Neptune’s Grotto.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Terry Durack saves one of the year’s best openings until last for his final review

The Clam Bar team’s new Italian diner is a nostalgic party serving a fresh remix of Italian dishes. And it makes a fittingly fabulous venue for Terry Durack’s last review.

  • Terry Durack
Carlotta in Canberra.
Good Food hat15/20

This high-energy restaurant from a star Melbourne group has Canberra talking

Melbourne’s Lucas Restaurants group’s first Canberra venture,Carlotta,has pulled out all the stops,with a talented chef,wood-fired oven and house-made pasta.

  • Terry Durack
Wagyu cubes with sea salt and crisp garlic at Firepop.
Good Food hat15/20

Firepop

Coal-fired meat with extra sizzle.

Azuma’s bento lunch is no quick food-court commodity.
14.5/20

Azuma

Old trouper full of corporate comforts,with an omakase twist.

Maremma duck,purple carrot,blackberry,madeira and macadamia.
Good Food hat15/20

Oborozuki

Experiential dining by Circular Quay.

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The Cut Bar and Grill is back in its subterranean basement after a hiatus.
Good Food hat15/20

Nostalgia (and pigs in blankets) return at this rebooted hatted steakhouse at The Rocks

The Cut is back,reviving the bourbon and beefsteak era,complete with a prime rib trolley and bombe Alaska.

  • Terry Durack
The yellow crab curry at Chat Thai.

Chat Thai

Thirty-five years on and the intensity of flavour endures in stand-out dishes like spicy som dtum and salted mackerel fried rice.

Elio’s Place,a new all-day eatery in Flinders Lane,feels as if it’s been here for decades.
14.5/20

This Flinders Lane newcomer with flex is the all-day diner the CBD has been missing

For a food city,Melbourne could do better at all-day dining. Elio’s Place ticks many boxes.

  • Dani Valent
The sushi train,imported from Taiwan,fits the narrow Bourke Street site.
13.5/20

It’s super weird,fun and accessible,but a few things almost send this big-name sushi train off track

The Bossa Nova pitch sounds like a drunken late-night thought bubble. But it’s a welcome measure of weirdness for this great restaurant town.

  • Besha Rodell
A wall of vending machines at Gacha Cafe.

Getcha self to this fun gacha spot for snacks that taste just like Japan

Visiting this George Street spot is like cracking open a toy capsule as it swooshes down the machine.

  • Lee Tran Lam