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Subscribe 21 Incredible Lygon Street Restaurants (That Aren’t Italian)
Lygon Street may be Melbourne’s Little Italy at first glance, but its dining story stretches far wider. From contemporary Asian and refined Japanese to soulful Middle Eastern, fiery Mexican and wine bars where food carries equal weight, this iconic strip has evolved into a true melting pot.
Lygon Street has long been Melbourne’s little slice of Italy — a stretch famed for Nonna’s red sauce, gelato cones and late-night trattorias. But step beyond the pizza and pasta and you’ll find a dining scene brimming with surprises. Between Queensberry and Elgin Streets, modern Asian kitchens hum beside boutiques and bars, while further north towards Brunswick and Brunswick East, Middle Eastern flavours, taco joints, and tequila dens steal the spotlight. Add in contemporary wine bars and pubs where food is no afterthought, and you’ve got a street that’s evolved into one of Melbourne’s most exciting culinary thoroughfares.
Lygon Street Restaurants: Asian
Lagoon Dining
Lagoon Dining brings a jolt of modern Chinese flair to Lygon Street, swapping Nonna’s red sauce for hot-and-sour shredded potato, char siu pork glazed to perfection, and togarashi fried chicken that disappears too fast. The room is moody yet polished — black granite, exposed brick, low lighting — perfect for cocktails and share plates that are as fun as they are refined. Go à la carte or let the chefs take the reins with the “Feed Me” menu. Either way, dessert is non-negotiable.
263 Lygon Street, Carlton
Korya
Korya brings a modern Asian spark to Brunswick East, where rice bowls, noodles and karaage meet a lively, social vibe. Cauliflower karaage proves gluten-friendly can be delicious, while pork chashu dons and chicken yakisoba deliver big, comforting flavour. Nightly specials keep things fun — from bottomless chips with steak to shared plates with free-flowing drinks. The fit-out is sleek yet relaxed, the service warm, and the menu generous. For groups, dates or midweek feasting, Korya is an easy win.
56 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
3 Sisters Thai
For authentic homestyle Thai with a playful edge, 3 Sisters Eatery is one of Lygon Street’s brightest newcomers. The menu hums with bold flavours — crisp garlic chive dumplings, fragrant housemade fish cakes, silky prawns in tofu and fennel green curry, and twice-cooked pork belly that disappears fast. The vibe is relaxed and intimate, with warm service that makes you feel instantly at home. Casual enough for a midweek drop-in, yet vibrant enough for a date night, it’s Thai dining with heart.
Unit 1/41 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Kura Robata & Sake
Kura brings the theatre of robata-yaki to Brunswick East, with Chef Ken Ibuki (ex-Nobu, Kisumé) charring premium cuts and pristine seafood over binchōtan charcoal. Skewers of wagyu, scallops and chicken heart arrive smoky and precise, while Patagonian toothfish miso-grilled to caramelised perfection is a signature worth chasing. A serious sake list anchors the drinks program, alongside shiso-bright cocktails. With its glowing grill and intimate bar seating, Kura is a fire-lit feast made for flavour seekers.
Shop 1/22/30 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Taiwan Village
Taiwan Village channels a decade of Kaohsiung mastery into 12 bento boxes brimming with braised pork, black pepper pork chops, Taiwanese sausage, or fried chicken in every style imaginable, including popcorn chicken with basil and garlic or sweet plum-glazed crunch. Night-market treasures like stinky tofu hotpot, cheesy pork floss pancakes, and mee sua with oysters make every visit a culinary adventure. Wash it down with soy milk, fizzy guava, or house-made black tea.
116 Lygon Street, Carlton
Kazuki’s
Lygon Street may be famed for pasta, but Kazuki’s proves Japanese fine dining holds its own here. Saori and Kazuki Tsuya brought their acclaimed Daylesford restaurant to Carlton in 2018, blending Japanese flavours with French precision and Australian produce. The results are elegant and unexpected: ponzu and kombu woven into pastas, miso enriching golden pithiviers. The dining room hums with serene energy, while an exceptional sake list and occasion-worthy wines set the stage for meals that feel both intimate and celebratory.
121 Lygon Street, Carlton
Etta
Etta hums with that elusive alchemy: a neighbourhood restaurant that feels both intimate and essential. Under owner Hannah Green and chef Lorcán Kan (ex-Attica), the menu sings with wood-fired precision and global accents — char siu lacquered to a gloss, hot-and-sour potato with a bite of nostalgia, oysters and snacks that vanish with your first cocktail. Larger plates, like whole spatchcock brushed in turmeric and calamansi, anchor the feast. A 250-bottle wine list roams the world, but the mood stays distinctly Melbourne.
60 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Hakata Gensuke
Ask any Melburnian where to find the city’s best ramen, and they will direct you straight to Hakata Gensuke, a local institution that draws a crowd daily. Hungry diners eagerly await bowls of their signature tonkotsu, a thick, collagen-rich pork bone soup served with springy thin noodles, tender pork chashu, wood ear mushrooms and spring onions. It’s a super hearty ramen that’ll leave you fortified (or comatose) for the day. For the seasoned slurpers, there’s a black garlic spiked-number and super spicy ‘God Fire’ version that lives up to its name.
126 Lygon Street, Carlton
Lygon Street Restaurants: Middle Eastern
Mankoushe
Among the Italian icons of Brunswick East, Mankoushe glows with Middle Eastern soul. A wood-fired oven anchors the kitchen, turning out haloumi pies and Middle Eastern-style pizzas alongside mezze plates that travel from Iran to Morocco. Think baba ganouj with blistered flatbread, loubiye beans simmered in tomato and garlic, kafta skewers with creamy hummus, or baked barramundi dressed in green tahini and sumac. The $60 banquet is a feast worth sharing, but save room for their syrup-kissed baklava — pure joy, wrapped in filo.
323 Lygon Street, Brunswick
Yakamoz
Yakamoz brings Anatolian soul to Lygon Street with candlelit warmth and plates designed for sharing. Istanbul-born chef Cagri Ergin leans into tradition while letting spice and smoke take playful detours — zucchini fritters, fried eggplant with labneh, and crisp manti dumplings set the tone before wood-fired pide slides from the oven. Larger plates deliver drama: six-hour beef rib with roasted mash, or a whole snapper kissed by the grill. Pair it with a glass of something bright, and surrender to the feast.
74 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Teta Mona
This family-owned neighbourhood restaurant straddles the line between hip and homely, kitted out to look like grandma’s house but full of young Melburnians who’ve fallen for Teta Mona’s Lebanese soul food. Expect lots of dips, breads and pickles, plus share bowls that star rich, spiced sauces and play with the textures of nuts, tahini and yoghurt. It’s a long-standing, forever popular Lygon Street restaurant that has devoted locals coming back time and time again.
100A Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Mama Manoush
If Lebanese food had a joy anthem, Mama Manoush would be its lead singer. At Mama’s, tables are groaning under dips (hummus, baba ghanouj, labneh), smoky char-grilled kafta and tawook, and spend-a-moment share plates like lahem meshwi and Riz Al Jaj. The garden out back hums with laughter, craft beers and clinking glasses. Add vegan falafel, bright salads, and syrupy sweets like kanafeh and awamet for dessert, and you’ve got feasting that feels like home.
175/177 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Lygon Street Restaurants: Indian
Kahaani
Kahaani on Lygon Street is like an express ticket through India’s regional flavours — unapologetically bold, surprising, and loaded with ritual. Goat curry on the bone, silky reshmi kebabs, pani puri you pop whole, and a biryani sealed with pastry that’s too good to share (but you will). Veggies shine too: lentil dals, spiced cauliflower, soul-lifting sides. The room hums with warmth — low lights, lively laughs — and cocktails that borrow from Indian spice blends. Share big, expect flavour, leave thinking, wow.
262 Lygon Street, Carlton
Bibi Ji
In the heart of Carlton, Bibi Ji splashes colour and fun across Lygon Street. Amar Singh’s latest is loud, lively and brimming with flavour: crisp papdi chaat, aloo poori, smoky lamb seekh kebabs and Amritsari fish to start, followed by railway chicken curry or slow-cooked goat on the bone. The banana leaf thali is a feast in itself, best matched with cocktails spiced in all the right places. Vibrant, generous and utterly delicious — this is Indian dining turned up.
179 Lygon Street, Carlton
Lygon Street Restaurants: Mexican
CDMX
Bringing Mexico City energy to Lygon Street, CDMX is the taqueria Northsiders didn’t know they needed. The focus is sharp: artisanal tacos, crisp ceviche tostadas, and mezcal poured with intent. Slide in for a post-work margarita with guacamole and totopos, or settle into a table and let the tacos roll — smoky, saucy, and packed with flavour.
Sitchu Tip: Order the birria tacos first — slow-braised, messy, and utterly irresistible.
315 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Lygon Street Restaurants: European & Foodie Pubs
98 Lygon Street Bar & Bistro
98 Lygon St Bar & Bistro brings a slice of French brasserie polish to Brunswick East. The menu keeps things classic yet clever — chive-and-manchego gougères, chicken liver parfait with cornichons, confit duck over barley risotto, and steak frites that hit all the right notes. Inside, exposed brick and velvet sofas strike an elegant balance, while a leafy courtyard and private dining room extend the charm. A stellar wine list seals it as one to book.
98 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Eat Pierogi Make Love
Eat Pierogi Make Love brings Polish comfort food to Brunswick East with warmth and wit. Founded by Guy Daley and Dominika Sikorska of Pierogi Pierogi fame, the menu is all about hand-pinched dumplings — pan-fried until golden, boiled until pillowy — stuffed with potato and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, or clever vegan twists. Add in smoky kielbasa, kaszanka baked with apples, sharp pickled herrings and a line-up of vodkas that demand a toast. Mondays mean a $39 all-you-can-eat pierogi feast, and an atmosphere that’s pure joy.
161 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Taverna
At 434 Lygon Street, Taverna feels like a homecoming — a Greek taverna reimagined with warmth and style. Angie Giannakodakis and Guy Holder celebrate the flavours of family recipes: creamy fava, smoky melitzanosalata, golden keftethes, and saganaki that demands a squeeze of lemon. Slow-cooked lamb shoulder anchors the feast, while bougatsa and mastic-cherry sundaes bring a sweet close. The room glows with Baltic pine tables, rattan lights and convivial energy. It’s generous, soulful dining — a neighbourhood star with one foot in Athens, the other in Melbourne.
434 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Old Palm Liquor
Old Palm Liquor is Brunswick East’s wine-bar-meets-grill that somehow treads the line between elegant and effortlessly cool. Chef Almay Jordaan leans into her Cape heritage with a wood-burning parrilla kitchen turning out king oyster mushrooms with braai char, beef tartare spiced like biltong, and rockling slicked with Cape Malay spice. The wine list? Massive — over 300 minimal-intervention bottles, with 20-odd choices by the glass. Sip a rare rosé or go deep into biodynamic reds. Share flatbreads with labne under golden timber lights, and settle in.
133B Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Teller
Teller is the Lygon Street local that effortlessly shifts gears — icy beers in one of Melbourne’s best beer gardens by day, intimate dinners in the cosy front bar by night. The menu gives pub fare a refined edge: oysters shucked to order, potato–leek–scamorza croquettes, whipped feta drizzled with hot honey, and lamb meatballs with smoky eggplant. Bigger plates deliver too, from a tarragon-buttered schnitzel to an O’Connor rib eye. For dessert, the nostalgic banana split lands with playful, crowd-pleasing charm.
81 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Green Man’s Arms
Forget the stereotype of pub grub as heavy and meat-laden — Green Man’s Arms flips it entirely. This Carlton favourite is a fully vegetarian pub with an Israeli-inspired menu, much of it sourced from the owners’ Yarra Valley farm. The kitchen turns out polenta cakes, golden beets, and their cult flatbread tacos, alongside hearty plates like eggplant parmigiana and a remarkably convincing faux beef short rib made from mushrooms that wins over even carnivores. It’s fresh, inventive pub dining that proves vegetables can take centre stage — and absolutely hold it.
418 Lygon Street, Carlton
Loved our guide to the best Lygon Street restaurants that aren’t Italian? Set out for more food venturing around Melbourne with these French dining destinations and Mexican hot spots.
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