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Melbourne’s 2026 Dining Forecast: The Food Trends You’ll See Everywhere
Melbourne's food scene is better than ever and these are the food trends helping it thrive.
Melbourne’s dining scene is entering a more deliberate, design-led era. This is food shaped by feeling as much as flavour — nostalgic yet intelligent, indulgent yet restrained, social without slipping into performance. Menus are tightening, ingredients are taking centre stage, and drinking culture is evolving right alongside. From next-gen tartare to broth as a hero course, these are the trends shaping how the city eats right now.
Arrosticini
Skewers are the new social currency. In 2026 Melbourne, Arrosticini — charcoal-kissed lamb skewers from Italy’s Abruzzo — ignites a dolce vita camaraderie at chic wine bars. Diners ditch etiquette, eating with their fingers, savoring each succulent, rosemary-scented bite. It’s rustic meets glamorous: a tiny taste of an Italian summer night, shared under twilight skies in a Melbourne laneway.
Where to try: Zoncello Yarra Valley, Melitta Next Door
New-Gen Beef Tartare
Raw is the new daring. Melbourne chefs are pushing tartare into thrilling new territory — Wagyu flicked with house hot sauce, or folded through shishito and green coriander seed; versions studded with hazelnuts and generous shards of parmesan, even Nordic-leaning plates built on five spice, unripe plum, potato and sorrel. Presented like modern art, these creations are illicitly decadent yet exquisitely restrained, satisfying our appetite for adventure (and aesthetic perfection) one elegant bite at a time.
Where to try: Babines, Harriot, Freyja, Daphne, Poodle Bar & Bistro
House-Made Shrubs
Now our cocktails and cafe sips come with a tangy twist of history. House-made shrubs — those old-fashioned fruit-and-vinegar syrups — are the accessory du jour at Melbourne bars and coffee shops, adding bright, layered acidity to sodas, spritzes and gins. Sustainable, palate-awakening and endlessly adaptable, these sharp little elixirs bring a distinctly modern freshness to an age-old drinking tradition.
Where to try: Standing Room Coffee, Gimlet at Cavendish House, Etta, Assembly, Hacienda
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Katsu Kingdom
In a city chasing constant novelty, the humble katsu has stolen hearts by sheer comfort. Perfectly golden panko-crusted cutlets—chicken or pork, even cauliflower for the veg-forward—are popping up everywhere from late-night laneway joints to polished lunch counters. One bite of that crispy, juicy goodness and suddenly all we want is simplicity, elevated to an art form.
Where to try: Atsu, Katsumo, Katsu Duo, Katsu Retsu
Appletinis & Piña Coladas
The ’90s called and they want their cocktails back — except Melbourne’s 2026 crowd is already sipping Appletinis and Piña Coladas with unapologetic delight. The neon-green Appletini has been reimagined with real orchard apple, crisp acidity and botanical lift, while the Piña Colada has evolved from beachside cliché to velvety, coconut-forward chic. Both are getting the craft treatment: less sugar, more style. It’s camp, it’s classy, and it’s the summer drinking standard we’re absolutely here for.
Where to try: North Fitzroy Arms, Bar Bellamy, Leonardo’s Pizza Palace
Sherry and Vermouth Bars
Low-ABV drinking continues its ascent, with sherry and vermouth stepping firmly into the spotlight. Melbourne’s bars are embracing fortified wines for their nuance and versatility, serving them neat, chilled, or as the backbone of quietly brilliant cocktails. Nutty Amontillados, herbaceous aperitivo blends and seasonally infused vermouths have become the city’s new It-order — creating a slower, more conversational drinking culture where atmosphere matters more than intoxication, and sophistication lives in the subtleties.
Where to try: Hands Down, Three Horses, Botanika Kyneton
Grown-Up Chicken
Chicken is having a renaissance — not the basic roast of Sunday dinners, but versions that feel crafted, seasoned and purposefully elevated. Charcoal-grilled birds with lacquered skin, brined then fire-kissed; rotisserie chooks brushed with fragrant oils or paired with bread sauce and a touch of British nostalgia; plates built around crisp edges and succulent centres. This is comfort with sophistication — proof that in 2026, chicken might just be the star attraction.
Where to try: Yang Thai, Kokora’s, Builders Arms Hotel, Reed House
Mussels
Mussels have stepped into the limelight once more, shedding their weeknight reputation for something more stylish and expressive. In 2026, they’re steamed in aromatic broths, paired with a creamy, tarragon broth, saffron or chilli oil slicks, or served simply with herb-flecked butter and thick sourdough. It’s a dish that rewards patience and provenance — unfussy, generous, and perfect for long afternoons where flavour does the talking.
Where to try: RESIDENCE at the Potter, Babines, Poodle Bar & Bistro
Community-Led Dining & Social Club Sips
No one’s dining alone in 2026 — not really. Melbourne’s eateries have embraced a warm, community-first ethos: communal tables, neighbourhood pop-ups and weekend chef residencies, chess nights, social clubs, run clubs, fundraisers, locals’ nights, and staff who remember your usual order. It’s a gentle shift away from the slick impersonality of years past. This year, restaurants feel like living rooms, buzzing with the easy camaraderie of strangers who become fast friends.
Where to try: Gemini, Hands Down, Daphne, Scarf, Fenton Farmhouse
Girl Dinners, Grown Up
On the flip side, that TikTok-born “girl dinner” has gone decidedly haute in Melbourne. Restaurants are embracing the idea with curated mix-and-match plates — a morsel of cheese, seasonal vegetables, croquettes, and petite seafood bites paired with a mini Negroni or Martini — arranged like jewellery on fine china or chrome trays. It’s the anti-meal made chic: an indulgent, beautifully composed way to graze entirely at your own pace.
Where to try: Cordelia, Daphne, Napier Quarter, Gerald’s Bar, Fenton Farmhouse, Pony, Ellie’s Kiosk (summer pop-up)
Beef Tallow
Back in the kitchen, an ingredient once dismissed as a villain is now practically artisanal: beef tallow. Melbourne chefs are swapping out seed oils for this golden, rendered beef fat, lending an extra dose of richness to everything from triple-cooked chips to pie crusts. It’s primal, nostalgic, and oddly glamorous; grandma’s frying secret reinvented as 2026’s trendiest ingredient du jour.
Where to try: Hagen’s Organics East Brunswick Village, 7 Alfred, Glory Fryed
Sensory Dining
Sensory dining is moving beyond taste alone, blurring the line between meal and moment. Courses arrive with lighting that subtly shifts, sound cues that heighten anticipation and tactile surprises woven in at just the right beat. Aromas drift in before plates land, textures are designed to delight, and storytelling anchors every bite. It’s dining as immersion — playful, futuristic, unexpectedly intimate — a reminder that great food seduces far more than the palate.
Where to try: Shelly, Shelaneous, Yiaga, Wickens at Royal Mail Hotel
Good Broths
Yet amid all the high-concept whimsy, Melbourne chefs are doubling down on something simple and profound: a really good broth. Clear, golden, and simmered for days, broths are being treated like liquid gold, sipped straight as tonic or forming the soul of showpiece soups. It’s humble, heartfelt cooking sneakily stealing the spotlight from flashier fare.
Where to try: RESIDENCE at the Potter, Bansho, Oden
What defines Melbourne dining in 2026 isn’t novelty alone, but discernment. The city is eating with greater awareness of craft, atmosphere and how food fits into everyday life. Trends are no longer driven by shock value, but by longevity, pleasure and genuine connection. Dishes may appear and disappear overnight, but that impermanence is part of the thrill. There is always something new, something unexpected and always something worth returning for. Much like our fashion, beauty and lifestyle landscape, Melbourne’s food culture will continue to evolve with confidence and curiosity throughout the year, keeping the city one step ahead and endlessly compelling.
