Marmelo

Ross and Sunny Lusted are the couple behind The Bridge Room, a lauded Sydney fine diner that closed in 2020, and Woodcut, a high-concept restaurant at Crown Sydney. With Marmelo and Mr Mills, the pair has come to Melbourne in a big way.

Marmelo (Portuguese for “quince”) is a sprawling restaurant overlooking Russell Street, while Mr Mills, downstairs, is a moody basement sibling with a distinct identity. Both draw influence from the Iberian Peninsula. At Marmelo, this translates into flexibility: dine at the chef’s table overlooking the kitchen, book the main dining room, or grab a seat at the bar for a more casual experience.

The menu reflects extensive research into Portuguese culinary traditions, tracing the country’s influence across its former colonies – from Macau to Southern India and Ross’s native South Africa. Tying it all together is a deep respect for Victorian produce, which Ross says parallels Portuguese ingredients.

Take the Murray cod. It’s native to Australia but reminiscent of the cod used in Portuguese bacalhau (a salted cod stew). At Marmelo, Murray cod is salt-cured in a traditional preservation style and served in mussel butter with chourico (pork sausage), tomato refogado (roasted tomato sauce) and potatoes. On the salgados (salty snacks) menu, the cod appears again as a croquette, alongside bites like buttered anchovies imported from northern Spain, close to the Portuguese border.

The space fuses the spirit of Portugal and Melbourne with azulejos (traditional hand-painted tiles), warm wooden accents and Portuguese-inspired art by local artists Ben Mazey and Lucy Roleff. There’s also a glass wine cellar in the centre of the dining room housing lesser-known Iberian producers.