How To Outsource Christmas Lunch in Melbourne This Year

The holidays have a special way of sneaking up on us. One day it’s the Melbourne Cup long weekend, and the next, Mariah Carey is charting. If you’re yet to plan your Christmas menu, or would prefer to leave the cooking to the professionals, here are a few last-minute ideas. 

Dine in and leave it to the pros

Place your Christmas in the good hands of the team at Aru this year with lunch at the CBD  restaurant. Expect a five-course meal including a fruits de mer tower with Sydney rock oysters, wood-roasted scallops and grilled scampi. Plus, lamb spring rolls, crispy pork belly and roasted pork glazed with five spice and hoisin, and two desserts: a matcha cheesecake mille-feuille with black sesame diplomat and a scorched pavlova with lychee, coconut, mango sorbet and strawberry gum. The team can accommodate dietaries with advance notice. Book here.

For a change from the classic holiday roast, spend Christmas Day at Thai-inspired eatery BKK. Tuck into a four-course banquet that includes prawn salad with prawn crackers, and a charcoal grilled lamb shoulder. Just downstairs, Her Bar is offering its own festive, seafood-centric set menu and Music Room, open for walk-ins only, will have free entry and DJs from 4pm. Book BKK here and Her Bar here.

Or book a table for Christmas lunch at Rathdowne Street wine bar Malin. There’ll be a six-course chef’s tasting menu with New Orleans-inspired black opal Wagyu beef with a crayfish bisque, and delicate mignardises to end. Book here.

Impress your guests with a fancy finish-at-home meal

Meanwhile, Hagen’s Organic is also putting in the legwork with a range of prepped turkey, rib eyes, ham with house-made rhubarb glaze, and more for Christmas. It even has gluten-free stuffing, chicken gravy and cherry relish to pair with the proteins. Pre-orders are closed, but some products are available in stores.

Portside, the new Prahran Market fishmonger from Omnia and Yugen chef Stephen Nairn, has chef-prepared seafood available to pick up from either the restaurants or the market. Get ready-to-bake kelp-wrapped rock lobster, butterflied prawns ready to grill and more. Pre-orders close on Friday December 19.

And if you’re navigating dietaries, or just after a veggie-packed feast, Shannon Martinez’s vegan spot Smith & Deli has more than 50 Christmas items this year. Get vegan turkey stuffed with cranberry and chestnuts, or a vegan ham that’s braised, smoked, then basted in a whisky gingerbread glaze. There’s also soy eggnog, vegan brandy custard, three kinds of puddings and creamed greens. Pre-orders are sold out, but the deli is restocked with Christmas items daily.

Or curate a whole spread from Italian supermarket La Manna, with everything from ready-to-bake scallops with garlic butter, prawn cocktails and grazing platters, to paella, slow-cooked lamb shoulder and a cake decorated like a reindeer. Order online by 2pm on Wednesday December 17.

Go all out with festive desserts

For frozen takes on classic cakes, Pidapipo has a gelato version of an Italian star-shaped pandoro. A sponge cake base is topped with layers of cherry cream, chocolate and redcurrant gelato. The whole thing is finished with a raspberry chocolate spray and topped with a handmade edible chocolate bauble. The cake is available for purchase in-store or for online order until Sunday December 21, for collection on or before Tuesday December 24. 

Plus, this year Piccolina has a gelato-stuffed panettone. A roasted-hazelnut-syrup-infused panettone is filled with Piccolina’s Better Than Nutella gelato and chocolate shards. It’s then covered with a dark chocolate and roasted hazelnut glaze, and topped with milk and white chocolate pearls and a gianduja (chocolate stretched with hazelnut butter) bauble. Available for pre-order until sold out. 

For a fun new take on trifle, this year Raymond Tan’s Hot-Listed bakery Dua is making a trifle version of its signature pandan princess cake. It has enough layers of cake, custard, boysenberry jelly and whipped cream for 20 to 25 people (and you get to keep the trifle bowl). Available for pre-order in-store or online until Sunday December 21, or sold out.

And if you’re looking for pud, Stokehouse has brought back its tropical Christmas pudding for the fifth year. This year it comes with brandy custard. Pre-order here.

This article was originally published on December 13, 2022. It was updated on Tuesday December 16, 2025, to reflect new information and remove out-of-date details.