Best Restaurants Open Monday in Melbourne 2026

Monday is a quiet night for Melbourne's top kitchens, and the tasting-menu rooms are the first to close. Attica, Vue de Monde and Cutler & Co all rest at the start of the week, so a visitor aiming for the city's three-hat experience on a Monday will be out of luck. What stays open is the dependable Melbourne: the Chinatown institution that has run since 1975, the Flinders Lane all-day rooms, the French bistro in South Yarra that never closes. Six of them confirm Monday hours below, ranked by what each is for, with prices per head in Australian dollars before wine.

Why Monday thins out the Melbourne field

Melbourne's restaurant week peaks Thursday to Saturday, and the most ambitious kitchens take Monday, sometimes Monday and Tuesday, to reset. The three-hat Attica in Ripponlea, the high-rise tasting room Vue de Monde and Andrew McConnell's Cutler & Co in Fitzroy are all dark on a Monday. Booking a degustation that night is not on the table.

The rooms that stay open are the ones built to run seven days: the grand Cantonese institution, the all-day European brasseries clustered along Flinders Lane, and the no-bookings Thai canteen that turns over a queue from lunch to late. The list below leads with the table you must reserve furthest ahead and closes with the walk-in. Hours are checked against each restaurant's current published schedule. For the full week, start with the Melbourne dining guide.

The Monday list

Flower Drum

Cantonese · Chinatown, Melbourne · A$120–180 per head

Monday hours: Monday, lunch 12:00–14:30 and dinner 18:00–23:00

Flower Drum has set the standard for Cantonese fine dining in Australia from 17 Market Lane in Chinatown since 1975, a white-tablecloth room where the Peking duck and the prawn dumplings arrive on trolleys with a quiet ceremony. A banquet runs A$120 to A$180 a head. It opens Monday for both lunch and dinner, which is rare for a kitchen of its standing, and the Monday lunch is the easier of the two to land. Book well ahead regardless, because Flower Drum fills its tables weeks out across the week.

Gimlet

Modern bistro · CBD, Melbourne · A$90–150 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 12:00–23:00

Andrew McConnell's Gimlet opened in 2020 inside the heritage Cavendish House at the corner of Russell Street and Flinders Lane, a glamorous room of arched windows and a marble bar built for a martini and a dozen oysters. The wood-grilled meats and the seafood are the order, and a dinner runs A$90 to A$150 a head. It opens Monday from noon to eleven. The long bar is the seat to ask for on a Monday, ordered from the same kitchen that serves the dining room.

France-Soir

French bistro · South Yarra, Melbourne · A$75–120 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 12:00–24:00

France-Soir has run a loud, classic French bistro at 11 Toorak Road in South Yarra since 1986, a room of white paper tablecloths, a vast Francophile wine list and waiters who have worked the floor for decades. The steak tartare, the duck confit and the steak frites are the orders, and a meal runs A$75 to A$120 a head. It opens Monday from noon to midnight, the latest close on this list. It takes bookings by phone rather than email, so call ahead for a Monday table.

Cumulus Inc

Modern European · CBD, Melbourne · A$60–100 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 12:00–23:00

Cumulus Inc, the room that started Andrew McConnell's Flinders Lane empire in 2008, runs all day at number 45, a high-ceilinged former rag-trade warehouse serving from breakfast to late. The slow-roast lamb shoulder and the tuna tartare are the regulars' orders, and a meal runs A$60 to A$100 a head. It opens Monday from noon to eleven, with a $2 oyster hour from three to six. Walk-ins are always welcome, which makes it one of the easier good Monday tables in the CBD.

Tipo 00

Italian · CBD, Melbourne · A$55–90 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 11:30–22:00

Tipo 00 is the modern pasta bar that Andreas Papadakis opened on Little Bourke Street at number 361 in 2014, and it has been named among the better Italian rooms in the world since. The hand-made pasta is the whole point, the squid-ink tagliolini and the tortellini in brodo among the dishes to order, and a meal runs A$55 to A$90 a head. It opens Monday from half past eleven to ten. The counter overlooking the pasta station is the seat for a diner eating alone.

Chin Chin

Modern Thai · CBD, Melbourne · A$55–85 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 11:00–23:00

Chin Chin has packed out 125 Flinders Lane since 2011 with loud, bold modern Thai, and it has never taken a Monday off. The kingfish sashimi and the slow-cooked beef curry are the dishes everyone orders, and a meal runs A$55 to A$85 a head. It takes no bookings, so the trick on a Monday is to arrive before noon for lunch or before six for dinner, then wait it out in the GoGo Bar downstairs. It is the value pick and the liveliest Monday room in the city.

How to book a Monday table in Melbourne

Melbourne's Monday picture rewards a plan. Flower Drum is the one to lock down first: even on a Monday the Chinatown institution books out, so reserve a week or more ahead and take the lunch if dinner is gone. Gimlet runs on its own booking system and rewards a few days' notice, with the bar held for walk-ins. France-Soir takes Monday bookings by phone, the old-fashioned way. Cumulus Inc and Tipo 00 both welcome walk-ins, with Cumulus the more spacious bet. Chin Chin takes no bookings at all, so time your arrival around the queue. For a Monday alone, the bar at Gimlet and the pasta counter at Tipo 00 are the best seats, a comfortable solo dining at the counter move. Hosting a client on a Monday? Flower Drum's banquet service is the table to impress a client in Melbourne.

Frequently asked questions

Are restaurants in Melbourne open on Monday?

Many of the best fine-dining rooms are not. Monday is the quiet night for Melbourne's top kitchens, so Attica, Vue de Monde and Cutler & Co all close, and chasing a degustation that night is a losing game. The rooms that do open Monday are the institutions built to run seven days: Flower Drum, Gimlet, France-Soir, Cumulus Inc, Tipo 00 and Chin Chin all serve. Plan a Monday around those.

Is Flower Drum open on Monday in Melbourne?

Yes. Flower Drum serves both lunch and dinner on Monday at 17 Market Lane in Chinatown, roughly noon to half past two and six to eleven. It is one of the few rooms of its standard in the city to keep a seven-day week. A banquet of Peking duck and Cantonese classics runs about A$120 to A$180 a head. Book ahead even for a Monday, since Flower Drum fills its tables weeks out.

What is the best Monday dinner in Melbourne?

For a special occasion, Flower Drum's Cantonese banquet in Chinatown is the top Monday dinner in the city. For a glamorous room and a martini, Andrew McConnell's Gimlet on Flinders Lane is the pick. For classic French, France-Soir in South Yarra runs latest, to midnight. For modern Italian pasta, Tipo 00 on Little Bourke Street is hard to beat at the price.

Which famous Melbourne restaurants are closed on Monday?

The marquee tasting-menu rooms. Attica in Ripponlea, the long-time number one in the country, closes Monday, as does the high-rise Vue de Monde and Andrew McConnell's Cutler & Co in Fitzroy. These rooms take Monday, and often Tuesday, to reset for the weekend. If one of them is the goal of your trip, arrange your Melbourne itinerary so the Monday falls on a different night.

What is the best-value restaurant open Monday in Melbourne?

Chin Chin on Flinders Lane. The no-bookings modern Thai canteen runs Monday from eleven to eleven, and its bold curries and sashimi come in around A$55 to A$85 a head, under the bistros and the Cantonese rooms. Because it takes no reservations, the value comes with a wait, so arrive before noon for lunch or before six for dinner, or pass the time in the downstairs bar.

Hours verified against each restaurant's published schedule as of June 2026; confirm directly before travelling. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.