17 New Restaurants, Cafes and Bars To Try in September

New openings

• Afloat, Melbourne. The city’s favourite floating bar has launched into 2026 with Baklava Negronis and a Greek islands theme.

• Bar Tenko, Brunswick East. Udon carbonara, interesting wines and sakés are the draw at this tiny Japanese wine bar and bottle shop by a sommelier with 20 years’ hospo experience.

• Brunswick Eats, Brunswick East. Former Beatrix Bakes employee Zoe Pearce’s first cafe offers a produce-driven brunch menu, plus vanilla slices and bomboloni filled with banana milk custard.

• Côte Basque, Melbourne. This quietly glamorous Basque grill restaurant, by star chef and restaurateur Andrew McConnell, is his first new restaurant since Gimlet and quickly landed on The Hot List.

• Frida Crouton’s Final Course, Northcote. Solve the mystery to leave your table at Australia’s first escape room restaurant, by the founder of Australia’s first escape room.

• Jess Lemon, Nunawading. Masterchef and Dessert Masters star Jess Liemantara has finally opened her bakery to the public. Come for jumbo chocolate croissants, black sesame peanut swirls, truffle mushroom danishes and more.

• Lokanta, Fitzroy. A former Nomad chef has opened an exciting Turkish pop-up in the former Toddy Shop space. The changing set menu might feature Black Angus iskender, labneh with pomegranate molasses, sesame and pumpkin seeds, or scoops of stretchy Turkish ice-cream with hibiscus-poached quince.

• Mada, Collingwood. Pastry chef Marishell Evangelista’s in-demand coffee van has turned into a permanent shop serving buttery, salty-sweet ensaymadas in flavours like ube, yema and pan de coco.

• Maison Bake, Melbourne. This new bakery brings a homey touch to the CBD with truffle-parmesan buns, orange and cream cheese tarts, and sellout pudding lattes that are part coffee, part dessert.

• Moon, Melbourne. Kate and Cam Reid, the siblings behind Lune Croissanterie, have found a permanent home for their twisty, deep-fried pastry side project more than five years after launching it as a Fitzroy pop-up.

• Scroll Lab, Brunswick West. Melbourne’s scroll craze might have peaked. This experienced newcomer isn’t worried, thanks to flavours like Thai milk tea with crispy rice and palm-sugar caramel, and Vegemite with honey, parmesan and olive oil in laminated croissant dough.

• Paloma Pizza Bar, Hawthorn. The brothers behind Vacation Coffee and Neighbourhood Pizza have reinvigorated Zia’s, a pizzeria they frequented as kids. Come for vodka rigatoni and a Robertas-inspired sopressa pizza with hot honey and stracciatella.

• Pho Le, Melbourne. The 56-year-old, Michelin-recognised Ho Chi Minh City restaurant has brought its long-running beef pho recipe to Australia for the first time. Choose from five types of beef: rare, brisket, fatty brisket, tendon or meatballs.

• Shogunn, Collingwood. Meet the next project from Peter Gunn, the star chef behind now-closed Ides. You have six weeks to experience his one-man, 12-seat yakitori counter.

• The Freehouse, Collingwood. Gluten is blacklisted at this convivial beer hall, which packs a Latin American menu by a former Stokehouse and Vue de Monde chef. Taps pour 15 beers and nine other boozy drinks – all gluten-free.

• The Frog Club, Windsor. Inspired by old-world brasseries, this Chapel Street spot serves steak, seafood and thrown Martinis until midnight, seven days a week. Sexiest opening of 2026? Yeah, we’d say so.

• Wee Nam Kee, Melbourne. This chicken rice spot is one of the oldest and most beloved in Singapore. The brand’s first Australian outpost brings $20 mains and a recipe developed over four decades.

Closures

• Benchwarmer, West Melbourne. The Hot Listed bottleshop and bar will close in September.

• The Mill at the Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. Two years after reinvigorating the iconic metal and hard rock pub, Melbourne-based brewery The Mill sold to a new owner and finished up on August 29.