RFK Cuisine · Tasting Menu · Melbourne
Best Tasting Menu Restaurants in Melbourne 2026
Tasting Menu · Melbourne · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
No MICHELIN inspector has ever set foot in Australia, which means Melbourne's tasting-menu pecking order is decided by chef's hats and a stubborn local consensus rather than a red book. Ben Shewry's Attica has held the top of that order for years, a ten-course argument for native Australian ingredients eaten in a converted shop in Ripponlea. Around it sits a tasting-menu city with real spread: French-Australian degustation fifty-five floors above Collins Street, the best sushi counter in the country, two Japanese kitchens cooking kaiseki and omakase to the minute, and a pair of looser rooms where the set menu is a pleasure rather than a marathon. This list runs from the AUD 345 native tasting to the woodfire feast, ranked on the cooking, the room and the value, with the menu to book and how far ahead.
1.Attica
Ben Shewry's three-hatted native-ingredient tasting and Melbourne's signature meal; book weeks out for a once-a-trip dinner.
Attica, in a low-slung shopfront on Glen Eira Road in Ripponlea, is Ben Shewry's three-hatted flagship and the restaurant that put modern Australian cooking on the world map, sitting on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list for more than a decade. The ten-course menu is built almost entirely around native and home-grown ingredients, from bunya nuts and saltbush to the long-running course of a potato cooked in the soil it grew in, with much of the produce coming from the restaurant's own garden. It runs around AUD 345 before drinks. This is the deepest dive into indigenous Australian ingredients anywhere in the city, and the meal most worth planning a Melbourne trip around. Book on the day the window opens, four to eight weeks ahead for weekends.
Reserve when the window opens; the full ten-course menu, the potato dish, the wine pairing.
2.Vue de Monde
French-Australian degustation fifty-five floors up under Hugh Allen; book it for native cooking and a view in one sitting.
Vue de Monde occupies Level 55 of the Rialto on Collins Street, the highest serious tasting menu in Melbourne and the one with a 360-degree view to match. Executive chef Hugh Allen, a Noma alumnus who has led the kitchen since 2019, with head chef Chris Marshall, cooks a French-trained degustation built on Australian produce, marron and native botanicals among them, finished with the tableside theatre the room is known for. The menu runs around AUD 295 before the pairing. It is the choice for a diner who wants haute technique, indigenous ingredients and a skyline in a single evening rather than a stripped-back room. Book a couple of weeks ahead, more for a window table at the weekend.
Reserve direct; the full degustation, the marron course, a window seat at dusk.
3.Minamishima
The best sushi counter in Australia; book the counter weeks ahead for Koichi Minamishima's aged-fish omakase.
Minamishima, on Lord Street in Richmond, is Koichi Minamishima's three-hatted sushi room and, by near-unanimous local consensus, the finest omakase in the country. The experience is a counter-only progression of nigiri, the fish aged and cured to the chef's exact specifications and pressed to order in front of you, with a kingfish and a tuna course that regulars come back for. The omakase runs around AUD 280 before sake. It is the choice for a diner who wants the precision of Tokyo's best counters without the flight, and one of the hardest counter seats in Melbourne to land. Book the counter several weeks ahead and take the sake pairing.
Reserve the counter; the full nigiri omakase, the aged kingfish, the sake flight.
4.Amaru
Clinton McIver's intimate three-hatted sensory menu; book the 34-seat room for the most precise tasting outside the CBD.
Amaru, on a quiet stretch of High Street in Armadale, is the solo restaurant of former Vue de Monde sous chef Clinton McIver, who earned a third hat in 2023 in a 34-seat room. The Sensory tasting menu is an exercise in controlled, precise modern Australian cooking, built course by course around texture, temperature and Australian produce in a pared-back space that keeps the focus on the plate. The menu sits a notch below the three-hatted CBD giants on price. It is the choice for a diner who wants top-tier technique in an intimate, low-key suburban dining room rather than a grand one. Book a couple of weeks ahead and take the longer menu with the pairing.
Reserve direct; the Sensory tasting menu, the seasonal seafood courses, the matched pairing.
5.Ishizuka
Katsuji Yoshino's 16-seat kaiseki counter below Bourke Street; book it for the most exacting Japanese tasting in town.
Ishizuka, in a basement on Bourke Street in the CBD, is Katsuji Yoshino's 16-seat kaiseki room, awarded two hats at the 2025 Good Food Guide Awards. The set menu of roughly eleven courses follows the kaiseki form, an ordered seasonal progression of sashimi, simmered, grilled and rice courses, plated with the kind of precision usually reserved for Kyoto, all served from a single central counter. The kaiseki runs about AUD 315 without alcohol. It is the choice for a diner who wants formal Japanese fine dining rather than a Western degustation, and a quieter, more meditative evening than the bigger rooms. Book a couple of weeks ahead and arrive on time, as the menu is served in a fixed order.
Reserve the counter; the full kaiseki, the seasonal sashimi course, the sake pairing.
6.Cutler & Co
Andrew McConnell's flagship Fitzroy degustation; book it for a serious set menu without the three-hat marathon.
Cutler & Co, in a converted metal works on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, is Andrew McConnell's long-running flagship and the most flexible room on this list. The kitchen offers a set degustation alongside a strong à la carte, so a tasting here can be a focused five or so courses rather than a three-hour commitment, cooked in McConnell's polished, produce-led modern Australian style and served in one of the city's best-looking dining rooms. The set menu undercuts the giants on price. It is the choice for a diner who wants a high-end tasting that stays the right side of relaxed, with the option to drop back to the carte. Book a week or two ahead and take the degustation.
Reserve direct; the chef's degustation, the seasonal seafood, the cheese trolley.
7.Aru
Khanh Nguyen's woodfire feast on Little Collins Street; book the chef's menu for the most fun set meal in the CBD.
Aru, on Little Collins Street in the CBD, is chef Khanh Nguyen's sultry, fire-driven room, the sibling to his acclaimed Sunda, where a blazing woodfire hearth anchors the kitchen. The chef's feast menu runs a Southeast Asian and Australian course progression cooked over flame, led by the signature suckling pig with native sambals, a play on Balinese babi guling. It is the loosest, most convivial tasting on this list, set in a dark, theatrical dining room. This is the choice for a group or a celebratory dinner that wants a set menu with energy rather than a hushed degustation. Book the chef's feast a week or two ahead, especially for a Friday or Saturday.
Reserve direct; the chef's feast menu, the suckling pig with native sambals, a cocktail to start.
How Melbourne does the tasting menu
Melbourne's fine-dining benchmark is the Good Food Guide and its chef's hats, not the MICHELIN Guide, which has never run in Australia. Three hats is the local equivalent of the top tier, and only a handful of Victorian rooms hold it at once, which is why Attica, Vue de Monde, Minamishima and Amaru carry real weight. The city's tasting-menu identity splits cleanly: native-ingredient modern Australian cooking at Attica and Vue de Monde, exacting Japanese tradition at Minamishima and Ishizuka, and a looser, produce-led set-menu wing at Cutler & Co and Aru. For the global context on where these rooms sit, see the best tasting menus worldwide and the best fine dining worldwide.
Practically, the three-hatted rooms are the hard part: Attica and Minamishima release tables on a rolling window and fill weekends four to eight weeks out, so set a reminder for the day bookings open. Dinner runs long at the top end, two and a half to three hours, and the Japanese counters expect punctuality because the menu is served in a fixed order. Most rooms offer a wine or sake pairing worth taking. Geography spreads the list from Ripponlea and Armadale in the south-east to the CBD towers and Fitzroy, so factor in a tram or a taxi. For everything beyond the tasting menu, from the wine bars to the laneway diners, the Melbourne dining guide maps the city by neighbourhood and occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for a real tasting menu
Southbank's tourist-strip "degustation" boards. The riverside restaurants advertising a cheap multi-course set menu to passing foot traffic are selling volume, not a serious tasting. For a genuine high-end set menu that is still easy on the wallet, book Cutler & Co or Aru instead.
Attica or Minamishima for a spontaneous, casual dinner. These are weeks-ahead, fixed-format commitments that demand attention and an appetite, and the counters seat to the minute. If you want a relaxed, walk-in-friendly night, eat in the laneways and save the tasting menu for an evening you can give it fully.
Frequently asked
What is the best tasting menu in Melbourne?
Attica, Ben Shewry's three-hatted room in Ripponlea, is the best, a ten-course menu of native Australian ingredients that has sat on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list for more than a decade. After it, Melbourne offers real range: French-Australian degustation high above the city at Vue de Monde, the country's finest sushi omakase at Minamishima, Clinton McIver's sensory menu at Amaru and Katsuji Yoshino's kaiseki at Ishizuka. Choose Attica for the signature Melbourne experience and the others by cuisine, room and budget.
How much does a tasting menu cost in Melbourne?
At the top rooms, plan on roughly AUD 280 to AUD 345 per person before drinks. Attica runs about AUD 345 for ten courses, Ishizuka around AUD 315 for its kaiseki, Vue de Monde about AUD 295 and Minamishima near AUD 280 for the omakase. Amaru's sensory menu sits a little lower, and Cutler & Co's set degustation and Aru's woodfire feast are the gentlest on this list. Wine or sake pairings typically add AUD 120 or more.
How far in advance should you book a tasting menu in Melbourne?
For the three-hatted rooms, weeks out. Attica and Minamishima release tables on a rolling window and fill weekends four to eight weeks ahead, so set a reminder for the day bookings open. Vue de Monde, Amaru and Ishizuka want a couple of weeks for a weekend seat. Cutler & Co and Aru are easier and can sometimes take a midweek table within days. Book the hardest rooms first and build the rest of the trip around them.
Does Melbourne have Michelin stars?
No. There is no MICHELIN Guide in Australia. Melbourne's benchmark is the Good Food Guide and its chef's hats, where three hats is the top tier, plus The World's 50 Best Restaurants for the global view. On this list Attica, Vue de Monde, Minamishima and Amaru have carried three hats, and Ishizuka holds two. When a Melbourne restaurant is described as starred, that is a loose shorthand; the hats are the real local measure.
Which Melbourne tasting menu is best for native Australian cooking?
Attica is the clearest expression of native-ingredient cooking, where Ben Shewry builds courses around bunya nuts, wattleseed, saltbush and bush foods grown in the restaurant's own garden, including the long-running dish of a potato cooked in the soil it grew in. Vue de Monde also leans hard on Australian produce, with marron, native botanicals and tableside theatre. Book Attica for the deepest dive into indigenous ingredients and Vue de Monde for the same idea with a French finish and a view.
More tasting menus and fine dining
More from RFK
Browse the full Melbourne dining guide, compare the global picks in the best tasting menus worldwide and the best fine dining worldwide, plan a proposal dinner at Vue de Monde or a celebration at Attica, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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