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Melbourne · Vegan Fine Dining · 2026 Edition

Best Vegan Fine Dining in Melbourne 2026

Melbourne is one of the best vegan cities on earth, but its plant-based strength sits in two tiers. The dedicated vegan rooms, Smith & Daughters and the modern Sichuan kitchen SHU, are terrific and casual. The fine-dining version comes from the tasting kitchens that rebuild their menus plant-based on request: Ben Shewry's Attica, Vue de Monde on the 55th floor of the Rialto, and the Andrew McConnell rooms. Australia has no Michelin guide, so the benchmark is hats and the World's 50 Best. Six rooms follow, ranked by how seriously each treats the vegan diner, with the chef, the price and how to order.

Native-ingredient plant-based course at Attica, Ripponlea Melbourne
Photo: Google Places. Attica, Ripponlea, Melbourne.

How Melbourne does vegan dining at the top end

Melbourne has more good vegan food per head than almost any city, but the dedicated plant-based rooms sit at the casual end: Shannon Martinez's Smith & Daughters in Collingwood, the vegan Sichuan kitchen SHU, the Latin-leaning Lona Misa. They are excellent, and none pretends to be white-tablecloth fine dining. For that, the city leans on its tasting kitchens, which rebuild their menus plant-based on request rather than running a vegan carte. Because Australia has no Michelin guide, the markers of quality here are the Good Food Guide hats and the World's 50 Best list, both of which these rooms hold or feature on.

The list leads with Attica and Vue de Monde, the two rooms that turn a full tasting menu vegan, then the Andrew McConnell kitchens Cutler & Co and Cumulus, the Southeast Asian set menus at Sunda, and the wood-fired wine bar Embla. Every name links to its full review, with the price to plan around and how to order. For the wider city start with the Melbourne dining guide, and for the field nationally see the best vegan restaurants worldwide.

The vegan list

1

Attica

Modern Australian tasting · Ripponlea · ~$385 tasting

Vegan menu: Vegan on request — a full plant-based version with 72 hours' notice

Attica is the most ambitious plant-based seat in the city, even though it is not a vegan restaurant. Ben Shewry cooks a native-ingredient tasting menu at 74 Glen Eira Road in Ripponlea, much of it grown on the neighbouring Rippon Lea Estate, and with 72 hours' notice the kitchen rebuilds the entire menu as a plant-based one rather than swapping a course. Dishes like the long-running Edge of Reason become vegetable riddles in the conversion. The menu runs around $385 and rises further in late 2026. As Melbourne's entry on the World's 50 Best list, this is the room to book when you want plant-based cooking treated as the main event.

2

Vue de Monde

Modern Australian tasting · CBD, Rialto · ~$380 tasting

Vegan menu: Vegan on request — a vegan version of the signature tasting

Vue de Monde sits on the 55th floor of the Rialto and is the grandest fine-dining room on this list. Executive chef Hugh Allen runs a single signature tasting menu near $380 that celebrates Australian producers, and with advance notice the kitchen offers vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian and coeliac versions. The plant-based menu keeps the theatre, the native ingredients and the city views intact. Reservations release three months out on the first of each month at 10am, so plan ahead and flag the vegan menu at booking. For occasion dining with a plant-based table, this is the splashiest seat in Melbourne.

3

Cutler & Co

Modern Australian · Fitzroy · a la carte

Vegan menu: Vegan on request — vegan and gluten-free options across the carte

Cutler & Co is Andrew McConnell's flagship dining room at 55-57 Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, and since returning to an a la carte format in 2024 it has become one of the easier serious rooms to eat plant-based in. The kitchen carries vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options and adapts readily, so you can build a multi-course vegetable-led dinner without a special menu. It is open Wednesday to Saturday evenings and all day Sunday. This is the pick for a refined but relaxed plant-based dinner, with the polish of a hatted kitchen and none of the rigidity of a fixed tasting.

4

Sunda

Southeast Asian · CBD, Chinatown · $98 and $168 set menus

Vegan menu: Vegan on request — vegetarian and dietary menus across the set menus

Sunda is Khanh Nguyen's Southeast Asian room in the Chinatown and theatre district, where the cooking fuses regional Asian flavours with native Australian produce. Two set menus run at $98 and $168, and the kitchen prides itself on catering to vegetarians and dietary needs, building a plant-forward path through dishes that already lean heavily on vegetables, ferments and herbs. It is the most flavour-driven, least formal of the tasting-style rooms here. Flag vegan when you book so the kitchen can plan, and it becomes one of the most exciting plant-based meals in the city centre.

5

Cumulus Inc

All-day modern Australian · Flinders Lane · a la carte

Vegan menu: Vegan on request — vegan options, vegetables to the front

Cumulus Inc has anchored Flinders Lane since 2008, another Andrew McConnell room and the most flexible booking on this list. It runs all day from noon to 11pm at 45 Flinders Lane, with a menu where fresh produce leads and vegetable plates are a strength rather than an afterthought. Vegan and gluten-free options sit on the carte, and the staff adapt easily for a plant-based table. This is the spot for a spontaneous plant-based lunch or a long grazing dinner in the middle of the dining precinct, without the planning a tasting menu demands.

6

Embla

Wine bar and wood fire · CBD · a la carte

Vegan menu: Vegan on request — wood-fired vegetable plates and natural wine

Embla is the wood-fired wine bar from Christian McCabe and Dave Verheul at 122 Russell Street, and it makes a surprisingly strong plant-based table. The kitchen cooks over fire and turns out charred and roasted vegetable plates alongside one of the best natural-wine lists in the city, with vegan and vegetarian options marked. It is the most casual, drinks-led pick here, built for grazing rather than a set sequence. Tell the staff you are eating vegan and they will route you through the plant dishes; it is the place to graze through vegetables over a long evening with a good bottle.

How to order vegan in Melbourne

No room on this list prints a standing vegan menu, so the request goes in at booking. Attica and Vue de Monde want it at least 72 hours out so the kitchen can rebuild the tasting, and both treat the plant-based version as a chance to show off rather than a chore. The Andrew McConnell rooms, Cutler & Co and Cumulus, carry vegan options on the carte and adapt on the night, while Sunda and Embla route you through their vegetable-led dishes when you flag it. Use the word vegan rather than vegetarian, since that rules out the dairy, honey and fish sauce these kitchens otherwise reach for, and confirm a day before at the tasting rooms. Plan the rest of the trip with a Melbourne anniversary dinner and the best vegetarian restaurants worldwide.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best vegan fine dining in Melbourne?

For a full plant-based tasting at the top of the market, Attica in Ripponlea is the pick: Ben Shewry rebuilds his native-ingredient menu as a plant-based one with 72 hours' notice. Vue de Monde on the 55th floor of the Rialto runs a vegan version of its tasting menu on request. Below those, Cutler & Co, Sunda and Cumulus all cook vegan well a la carte. Melbourne also has dedicated vegan rooms such as Smith & Daughters, though those sit at a more casual level. Start with the Melbourne dining guide.

Does Melbourne have a fully vegan fine-dining restaurant?

Not quite at fine-dining level. Melbourne's dedicated vegan rooms, Shannon Martinez's Smith & Daughters in Collingwood and the modern vegan Sichuan kitchen SHU, are excellent but casual rather than white-tablecloth. The plant-based fine-dining experience here comes from the tasting rooms, Attica and Vue de Monde, that rebuild their menus vegan on request. Australia has no Michelin guide, so the city's benchmark is the Good Food Guide hats and the World's 50 Best list. For dedicated plant-based rooms elsewhere, see the best vegan restaurants worldwide.

How much does vegan fine dining cost in Melbourne?

It tracks each room's standard tasting. Attica's menu runs around $385 per person and the plant-based version is priced the same, rising further in late 2026. Vue de Monde's signature tasting sits near $380, with the vegan menu matched to it. Sunda offers set menus at $98 and $168, while Cutler & Co and Cumulus are a la carte, so a vegetable-led dinner there can run from a moderate to a generous spend. Budget the headline tasting figure rather than expecting a discount for going plant-based.

Which Melbourne restaurants do a vegan menu on request?

Most of this list. Attica and Vue de Monde build complete plant-based tasting menus when you flag it in advance, ideally 72 hours out so the kitchen can plan. Cutler & Co and Cumulus, both from Andrew McConnell, carry vegan options on their a la carte menus and adapt easily. Sunda caters to vegetarians and dietary needs across its Southeast Asian menu, and Embla's wood-fired vegetable plates suit a plant-based table. Always say vegan rather than vegetarian so dairy, honey and fish sauce are ruled out, and confirm a day ahead.

Is there a Michelin-starred vegan restaurant in Melbourne?

No, because Australia has no Michelin guide at all. Melbourne is rated instead by the Good Food Guide, which awards chef's hats, and by the World's 50 Best list, where Attica is the city's long-standing entry. There is no starred or hatted room that is exclusively vegan, so the plant-based path runs through the tasting kitchens that adapt. For an all-vegetarian tasting format in the city, the same rooms are the place to start, and you can compare nearby with vegan fine dining in Sydney.

Keep reading

Plan the rest of the city with the full Melbourne dining guide, or by occasion with a Melbourne first date. Read two of the rooms above in full: Attica and Vue de Monde. For plant-based dining beyond Melbourne, compare vegan fine dining in Sydney and vegan fine dining in Singapore, plus the best vegan restaurants worldwide.

Menus and prices verified against each restaurant's published information in June 2026; confirm vegan availability directly when you book. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.