The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Laura

Sea urchin mousse arrives before flambéed rock lobster, which tells you most of what you need to know about Laura. It's a fine dining destination on the Mornington Peninsula, set among a vineyard and sculpture park with Western Port in the near distance. The menu takes its cues from the surrounding landscape, the wine list goes everywhere, and the service is the kind that makes a long lunch feel like the only reasonable use of a day. Three Chef Hats from the Australian Good Food Guide.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 17/20 · Three Chef Hats

Floor-to-ceiling windows frame a sculpture park rolling down toward Western Port, which sets up the dining room's whole argument before the menu arrives. This is a Modern Australian à la carte restaurant on the Mornington Peninsula, with a wine list drawn entirely from Victorian producers. The kitchen leans into local produce, and the service team seems to genuinely enjoy explaining what's on the plate, which is rarer than it should be.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats

Floor-to-ceiling glass frames the Red Hill vineyard and, on a clear day, Western Port beyond, which sets the tone for what Montalto is: a winery restaurant where the estate gardens supply the kitchen and the wood-fire grill does the heavy lifting. The menu shifts with the seasons and is designed to share, arriving in courses. Matt Wilkinson shapes the culinary direction. The Australian Good Food Guide awards it a Chef Hat.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 18/20 · Four Chef Hats

Vineyard views through the dining room windows mean you're watching what's on your plate grow a few hundred metres away. This is a formal, sit-down restaurant on the Mornington Peninsula doing European-leaning seasonal cooking with a two Chef Hat nod from the Australian Good Food Guide. The wine list leans heavily into the estate's own bottles, which is either charming or convenient depending on how you feel about that sort of thing.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 16/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

Vineyard views stretch out from the dining room at this cellar-door restaurant on the Mornington Peninsula, where the wine list draws from grapes grown on the property itself. The kitchen runs a modern Australian menu built around estate produce and regional seasonals, the kind of place where the sourcing conversation happens before you've ordered. An Australian Good Food Guide One Chef Hat sits on the record.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 17/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats

Ben Shewry's fine-dining room in a quiet Ripponlea street is the kind of place where a spoonful of native honey arrives as a course and somehow that feels completely logical. The degustation menu moves through ingredients most menus have never heard of, leaning hard into Australian native produce and the kind of sourcing that borders on obsessive. It holds three chef hats from the Australian Good Food Guide. Clear your evening and your card.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 17/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 19/20 · Four Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

A wagyu-focused fine dining room in South Yarra where the menu is essentially a graduate seminar on breed, marbling, and provenance. Australian and Japanese A5 cuts are aged in-house and cooked over a hibachi grill, served simply enough that the beef does the arguing. The room is warm and understated, the sommelier knows when to stop talking, and the service hits that rare register of polished without stiff. Ranked 29th on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list.

1. World's 101 Best #29 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
2. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 16/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

An open fire grill anchors everything at Scott Pickett's modern Australian restaurant in South Yarra, where dry-aged beef meets live coals with the kind of discipline that makes you stop mid-bite. The room runs to warm wood and natural textures, the wine list leans Australian, and the service has that easy confidence that never tips into theatre. Ranked among the World's Best Steak Restaurants, it holds an Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat too.

1. World's 101 Best #79 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
2. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 18/20 · Four Chef Hats

Andrew McConnell's fine dining room inside the grand Cavendish House on Russell Street turns on an open fire grill and dry-aged Victorian and South Australian beef, which landed Gimlet a spot on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list. The room manages to feel glamorous without feeling stiff, and the wine list reads like someone actually thought about what goes with the food rather than just buying everything.

1. World's 101 Best #62 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
2. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats
3. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Restaurant Bar – APAC

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 18/20 · Four Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 16/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

The charcoal Josper grill does a lot of the heavy lifting at this sleek Japanese restaurant in South Melbourne, where the kitchen leans on technique rather than theatrics. Black leather, potted greenery, and quiet minimalist bones make it feel composed without trying too hard. The chef is from a fishing village in Hokkaido, and that background shows in cooking that takes handmade Japanese food seriously. An Australian Good Food Guide Hat is on the record.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 17/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat
2. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 17/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

A red thread of light twists across the ceiling of this moody Japanese fine dining room on Flinders Lane, its glow picked up by red plates below. Black marble, dark granite, and plush banquettes set the tone for a seasonal Kojin menu that moves between small plates and larger composed dishes. The Australian Good Food Guide gave it two chef hats, and the room feels like it was designed with that ambition in mind from the start.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 17/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 16/20 · Three Chef Hats

Fire anchors the kitchen at this hotel fine dining room in Melbourne's CBD, where the menu moves through Australian land and sea with the restraint of a place that doesn't need to shout. The produce comes from named farmers and fishermen around the country, and the cooking lets that lineage do the work. An Australian Good Food Guide Two Hat restaurant, with a wine list that takes provenance as seriously as the food does.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

Flower Drum has been a Melbourne institution long enough that regulars book the same table year after year and the staff already know what they want. It's a formal Cantonese restaurant tucked into a lane off Chinatown, white-tablecloth serious, where the roast duck is carved tableside and the service runs like the dining room has something to prove. The Australian Good Food Guide awards it two Chef Hats, and the room's quiet confidence suggests it has never needed to mention that.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

A high-glam modern Pan-Asian restaurant on Flinders Lane from the team behind Cha Ching, where share plates move through bold Eastern flavours grounded in local ingredients. The room leans into occasion, so the crowd tends to dress accordingly. Clay pot duck and scallops with coconut bisque show the kitchen's range. The Australian Good Food Guide gave it a Chef Hat.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

Vivid wall murals and a glowing open bar set the mood at this Asian small-plates restaurant inside the Mövenpick Hotel, where the menu wanders from Vietnamese to Sri Lankan without apology. The kitchen leans on traditional techniques while nudging dishes in unexpected directions, beef rendang alongside ceviche with desert lime preserve. It holds an Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat, and the Vietnamese espresso martini is a reasonable way to start.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

The art deco bones of Equity Chambers on Bourke Street give this contemporary Australian restaurant more grandeur than it probably needs, and it leans in accordingly. The menu runs Italian-inflected, from breakfast through dinner, with the kind of crowd that treats eggs Benedict as a reasonable way to start a Wednesday. Evenings shift toward crudo and house-made pasta with enough anchovy to mean it.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

White linen and polished service set the tone at this long-running Venetian Italian in the heart of the city, where the cooking stays close to the lagoon, pasta and all. The menu leans into the kind of regional specificity that doesn't need to announce itself, and the room runs with quiet assurance. It holds an Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

Dry-aged seafood sits at the center of everything here, a Japanese restaurant on Queen Street where the counter omakase and chirashi bowls draw a quiet, loyal lunch crowd from the surrounding offices. The menu runs from quick sashimi plates to a full omakase sitting, so the room works for both a grabbed weekday meal and something slower. The Australian Good Food Guide gave it a Chef Hat, which tracks with the precision on the plate.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

Hand rolls you build yourself, from platters of seafood and Wagyu laid out at your own pace, served on ceramics the kitchen threw in its own pottery studio. Temaki Sushi is an intimate omakase-style hand roll restaurant on Little Collins Street, running a seasonal menu tied to produce from the team's farm in the Dandenong Ranges. The Australian Good Food Guide gave it a Chef Hat, which feels about right for a place this quietly sure of itself.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 17/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat

1. Australian Good Food Guide 16/20 · Three Chef Hats

1. Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat

Whole-leaf oolong and black teas sourced from Kenya and Taiwan are the anchor here, not a backdrop to something else. Oxi Tea Room is a high tea spot in Carlton where the tea is treated with the seriousness usually reserved for wine, and the housemade desserts lean into native Australian ingredients, lemon myrtle, green ants, and all. It holds two Chef Hats from the Australian Good Food Guide, which tracks for a room that takes the kettle this seriously.

1. Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats