27 October 2023
11 mins Read
There are some days when the idea of cooking and cleaning is too much. Enter the #girldinner, the food trend kicking off on TikTok that celebrates a random assemblage of ingredients enjoyed as a main meal.
While some suggest the #girldinner is a low-cal ode to diet culture, others make a case for the meal being an easy fuss-free dinner that requires minimum effort. And we’re down with that.
A quick scroll through the social media platform shows how these dinners have evolved from the original viral video posted by Olivia Maher in May 2023 of a plate of bread, cheese, grapes and cornichons.
Hit fast forward on the food trend and you’ll see an anything-goes approach that runs the gamut from creamy oats to cake and croissants, one-pan pizzas and sushi bowls. There’s even a My Girl Dinner food filter that will decide what’s on your plates. We’ve made it easier to get out of doing the dishes with these 18 venues around Australia where you can get a great girl dinner.
Want to get fancy with your girl dinner? Cardea is named after the Roman goddess who warded off evil spirits from crossing thresholds, so it’s good vibes only at this velvet-clad palace tucked away in Sydney’s Barangaroo.
Who says you can’t start off with a glass of cocktail?
Up the ante at the upscale intimate speakeasy bar with a carefully curated charcuterie board and a Rosy cocktail made up of rosé wine, Chambord, vanilla, hibiscus and cranberry juice.
Pair your rosy cocktail with a spoonful of exotic caviar.
While the current crop of girl dinners has evolved to include everything from DIY Doritos dipped in melted cheese to pickles and popcorn and multi stacks of rice cakes slathered in avocado, we’re also about outsourcing our self-indulgent dinners.
Order a Margherita pizza at Bottega Coco for your ultimate girl dinner.
Enter Bottego Coco, the stylish Italian restaurant and patisserie in Barangaroo considered a culinary oasis for girl dinners. Gnocchi alla Sorrentina and Champagne risotto are our go-tos.
The dining interior of Bottega Coco looks classy and elegant.
Go solo or grab your girl buddies and head to this Italian-style enoteca at the Edward’s Beach end of Balmoral in Sydney. Although you can sit down and indulge in a three-course meal, Eddy’s is also the perfect spot to stop by for a slice of pizza and aperitivo.
Fried calamari and fries are Eddy’s version of a girl dinner.
The dinner menu at the pop-up also includes cones of fried calamari and muffuletta sandwiches stuffed with salami, mortadella, prosciutto, provolone, olive and peppers. Go nuts and pick up a bundle of biscotti for afters.
Pop by Eddy’s to feast on a three-course meal.
An after-work aperitivo has never looked so appealing. This new offering at Mode Kitchen and Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel is available weekdays between 4pm and 6pm for just $30 per girl (which includes an aperitivo).
The indulgent plating at Mode Kitchen and Bar calls for a fancy girl dinner. (Image: Anna Kucera)
Curate your own photogenic plate for the micro-community of TikTokers from the buffet of hot and cold dishes such as focaccia, cured meats, bresaola and best-quality Italian cheeses. The fresh mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes also has girl dinner written all over it.
Kick off the evening with Aperitivo as the Italians do.
La Vie Royale runs on the last Sunday of each month at Restaurant Hubert. Gather your girlfriends for dinner and a show where drinks are poured freely until the velvet curtains drop to the floor.
In need of a good slab of steak? Head to Restaurant Hubert.
Although the moodily lit basement bar and restaurant offer tickets to a ‘Front Row Feast’, the ‘Admission De Luxe’ is more our jam, with canapes, theatre seats and bottomless wine. Think dining, dance and one of the most decadent girl dinners around.
Prepare for a grandiose theatrical girls’ dinner at Restaurant Hubert.
The French onion dip with chives, lemon and crispbread at Rothwell’s has a cult following within the growing girl dinner community in Brisbane. As does the steak tartare, chicken liver parfait with cornichons and toasted brioche and the prawn cocktail.
Stop by Rothwell’s for a night filled with martini. (Image: Nikki To)
This elegant Euro-inspired restaurant is housed within a heritage-listed building on Edward Street and is one of the most stylish dining rooms in Brisbane. If you’re going solo head to the adjoining Marble Bar where you can do your girl dinner justice with a martini and a club sandwich.
Rothwell’s serves the perfect girl dinner you can imagine. (Image: Nikki To)
Do you want a chicken parmi slider for dinner? Who are we to judge? Rosella’s is giving Gold Coast girl dinner vibes with its menu of tasty treats such as the chicken parmi slider and BBQ prawn croquettes.
In true girl dinner style, all cheese comes with crackers and quince paste and we’re particularly partial to the Capricorn goat’s brie which is all kinds of soft and luscious. Parrot your GF’s cries for vegemite and cheese lasagne and continue the theme of gendered wining and dining with a Tell Him He’s Dreaming cocktail.
Head to Rosella’s for a tasty girl dinner.
The Upper Deck of the Scarborough Marina caters to all comers. In addition to its extensive drinks offering, which includes canned and tapped cocktails, there are bar bites here at the Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co. that will satisfy the pickiest of eaters.
Enjoy a delectable cheeseboard at Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co.
We’re talking house dips. Salt and pepper squid. French cheese puffs and a bowl of prawns. There’s also the quintessential girl dinner cheeseboard served with pickles, chutney and crackers that is one of the best on the Redcliffe Peninsula.
Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co. guarantees to satisfy a girl’s taste.
This popular Italian outpost serves plainspoken Italian food that is as austere as the dining room. If you are planning on enjoying your girl dinner alone, you should order the salad of rocket, parmigiana and pear which is simply dressed with salt, pepper, aged balsamic and a few drops of olive oil.
You can, as ever, order the bruschetta, a crunchy slab of ciabatta topped with heirloom tomatoes and a creamy layer of buffalo mozzarella. Expect music and loud conversations from people having a good time.
Any eatery that has a menu dedicated to decadent cheese jaffles unites the team here at Australian Traveller who are happy to see it as a food fixture at The Old Seven in Bris Vegas.
Drool-worthy cheese jaffles at The Old Seven.
The wine bar and fromagerie with the sultry Paris vibes claims to have the most extensive rosé list in all the land. The owners of the cafe by day and wine bar by night are self-confessed Francophiles who have brought back a slice of French life to Brissy’s burbs. Order the Hot Johnny, salumi salame inferno, mozzarella, swiss gruyere, spicy pickles and spicy tomato relish.
The Old Seven is a cafe by day and wine bar by night.
The Malibu Racquet Club is the retro cocktail bar of our dreams. It’s housed in a former tattoo parlour in Burleigh Heads and is the synthesis between Palm Springs and the Gold Coast.
Girls on the rebound who fancy getting out and about can make their way down to the Malibu Racquet Club, order a caprese salad and a pina colada and channel Harper Spiller in The White Lotus, shaken together with Margot Robbie as Barbie and muddled into a long glass. It’s a vibe, for sure.
Have you even had a night out in Bris Vegas if you haven’t been to The Pancake Manor? We think not. This 24-hour institution has been plating up pancakes since 1979 and it’s the humble pancake that justifies its existence and qualifies as a girl dinner.
Indulge in pancake heaven. (Image: Sunbox Studios and The Pancake Manor)
It’s no small miracle that the restaurant, housed in an old church with medieval styling, has survived. There’s nothing pedestrian about these pancakes: order a single fluffy buttermilk pancake or a long stack served with butter and maple syrup.
The Pancake Manor is housed in an old church with medieval styling.
A quick scroll through TikTok identifies Italian antipasti plates as one of the food trend’s defining dishes. And who better to artfully arrange a platter than the team at 400 Gradi, which has venues across the country?
The pizzas at 400 Gradi Mornington regularly rank as some of the best in the world. But we reckon a beautifully presented simple mixed plate of sliced salumi, olives and arancini, followed by pan-toasted broccoletti are all enticing and appealing options to awaken the palate.
400 Gradi Mornington is renowned for serving aesthetic dinner plates.
Roll straight off the beach and into Totti’s Lorne to dig into a range of small plates such as smoked albacore tuna, snapper crudo and marinated octopus. Executive chef Matt Germanchis has designed a seafood-centric menu that celebrates the restaurant’s Surf Coast locale.
Dining at Totti’s will take you back to the ’70s. (Image: Ashley Ludkin)
Housed in the iconic Lorne Hotel, on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, the eclectic eatery nods to the nostalgia of the ’70s with a distinctive Totti’s on holiday outlook: think chequered cork floors, sorbet terrazzo and terracotta.
Dine in true girl dinner style at Totti’s. (Image: Ashley Ludkin)
A seat at the bar at Bossley offers a front-row seat to the opening act of chefs engaged in preparing the food and plating up at the pass. Bossley is adjacent to the newly reimagined Rydges Melbourne and opposite Her Majesty’s Theatre, making it a go-to for girl dinners pre- or post-theatre.
Nab a front-row seat at Bossley’s to watch chefs prepare you a girl dinner. (Image: Pete Dillon)
Order like a Boss(ley) and enjoy an exquisite glass of wine or two with a creamy blob of handmade burrata, charred cauliflower on sourdough and a side of fries with confit garlic aioli. Pop back post-show for Bossley’s signature Snickers dessert. You’re welcome.
Indulge in exquisite dinner plates at Bossley. (Image: Pete Dillon)
Who says a dozen freshly shucked oysters and a bump of caviar isn’t dinner? The Capitol Bar & Grill at QT Canberra is for CEOs who want a salad and a side or something simple to satiate.
Order something to indulge in at Capitol Bar & Grill.
Those who like to frame their eating adventures on social media will have access to the beautiful dining room as a backdrop when feasting on a range of small plates such as pork skin with cultured cream, garden chives and South Australian prawns. Of course, you could always steer straight toward the cheese course. The bar and grill is one of the best bars in Canberra.
An appetising dish at Capitol Bar & Grill.
There’s no shame in having yoghurt for your girl dinner. Whatever pumps your tyres girlfriend. The Adelaide outpost of Yo-Chi, the popular frozen yoghurt brand, is centred around a fuss-free approach to enjoying this delicious treat.
A cup of yoghurt can make a girl happy at Yo-Chi.
Take pride in pelting the yoghurt with toppings chosen from the buffet-style dessert bar. Add crunch and colour with everything from brownies to mochi and fruit. It’s a simple and satisfying solution to dinner on the fly.
You’ll get to choose what toppings you like for your yoghurt.
This elevated institution doubles as a cellar door and it’s one of the restaurants we always try and secure a booking at when visiting Tassie. Louise Radman and Nav Singh are the owners of the restaurant who, between the two of them, are shaking up the drinks scene in Tasmania.
Louise is charged with producing micro-batch spirits and Nav uses his experience making wines in Burgundy and Bordeaux to produce Domaine Simha Wines. Settle in at the super cool wine bar at Institut Polaire for Angasi oysters, parfait éclair, bottarga toast and Olasagasti anchovies with yuzu and crostini.
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