Restaurant Australia - Victoria
Home to fine-dining restaurants and laneways lined with bars, cafés and restaurants, eating in Melbourne is an adventure. Beyond the city, Victoria boasts wine regions, food trails and quality produce.
Fine Dining – Melbourne
Vue de Monde, Melbourne, Victoria
Melbourne has over 3,500 restaurants offering cuisine from at least 70 different countries.
For those looking for a fine dining experience it doesn’t get much better than Atticaand Vue de Monde.
Ranked among the best restaurants in the world Attica serves beautifully balanced, modern cuisine. The main point of difference is the integration of native ingredients, such as the Lilly Pilly and Illawarra plum pine used in signature dessert The Native Fruits of Australia.
Where?
Ripponlea, just 20 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD.
Shannon Bennett’s Vue de Monde restaurant takes diners on a journey with its innovative cuisine and spectacular setting with views over the Melbourne city skyline and Port Phillip Bay. The menu has French influences, but uses primarily Victorian produce and indigenous ingredients.
Where?
55th floor of the Rialto building, Melbourne CBD
Melbourne’s Laneways
Laneways, Melbourne, Victoria
Some of Melbourne’s best eating and drinking can be found in and around the city’s labyrinth of interconnecting laneways. If you see an unmarked door, a set of stairs, or what looks like a no through road, you’ll probably discover a favourite local dining haunt. The laneways are also central to Melbourne’s cafe and bar culture, with rooftops and basements offering more hidden secrets from Japanese tea houses and Chinese dim sum diners to speakeasy style cocktail bars.
Expert Tip: Don’t have a local to show you where to go? Tours from Hidden Secrets Tours, Melbourne Food Experiences or Melbourne Walks reveal the city’s café culture, cocktail and bar scene and plenty more besides.
Yarra Valley Indulgence
De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate, Yarra Valley, Victoria
The birthplace of Victorian viticulture, the Yarra Valley is Victoria’s premier wine region, home to more than 80 world class wineries producing award-winning cool climate wines and 60 boutique cellar doors. The whole range of intimate wine tasting and behind the scenes experiences are available.
Spotlight:
- Just an hour’s drive from Melbourne, easily explored by self-drive or on a day tour
- Float serenely over rolling vineyards on a sunrise hot air balloon flight, land in one of the Valleys flagship wineries such as Domaine Chandon or Rochford Estate for a champagne breakfast with local sparkling and artisan produce
- Sample a selection of the regions craft beers and ciders along the Yarra Valley, Cider and Ale Trail
The Mornington Peninsula
Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove, Red Hill, Victoria
The Mornington Peninsula has it all: abundant produce, boutique wineries, food trails, farm gates, golf courses, galleries, picturesque villages, diverse landscapes, beautiful beaches and coastal views all in one compact area just an hour away from Melbourne.
Spotlight:
- One of the few wine regions in the world that overlooks stunning coastline
- More award-winning restaurants than any other part of Victoria; Port Philip Estate, The Long Table, Montalto and Ten Minutes by Tractor all offer menus featuring local produce
- Known for cool-climate boutique Chardonnays and Pinots
- Get hands on with fruit picking, mushroom foraging or classes including handmade sausage, wood-fired pizza or chocolate making at Green Olive at Red Hill.
- Follow the Wine Food Farmgate trail to discover hundreds of producers throughout the region
More Food and Wine Experiences
Lake House Spa, Lake Daylesford, Victoria
- The iconic Great Ocean Road, renowned for its spectacular scenery, is also home to a range of culinary experiences. Don’t miss Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-Op for a feast of local seafood, and Brae restaurant in the Otways, where produce is sourced from the restaurant’s organic kitchen garden and local farms
- At the southern entrance of the Grampians National Park, The Royal Mail Hotel combines dramatic scenery with home-grown and local seasonal produce
- The Lake House in the spa town of Daylesford is a boutique spa hotel that offers an exemplary dining experience with the best of the region’s produce on show
Itinerary tip: The Great Southern Touring Route takes in the Great Ocean Road, the Grampians National Park and Daylesford in a five-day, self-drive loop from Melbourne.
Food & Wine Festival and Events Calendar
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Victoria
FEBRUARY
- Yarra Valley Grape Grazing
A weekend pass to the Yarra Valley Grape Grazing festival admits visitors to more than 30 events and offers the opportunity to sample the regions premium cool-climate wines and vibrant food culture.
MARCH
- Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
More than 200 events across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Including the World’s Longest Lunch, master classes with chef’s from around the world and tours of Melbourne’s laneways.
JUNE
- Winter Wine Weekend
Fifty Mornington Peninsula wine makers offer visitors the opportunity to taste, learn and discuss this Pinot Noir region's wines as well as fine restaurant fare and local produce.
