The city’s pop-up prince makes Middle Eastern magic at his game changing first restaurant; Ukrainian cuisine scores a spotlight south of the river; your favourite Brunswick East restaurateur opens your new favourite Brunswick East pub; and a daytime Japanese diner does things very differently – not least by adding vegemite to its tonkatsu sauce.
It’s been a fruitful 12 months for Melbourne, and if you haven’t visited this fair city since last Festival, or you simply need a re-up on the latest and greatest from the past year, you’ve got at least 25 new spots to add to your hit list – each as primed for great eating and drinking as the last.
Zareh
Tom Sarafian has been very clear for years on his plans to open a Middle Eastern restaurant of game-changing ambition. Now, after countless pop-ups and more than a few setbacks along the way, Zareh has landed on Smith Street, delivering on all those promises, and then some. Whether it’s making things from scratch with exceptional flair (like the toum), or conversely seeking out the very best producers in the Middle East and importing their very best products (za’atar like you’ve never seen it), Sarafian goes the extra mile, time and time again. It’s also never a cheffy show-off, either – the place has buzz to burn, thanks in no small part to a fabulous front of house team, led by Sarina Bariball, who you’ll recognise from her years keeping service popping at Embla.
368 Smith St, Collingwood, zareh.com.au
Suze
Some 12 months ago, Giulia Giorgetti and chef Steve Harry brought their collective creds from Marion and Napier Quarter together to open Suze, a sharp as heck wine bar that’s just as much about thoughtful cooking as it is their collection in the cellar. The white asparagus with white miso has proven a big hit with locals and returning regulars over the last while, but that’s just one of many reasons we’re going back: there’s full-blood wagyu bresaola to begin, whole flounder somewhere in the middle, and a dry-aged duck to stop the show.
6 Newry St, Fitzroy North, suzefitzroy.com
Daphne
Restaurateur Hannah Green has done it again with Daphne, the not-quite-a-pub-but-not-quite-a-fine-diner just a couple of doors down from sibling venue Etta. The team here are serving up unfussy classics including a roast chook adorned with blistered grapes, an extremely large pork cotoletta and flathead from the wood-fired grill. All worth your time, but the real hero? An heirloom tomato salad that’s more like an edible Bloody Mary than a side. But that’s not all, you’ve got booze boss Sam Peasnell taking care of drinks – he’s fallen in love with sherry, and after visiting Daphne, you will too – and if that’s not your jam, there’s more than enough variations of the Martini to see you through your meal and beyond.
Green calls it “a restaurateur’s answer to a pub”, and we call it delicious whichever way you slice it.
52 Lygon St, Brunswick East, daphne.melbourne
Harriot
It’s the fifth venue from the crew behind Tipo 00, and their first to venture past the cuisines of Italy. The team have set their sights on France – and other delicious Euro destinations – at Collins Street’s hot new dining address, and while the menu shifts, several crowd favourites remain several seasons in. There’s a three-bite wonder in the form of a tuna and fermented porcini tart at take-off, a foie gras parfait somewhere in the middle, and a sage and lemon-loaded serve of lamb sweetbreads that never miss. Greatest hits aside, you’ve got several shareable steaks including a Rangers Valley scotch fillet accompanied by a Café de Paris mustard – and whoever else is on the invite list to one of the CBD’s slickest lunch offerings.
555 Collins St, Melbourne, harriotmelbourne.com
Ho Jiak and Ho Liao
Junda Khoo might have made his name in Sydney, but you could argue that this talented chef and restaurateur has opened his most ambitious in Melbourne. On level one, it’s everything you love about Sydney’s Ho Jiak: a light, bright and refined dining room, attentive service, those laksa bombs, and of, course, Junda’s char koay teow loaded with hand-selected mud crab.
Those wanting the Ho Jiak experience without going the full hog, meanwhile, can head to level two for a more casual, and more modestly priced meal at Ho Liao. Most rice and noodle dishes will cost you between $15 and $22, including the instant-noodle Indomee goreng that’s proven an instant hit with first-timers and regulars alike.
235 Bourke St, Melbourne, hojiak.com.au
Saadi
After several years of pop-ups at great restaurants including Arnold’s, Etta and Hope Street Radio, Saavni Krishnan and Sriram Aditya committed to the bit and opened Saadi, an exploration of all that is great about Indian cuisine. Rather than focusing on a single region, the couple are tapping their experiences from across India to inform the menu: that might mean corn pancakes with preserved chillies and crème fraîche, fish swimming in a mango and tamarind curry, or a showstopping goat raan – a whole-roasted spiced goat leg sourced from friends at Meredith Dairy.
Pickles and preserves play a big part in the menu at Saadi, but if simply eating Krishnan and Aditya’s peach murabba and carrot achaar isn’t enough, you can also learn to make your own at their just-launched workshops where it’s all about preserving the current season’s produce for the next.
18 Punch Ln, Melbourne, saadimelbourne.com
From Here by Mike
The Mike in question is Mike McEnearney, one of Sydney’s most dedicated purveyors of local and seasonal deliciousness. The “here” part, in his Victorian debut at the lavish 1 Hotel Melbourne on the river in the southern CBD, is a deep dive into the state’s great producers, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, complemented by a drinks list that’s like a rollcall of Victoria’s best and most interesting winemakers. Port Phillip Bay snapper sashimi with blood orange ponzu? Portarlington mussels marinated in merlot vinegar with char-grilled octopus and hazelnut romesco? Trottole pasta with slow roasted Meredith Farm capretto, goat’s labne, and saltbush verde? Count us in.
9 Maritime Place, Docklands, 1hotels.com/melbourne/taste/from-here-by-mike
Cordelia
The team behind southside wine bar Don’s have done it again, this time north of the river. It’s all about seafood at sunny corner spot Cordelia, where the menu changes with the tides (and what their fishmonger happens to have on offer the morning before service). That might look like a coral trout crudo or merguez and octopus skewers to start, sea bream served with kombu on the more substantial side of things, or a behemoth of a fish sandwich that’s often off-menu but usually available if you ask nicely.
180 Rathdowne St, Carlton, cordelia.place
Mary’s
Owner Mary Akindele couldn’t find Nigerian food in Melbourne quite like the way she does it, so she decided to open a day-to-night diner of her own. Mary’s, taking over the landmark Old Raffles Place site in Collingwood, brings Nigerian flavours to breakfast and brunch classics by day, while evening service focuses on the likes of jollof rice and Nigerian street food classics you won’t often find in Melbourne. Think big honking fried chunks of plantain, warming stews and spicy, nutty, smoky beef suya skewers.
68/70 Johnston St, Collingwood, @maryscollingwood
Suupaa
It’s the concept of a konbini, Suupaacharged with delicious snacks to-go and a dine-in menu taking casual Japanese dining to new heights. What’s everyone ordering at this chrome covered convenience store-daytime diner hybrid? There’s fast and fresh onigiri – some packed full with classic fillings including spicy tuna and salmon, others with deli meats – but that’s not the only dish that’s different. The hefty pork loin tonkatsu, a golden-fried stunner with some serious size to it, switches out the usual curry sauce for several generous dollops of Vegemite and red miso sauce.
Shop 1/65 Dover St, Cremorne, suupaa.au
Pipis North
Everyone’s favourite seaside kiosk has set its sails for the inner-north, bringing its signature delights from the deep to Fitzroy. Fans of Pipis will rejoice in that several on their favourite dishes score a spot on the menu at the second location – including the salt and pepper squid and that flatbread – and they also score several exclusives, too. In the snacks department, we’re talking tiny but mighty spanner crab pancakes, skewered swordfish belly splashed in a punchy jungle bisque and potato salad upgraded with grilled octopus. Delicate butterflied mackerel headlines the mains, and there’s also a big and beautiful cheese kranski up for grabs if you happen to be visiting Pipis North with the intention not to eat seafood.
274 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, pipiskiosk.com.au/north
Kokoras
It wasn’t long after Alex Xinis opened hit Greek wine bar Tzaki until he gave us his hit Greek charcoal chicken shop Kokoras just a door down on the same street. The proposition here is simple: fire-cooked chicken Greek-style, marinated in lemon and oregano, then basted as it cooks over charcoal. From there, there’s plenty of sides worth your time and plenty inspired by favourites from next door: lemon potato, cauliflower steak, cumin roasted carrot and at least three Greek-style salads going at any one time. Yamas!
27 Ballarat St, Yarraville, kokoras.com.au
Oden
You might’ve seen it in Japan’s convenience stores, you’ve likely spotted it as a side on an izakaya menu, but have you seen it in the spotlight, served by white-suited waiters? The new restaurant from the Ishizuka crew is flipping the script on oden, a warming dish where the likes of boiled eggs, tofu, daikon and proteins are simmered slowly in a light, soy-charged dashi broth. It’s homestyle cooking done high-end. It’s oden executed with the precision Ishizuka is known for. And it’s all served in a neon-lined room inspired by the streets of Tokyo.
137 Bourke St, Melbourne, theoden.com.au
Yang Thai
You’ve tried Greek-style charcoal chicken in Yarraville, and now it’s time to try Thai-style charcoal chicken south of the river. At Yang Thai, chef Narit Kimsat (ex-Earth Angels, Capitano, Clover among others) salt-brines his chicken before marinating them overnight in a pepper and turmeric combo. The result? A supremely succulent quarter serve of chicken that comes loaded with Kimsat’s som tum salad and sticky rice, and all for a modest $15. There’s also whole birds to take home, plus fries with a sweet and sour tamarind ketchup – a nod to the chook shops of days gone by.
49 Blessington St, St Kilda, yangthai.com.au
Orson Dining
The Mornington Peninsula isn’t short of a fine diner, but you’ll find one of Rosebud’s first in the foyer of the suburb’s grand old cinema. Film buffs will pick up on any parallels between the restaurant’s name, its location and Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane, but chefs Sarah Cremona and Ryan Spurrell’s seaside spot Orson is so much more than just that. Together, the duo brings credentials from big names including Noma and The Ledbury in London and translate it to a menu that’s full of Peninsula pride: vegetables from Hawkes Farm just around the corner, snapper caught fresh from the bay and two takes on terrine packed tight with local ingredients – take your pick between the tomato or ox tongue iteration.
1017 Point Nepean Rd, Rosebud, orsondining.com.au
Otakoi
Borshch is just the beginning at Melbourne’s first Ukrainian restaurant Otakoi, where owner Hanna Kachura presents a full spread of regional delights from across her home country. Tried and tested dishes score a spotlight at this Chapel Street sensation. Holubtsi, or cabbage rolls, are stuffed with cured meats; Ukrainian dumplings are plump with liver; and uzvar, a non-alcoholic drink made from boiling dried and smoked fruit sits alongside Ukrainian-style aromatic liqueurs known as nalivka – if you’ve never had the chance to try Ukrainian cuisine before, this is it.
34 Chapel St, Windsor, otakoi.com.au
Aegli
Chef and owner Ioannis Kasidokostas wants to change the way you think about Greek food at Aegli, where regional rarities duke it out alongside several crowd favourites. The mushroom magiritsa – the offal stew popular in the far corners of Meteora – kicks off your journey throughout Greece, and from there you can choose your own adventure. Try Greek pasta dishes including youvetsi with lemon sauce prawns or hilopites with lobster, or go with the 72-hour lamb of the gods – the hit dish so popular at Kasidokostas’s other restaurant Sowl that it scores a spot on the menu at Aegli, too.
226 Coventry St, South Melbourne, aegli.melbourne
Charrd
The team behind Yakamoz knew they were onto something when their cheeseburger on the Sunday specials board kept selling out before anything else, and so they decided to open a second venue – a hole in the wall just off Lygon Street – serving up that exact Sunday special. It’s a singular proposition at Charrd, with their offering attracting hours-long lines most days and one such accolade positioning their burger as the 14th best in the world.
There are two variations on the theme up for grabs, a cheeseburger and the Charrd Special, the latter of which is just as much about the bounty of condiments within than the burger itself. Whether you go for the classic or the one dripping with chilli jam and truffle aioli is a decision you’ll need to make – and luckily for you and every other punter in line, the wait provides you with more than enough time to do so.
74 Lygon St, Brunswick East, instagram.com/charrdbk
Santito
You’d be right in thinking the 174 Smith Street site has been serving tacos for some time, and while the bones of the venue remain the same, what’s happening in the kitchen is very different. Hotel Jesus is now Santito, and the new owners – also behind Elsternwick’s Mission District – are getting technical with the tortilla. Here, chef Sandra Martinez leans into nixtamalisation, the process where corn is soaked overnight in an alkaline solution before being ground with stone to make the tortillas. And layered on top of those tortillas Martinez has so lovingly prepared? Some of Mexico City’s most popular proteins and flavours including al pastor, chili marinated pork, and confit beef brisket. There’s also a molten cheese-topped queso fundido for those who are still hungry and those who love a good honest cheese pull.
174 Smith St, Collingwood, santito.com.au
Cafe Ogawa
Tonkotsu ramen is everywhere for a reason, but Kantaro Okada, the operator behind great venues like Hareruya Pantry, Atsu and musubi hot spot 279, is making a strong case for iekei-style ramen right here in Melbourne. Popular in the city of Yokohama, iekei ramen is all about the protein: a soy-based pork broth, several slices of pork chashu, and a healthy dash of chicken oil. The result is a bowl of the good stuff brimming in umami allure.
Okada’s iteration of Ogawa is the first location outside of Japan, and while he promises to honour its original recipes, the Melbourne venue scores several unmistakable Okada flourishes: this one comes with specialty desserts, specialty coffee, a vinyl collection primed for soundtracking your Ascot Vale adventure and an overhead magnet you can stick your phone to – should you feel the need to film yourself, your tablemates and your bowl of ramen from up above.
217 Union Rd, Ascot Vale, @cafeogawa
Marmont
Marmont is about as close as you’re going to Hollywood, and more specifically, the who’s who hangout Chateau Marmont, without leaving Melbourne’s Southbank. DJ turned restaurateur Grant Smillie’s new venue is an outrageous ode to the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown, and not least for the red-carpet entrance. There’s plenty of snacky things on the menu to kick things off, with most of what’s on offer influenced by SoCal and Mexican flavours: the Moreton Bay bug roll is doused in old bay sauce, tiger prawns are loaded up with Calabrian chilli butter, and the corn bread is lathered with peach butter.
And like the fit-out, things get fancy further down the list. Go all-out on Marmont’s greatest hits, which include a wagyu rump cap with fermented chimichurri and lemongrass that’s been on the menu since day one, or the 400g lamb shoulder bobbing in a rich chilli consommé.
8 Whiteman St, Southbank, marmontbar.com
Taverna
The great renaissance of Greek dining continues across Melbourne and into its suburbs, with restaurateur Angie Giannakodakis opening Taverna not too long after closing the longstanding Epocha. And just like her beloved Carlton institution, Giannakodakis’s latest brings a similar homestyle energy where wholefoods take centre stage. No-nonsense starters make for a great entry point into her vision: we’re talking pickled vegetables, grilled peppers and flat beans in abundance, while the grill gets going with octopus accompanied by petimezi – an all-natural, all-grape syrup – and a whopping 400g club steak served with an equally uncomplicated and supremely delicious lemon sauce known as ladolemono.
438 Lygon St, Brunswick East, ourtaverna.com
Le Pub
The European Group’s latest offering put itself on the map with one heck of a pie – the one with snail, ox tail, bone marrow and a hulking chunk of bone poking through the crust – but that’s not the only reason you pay a visit to this sharp take on the Australian pub and bottle shop. At Le Pub, it’s everything you love about the group’s other venues such as French Saloon, Kafeneion and Siglo, but in a far more casual setting. That means Euro-leaning dishes including baguettes loaded up with Parisian ham at lunch, a light and bright chicken leg Caesar, and great wines from the fridge that you can drink on-site at retail prices.
That pie, meanwhile, has scored itself an edit for the warmer months and switches out the ox tail and marrow for quail, pig trotter and stout – don’t miss it.
380 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, @lepubmelbourne
El Columpio St Kilda
It’s taco time on St Kilda beach thanks to El Columpio’s second spot, a mainly takeaway kiosk on the grassy patch between Jacka Boulevard and the beach that’s all about great Mexican food. Owner Ricardo Garcia Flores is leaning into the theme and focusing on seafood here: the hot ticket is the fried calamari taco complete with Flores’s pico de gallo, plenty of tomato, onion, coriander and jalapeño chilli, guacamole and a salsa negra chiltepín (aka a seriously punchy chilli sauce). If you’re one of the lucky ones who has nabbed one of the few prized seats out front, order up on the torre de mariscos – a tower brimming with raw and cooked seafood and plenty of chillies.
20 Jacka Blvd, St Kilda, elcolumpio.com
Salona
This Swan Street institution isn’t new, but in 2025 it had one helluva glow-up, expanding into the site next door and building on its 50-year legacy with a considered refurbishment and a re-up on the menu. Owner Stavros Konis has been careful in honouring Salona classics which still feature on the menu today: the tried and tested tarama still holds up as some of the best in the city, then there’s saganaki served with a dollop of apricot jam as it should be, plus half-kilo serves of lamb cutlets for you and your tablemates.
260A Swan St, Richmond, salona.com.au
Need a drink? Check out our guide to some of the very best new bars in Melbourne right here.