Whether you’re day-tripping from Melbourne or packing your bags for a Yarra Valley escape you’ll be spoilt for choice when it’s time to dine.

Good food and wine go hand in hand and Yarra Valley restaurants are a perfect fit for one of Australia’s best wine regions. From fine dining to top pub grub, here are some of the best spots to treat your tastebuds.

From winery restaurants to those set within converted stables and chalets, Yarra Valley chefs are creating dishes that are worth travelling for.

1. Greasy Zoe’s

Best for: a fancy date night

Just on the cusp of the valley, this intimate eatery consistently numbers among the pages of The Age’s Good Food Guide. And rightfully so. Helmed solely by wife-and-husband team Zoe Birch and Lachlan Gardner, this cosy timber and brick venue accommodates just eight diners at any one time.

Greasy Zoe’s degustation menu worships at the altar of seasonal, local produce, the dishes listed among it changing near-daily. Expect impeccable, minimalist platings, a tightly curated drinks list, and plenty of hygge vibes.

Given the restaurant’s stature, its small size, and the fact that it’s open just three days a week, advance bookings are a necessity.

Address: 3/850 Heidelberg-Kinglake Road, Hurstbridge

2. No.7 Healesville

Best for: Small plates and lo-fi wines

A frontrunner among the new wave of creative and relaxed restaurants shaking up the region’s historically formal, fine-dining culture, No.7 Healesville is a triple threat. It features artfully styled modern Australian share plates; an impressive selection of organic, minimal intervention wines from across the globe; and a beautifully styled, French-leaning ‘laissez-faire’ interior, complete with a chalkboard menu, art prints and countless bottles adorning the walls.

Housed within the lofty walls of a former cabinet maker’s factory, No. 7 has pedigree: it’s the sister restaurant to Stones of the Yarra Valley, and hosts regular guest chef cameos as well as wine list takeover events.

Address: 7 Lilydale Rd, Healesville

3. Emerald City

Best for: An out-of-the-ordinary dinner

The Yarra Valley’s most unexpected and unusual dining establishment? This could be it. Open since early 2024, Emerald City seats just four diners, and is hidden behind a velvet curtain, at the back of Healesville whisky bar Cavanagh’s Whisky and Alehouse. It’s the first solo venture from renowned local chef Joel Alderdice, formerly the head chef at TarraWarra Estate.

Joel’s playful, ever-changing, multi-colour, multi-course menu is laced with bold, punchy flavours. Expect up to 15 plates, with sample dishes including tempura pine mushroom seasoned with freeze dried miso, and wafer thin hibachi-grilled pork jowl topped with ribbons of daikon and fuchsia salvia flowers.

Address: 207 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville

4. Locale

Best for: Italian food

While Italian influences can be found in almost every corner of this beautiful region, few restaurants are as staunch in their approach as Locale. Family-owned and run, De Bortoli Wines has the heritage to back its Italian focus too.

Inspired by the trattorias of Northern Italy, the menu at this Yarra Valley winery restaurant is an ode to Il Bel Paese’s best dishes: think charcuterie, arancini, bruschetta, risotto, spaghetti, tiramisu, and more.

Address: 58 Pinnacle Ln, Dixons Creek

5. Levantine Hill

Best for: Fine dining and architecture

At Levantine Hill, where some guests arrive by helicopter and with private chauffeurs, you can limber up with a bespoke food and wine flight where house-made snacks have been created to match some of the rarest and most expensive wines in the world.

If you’d rather skip ahead to the main event you can choose between four or six plates of Mediterranean-inspired dishes in a space designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects, the firm that created the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) in Tasmania.

Address: 882 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream

6. 1309 at Balgownie Estate

Best for: Modern Australian with a view

After losing Rae’s Restaurant to a mid-lockdown fire in 2020 the team at Balgownie Estate now have an even bigger and better space thanks to a multi-million dollar rebuild.

The new restaurant, 1309, includes a 100-seat dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows for panoramic Yarra Valley views, a refurbished deck, private dining spaces and a function room.

Standouts on Executive Chef Aidan Gallagher’s modern Australian menu include the cured hiramasa kingfish, warm smoked duck breast and a ginger almond crumble with candied macadamia and crispy fried sage.

Address: 1309 Melba Highway, Yarra Glen

7. Oakridge

Best for: Hyper-local dishes and long lunches

Thanks to its ever-evolving and seasonally changing menu we can’t tell you what you might find at Oakridge Restaurant when you visit. But we do know that whatever it is, it won’t have come far before it was transformed into something special in the kitchen.

As well as growing a lot of his own ingredients in the kitchen garden, Executive Chef Aaron Brodie is committed to a hyper-local menu and only using ingredients from local farms. It’s Thursday to Monday lunchtime dining only at Oakridge, where those lunches can be very long.

Address: 864 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream.

8. Yering Station

Best for: Casual and elegant dining

Next door to the chateau in the Yarra Valley’s oldest vineyard, Yering Station is home to a light and bright contemporary restaurant where huge glass windows look out over lush fields with grazing cattle.

Open seven days a week for lunch the restaurant has a focus on small, local growers and guests are invited to not only peruse the full range of Yering Station wines but also try exclusive releases and special back-vintages. Lunch can also be enjoyed as part of a helicopter voyage from Melbourne’s CBD.

Address: 38 Melba Highway, Yarra Glen

9. Quarters at Huberts Estate

Best for: Flame-grilled dishes and desserts

A new addition to the Yarra Valley winery restaurants list, Quarters opened its doors in March 2022 as part of the new-look Huberts Estate.

Led by local Eltham resident and Executive Chef Michael Smith, the modern Australian and European dishes are cooked over wood and charcoal in the custom-made grill, while the pizzas that are cooked in an Italian-made Marana Forni oven can be traced back to the sourdough starter that Smith started in lockdown.

And with a team of pastry chefs working on the sweet treats you may need to activate that separate dessert corner of your stomach to enjoy it all.

Address: 1-3 St Huberts Rd, Coldstream

10. The Stables at Stones

Best for: Chef’s table experience

Back in 1868, The Stables at Stones was used as the sleeping quarters for St Huberts’ winery stable hands. Flash forward more than 150 years and it’s now a boutique restaurant with a focus on sustainable and ethical produce.

The restaurant is only open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays and has a private dining room where up to nine guests can enjoy the Chef’s Table.

Executive Chef Samuel Eng changes the Chef’s Table menu every night while sommeliers pair the latest dishes with a selection of wines.

Address: 14 St Huberts Rd, Coldstream

Originally written by Amanda Woods with updates by Chloe Cann.

For more insider tips and advice, read our ultimate travel guide to Yarra Valley.