Sofia Levin’s 22 restaurant recommendations heading into 2022!
This year has been hard enough.
There’s no need to add more stress from organisation and massive clean ups to your mental and physical load – let alone forced small-talk with that relative you dread seeing once a year.
Instead, make a booking at one of the below 22 restaurants as we welcome 2022…
But before I list them, be sure to also check out New Year Street Feasts, an outdoor dining program presented by the City of Melbourne, the Victorian Government and Melbourne Food & Wine Festival across the CBD. My picks are:
- Blak Glitter at Big Esso, with a five-course native Australian banquet, drag show and DJ set plus complimentary bubbles on arrival for $220 per person.
- Lee Ho Fook’s flowing seafood canapes and unlimited Bollinger Champagne for $354 per person (smoked eel with sweet soy, foie gras and pink peppercorn and steamed scallop and pork siu mai with smoked roe to name a couple).
- Pelligrini’s all-inclusive package of local sparkling, wine, beer, tea, coffee and dinner for $99 per person (or $49 per child).
- San Telmo’s Casino Royale New Year’s Eve celebration, Argentinean-style with grilled meats, five South-American courses and Bond flair for $120 to $149 per person.
Count down to 2022 with free-flowing Nicolas Feuillatte champagne and a luxe sashimi platter at Yugen this New Year. Your platter will be an almost-too-pretty-to-eat display of lobster sashimi, caviar, Hokkaido scallop, tuna belly, scampi, oysters, paradise prawns, golden eye snapper, kingfish, ocean trout and salmon. Dessert is also included. It’s $250 per person and bookings are essential.
New this year, Robata will be open from noon until late on Christmas Eve and is hosting “Sayonara 2021” on New Year’s Eve. Expect a live DJ from 7pm for the latter, with two sessions starting at 5pm ($100 per head) and 8.30pm ($150 per head) respectively. The NYE set menus feature an assorted Japanese platter, yakitori, wagyu strip loin with a seaweed salad and wasabi dressing for main, plus dessert. The later sitting includes a few extras and a yuzu spritz on arrival. There’s also a kids menu if you want to bring the family.
Recently opened at the end of November, this new Indonesian restaurant from the team behind Yoi is staying open for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Food is available from 11.30am to 10.30pm, with coffee from 7am onwards on weekdays and 9am on weekends. The boozy drinks here are an especially fun time (order the Uluwatu cocktail that comes covered in a smoke bubble). When ordering, start with sate lilit (grilled minced pork wrapped around lemongrass skewers) and try mud crab and Madura-style duck with spicy sambal to share.
Kata Kita has Christmas covered, but when they close on New Year’s Eve, Makan has picks up the slack should you wish to ring in 2022 with a modern Indonesian feast. They’re staying open for dinner on December 31 with two chef’s selection menus priced at $59 or $75 per person. Expect dishes such as kepiting saos Padang (soft shell crab bao with spicy sauce); ikan bongkot salad (baramundi salad with torch ginger flower, soft herbs and spicy dressing); and iga bakar sapi (grilled beef short ribs with sambal balado).
Jolly Good Sandwiches, Fitzroy
JGS is helping pre-load for New Year’s Eve with prawn rolls and pet nat. From 11am until 9pm (or until sold out), swing by for Cobb Lane milk buns filled with jumbo prawns, baby gem lettuce, chilli and celery pickle and house thousand island sauce ($16). They’ll be pouring magnums at the bar, courtesy of the adjoining Near & Far bottle shop.
David’s has been putting on New Year’s Eve feasts for years now, and it’s always the same, great-value offer: free-flowing sparkling and nine courses of yum cha for $115 per person. They include: pacific oysters with fresh mint and plum sauce, vegetarian san choi bao, a selection of steamed and fried dumplings, peking duck, toothfish and more. And yes, there will once again be the signature white chocolate dumplings for dessert.
Between 8am and noon on Christmas Day, $1 from every coffee sold at Battle will go towards Anglicare Victoria to support foster kids and young parents who have done it tough this year. They’re also taking donations throughout December, as well as gifts under their Christmas tree that they’ll donate. Swing by and dig into breakfast burgers, shakshuka and smashed avo, then leave something for others less fortunate.
From 2pm to 4pm, Harlow is putting on a boozy rooftop lunch on NYE day. The two hours of power include a main, dessert and bottomless house wine, beer, sparkling and seltzers. Tickets are $79 per person. Come 7pm, it’s $175 per person for a five-hour package of spirits, wine, beer, seltzers, snacks, roaming canapes and a spritz on arrival. Celebrations in the Main Bar, Basement & Beer start at 8pm with a four-hour beverage pack inclusive of basic spirits, wine, beer, sparkling, roaming canapes and live DJs. $120 per person.
The Sarah Sands Hotel, Brunswick
There are two sittings for Christmas lunch at the recently refurbed Sarah Sands: 11am to 1.30pm or 2.30pm to 5pm. Adults will dig into three courses with shared entrees, a main (choose between Starward Whisky and pineapple glazed pork belly ham with dark ale mustard sauce, crispy skinned Ora King salmon with witlof and rosella dressing or macadamia, brown butter and cherry stuffing with pan juices and Davidson plum fruit sauce) and dessert for $120 per person, plus a glass of bubbles of house tap beer on arrival. Those 12 and under will get a very special two-course menu with bottomless refills of soft drink or juice ($50 per little one).
Sarah Sands is also partying from 9pm until 3am on New Year’s Eve with bottomless house wines, beers and roaming canapes on level one, and in the atrium from 9pm until midnight, for $120 per head. Dinner reservations are also available in the restaurant that night for something more low-key.
Ned’s, South Yarra & Albert Park
Ned’s South Yarra and Albert Park stores are open on Christmas day between 7am and 4pm. On New Year’s Eve, South Yarra is open those same hours, but Albert Park swings open the doors half an hour earlier at 6.30am. Get a caffeine hit and take a moment to yourself over brunch before the day’s festivities, or pick up some fresh bread and pastries last minute if you’re hosting a spread.
Grab a ticket for $140 to Dom’s Social Club this New Year. The festivities kick off at 8.30pm on their rooftop with unlimited wine, beer, house vermouth, aperitif, amaro and spritzes. Pizzas and snacks will be available to buy on the night. Expect DJs and a killer vantage point to watch the fireworks. Don’t miss the mortadella pizza.
Arbory Bar & Eatery, CBD
On Christmas Day, Arbory is putting on a festive banquet overlooking the Yarra. Start with oysters, mini lobster rolls and a selection of charcuterie, before mains such as glazed ham, barramundi with burnt butter and caper vinaigrette, hot smoked potato confit and bitter leaf salad. Tickets are $145 per adult and between $45 to $105 for kids under 13 and teenagers respectively.
Come New Year’s Eve, it’s the Night of Versace Party at Arbory. For $175 you’ll be transported to the party beaches of the Mediterranean coastline and served premium canapes and unlimited drinks. Think Saint Tropez and Mykonos vibes with dancing, tunes and live performances by The Huxley’s and Melbourne DJs Mu-gen, ANYO and Edd Fisher. Silk, glitter, gold and bold patterns are encouraged.
Indulgence is the premise of Stokehouse’s four-course New Year’s Eve menu from executive chef Jason Staudt. It starts at 7.30pm at the STOKEBAR with a caviar bump, oysters, canapes and Bollinger or a signature cocktail. That’s before the actual dinner begins, with options available for each course. Think Skull Island prawns, Black Opal Wagyu, WA Marron, fresh produce from Ramarro Farms and a premium seafood platter. It’s $350 per person plus drinks.
Stokehouse’s downstairs cousin, Pontoon, has a more affordable option with a ground-level ocean view for $130 per person. It includes snacks, shared entrees, mains, sides and dessert, as well as a complimentary drink upon arrival. The new Mediterranean menu, curated by executive chef Jason Staudt, has oysters, flatbread with confit garlic and white bean dip, whipped cod belly, mortadella, homemade spanner crab and chilli spaghetti, and either wood-fired whole fish or sirloin steak lined up.
Open from noon on Christmas Day, Cappo Sociale is perfect for anyone looking for an Italian feast. The reduced menu will feature signature dishes and crowd favourites.
Ichi Ni Nana, Fitzroy & Ichi Ni, St Kilda
Both venues are open from noon until late for lunch and dinner service with their regular menus, making it a very Japanese Christmas and New Year.
Society Restaurant, CBD
Arguably the biggest restaurant opening of the year is also putting on the most decadent New Year’s Eve dinner. It’s a hefty $660 per person for a five-course menu, from Society’s signature caviar martini journey through to works of art on a plate that will surprise and delight. No expense will be spared – even less so if you opt for the unlimited Dom Perignon add on for an extra $220 per person.
Located on the same level as Society, Lillian Terrace is putting on a chef’s selection menu: five courses for $395 per person. It will kick off with a Lillian Cocktail and caviar, before continuing the evening with European classics. Again, add unlimited Dom Perignon for an extra $220 per head. There will also be a DJ on the terrace until the wee hours of 2022.
This Kew local is staying open on Christmas Day (7am until 2pm), Boxing Day (8am until 2pm) and New Year’s Day from 9am to 2pm to cure that hangover with spicy chorizo and bacon and egg rolls, a big Aussie Breakfast and chicken or lamb tacos, to name a few.
Located in the grand hall of the historic Equity Chambers Building at the bottom of the Hilton, there’s a four-course feast happening at Luci on Christmas Day ($175 per guest, $60 per child) and a five-course NYE celebration ($180 per guest, $60 per child). On Christmas Day, expect John Dory with asparagus and a champagne and oyster emulsion, honey-glazed duck breast with cherries and more.
Just before 2022, you’ll eat tuna crudo with world’s smallest tomatoes, slow-roasted wagyu strip loin with caramelised shallots and grilled cos lettuce and then some. To use their words, what’s not to love about spending your last few hours of 2021 in a chic, old-world glamour, heritage-listed grand dining hall housed within the grand hall of the historic Equity Chambers Building accompanied by delectable food and champagne?
Nabil Ansari is brining back his namesake modern Indian fare for NYE at Hotel Windsor. Choose from an all-inclusive three-course menu for the first sitting between 5pm and 7pm ($199 per person) and a five-course menu between 8pm and 12.30am, including a live jazz performance ($428 per person). Selected beers, wines and soft drink will be flowing throughout each sitting.