As with most Korean cuisines, the sides are part of the main event, and the best barbecue restaurants are the ones dishing out the best banchan dishes. You can pick your favourites from the a la carte menu, or embrace the excess of Sichuan-style hot pot. I say ‘excess’ as the range of ingredients on offer is quite mind-blowing. This bright CBD eatery dishes up a serving of nostalgia with vintage Bollywood posters on the walls and addictive street food snacks that’ll transport you straight to a bustling Delhi market.
The dumplings at Din Tai Fung are folded in a lab-like, glass-walled space, cunningly designed to turn an entire restaurant’s worth of diners into Pavlov’s dogs. They’re so good that the truffle versions with a sliver of the good stuff are almost redundant. Don’t leave famous hot pot Melbourne without trying the boiling fish in golden basin , the deceptively named fish flavour eggplant (it’s vegan), the fiery mapo tofu and the delicately piquant cumin lamb slices. It’s way up there with the best Sichuan we’ve ever had the pleasure of burning our mouths on.

Gaijin’s culinary team bucks tradition by offering modern variationa on all sorts of conventional Japanese fare. Conveniently located in the center of bustling Southbank area, Melba Restaurant features scenic views of the Yarra River and postcard worthy glimpses of the city’s skyline. You’ll feel like a kid in a treehouse dining amongst the treetops at Allegro Restaurant on Collins Street. Sit outside on the terrace for an up close view of the trees or move inside where the open kitchen design allows you to immerse yourself in a delight for the senses. In an era of share plates, here’s where to book a table for one. Fargo & Co is a slick bank-themed bar and bruncherie in Richmond.

Founded in 2013, OKAMI has grown from one to eighteen restaurants around Melbourne and isn’t hard to understand why. Not only does OKAMI offer a delicious assortment of Japanese food, but they are also known for their friendly staff and are among the most reasonably priced restaurants on this list. Nana's also has a huge menu of Northern Thai dishes, most of them larbs, salads and soups of various sorts.
Each table is fitted with a button that activates a hotpot lift – press it and your ingredients are strained and lifted up over the broth, showing you everything that was hiding under the bubbling surface. Choose from Thai-inflected tom yum, a Malaysian seafood soup, a spicy Chengdu-style broth and an even spicier Chongqing-style number. There are also broth bases made from pork bone, mushroom, oxtail and pickled cabbage. You have the option to split your cooking pot into two or three sections to try more bases. It’s a far cry from the classic red-and-gold colour scheme, dragon murals and hanging paper lanterns of its sibling restaurant David’s Hotpot, just a few blocks south.
It’s not Korean barbecue without beef ribs (gal-bi), and here you can order them thin and bony, standard cut, premium marble or top grade. If you’re new to Korean barbecue this is a great place to start because here they’ll pop your meats on the grill, flip it and slice it when it’s ready if you prefer being a passenger. If you want to captain your own dinner cruise, you go right ahead.

The cost ranges from $58 to $78 per head, depending on which banquet you choose. To order, choose your soup broth and spice level, then decide which of the 80 available ingredients – including meats ; tofu; shrimp; and vegetables – you’ll DIY cook in the broth. Then dip each cooked piece in your choice of sauce, to eat with a side of fried sticky rice cakes, or fried rice with egg. Rather than just a meal, having hot pot is an experience in itself. Boiling broth sits in the middle, surrounded by platters full of meat, seafood and vegetables. At the very least, there are two broth compartments in the pot, but this number can go up to nine or more.
As the name suggests, coffee’s the specialty at Market Espresso. But you can also stop in for Melbourne-made hot chocolate. Their baristas’ own blend of hot chocolate packs a dark, 70 per cent cocoa punch. Or go for the lighter, creamier 40 per cent cocoa range. The kiosk-style cafe is in L Shed at Queen Victoria Market. One of Melbourne’s finest coffee roasters also happens to make superb hot chocolate.

Two-hour sessions are available on Saturday from 10.30am-5.30pm and Sunday from 11am-6pm. It’s $69 per person for just "The Feast" (if you’re happy to go alcohol-free) and $98 per person for the full "Feast and Flow" experience with drinks included. If there’s a hot pot you’re yet to try on this list, it’s probably this one.
Fairly new to the scene having opened in 2022, Cambodia’s Kitchen is still regarded as a well-kept secret among hot pot lovers and multiculturally adventurous foodies alike. All of the ingredients are sliced super thin, so it pays to be vigilant when cooking your meat. Serves Mongolian-style hotpot, featuring fresh vegetables and juicy meat cooked in a soup broth.

Everything is fresh and flavoursome, plus the serving sizes are generous and everything’s affordable—as the best Thai Melbourne options should be. Best dishes include soft-shell crab on a green papaya salad, traditional Pad See Ew, and grilled Moo Yang . Mango Tree Thai offering up simple and delicious Thai without any of that inner-city glam.