Where to eat in Melbourne

Nat Geo

Melbourne has Australia's deepest restaurant bench, from Gourmet Traveller's 2026 Restaurant of the Year in Collingwood to dumpling houses downtown.

National Geographic Best of the World 2027: A food scene and green spaces, plus eight Rugby World Cup matches in October 2027; the only Australian pick. (Time Out Melbourne)

The dish: Soup dumplings

Handmade pork dumplings with a hot broth center, a Melbourne CBD staple. The best one is at Ruyi.

Where to eat

Restaurant

Yiaga

Fitzroy Gardens

Get: The tasting menu

Gourmet Traveller's 2026 Best New Restaurant.

Source: Gourmet Traveller 2026

Restaurant

Minamishima

Richmond

Get: Omakase sushi

Three hats in the 2026 Good Food Guide.

Source: Good Food Guide Victoria 2026

Restaurant

Lee Ho Fook

CBD

Get: Modern Chinese sharing plates

On Gourmet Traveller's 2026 Melbourne list.

Source: Gourmet Traveller

Restaurant · the best soup dumplings

Ruyi

CBD

Get: Soup dumplings

Urban List's 2026 dumpling guide.

Source: Urban List, 2026

When to goMarch for the Food and Wine Festival; October 2027 for Rugby World Cup crowds.

Good to knowBook hat restaurants weeks ahead; lunch is the easier table.

New this yearYiaga in Fitzroy Gardens won Best New Restaurant at the 2026 Gourmet Traveller awards.

Go, and let us handle the food

Book Melbourne with us and a food concierge comes with it: a call before you go, the hard tables asked for through the restaurant's own line with a backup for each, markets and classes, a what-to-order sheet, and a text line while you're there. A real person writes back within a day; nothing is charged now.

Our full Melbourne guide The Melbourne food map Ask Chef about Melbourne

Also on the 2027 lists, nearby

Afghan banquet

AdelaideEat: Afghan banquet

PenangEat: Char koay teow

Mi Quang

Da Nang and Hoi AnEat: Mi Quang

All 46 destinations

Every place was checked open on November 11, 2026, from the source under it. On National Geographic Best of the World 2027. Something changed? Write to hello@chefamazing.com. Tourism board? Post this guide free.

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