Hospitality is not an easy business at the best of times, but this year has been a particularly challenging one for Melbourne’s restaurant scene. We’ve seen too many places close – including old favourites Izakaya Den and Gingerboy. But there’s also been a lot to celebrate.

It’s been a big year for bistros, with Bistra throwing it back to 2000s Aussie dining. Chefs with serious cred in London have their dream restaurants in Reed House and Carnation Canteen. And others have taken European fine-dining training and married it with the food they grew up with at restaurants such as Askal, Charlong and Morena. Here are the best restaurants of 2024 (and some that opened at the very end of 2023).

Kensington needed a community wine bar. Thankfully chef Scott Eddington (formerly of Mamasita) and partner Lauren Chibert have opened one, with natural wine and vinyl galore. I found myself there on a sunny afternoon. I was handed a glass of Ciello Rosso and a plate of the kingfish crudo. Sipping and nibbling, I was in my element perched out the front listening to an Akofa Akoussah record playing over the speakers. – Camille Allen, social video producer

Askal is a portmanteau of “asong kalye”, a Tagalog term meaning “street dog”, which contributor Sandra Tan wrote in her first-look story, is “a mascot of Filipino resilience, resourcefulness and adaptability that resonates particularly with the diaspora”. A group of Filipino hospitality pros – John Rivera, Michael Mabuti, Ralph Libo-on and Carlos Consunji – opened this restaurant in February.

Chef Rivera (Amaru, Sunda, Lume) starts with a strong snack game, exemplified by a standout barbeque pork skewer with staple Filipino condiment banana ketchup and atchara (Filipino pickled papaya). He continues serving hits right through to dessert. Libo-on looks after drinks and uses ingredients like calamansi and coconut sap (and he somehow made me a durian convert with his Cecil’s Sour). But what makes Askal an essential visit is the sense of community throughout the space – While venues can sometimes feel cookie-cutter, you leave Askal with the feeling that only this specific group of people could have opened this restaurant. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food and drink editor

Thai food is, to me, the most exciting thing to eat in Melbourne right now. I don’t mean the insipid pad thai and green curries of old, but the likes of blood-laced boat noodles at Soi 38, chewy crying tiger beef at Thai Baan, fiery pad krapao at Dodee Paidang, aromatic bowls of khao soi at Khao – you get the idea.

With head chef Pipat “Noomie” Yodmunee manning a charcoal grill, Brunswick’s Bar Spontana very much operates in this realm. So much of the menu here surprised and delighted me, like the moreish filaments of deep-fried enoki mushrooms, or the griddled sticky rice cakes bursting with a stretchy, mozzarella-like cheese. More familiar dishes like fermented pork sausage and yellow beef cheek curry are just flat-out delicious.

Then there are the drinks, which are some of the city’s best and most interesting thanks to Mr West owners Josh Hodges and Caleb Baker. It’s not everywhere you can drink carefully selected sakes, mezcals and wild-fermented tap beers alongside Australia’s top natural wines. In a city filled with liminal places, Spontana might be the reigning slashie of them all. Is it a knowledgeable wine bar? Creative cocktail bar? Craft beer place? Outstanding Thai restaurant? Yes. – Nick Connellan, Australia editor

Bubbling French onion soup. Juicy chicken breast with bagna cauda (Italian anchovy-garlic dip). A nostalgic cheeseburger that’s become a surprising signature. It’s a banger-after-banger line-up of plates at Bistra. The glowing Elgin Street bistro has become an instant classic in Carlton’s dining scene, thanks to co-owners Joseph Ho, Henry Crawford (Bar Romantica) and Alexei Taheny-Macfarlane. They’ve struck a clever balance between old-school bistro style (hello, white tablecloths) and unbuttoned but laser-sharp service that makes you want to come back for more. – Stephanie Vigilante, head of social media

There’s a little bit of magic about this vine-covered building that was once home to ’80s hotspot Tansy’s, then Little Andorra, and now Brico. The menu changes with the seasons but will probably include crudités with house-made taramasalata, a pasta, a pie, a fish, a salad. It’s run by a team of pros: head chef Simon Ball-Smith, owners Josh Begbie and Phil Bracey, and their partners Robyn Nethercote and Tegan Ella Hendel. They met working in London, and that Euro influence shows. You should listen to their recommendation and order a bottle of something lush and mineral that you’ve never heard of. It’s the smart-casual neighbourhood spot you’ll wish was on your corner. – Michael Harry, contributor

Don’t make the same mistake I did. When you visit former Longsong chef Alex Kaew’s Thai restaurant, make sure you go with a big group. If not, you’ll face the same dilemma my friend and I did when trying to choose between Kaew’s dishes, which are both in debt to her grandmother’s recipes and her time spent leading Melbourne kitchens including Rice Paper Scissors and Hochi Mama.

You’ll want to order everything: the gado gado potato tartlet, the kumquat dry-aged duck, Charlong fries with chilli makrut lime salt and vinegar spice, and the Thai tea pannacotta. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food and drink editor

Carnation Canteen is exactly the restaurant I was craving. I just didn’t know it. Owner and chef Audrey Shaw, who worked under Ruth Rogers at The River Cafe in London, has given us something special here. Everything about it is confident, elegant and energetic. The space is small, with about 20 seats inside with just a few more outside, but it feels like a dinner party. The menu is ingredient-led and changes weekly, with the exception of a whole fish (sometimes whiting, sometimes snapper) cooked over coals – and thank god, because I’m going to keep going back for it.

Importantly, confident and elegant doesn’t mean stiff. This place is fun. The staff is knowledgeable but playful and they play the music loud. It’s exactly what you want from your neighbourhood canteen. – Nick Shelton, founder and publisher

You’d be sorry to miss this small, dark and intimate restaurant at the not-so-frequented end of Little Collins Street. Mika Chae’s cooking takes classic Korean flavours and puts them through a very Melbourne lens: small plates, lots of moody styling, and a whole heap of funk and spice. The aptly named Doju potato is my favourite and a dish you shouldn’t miss. It’s potato pavé topped with butter and shaved truffle – the perfect pairing for Chae’s doenjang-marinated Berkshire pork chop. – Claire Adey, contributor

This new spot has all the trappings of a good sushi counter: dry-aged local fish, a Japanese vending machine filled with hot and cold drinks, and a premium location across from one of Melbourne’s best seafood suppliers, D&K Seafood. Founder Elisa Tran, a member of the D&K family, has hospitality in her veins and has created a truly special place.

The chirashidon arrives like a bejewelled catch-of-the-day box; with seasoned rice underneath and a stack of nori to create your own custom perfect bite. You’re even encouraged to bring in outside food, like matcha from the cafe next door, to pair with your sushi. – Claire Adey, contributor

Greville Street’s alluring new Sri Lankan restaurant is by Jason Jones and Brahman (Bremi) Perera, the pair behind Entrecote. In the convivial dining room, you might spot Perera’s mother roaming between tables, welcoming guests and sharing stories of the menu (like why the mango fluff is a tribute to Bremi’s grandmother). As its name suggests, this place is all about hoppers, the bowl-shaped “pancakes” (made from fermented ground rice and coconut milk), which accompany punchy sambals and curries on stainless-steel trays. Ring the antique bell on your table and waitstaff will whisk out some freshies from the open kitchen. – Stephanie Vigilante, head of social media

As an obsessed French speaker, I will do anything to channel the je ne sais quoi of France, and Maison Batard feels like Paris has been brought to Melbourne. There’s a bar with ten 10 different kinds of oyster, a ratatouille that tastes like Provencal sunshine in a bowl, and lobster omelette served in a shiny copper pan I’d like to hang on my kitchen wall. The ground floor buzzes like a bistro on Boulevard Saint-Germain, the velvet-draped Supper Club downstairs channels cabaret decadence, and the rooftop is all Hotel Costes opulence and vibe. – Jo Rittey, contributor

It’s summer and I can’t think of a venue I’d rather visit right now than Alejandro Saravia’s Latin American restaurant. Morena is mere steps away from Saravia’s beloved Farmers Daughters and the new spot is all about the chef’s influences from Peru, where he is from, and neighbouring countries.

The dishes are fragrant and fresh and I’ve honestly never seen a more colourful dinner spread. The highlight when I visited was a brown-butter and almond cake for dessert. It was incredibly light and the sweetness from the cake expertly balanced with the tartness from the lulo sorbet on top. – Claire Beverley, Access program coordinator

Esther Sun’s menu at Potluck is deceptively familiar. You’ll find mapo tofu, special fried rice and steamed barramundi with soy, ginger and spring onion at many suburban Chinese restaurants. But Esther, who runs the restaurant with her mum Rita Sun, brings a fresh culinary perspective to the dishes that could arguably only come from someone raised between cultures.

“Potluck as a concept comes from our family potluck dinners,” Esther told us when the restaurant opened, referencing meals with a mix of dishes made by Chinese, Cambodian and French relatives. “I’ve just taken all of those and made them my own.” The focus here is Chinese cooking, and Esther manages to push Australian Chinese food forward while still making unfussy dishes you want to eat every night. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food and drink editor

The elevator pitch for Reed House is almost too perfect: a chef and a front-of-house pro who met while working at Yotam Ottolenghi’s London restaurant Nopi fall in love, move to Melbourne and use their life savings to open their own venue in a mid-1800s bluestone building right by one of the world’s best bars. How is anyone supposed to live up to the potential?

But when Mark Hannell and Rebecca Baker opened their British brasserie in August, the duo exceeded our already high expectations. Not only did they bring one of my favourite snacks – a Welsh Rarebit crumpet – to the table, they also made a new restaurant feel like it was always part of the city. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food and drink editor

Chris Lucas’s Tombo Den is here to take you off Chapel Street and into 1990s urban Tokyo. The decor is classic over-the-top Lucas (in the best way) and with head chef Dan Chan (Yardbird, Supernormal), and master sommelier Yuki Hirose (Society), you know you’re in good hands. The sushi is exceptional but the sweetcorn fritters? One plate will simply not do. – Claire Beverley, Access program coordinator

I knew I’d be in for a good time at this freewheeling pint-sized Greek diner. What I didn’t expect was to still be thinking about a bowl of chickpeas months on. The menu here changes weekly (sometimes daily) but listen to me when I say these plump pulses – drowning in olive oil and stock and braised in the wood-oven – are a must-order (thank you to the chef who urged me to get them!) The slightly sweet, slightly salty blistered feta cheesecake is also a non-negotiable – it might be the best dessert I’ve had all year. It’s best enjoyed at the bar with a Greek liqueur or freezer-door cocktail. – Daniela Frangos, contributor

This year we also liked El Columpio, and its standout white pozole, one of the best things we ate this year; Pappa Laksa, where you’ll find one of Melbourne’s best bowls of curry noodle soup; Papelon thanks to chef and owner Reveka Hurtado’s Venezuelan arepas; the city’s vibey new Thai barbeque joint Aunglo, where the team prides itself on its quality of ingredients; and Wazzup Falafel, where there's a falafel for every mood.

We let out a sigh of relief when would-be Greek pop-up Kafeneion found a permanent home above The European; were delighted by new top-tier omakase Shusai Mijo from three Warabi alums; were treated to something truly unexpected when two greats Victor Liong and Con Christopoulos opened sushi train Bossa Nova; and got ready for Wicked mania all the way back in April thanks to four-seat regional fine diner Emerald City.