The best things we ate in Melbourne in 2025 worth blowing the budget for
There’s fancy lasagne that’s like no other in town. A dessert that won over a dessert-hater. And a schnitzel with an oozy layer of cheese inside.
There’s fancy lasagne that’s like no other in town. A dessert that won over a dessert-hater. And a schnitzel with an oozy layer of cheese inside, by the Good Food team.
Good Food team
December 30, 2025
One person’s luxury is another person’s small change but, numbers aside, these dishes all possess a common currency: they were special enough to rise above countless other restaurant meals the Good Food team in Victoria ate this year. Whether your idea of heaven is a decision-free tasting menu delivered by a bright young chef or a bowl of pasta, each piece delicately folded by hand, this list spans dining pleasures of all kinds. New Year’s resolutions start here.
Catering from Ela, Melbourne, $49.50 per person
If, like me, you find throwing any vaguely sizeable shindig equally joyful and panic-inducing, you may consider catering instead of cooking. And if you go with Ella Mittas’s outfit, Ela, you can even welcome your guests with the Greek phrase ‘Ela!’ (come here) as they cross the threshold. On the table? Spanakopita enriched with goat’s milk feta, silverbeet and herbs, ensconced in puff pastry. Fermented chickpea flatbread (farinata) that ferries braised capsicum or eggplant. And cubes of potato-and-egg tortilla, capped with a prosciutto ribbon and baked with kefalograviera cheese, thyme and shallots. People remember good company and remarkable food; do yourself a favour and outsource. Note: these dishes are part of the ‘option two’ menu. Sanka Amadoru
Many Little’s beef and goat’s curd pan rolls.Katherine Jamison
Beef pan roll at Many Little, Red Hill, part of $130 set menu
You could happily call it a night after one round of these crunchy little snacks in Many Little’s bar, and be just $15 lighter. But if you’ve made it to this hidden gem, you’ll want to settle in for an all-out feast, the flavours of Sri Lanka delivered in ultra high-def resolution. These savoury-to-the-max, deep-fried roll-ups are part of the country’s impressive collection of “short eats” that open the chef’s menu. A saucy beef filling kicks with cardamom, clove and black pepper while an unorthodox cap of goat’s curd cleverly offsets the spicing. You’ll want more –pace yourself. There’s more where that came from. Emma Breheny
2-5/159 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South, manylittle.com.au
Prosciutto and mortadella filled tortelloni at Trattoria Emilia.
Prosciutto & mortadella tortelloni with parmesan sauce at Trattoria Emilia, city, $41
You know that look of eye-rolling rapture that descends upon Stanley Tucci any time he tastes a dish in his television series ? That’s the expression I made the moment I lifted a forkful of prosciutto and mortadella-filled tortelloni to my lips at mood-lit Already rich, the pasta pillows are bathed in parmesan cream, then anointed with a few drops of syrupy aged balsamic vinegar to correct the balance. Like Tucci, I was unable to avoid blurting out: “Oh my God.”