Australia’s Best Out-of-the-Way Fine Diners

Australia’s regional restaurants provide plenty of reasons to ditch your local and go for a meal further afield. You’ll find award-winning fine diners in out-of-the-way spots around the country – near national parks and beaches, and in heritage homesteads in country towns.

We’ve rounded up five of our favourites for a food-driven journey worthy of The Trip. You’ll want to show up at these places in something handsome like the All-New Lexus GX, a stylish option for getting around those country roads. You can fit up to seven people in the Luxury and Sports Luxury models (or five in the Overtrail‚ for a trip to one of these destination eateries – from a theatrical four-seater in wine country to an iconic fine diner at the beach.

When chef Jung Eun Chae first opened her eponymous restaurant in 2019, it was a tiny six-seater operating out of a one-bedroom apartment in Brunswick. In 2021, Chae and her partner moved the operation to the Dandenong Ranges for a bit of fresh air. It’s slightly bigger now (in space, not in seats) with six places around an L-shaped table, in a picturesque dining room surrounded by rainforest. The food is inspired by Chae’s time cooking at fine diners like Cutler & Co and Lume, as well as her mother’s Korean cooking. She makes most of her ferments and Korean condiments from scratch – some of them at scale, having imported 20 onggis, traditional clay jars, to store them in. Four seatings over seven days means only 24 people get to dine at the restaurant weekly. Book yourself in, stat.

Chef Joel Alderdice has worked at some Melbourne icons – including Bar Liberty, Attica and Tarrawarra Estate – but he always dreamed of opening his own restaurant. As of April 2024, he’s done it in his Yarra Valley home town of Healesville. Emerald City (named after the town Dorothy is off to in The Wizard of Oz) is an intimate four-seater hidden out the back of local bar Cavanagh’s Whisky & Alehouse.

The food is suitably theatrical. Every night, a degustation of 12 to 16 courses is served on a table made of centuries-old Tasmanian myrtle. Alderdice’s dishes are polished and inventive, making good use of the hibachi grill and featuring technicolour garnishes. It goes without saying that bookings are required.

Sitting pretty on the Hawkesbury River since the 1950s, Cottage Point Inn is an understated restaurant just under an hour’s drive from Sydney. Right by Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, it’s peaceful and surrounded by towering gum trees. The food is great too: chef Kevin Solomon (Tetsuya’s, Guillaume) took over the kitchen in 2017 and has added some Michelin flair to the restaurant’s laid-back, European-style menu. The food is bright, coastal and beautifully presented without being complicated. Eat in the dining room (housed in a renovated cornflower-blue boatshed) or, weather permitting, nab a spot on the deck.

Jonah’s is a white-tablecloth spot just 50 minutes’ drive from Sydney, and it’s a nice one: the only way to get to Whale Beach is along the northern beaches coastline, so set the front-seat massagers going in your GX Sports Luxury and enjoy the view. Once you get there, you’ll be able to look out the dining room’s floor-to-ceiling windows at that sparkling ocean. The food – by executive chef Federico Tidu – is seafood-heavy with an Italian edge. Think hiramasa kingfish with ricotta and green tomato, king prawns with miso-and-orange butter, and whole eastern rock lobster with thermidor sauce. Popular for weddings and special occasions, Jonah’s is a must-do Australian dining experience.

Conveniently close to Adelaide (and right on the beach), McLaren Vale is one of the country’s top wine-producing regions. If you’re driving around the area’s vineyards, coastline and sustainable cellar doors, be sure to visit Salopian Inn. It’s a rustic restaurant in a restored homestead headed up by chef Karena Armstrong, who, after working in the kitchen at places like Icebergs and Billy Kwong, is now director of the Tasting Australia festival. This icon of regional dining is one of those places that’s really proud of its kitchen garden, which spans three quarters of an acre and includes some of the happiest chickens and bees out there. Naturally, the menu is seasonal and produce-forward.

This article was produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Lexus.

GX550 Overtrail model shown in photography. Wash the exterior and underside of the vehicle with fresh water immediately after driving through seawater to prevent damage.