The premium Indian restaurant seats 130 in booths or on elegant folding chairs.
Good Food hat15/20

This hatted restaurant is a jewel,nestled in our critic’s least favourite location in Melbourne

Toddy Shop chef Mischa Tropp’s fire-driven,premium restaurant at Crown feels real,right and resonant.

  • Dani Valent
One of the pastel-heavy murals at Marmont.
14/20

Plumped up desserts and corporate vibes:Our critic’s verdict on Crown’s glitzy new restaurant

It might have little to do with its namesake Hollywood hotel Chateau Marmont,but it’s serving sexed up and lascivious cornbread.

  • Besha Rodell
Chateaubriand at Rockpool Bar&Grill.
Good Food hat15/20

Rockpool Bar&Grill

High steaks dining.

Hacienda aims to remove itself from the taco crowd.
13.5/20

Is this new Mexican eatery the quality Southgate venue we’ve been waiting for?

Some of the food at this riverside restaurant left our critic giddy with excitement. But there were a few spills amid the thrills.

  • Besha Rodell
Tasmanian produce-focused restaurant Pure South celebrates two decades in business this year.
Good Food hat15/20

This 20-year-old restaurant showcases Tassie,but its riverside setting is pure Melbourne

Pure South has matured into a great Melbourne restaurant:committed,consistent,creative and,in the right light,prone to making a person emotional.

  • Dani Valent
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Strato faces the CBD,with a view over the Convention and Exhibition Centre.
12.5/20

Melbourne's Strato is a dining room with a killer view

It's got the look and the chef can cook,but why do we tend to get hotel restaurants so wrong in this country,asks Besha Rodell.

  • Besha Rodell
A selection of dishes from the kaiseki tasting menu at Komeyui.

Choose your own Japanese adventure at Komeyui

There are three ways to eat at this Melbourne restaurant:you can sit at the counter for an omakase sushi degustation,order from a concise a la carte menu,or succumb to the charms of the kaiseki tasting menu.

  • Dani Valent
Go-to dish:Smoked oysters.
14.5/20

Freyja is refreshingly different in a sea of similar openings

Nordic influence meets Australian ingredients at this refreshingly unique new Melbourne restaurant.

  • Besha Rodell
The bloody mary (left) and celery seed martini.

Is this Melbourne's best bloody mary?

You get a history lesson and a magic show at the Dinner by Heston Blumenthal bar.

  • Michael Harden
Hotcake with strawberries and cream.

P.S. Bar + Kitchen:Easy,breezy brunching by the river

Pure South's all-star team massively over-delivers breakfast,and the cafe's outlook is as Melbourne as a tram.

  • Dani Valent