Tuna tartare,lemon sorrel,beaurre bosc pear,green olive.
14.5/20

Osteria Renata

First-class pasta and Italo vino in polished,pretty digs.

The hopper set includes rice flour pancakes,two curries and sambols.

Hopper Joint

All-you-can-eat hoppers and more.

Chirashi bowl.
Good Food hat15.5/20

Uminono

Twelve-seat sushi counter delivers impressive daytime dining.

Endless grilled oysters are available on the weekends.
Critics'Pick

Firebird

Popular destination for char-grilled dishes.

Mount Erica Hotel schnitzel.

Mount Erica Hotel

With its moody lighting and vintage Australiana artwork,the Erica happily walks the line between refined and casual.

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The garden marquee at the Flying Duck Hotel.

Flying Duck Hotel

Slip into a green leather booth or perch in the fairy-lit glasshouse at this rejuvenated 1868 beauty.

Cuttlefish dosai.
14/20

This swish Sri Lankan restaurant serves what our critic calls ‘the perfect snack’

Hopper Joint,with its hands-on curry sets and short eats,is introducing the cuisine to a whole new audience.

  • Besha Rodell
Toscana pizza with truffle mushroom cream,mozzarella,porcini mushrooms,mixed forest mushrooms,gorgonzola cream,radicchio and crushed roasted hazelnuts and cashews.

Never trust a singing chef? L’Amorino’s panini and loaded pizza slices are on song

Chef Angelo Magliocco often unleashes an aria as he goes about his making and baking at this tiny pizza and cake shop.

  • Dani Valent
Go-to dish:Chirashi bowl.
Good Food hat15.5/20

‘Probably the best value high-quality sushi in Melbourne’:Lunch-only Japanese gem scores a hat

This lunch-only service in Prahran offers two excellent options:a $60 chirashi bowl that’s probably the best value in Melbourne,and an 11-course omakase experience for a relatively affordable $110.

  • Besha Rodell
Inside Firebird’s long dining room.
14/20

Is Firebird still firing? The flavours are fantastic but the service is lukewarm

This fire-driven restaurant may not be writing an entirely new chapter on modern Australian cooking,but it is representing the genre admirably.

  • Besha Rodell