The Best New Restaurants in Melbourne
“What good new restaurants should I try?”
It’s a question Broadsheet’s editors field daily. It comes from friends, family, colleagues and strangers. And there’s always pressure to deliver an excellent recommendation. While we’d just as soon point you towards one of Melbourne’s long-standing institutions, the pull of a hot new place is hard to deny. These are our picks of the new restaurants capturing the attention of the city right now. Updated regularly.
Restaurant
Roma
The purest interpretation of a Roman trattoria you’ll find outside Italy, with nods to the ancient culture through design, drinks and dishes. As only Con Christopoulos could.
Restaurant
Dutch Rules Distilling
A suburban gin distillery that’s home to one of Melbourne’s most exciting new restaurants. Visit for Sri Lankan plates influenced by French, Japanese and Italian cuisines.
Restaurant
Bar Carnation
Cool, casual and classic are the words to describe this Rathdowne village wine bar housed in the old Gerald’s space. Slow dinners, oysters and steak frites beckon.
Restaurant
Tyga
Flavours from all across Asia (and beyond) reign at this vibing restaurant, where fusion isn’t a dirty word. Inside, mid-century furniture softens the space and DJs play funk, soul and disco.
Restaurant
Julietta
A romantic South Yarra wine bar from the Mamasita team. The menu revolves around classic Italian dishes and lesser-known pastas. Plus, plenty of wines from the motherland.
Restaurant
Santito
Tortillas made from true scratch separate this lively Mexican restaurant from the pack. As does the interior, which is unlike most venues in Melbourne.
Restaurant
Chabela
After struggling to find the dishes they loved when living in CDMX, a husband-and-wife duo opened this Thornbury spot to showcase food that feels just like home.
Restaurant
Garfield
At this Lygon Street pizzeria, you'll find pizza bases made using the Tokyo stretch method, with toppings ranging from classic to experimental. Plus, takeaway cocktails.
Restaurant
Little House
Sometimes wine bars do too much. Flashy fit-outs, loud playlists and complicated menus can distract from the point: the wine. But Little House understands the brief.
Restaurant
Good Days Collingwood
Standard-setting beef, chicken and mushroom pho are the draw at this compact shop, which repeats the formula perfected at the Brunswick original.
Restaurant
Super Taco
This tiny 30-square-metre shopfront on Crossley Street takes a restrained approach to Mexican cooking. The team bets its reputation on one thing: getting tortillas right.
Restaurant
Bar Sophia
At this Melburnian take on a modern Athenian taverna, the team behind Marameo dishes up Greek plates and house-made haloumi.
Restaurant
Dingo
This Abbotsford restaurant is the second bricks-and-mortar spot from the crew behind Dingo Ate My Taco and Taqueria Sin Nombre. Here, the team returns to its Tex-Mex roots.
Restaurant
Pho Bat Dan
Melbourne’s take on a famous Vietnamese pho shop. Hit the CBD spot for bowls topped with beef ribs, meatballs, brisket or chicken. As well as a hearty vegetarian version.
Restaurant
Chun’s Kalguksu
A family-run Korean restaurant building on a hospitality legacy that began in Sydney. Kalguksu is a dish of knife-cut noodles in broth and, as the shop’s name implies, it’s the star at Chun’s.
Restaurant
Bar Sala
A casual restaurant and vinyl bar in Abbotsford from The Mulberry Group. Start your night in the dining room and retire to the lounge with a drink in hand and a record playing on the speakers.
Restaurant
The Havelock Place
This old post office is a local landmark, built in the early 1900s. Inside it these days is The Havelock Place, a restaurant serving UK-inspired takes on Sri Lankan cuisine.
Restaurant
Sagye
This CBD spot simmers 100 kilograms of Wagyu a day to make its signature Korean beef soup. It’s open for lunch and dinner service on a walk-in-only basis, so come early.
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