a crowded field

With its tapestry, pendant lamps, communal table, russet tones and wine bottles in a row, this smoky salon feels like the apartment you always wanted, with one key difference: nobody in their right mind cooks this stuff at home. Start with a round of fried honey bread loaded with peppery mayo and smoked fish − perhaps trout − then crudites and herb-flecked fresh cheese akin to Boursin. Silky veloute laps delicate slices of seared swordfish, while the skin of your poussin is scorched to deep caramel. Brown butter choc-chip ice-cream channels cookie dough; you’ll want to take it home, but you’re better off enjoying it over a round of sticky toffee cake. Young professionals swing by for snacks and wine, while groups of friends come together for meals that feel more like dinner parties (book a window table if you’re the latter). Clover’s ready for anything.

193 Swan Street, Richmond, clover.wine

Good to know: Hold court in the all-weather ivy-trimmed courtyard for a long Sunday lunch with the $65 set menu

DRINKS LIST OF THE YEAR WINNER

European 15.5/20 (One Hat) $$$

Equal parts resurrection and new venture

Cote Basque reimagines one of Melbourne’s greatest dining rooms into something that honours our history as well as our future. Located in the site that most recently housed Becco, Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann’s latest effort thrums with energy, its long, tiered dining room, terrazzo floors and nickel-framed windows giving the impression of a fantastical vintage ocean liner. People sip coffee at tables in the laneway; stop by the bar that’s backed by a stunning Magnus Reid mural; or settle in for blow-out meals in the luxe dining room. The food is rustic, almost restrained, most of it cooked simply over a wood grill, with nods to the Basque region rather than all-out imitation. Blood cockles, sweet and bouncy, come with jamon Iberico, while baccala is whipped from Murray cod. Roast duck, served with madeira prunes and mustard cream, channels pure decadence – how very McConnell.

25 Crossley Street, Melbourne, cotebasque.com.au

Must-order: The $45 Marsala Manhattan is amazing, as a cocktail should be for that price

Spicy, generous and still firing more than two decades on

After extensive renovations in 2024, Dainty has truly settled into its new skin: floral banquettes, etched glass and a ceiling that glows like a lacquered jewellery box. The projector showing a CGI forest mightn’t always work, but the kitchen does, commanding a 100-plus-page leather-bound menu running from street-style rice puffs to tank-fresh lobster. You’ll need an army with you just to make a dent. Put them to work on cumin-laced lamb ribs, shredded chicken cold noodles in a tingly dressing, and spicy beef heart and tongue. Fish-fragrant eggplant’s coating of garlic and syrupy vinegar is like sweet and sour candy. But the true Dainty spirit will always be imprinted in the Chongqing chilli chicken: an avalanche of Sichuan peppercorns, dried chillies and cleavered wings. This room is the flagship of the Dainty empire: dressed to impress and still sizzling.

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, daintysichuan.com.au

Good to know: There’s a modest wine list but BYO is the move here

Dramatic concrete lair for devil-may-care dining

In a stark, gallery-like space, suave waiters carry martinis on silver trays to top-end-of-towners. They like their stuzzichini with a side of video art, so they sit at the long marble bar – the best spot to take in a new Shaun Gladwell work of Venice streetscapes, skateboarding bodies and twinkling galaxies. It can feel like you’ve stumbled onto a surrealist film set, but a bite of crostini vibrant with peas and lemony ricotta is a delicious reality check. Bright prawn pasta named after Capri promises sunshine and delivers on a grey Melbourne day. Eye fillet steak perches dramatically on brioche piped with pâté; its blanket of thick, glossy jus is rich enough to roll with one of the many barolos on offer. Prolong the magic with marsala-rich zabaglione and warm soldiers of toasted brioche for dipping – or perhaps another cocktail mixed by a white-jacketed bartender.

45 Spring Street, Melbourne, distasio.com.au

Good to know: Pastas can be upgraded from entree to main for an additional $10

Korean, Contemporary 15/20 (One Hat) $$

A low-key sanctuary composing inventive dishes

Bring someone you love to Doju. It’s an excuse to practice the Korean tradition of feeding a hand-wrapped ssam directly to a partner. And if that DIY lettuce bundle contains wagyu intercostal, chive kimchi, oyster mushroom and romesco-like macadamia paste? It’s practically a proposal. In a split-level space shrouded from the street by sheer drapes, chef Mika Chae splices his Jeollanam-do upbringing with seasonal Australian ingredients. In autumn, hotteok pancakes stuffed with brown sugar and wattleseed syrup are finished with a perfect quenelle of Jerusalem artichoke ice-cream. Gochujang focaccia is a perennial highlight, ruddy with fermented chilli paste. For tempura yakbap, a crisp, batter-dipped perilla leaf hides a baklava-like pine nut filling balanced by soy vinaigrette. Add a drinks list that taps into the house ferments lining the bar, and savvy, personable service, and it’s clear that Doju has hit a bold, confident stride.

530 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, doju.com.au

Good to know: Don’t leave without a jar of house-made macadamia ssamjang ($30) to make lettuce wraps at home

A statement of deep respect for culinary tradition

It doesn’t take long to realise Duong is built on care. Tea is poured into small octagonal cups painted with bamboo motifs. Beef pho comes with a bowl of kumquats and fresh chillies steeped in vinegar. Hoisin is offered separately – for the thick-sliced beef, not the clear broth. Loyal fans flock here for Northern Vietnamese food cooked with precision and generosity. Puffy golden spring rolls filled with pork and wood ear mushrooms are served with warmed nuoc cham, a graceful touch that lets flavours bloom. “Traditional vermicelli” is a meaty Hanoi specialty of pork belly, tofu and sticky-sweet slices of cha com – pork patties studded with young green rice. For those here for the deep cuts, take your pick from silken, iron-tinged congee with offal or a texturally thrilling jellyfish salad. This is cooking that expects you to meet it on its own terms. Ready?

82 Warwick Road, Sunshine North

Must-order: Chao long (congee with offal)

A time-honoured institution for elevated benchmark dishes

Elephant Corridor is, thankfully, free of its namesake creature. Instead, find a spacious dining room made cosy by dark wood, warm lighting and prompt, confident service. Sri Lankan and North Indian dishes lead the menu, but it’s the former that you want. A whole bisected curried crab crowns a smoky stir-fry of ribboned kothu flatbread and vegetables. Lightly battered calamari comes adorned with caramelised banana pepper, and fish and potato croquettes hum with warm spices. Lamprais is the scene-stealer, though – a platter of aromatic short-grain rice, sambol, green plantains and a triple-threat curry of chicken, lamb and pork, spoon-tender in a coconut and pepper-spice gravy. A wide beverage list, including cocktails and some Sri Lankan beers, rounds out the experience. There’s no other restaurant quite like this in the food-mad suburb of Glen Waverley, and it’s been an institution for years with good reason.

179 Coleman Parade, Glen Waverley, elephantcorridor.com.au

Good to know: Things get spicy quickly in this corridor

Contemporary 15.5/20 (One Hat) $$

The often-copied, seldom equalled city wine bar is as hot as ever

When outsiders ask where to eat in Melbourne, clued-in locals usually point here. Step inside and you’ll get it: the welcome is warm, the music loud and the open kitchen led by Dave Verheul crackles with good energy and great cooking. At the bar, solos, dates and mates sip wines spanning classic to esoteric while snacking on fantasy-grade combos like brittle chicken skin crisps topped with whipped anchovy, or feta tiled with jewels of pickled cucumber (don’t forget the spectacular sourdough for moppage). Whole calamari – char-grilled, curling and tender in all the right spots – carries berbere’s spice, the smoky warmth offset by chickpeas and yoghurt. Succulent yet crackly pork loin is another wood-fired hit, with gremolata providing a knockout zesty punch. It might be dark and inky but Embla is never brooding. Go as little or as large as you like: it’s the wine bar of the people.

122 Russell Street, Melbourne, embla.com.au

Best for: Spontaneous late-night suppers and rendezvous – it’s open until midnight most nights

A beloved favourite enters its brightest, boldest chapter yet

Etta could coast on reputation and still fill the room. Instead, under chef Lorcan Kan, it’s firing with renewed force. Dishes carry wood fire, ferments, chilli and acid, with Chinese-Malaysian traditions used as a launchpad, not a leash. Spanner crab wontons in smoked watermelon tom yum sound improbable until first bite – delicate and electric. Bouncy oyster mushroom zongzi with black bean hold exhilarating depth within each rice parcel. And who ever heard of a better use for rendang butter than ladled over smoky wagyu rump cap? A dessert of chilli oil parfait earns its cult following: fragrant, fluffy, citrus-pricked and cooled by lychee-lime leaf sorbet. The drinks list has its own gravitational pull, including an eye-opening champagne section. Well-versed staff make you feel like the only table in a teeming room. Etta is a restaurant with nothing to prove, proving it anyway.

60 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, ettadining.com.au

Good to know: Visit nearby sibling Daphne for before-or-after drinks

Cantonese 16.5/20 (Two Hats) $$$

The Southern Chinese restaurant by which all others in Australia are judged

Overheard in the Flower Drum lift: “I love traditional things done well, that don’t feel the need to change.” A bulls-eye summation from a fellow diner of this 51-year-old icon. Things done well start one step into the dining room. A vanguard of suited waiters springs into service – an icy Tsingtao as you peruse the wine almanac (surprisingly, there is value to be found, particularly among Victorian wines), then a glass swiftly filled, never allowed to drain. The menu remains unburdened by fad. Why would it when there are peerless stalwarts like ribbons of braised pearl meat, or quail sang choy bao studded with fragrant lap cheong? Duck pancakes are velvety and carefully assembled while O’Connor Angus beef is never more melting than here, doused in tingly Sichuan pepper sauce. Order banana fritters as a golden, crunchy ode to the glory of resisting change.

17 Market Lane, Melbourne, flowerdrum.melbourne

Good to know: Don’t miss off-menu treats like shrimp paste-marinated chicken wings or steamed savoury custard with crab or lobster

The place to be for the past four decades

“If it makes you happier, I am happy.” If there’s one thing you can count on at Melbourne’s most venerated bistro, it’s that the chorus line of waiters know exactly how to work the room. So you’d like to try your Bourgogne Rouge from a differently shaped glass? A clean plate for your salad? Consider it done, with a very French combination of efficiency and charm that is key to France-Soir’s magic. The leek vol au vent is perennially slept on: a rich, cheesy comfort plated simply with dressed leaves. Hanger steak is graphically delicious: bold, bloody and topped with diced shallots for extra oomph. And if one or two dishes don’t quite hit the same heights? You’re having too much fun dipping fries into the boat of bearnaise, shattering the top of creme brulee, and ordering another glass to even notice. Utterly peerless.

11 Toorak Road, South Yarra, france-soir.com.au

Best for: People-watching over a long, wine-centric lunch that rolls into dinnertime

A choose-your-own-adventure experience

The queue of homesick Indonesians is constant. They’re all making tough decisions about their nasi bungkus – up to four meat and veg dishes scooped from bains-marie onto rice, then wrapped in a banana leaf. This odyssey for the tastebuds might begin with Medan-style eggplant, anchovy and chilli: a right hook of spice and texture. For a battle of the senses, buddy it up with crisp-edged cubes of potato, shallots, green chilli and chilli jam. Favourites like gado gado are carefully handled as is sticky grilled chicken with red chilli sambal that will have you seeing stars. The new location has more room for diners, but this canteen is still more Jetstar than Qantas with its laminate tables, well-worn menus and shaved-ice machine soundtrack. The food, however, is as close as you’ll come to Sumatra without a boarding pass.

Best for: A grab-and-go feed that feels ceremonial

European, Brasserie 16.5/20 (Two Hats) $$$

Grandstand dining suffused with Melbourne soul

The ground floor of 1927-built Cavendish House blends art-deco grandeur with the verve of a restaurant that pulses from noon to late at night. Bigger groups, solo bar diners and one-on-one liaisons are all ably looked after by a consummately professional team. They’ll guide you across herringbone floors to your table, to the right bottle on the classic-meets-contemporary wine list, to the digestif for your chosen dessert. A bite-sized parcel of parmesan and bresaola might be paired with the namesake cocktail, an all-too-drinkable Gimlet. Steaks dot most tables, each a triumph of farming, butchery and cooking. But veering away from the obvious might lead you to a main of honeyed celeriac and truffle tart that nimbly walks a sweet-savoury line. A slab of enriched, just-set dark chocolate needs nothing more than creme fraiche and salt to sing, proof that classicism never dies.

33 Russell Street, Melbourne, gimlet.melbourne

Best for: A celebration of loved ones (or yourself)

Contemporary 16.5/20 (Two Hats) $$$$

Fine dining that’s filled with heart and feels like home, literally

There’s a pot of gold at the end of the Hurstbridge train line. This tiny-but-mighty fine diner – with two staff and eight seats – makes a strong case for thinking small. Zoe Birch and Lachlan Gardner preside over the fire and the floor, respectively. Birch harnesses the hearth with precision and restraint; Gardner brings gentle warmth to each table. Flathead, ever-so-lightly smoked, is swathed in purple daikon and nasturtium leaf to form a tiny taco. Gnarly flame-thrown greens take the glory on a meal-starting tart. This is slow food, without shortcuts. Birch churns her own kefir-cultured butter, repurposing the whey in other dishes, and bakes pinwheel croissants mid-service as a vessel for cheese. Hyper-seasonality and locality are owed to a family of suppliers who are as small as this operation. Just 32 people a week get to experience Greasy Zoes. A decade in, it remains a dining opportunity to seize.

3/850 Heidelberg-Kinglake Road, Hurstbridge, greasyzoes.com.au

Good to know: Don’t want to drive? It’s a quick stroll from the train station

A generous introduction to the defining dish of an enormous region

It’s a courageous move to build a Melbourne food business around jollof, the tomato-laced rice dish that’s the subject of great discussion, debate and delight in West Africa. You’ll find nine iterations at this casual Racecourse Road eatery, each beginning with a base of tomato, spices, garlic and onions. So, where to begin? Why not the Liberian version, which trades basmati rice for jasmine and comes with strips of deeply flavourful beef and fried plantains? Beyond the namesake dish lies a broader world of West African deliciousness. A hearty trevally and okra stew belies the vegetable’s unpopular reputation. Egusi stew holds it down for Nigeria: hulking cubes of tender beef lie in a crayfish-based gravy, thickened by ground melon seeds. Served with plenty of gleefully smooth fufu, West Africa’s favourite pounded carb, it’s a big vibe in itself.

268 Racecourse Road, Flemington, jollofvibe.com.au

Blistering charcoal cooking in an industrial refuge

Step off Sunshine’s factory strip and find an invitation into one family’s sanctuary. Under a central chandelier, a matronly chef commands the brick hearth, turning skewers over charcoal near traditional rice pots called degs. This is the evening counterpart to Salamatea, a social enterprise by Hamed Allahyari, who came to Australia as an asylum seeker in 2012. Saffron, pistachio, pomegranate, sumac and barberries lead the menu. Plump dolmeh – Persian stuffed grape leaves – melt away on the tongue leaving a clean, umeboshi-like tang. A shared dip platter excels with walnut- rich marinated olives and dadami, Allahyari’s version of labne made with cumin, basil and mint. Grilled meat (perhaps chicken, lamb sausage or backstrap) paired with saffron rice or nan lavash flatbread makes a showstopper – but an omelette layered with eggplant, tomato paste and turmeric is a sleeper hit. Persian love cake is even lovelier accompanied by sour cherry or cardamom-scented saffron tea.

18A Market Road, Sunshine, kababi.com.au

Good to know: The daytime Salamatea menu is also available at night

An Athens-inspired uplift for an iconic late-night venue

Floor one of this Spring Street nesting doll does double duty: as an unconventional Greek diner first, and, from 10pm, as Melbourne Supper Club. No matter the hour, the wood-panelled room feels warm and intimate. Gossiping politicians and off-duty actors hunch over the expensive end of the weighty drinks list. The Kafeneion touch translates to snappy Grecian wines like assyrtiko, plus cleverly tweaked cocktails such as the Cretan Old Fashioned, sweet with rakomelo, a honey- and herb-infused raki liqueur. The foil to all that top-notch booze is an unfussy menu. Swipe chunks of rustic bread through warm split-pea dip pumped up with garlic, capers and chilli. Go easy on youvetsi, a comforting plate of orzo and slow-cooked chicken topped with snowy drifts of kefalotyri cheese – there’s still unmissable lamb shoulder and the unique finale of portokalopita, a syrupy orange cake made with delicate layers of filo pastry.

Level 1, 161 Spring Street, Melbourne, kafeneion.com.au

Good to know: You’ll still find a few Greek moments on the late-night menu, but you’ll also find party pies

Adana heaven at the end of the Upfield line

Campbellfield, Tuesday, 5.57pm. A calm takeaway grills bargain Turkish dinners at a manageable clip. By 6.07pm, the shop is utterly rammed – and stays that way for hours. Many have declared its adana wrap Melbourne’s best, and seasoned visitors know to rip open the foil, stat, to preserve the bread’s crisp shell. It crackles with each bite yet so