South Yarra has always been one of Melbourne's great dining precincts. Toorak Road, Chapel Street and the surrounding streets hold an extraordinary concentration of restaurants — from a beloved French institution that has been serving celebrities and locals for decades, to a ten-seat omakase serving the world's finest Kobe Wagyu beef, to buzzing Italian joints, elegant hotel dining rooms and long-running neighbourhood favourites that have earned their loyalty the hard way.
We've been dining in South Yarra for years, many of these restaurants multiple times. This is our considered guide to the best restaurants in South Yarra right now — updated for 2025.
Updated June 2025. All venues personally visited by The World Loves Melbourne.
Box Hill is arguably Melbourne’s most exciting food suburb. From legendary Cantonese roast duck and fiery Sichuan noodles to premium Korean BBQ and modern brunch cafes, this eastern suburb delivers extraordinary diversity and value.
Whether you’re chasing authentic Chinese regional cuisine, comforting Vietnamese classics, or stylish Japanese dining, Box Hill rewards hungry explorers with some of Melbourne’s most memorable meals.
Fitzroy and Collingwood are where Melbourne's food culture lives and breathes. Brunswick Street, Gertrude Street, Smith Street — these are strips shaped by decades of creative energy, migrant cooking, and an unwillingness to settle for average. The good news for your wallet is that the best eating here has never required a big spend. Locals have always eaten well and cheaply in the inner north, and that culture is very much alive in 2026.
I've spent more hours eating my way through Fitzroy and Collingwood than I could possibly count — with Sam, with groups, and on solo missions chasing down the best of a very competitive field. This is my personal guide to the best cheap eats in Fitzroy and Collingwood in 2026.
Brunswick and Brunswick East are two of Melbourne's greatest eating suburbs - and two of its most wallet-friendly. Sydney Road is a multicultural food corridor unlike anywhere else in the city: a Lebanese bakery that Anthony Bourdain visited on his Melbourne food tour, an Israeli falafel institution born from a farmers market food truck, Mexican birria tacos drawing queues from across the city, and a South American cafe where live music plays on the weekend. Brunswick East adds craft breweries, Polish dumplings, and the East Brunswick Village precinct to the mix.
I've spent years eating my way across both suburbs and this is my personally loved guide to the best cheap eats in Brunswick and Brunswick East in 2026.
Richmond is one of Melbourne's great eating suburbs - and it doesn't ask you to spend much to eat brilliantly. Victoria Street is Melbourne's Vietnamese food heartland, Swan Street is one of the coolest dining strips in the world, and Murphy Street now has Melbourne's most exciting brewpub. From a $14 bowl of pho that's been consistently exceptional for years to freshly made pasta with natural wines and an on-site smoker pouring craft beer, Richmond punches above its weight at every price point.
I've eaten across Richmond more times than I can count - with groups, with family, on the way to the footy, and specifically chasing down these spots. This is my personal guide to the best cheap eats in Richmond in 2026.
Perched 89 floors above Melbourne and soaring 300 metres into the sky, Eureka 89 is already renowned for its unparalleled city views. Yet after experiencing Executive Chef Renee Martillano’s new seasonal Signature 6-Course Tasting Menu, it’s clear the kitchen deserves just as much attention as the panorama outside the windows. This is an exceptional sensory experience in every way. I was invited to an exclusive media dinner for the launch of this stunning menu.
At Melbourne’s highest dining destination and the highest restaurant in the Southern Hemisphere, the views may initially capture your attention, but the food and impeccable service ensures they don’t steal the entire show.
Melbourne's CBD is one of the most exciting cities in the world to eat cheaply — if you know where to look. The tourist traps are real, but duck into the right laneway, food court, or side-street spot and you'll find extraordinary food for $10–$20 that rivals anything in the city's fine dining scene. I've eaten my way through the CBD more times than I can count, and this is my personal guide to the spots that genuinely deliver.
From hole-in-the-wall banh mi to Indian street food, modern Thai to Indonesian charcoal grills — the best cheap eats in Melbourne CBD are a reminder that this city's food culture runs deep at every price point. These are all places I've personally visited and recommend without hesitation.
Dining out in Melbourne in 2026 requires more strategy than ever. Whether you're spending $50, $100 or $200 per person, this Melbourne restaurant budget guide explains exactly what you can expect across the city's dining scene. I've been eating across the city this year (and for the last 15 years) - from counter stools at neighbourhood ramen joints to white-tablecloth rooms in the CBD - and this is a frank, current guide to what $50, $100 and $200 per person genuinely delivers right now.
