Five To Try: New Restaurants, Cafes and Bars in South Yarra and Its Surrounds

Yugen Dining
Having lofty ambitions is one thing. Delivering on them is another. But Yugen has done it. The spectacular, subterranean modern Asian dining and drinking den – beneath South Yarra’s gleaming Capitol Grand building – really shot for the sky. It was long-awaited. It was hyped. And it arrived locked and loaded. There’s something very Hollywood about the experience: entering a curtained-off street-level tea bar, gliding below ground in a glass-walled elevator, and stepping out into the golden glow of an extravagant two-level bar and dining room, where an array of options await. Will it be an already-coveted seat at “sushi florist” Alex Yu’s six-seat, coral-hued omakase counter? An à la carte adventure in the golden-orb mezzanine, starting with the signature prawn-toast-Chinese-doughnut hybrid and ending with drunken poussin? Or a late-night lobster roll and an Ume Negroni at the gilded bar? Whichever you choose, you’ll be pushing the boat out while the Yugen team keeps pushing that envelope.

Yakikami
From the team behind Melbourne’s Wagyu Ya and Niku Ou, Yakikami is a fiery, flashy new Japanese barbeque restaurant for Toorak Road. The lavish dining experience is focused on high-grade Kobe beef, sizzled over red-hot charcoal Josper grills. But there are also yakitori tables dedicated to the succulent chicken skewers, made with Sommerlad chicken from Adelaide. (Also a standout is the nine-hour chicken-bone ramen – it’s hearty but lighter than expected.) Or you can go all-out with a high-end omakase experience in the private dining room. At $285 a head, it features 15-plus dishes curated by head chef Hirokazu Sasaki, including A5 Wagyu tartare topped with smoked black caviar and plenty of Kobe beef. It’s served alongside a selection of micro-brewed sakes imported from Japan.

Stella
South Yarra certainly isn’t lacking in the Italian restaurant department, but none are quite like Stella. It’s huge – stretching across four custom-built levels behind an 1800s facade on Chapel Street. A sun-drenched rooftop bar is the cherry on top, where you can get your golden-hour fix with spritzes and snacks. A backlit bar and foliage-covered wall corner off the venue, which offers sweeping views over South Yarra. After sunset, head downstairs to the golden-lit trattoria for pizza made from owner Ali Mousavi’s family recipe. Then settle into the cocktail bar for a barrel-aged Negroni.

Don’s
Stan’s has become a sandwich staple for the south-east since opening in 2020. But the next step for one of its co-owners, Alex Gavioli, was to strike out on his own with a new night-time venue, Don’s, over in Prahran. The tiny wine bar is something fresh for the Commercial Road strip it sits on, but it feels right at home for a number of reasons. It’s as cosy and communal as a dinner party, and despite being right across from Prahran Market, it still has an “if you know, you know” quality. Plus, the wine list is impressive but accessible, with Gavioli leaning into the stories behind the pours (without the pretence). And, importantly, the food punches above its weight. Case in point: a stomping, secret recipe fried-chicken sanga slathered with spicy jalapeno jam. The signature single-serve “Pasta on a Spoon”, however, is the ultimate carby mouthful.

The Terrace
In the Royal Botanic Gardens, one of Melbourne’s best-located cafes has a new lease on life. The Terrace has been a longstanding fixture in Melbourne, overlooking the Ornamental Lake at the inner-city oasis. But now the iconic daytime diner has reopened under new management – and with a new look. Hospo collective the Darling Group, now behind Higher Ground and Top Paddock, has taken the reins. Traditionalists will be pleased to know the scones have stayed put, but now you’ll also find the group’s well-known ricotta hotcakes, as well as Turkish-style eggs, fragrant fattouche, club sandwiches and more. It’s fully licensed too, so you can park yourself outside with a spritz. Or if you’re planning to picnic in the lush grounds of the gardens, grab a Terrace-To-Go box with a sanga or salad, a juice and something sweet.

Additional reporting by Jo Rittey, Emily Holgate and Quincy Malesovas.