Table for two: the most romantic restaurants in Melbourne for Valentine's Day in 2025
South Yarra
The best restaurants create their own reality and France-Soir does it as well as (if not better than) any of the other top Melbourne players. It’s classically, proudly, archly, cheekily French yet so very embedded in Melbourne that it’s hard to imagine the city without it. Any day, any time, three decades past and surely three decades hence, career waiters dispense charm, along with flutes of Champagne and just-opened oysters, aged Burgundy and long-braised beef, peppered steaks and crisp, golden frites, inky espresso and fluffy îles flottantes. Romance at its finest.
Richmond
That Minamishima only takes bookings by phone speaks volumes; it’s a restaurant that centres on the artisan. Securing a seat at the oak-topped bar or in the small dark-hued dining room via conversation, not website sets a tone that’s further expressed through textural handmade ceramics, a finely tuned drinks list that includes sparkling Japanese chardonnay and wild-ferment sake, and service displaying exacting – but never intrusive – attention to detail. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. Impressive? Most definitely.
Fitzroy
Every neighbourhood might deserve a place like Napier Quarter, but few are lucky enough to boast the likes of this back-street bluestone that makes Fitzroy feel like Melbourne’s sixth arrondissement. Impressing your date has never been easier: grab a kerbside table on pretty Napier Street or a bentwood chair in the salon-like dining room, and choose from a tight menu drenched in comfort and oozing style. Equally a languid breakfast date par excellence as a late-night wine bar rendezvous, Napier Quarter covers all the bases with rare aplomb.
Melbourne
Gimlet is a place to indulge like everyone’s looking, perfect for a date with lasting gravitas. The tiered room is an amphitheatre of performative consumption, where heroic presentations of beluga caviar, grilled lobster, wagyu sirloin and flambéed crêpes add their own sly wink to the fin de siècle scenes. And for the late-night lovers, the ultra-impressive cheeseburger is the thing to order. Oozing with American cheese and a dill-forward sauce in a fluffy potato bun, it’s exclusive to the post-10pm supper menu on Friday and Saturday – and if it doesn’t make people jealous, nothing will.
Carlton
Every few years there’s an astonished pronouncement about a “bistro revival” even though solid Australian bistros are a decades-long constant and, as Bistra demonstrates, a cause for ongoing celebration. Located in a crisply renovated Carlton shopfront – curtained front door, whitewashed bluestone walls, immaculate linen on the tables – and tended by excellent floor staff in white aprons, this casually chic, double-storeyed diner further deepens its user-friendliness with a menu that alleviates the worry of bad decisions.
Melbourne
Embla, an always-humming, dark-toned wine bar – with its best-in-show service and drinks list spotlighting New and Old World lo-fi craftsmanship – captures Melbourne’s talent for retaining relevance without succumbing to trends or flashy technique. Snacks from chef and co-owner Dave Verheul’s fire-powered kitchen keep wine as the lodestar, be it the addictive chicken-skin crisps seasoned with whipped anchovies, or the now-signature soured cucumbers flavoured with dill and feta. Embla does some of its best (and most romantic) work at night, with the flickering flames and mood switched to party, but the languidly paced three-course Sunday lunch is perfect for those chasing more serene yet no less exciting vibes.
Melbourne
If you’re looking to really push the boat out for Valentine’s Day or that significant anniversary, you can do no better nor more impressive than soaring Vue de Monde. Perched 55 floors above Melbourne CBD, Vue de Monde and sister bar Lui dazzle with fresh interiors, innovative dégustation-forward menus and the same spectacular city views. It’s really no wonder that Vue de Monde is one of our top picks for the most romantic restaurants in Melbourne.
Melbourne
With a dining room as beautiful as this, Reine and La Rue may dazzle so much that you might have a hard time maintaining date-appropriate eye contact. The magnificence of the vast 1890s neo-gothic Cathedral Room, once home to Melbourne’s stock exchange, ensures unavoidable gawking. With clued-in waiters in white jackets, a dedicated oyster bar, two cocktail bars, a bespoke cheese trolley and Krug by the glass, romance is definitely on the menu here.
Fitzroy
If you’re keen to keep the night sweet, casual and easy, then Marion should be at the top of your list. There’ll be no head-scratching over the love for Andrew McConnell’s little wine bar that rose to the top of his Gertrude Street pops. Take a space with a patina of comfort, add waiters who know to keep pouring from a hip, interesting wine list that also avails itself of Cutler & Co’s deep cellar, then finish with a snack-centric menu that leverages huge personality out of four-ingredient parties. Our advice: hit Marion mid-arvo and snack your way through until late.
Brunswick East
Intimate, warm service meets excellent food at Etta, so you won’t have to worry about anything other than wooing your date. Cosy interiors set the scene for the perfect, low-stress evening, and easy-drinking wines and funky cocktails just sweeten the deal. Sit, sip and snack to your heart’s content as new chef Lorcán Kan plates up house-made pickles, ferments and an ultra-creative whole-animal philosophy.
South Melbourne
If simple and charming is what you’re going for this Valentine’s Day (or for any romantic occasion, really), look no further than South Melbourne’s Kirbie: a no-fuss, intimate diner serving up excellent food in a relaxed, unpretentious setting. Sit inside the very cute, multi-coloured glass-paned walls, or risk it alfresco on brutalist-style chic concrete outdoor seating. Choose from rotating by-the-glass wines, an extended in-house list (with a spotlight on French and Italian drops) or, for the confident, BYO is also available. Kirbie’s lowkey charm is perfect for an easy night out, making it an obvious choice for one of the most romantic restaurants in Melbourne.
Carlton
Skew from the traditional Euro-style or wine bar Valentine’s Day dinner at dark and moody Lagoon Dining in Carlton. Swimming against the tide has been the forte of this pan-Asian diner subverting Melbourne’s Little Italy since 2019, and it shows no sign of letting up. A hip and regularly refreshed wine list featuring experimental Australian producers hits the renegade flavour profile on the head, but the House Sour cocktail (and every other tipple on LD’s innovative list) is worth a sip as well.
North Melbourne
If you’re looking for something slightly left-of-centre this Valentine’s Day, consider Manzé: a Mauritian envoy in an unassuming North Melbourne shopfront. The exercise in soft diplomacy is manifest from the irresistible opening volley of snacks – crunchy potato cakes lifted by a chilli-and-plantain sauce, or pickled sardines with curry-leaf chutney and a fried crêpe – which take their cues from street food and style it up into Creole and South Indian party canapés. A bowerbird vision of cork floors, jarred preserves and palm plants, the welcoming room aims for relaxed over refined, while the insightful list of minimally minded wines offers maximum rewards alongside the spice-happy food of Mauritian chef Nagesh Seethiah.
Author Charlotte Wishart Digital Producer
A reformed lawyer from Brisbane with an undergraduate’s degree in arts and languages, Charlotte (in a very “pinch me” moment) got her start in publishing as editorial coordinator at Gourmet Traveller magazine. Now working across the Australian Women’s Weekly Food and Gourmet Traveller as a digital producer, her days in court have been traded for luxurious long lunches and an enduring love affair with food. Based in the Big Smoke (Sydney) with a growing resume of dishes and destinations under her belt, you can take the girl out of Brisbane but not the Brisbane out of the girl… you’re as likely to find Charlotte sipping perfectly chilled reds in Sydney’s slickest spots as you are to see her clutching a watered down beer and barracking for the AFL’s finest, the Brisbane Lions, at the Gabba. It’s all about balance.
Gourmet Traveller is Australia’s trusted authority on food, travel and luxury lifestyle, bringing the latest news and trends to life through quality journalism, enticing recipes and evocative photography. For more than 55 years, it has been inspiring and informing Australians with the best in cooking, dining, travelling and shopping. Our critics bring the expertise of years of critical eating, drinking and writing to the table. Plus, as the country’s leading title in the luxury sector, Gourmet Traveller works closely with Australia’s leaders in the travel and hospitality industries to give our readers exclusive access. The Gourmet Traveller legacy is one of trust, prestige and relevance.
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