The Best Restaurants for Your Next Long Lunch in Melbourne

It’s a weekend, and for once in your life, you don’t have your calendar crammed to the brim. Time is not of the essence. So clear your schedule, because we’re going to lunch. We’re talking luxurious, languorous and long, with a lengthy wine list to match. Melbourne is rife with restaurants that are open from noon ’til late, allowing you to properly catch up and converse as waves of great food and drinks keep rolling across the table in front of you.

From glitzy European bistros to cosy wine bars serving small plates with big flavours, these are the best places to book a long lunch in Melbourne with the gang.

Henrys

Henrys is Brighton’s new Mediterranean sunbeam, an effortlessly polished spot where every table orders the chilli crab linguine, and it’s easy to see why. Fraser Island spanner crab meets thyme, chilli, and butter in a silky, perfectly seasoned dance, while grilled octopus flirts with white tarama and a zingy salmoriglio drizzle. The room is drenched in light, olive and aquamarine hues casting a gentle glow on long lunches filled with laughter and glasses of crisp Malagouzia Roditis.

Save room for the bombe Alaska — a torched meringue sphere hiding gingerbread and raspberry sorbet — a sweet secret worth uncovering.

3 Well Street, Brighton 

MP European

Middle Park European is the suburb’s new heartbeat, where salmon tiles and stained-glass windows catch the afternoon light, and a curving walnut bar invites you to linger. Head Chef Aaron Wrafter’s Italian-leaning menu offers shareable house-made pastas — Shark Bay crab tagliatelle, cavatelli with pork and fennel sausage — and classic steak frites finished with tarragon butter. The wine list leans French and Italian, with local gems punching well above their weight. Here, long lunches stretch luxuriously between champagne, oysters, and cocktails that flirt with citrus and amari, beckoning you to stay.

20 Armstrong Street, Middle Park

Harriot

Harriot doesn’t so much invite as command a long lunch. In the city’s heart, the latest from the Tipo 00 crew trades trattoria soul for European poise — white-clothed tables, light spilling across a dining room humming with intent. James Kelly’s menu is a slow-burn seduction: rainbow trout roasted in the brick oven, spanner crab ravioli, Great Ocean duck blushing perfectly. Justin Howe’s two-year-curated cellar is poured with quiet precision, each glass a gentle nudge to stay.

Hours melt into an afternoon where power meets pleasure, and no one’s watching the clock.

555 Collins Street, Melbourne

Marmont

Marmont isn’t just bringing back the corporate long lunch — it’s making it sexy. Sure, Grant Smilie’s shiny new spot is housed in a casino, but the Californian glam vibes are strong. It’s airy, the spritzes are flowing, and the food is indulgent in all the right ways. The menu is tight and confident: a glorious raw fish selection, laced with red onion and crispy capers, zesty scallop tostadas, and the crunchiest fried chicken, topped with a capsicum and coriander sauce that’s incredibly tasty and best paired with a butter lettuce salad. Then there’s the cornbread, drenched in peach butter, that’ll make you rethink your life choices.

Open everyday from 12pm onwards

Ground Level, River Walk/8 Whiteman Street, Southbank 

Julie

Exclusively on Saturdays, Julie at the Abbotsford Convent offers a dreamy long lunch experience that flows from sun-soaked outdoor seating to the intimate dining room. This beautiful space is perfect for a leisurely afternoon with friends or family, showcasing produce-driven dishes inspired by the on-site garden, lovingly tended by Cate Della Bosca. Their chef’s menu highlights the freshest ingredients, with dishes like Jerusalem artichokes with caper leaf and tarragon, braised lamb with lardon, braised greens, sage and a potato gratin, and an apple and rhubarb crostata with orange cream.

Saturdays, 12pm to 11pm

1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford

Marion

Marion is the ultimate spot for a lazy, indulgent weekend lunch that effortlessly stretches from “just one drink and snacks” to an unforgettable feast. The extensive wine list spans old-world classics to bold pét-nats, while the menu is refined yet comforting. Nibble on Ortiz anchovy gildas or their signature flatbread, then dive into the likes of whole flounder with garlic butter, baked pipe rigate with spicy vodka sauce, and a magical house-churned vanilla ice cream topped with blood orange sorbet.

With expert sommeliers to guide you, enjoy a leisurely afternoon in a sun-drenched dining room that glows warmly into the evening. Or, bask out on the footpath as daylight fades into balmy dusk. It’s our top pick for a relaxed, long lunch in Melbourne.

Everyday, 12pm to 10pm

53 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy 

The European

Facing Parliament House, The European is a cherished Melbourne institution — a graceful slice of old-world Europe tucked in the city’s heart. Mirrored walls, Bentwood chairs, and vintage posters set a scene of quiet elegance and enduring charm. Open midday to late, Tuesday through Saturday, it serves honest, unpretentious food drawn from the finest Australian and European produce. Fresh oysters, artisanal salumi, steak au poivre, and whole market fish each arrive as a celebration of classic flavours, inviting you to settle in and savour the afternoon.

Tuesday to Thursday (and Sunday), 12pm to 11pm

Friday and Saturday, 12pm to 12am

Closed Mondays

161 Spring Street, Melbourne 

Lucia 

Lucia is Melbourne’s new go-to for long lunches that feel like a dreamy escape to Paris. Open daily from noon to ten, it’s a seamless choice for impressing clients or celebrating family moments. Under Head Chef Jordan Clavaron’s guidance, the Mediterranean menu dazzles with Michelin-inspired finesse — think Fremantle octopus skewers, whole fish crowned with salmon roe, and a dry-aged rib eye that steals the show. Floor-to-ceiling windows, banquette seating, and cream-jacketed staff create an elegant, unhurried rhythm that carries lunch effortlessly into dinner.

Tuesday to Saturdays, 12pm to 10pm

11 Eastern Road, South Melbourne

Park Street Pasta & Wine

No one does a long lunch in Melbourne quite as well as Park Street Pasta & Wine. This South Melbourne gem is serving up mouthwatering bowls of smaller plates and pasta that are the perfect excuse alone to sit down with a friend over a glass of wine and catch up as you indulge in these delicious plates. To make it the perfect long lunch, pick the ‘Chef’s Selection’ menu and be walked through some of the master’s favourite dishes. To finish, make sure you get the pistachio crème brulee, it’s creamy heaven in a bowl. Trust us, you won’t regret it.

Friday and Saturday, 12pm to 10pm

Sunday, 12pm to 9pm

268 Park Street, South Melbourne

Botanical Hotel

Botanical Hotel is one of the best-kept secrets for a long lunch in Melbourne, no matter the season. In South Yarra, you can bask in the sun on the terrace with cocktails in hand and plates shared between friends — or settle by the fireplace in winter, perfect for intimate dates. The food dazzles, from oysters shucked to order to fresh, vibrant produce. With a stunning wine wall as your backdrop, afternoons here stretch deliciously long.

Everyday, 7am to 12am, or until 1am on Friday and Saturday

169 Domain Road, South Yarra

Hazel

Aleksis Kalnins steps in as Head Chef at Hazel, bringing thoughtful flair honed over four years at Matilda 159. This city gem is a must for long lunches in Melbourne’s CBD. Gather your crew and dive into oysters crowned with nasturtium, housemade charcuterie, and velvety beef tartare. The wood-roasted pork belly, paired with charred leek, wild garlic, and lemony kipfler potatoes, offers comforting vibrancy, balanced by a simple farm leaf and radish salad — pure melt-in-the-mouth perfection.

Tuesday, 5:30pm to 10pm

Wednesday to Saturday, 12pm to 3pm, 5:30pm to 10pm

164 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Farmer’s Daughters

Respected Melbourne chef Alejandro Saravia has brought his vision to establish an embassy for Gippsland in the heart of the CBD. All areas of the striking three-level Farmer’s Daughters champion the true essence of Gippsland, celebrating the diversity and richness of produce from the region. You’ll find the restaurant on the middle floor, where the food is more formal; best suited to long business lunches, formal dinners, and special occasions. The open kitchen is fuelled by charcoal and wood, bringing a sense of theatre to the rustic yet elegant dining room.

Open daily, 11.30am until late

6/80 Collins Street, Melbourne

Pepe’s Italian and Liquor

Step inside Pepe’s Italian and Liquor and you’re somewhere between a smoky New York speakeasy and a grand Italian feast. Moody shadows play on deep burgundy booths beneath soaring ceilings, while a zinc bar gleams with promise. Plates of mortadella and casino clams arrive like whispered secrets, their flavours rich and inviting. The spicy rigatoni alla vodka is a love song — velvet pasta drenched in warmth. Cocktails from a bygone era glide across the room, and time folds into itself. Here, long lunches aren’t just meals — they’re reveries you don’t want to end.

Open daily, 12pm until late

275-285 Exhibition Street, Melbourne 

Builders Arms Hotel

A Fitzroy institution on Gertrude Street, Builders Arms Hotel strikes the perfect balance between local pub warmth and sophisticated dining. Here, long lunches unfold like a gathering around a beloved kitchen table, surrounded by friends, family, and bottles of carefully chosen wine. Seasonal share plates — whipped cod roe with flatbread, Spencer Gulf king prawns bathed in curry leaf butter, whole flounder kissed by the grill — arrive one after another. Finish slow and sweet with an affogato, your pick of whisky, Nocello, or Baileys melting into the coffee’s warmth.

Daily, 12pm to 11pm

211 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Carlton Wine Room

At Carlton Wine Room, food and wine don’t just get along — they throw a proper party. Pull up a chair in the sun-drenched dining room with your crew, and prepare to watch the afternoon slip away as you graze on seasonal plates and clink glasses like you’ve got nowhere else to be. Spoiler: you don’t.

Tuesday to Thursday, 3pm to 11pm

Friday to Monday, 12pm to 11pm 

172-174 Faraday Street, Carlton

Gimlet at Cavendish House

Andrew McConnell’s Gimlet is elegant excess carved in art deco, an immersive retreat inside Melbourne’s Cavendish House. Soaring ceilings, French marble bars, glinting chandeliers, and deep burgundy booths set the stage for a lunch that refuses to be rushed. This is a place to settle in, letting time slip by as woodfire-grilled steaks arrive alongside exquisite seafood. The cocktail bar keeps the rhythm flowing, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, the legendary steak tartare trolley rolls by — an invitation to indulgence that stretches the afternoon into an extravaganza of flavour and flair.

Open daily, 12pm until late

33 Russell Street, Melbourne

Di Stasio Citta

Melbourne’s Italians reign supreme when it comes to long lunches, and Di Stasio’s flagship on Spring Street wears that crown with unapologetic flair. The menu is pure indulgence — silky prawn linguine, gnocchi pillowed in four cheeses, each mouthful a whispered promise of pleasure. The wine list demands equal attention, bold, curated, pouring with generous abandon. Service pulses with character, the dining room a striking collision of high art and brutalist cool. Here, business lunches unfurl into boozy afternoons, slipping effortlessly into twilight mischief.

11:30am until late daily

45 Spring Street, Melbourne

France-Soir

France-Soir is Melbourne’s grande dame of the long lunch — a Parisian brasserie that’s been holding court in South Yarra for decades. From noon until midnight, the linen-clad tables are a theatre of business deals, romantic interludes, and familiar faces who know exactly where to sit. Native French waiters glide between them, topping up from a 3,000-strong cellar and trading in the kind of banter that makes you linger. The menu is a love letter to the classics — steak frites, escargot in garlic butter, confit duck — each one arriving just as it should, with a side of irrepressible joie de vivre.

Open daily, 12pm until late

11 Toorak Road, South Yarra

Entrecote

Entrecôte is Paris by way of Melbourne: an all-day affair unfolding between a provincial garden courtyard, a brasserie that hums with ease, and a dining room dressed for indulgence. Begin as the French do: a martini icy enough to mist the glass, or champagne with caviar bumps for good measure. Nibble on warm, cheesy gougères or escargot glossed with garlic butter, then surrender to the signature steak frites — grass-fed Black Angus draped in silky tarragon sauce, flanked by crisp fries and a bright, sharp salad. It’s a long lunch in Melbourne worth ordering another bottle for.

Open daily, 12pm until late

142-144 Greville Street, Prahran 

Stokehouse

For locals and out-of-towners alike, Stokehouse is Melbourne’s seaside siren. Sunlight pours through the glass-walled dining room, the horizon stretching wide in shades of blue. Modern Australian plates arrive like postcards from the coast—pristine oysters, glistening seafood, produce that tastes of the season and the sea. There’s an easy glamour here: sandy-haired afterglow meets white-linen grace, a place where lunch slips effortlessly into afternoon. Glasses clink, ocean air drifts in, and for a moment, it feels as though the rest of the world has gone on without you.

Open daily, 12pm until late

30 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda

Chancery Lane Bistro 

Catering to Melbourne’s midweek power set, Chancery Lane opens its marble-and-brass doors from noon, Tuesday to Friday. The room is opulent but intimate—gold detailing catching the low light, a hushed backdrop for deals, gossip, and the art of a very good lunch. Begin decadently: caviar on buckwheat blini with all the trimmings, a glass in hand. From there, fresh seafood glistens on ice, charcuterie is perfectly poised, and the grill works its magic on premium cuts. French classics are given a modern flick, desserts arrive dainty yet devastatingly good — and somehow, the afternoon disappears.

Tuesday to Friday, 12pm until 10pm

430 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Cumulus Inc.

A light-filled contemporary eatery serving up award-winning fare, Cumulus Inc. is well-loved within the Melbourne foodie scene. Acclaimed chef Andrew McConnell is a jack-of-all-trades, plating up deceptively simple breakfasts and a completely sophisticated yet wholesome lunch. Make sure you wander upstairs to sister bar Cumulus Up for one of its signature cocktails afterwards. 

Open daily, 12pm to 11pm

45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 

We’ve got even more dining delights to share. Check out our list of must-book CBD restaurants you have to try at least once, favourite decadent high teas and top cosy Sunday roasts. Feel like a night in? Make it delicious with these top-notch food delivery options for at-home feasting.