14 Of The Best Places To Eat Along The Great Ocean Road

Don’t set out on Victoria’s most iconic road trip without planning where you’ll stop along the way – better yet, plan your Great Ocean Road trip around these cafes, restaurants and eateries.

A trip along the Great Ocean Road is a feast for the senses. There’s the smell of the eucalyptus trees, the sound of the roaring ocean and some incredible food to tantalise your taste buds. From coffee and pastries in Wye River, to a degustation dinner at one of the country’s finest restaurants (Brae in Birregurra ), there’s something here to suit every palette. These are our top picks.

1. The Wye General, Wye River

Set in the beautiful hamlet of Wye River, The General is a beautiful dining spot, right by the sea. They do an all-day brunch menu that features excellent coffee and fresh pastries, bloody marys, burgers, bang-up full breakfasts, and fresh salads. This is a great spot if you’re travelling through in the cooler months, as they have a combustion heater to keep things toasty. There’s also a great play area for little ones.

Address: 35 Great Ocean Road, Wye River

2. Fish by Moonlite, Anglesea

Anglesea surfers would do well to follow the lead of Chef Matt Germanchis, one-half of the mastermind behind the now-closed Captain Moonlite – and its offshoot, Fish by Moonlite , a fish-and-chip and seafood retail shop along the Great Ocean Road run by Germanchis and his partner Gemma Gange.

Germanchis was inspired by his time cooking in Skiathos, Greece, where the evening menu would come from what fishermen bring to port that day, now Fish by Moonlite patrons not only gain access to the freshest seafood delivered daily but also get advice from seasoned chefs about how to cook your produce. A visit won’t be complete without the help of their top-notch fish and chips.

Fresh seafood, Fish by Moonlite — Get access to the freshest seafood delivered daily at Fish by Moonlite.

Address: 87-89 Great Ocean Road, Anglesea, Victoria

3. Chris’s Beacon Point Restaurant, Apollo Bay

Set high in the Otways above the Great Ocean Road, Chris’s Beacon Point Restaurant has been an iconic eatery since opening in 1979. Chris’s passion for the food of southern Europe combined with the freshest and purest produce available means people come back time and time again for lunch or dinner with a spectacular view. Fresh seafood is a speciality.

Address: 280 Skenes Creek Rd, Apollo Bay, Victoria

4. Conlan’s Wine Store, Port Fairy

Located in the historic coastal town of Port Fairy is Conlan’s Wine Store , a restaurant that offers relaxed dining options perfect for a night of unwinding. Try their four-course sharing style menu, or order from their wide selection of a la carte dishes, both of which can be paired with the region’s finest wine. You can also bring home a bottle along with some homely goods from their retail store.

Conlan's Wine Store, Lunch Menu with wine pairings — Try their four-course sharing-style menu.

Address: 34 Bank Street, Port Fairy

5. Brae, Birregurra

To be fair this isn’t technically on the Great Ocean Road. You have to head inland to hit Birregurra to indulge in lunch or dinner at Brae . But it’s consistently been named one of the best restaurants in the country by the Good Food Guide, and when you’re this close to perfection it would be a shame not to take the slight detour. Chef Dan Hunter’s ever-changing menu incorporates produce from Brae’s organic farm, the surrounding land and local, ethical, sustainable producers. It will be one of the best meals you ever have.

Brae Great Ocean Road — Brae is consistently been named one of the best restaurants in the country.

Address: 4285 Cape Otway Rd, Birregurra

6. Ipsos Restaurant & Bar, Lorne

For a fun night out with friends, it’s hard to go past Ipsos . Here you’ll find a modern spin on Greek cooking, with lots of salads, dips and grilled meats to keep you satisfied. There’s also a superb cocktail list.

Address: 48 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne, Victoria

7. Apollo Bay Bakery, Apollo Bay

Locals along the Great Ocean Road swear by the Apollo Bay Bakery . They have a great range of fresh sandwiches, rolls and cakes and all their pies, pasties and sausage rolls are hand-made on-site (they have become well-known as the home of the scallop pie). Gluten-free pies and vegan pasties are also available. It’s open seven days a week from 6am to 3pm.

Address: 125 Great Ocean Road, Apollo Bay

8. Merrijig Inn, Port Fairy

This is, apparently, Victoria’s oldest inn and it’s certainly dripping with old-world charm. Open for dinner Thursday to Monday, the daily kitchen menu at the Merrijig Inn highlights local producers and farmers. Depending on what’s good and fresh that day you might find Milawa free-range duck, Western District lamb, and ox-tail ragout with globe artichokes or a pan-fried fillet of Portland blue-eye.

Address: 1 Campbell Street, Port Fairy

Merrijig is, apparently, Victoria’s oldest inn.

9. Bellbrae Estate, Bellbrae

This cool climate winery and cellar door is just a five-minute drive from Bells Beach. Family owned and run, it’s no novelty venture built solely to lure in tourists; after all, the hallowed Halliday Wine Companion has named Bellbra e Estat e an “excellent" winery capable of producing elegant wines. Duck in for a tasting or linger for longer at the weekend with a woodfired pizza and tasting flight.

Wine and oysters platter, Bellbrae Estate, Great Ocean Road, VIC, Australia — Duck in for a tasting. (Image: Great Ocean Road Tourism; Lauren Doolan)

Address: 520 Great Ocean Rd, Bellbrae

10. Great Ocean Road Gin Tasting Room, Aireys Inlet

Hidden in plain sight in the quaint hamlet of Aireys Inlet, this nook of a gin garden is a delightful spot to pass some time. Nurse a small-batch navy-strength gin negroni laced with housemade bitter orange syrup while sitting on the sun-dappled deck amid furniture doused in a Palm Springs colour palette. When hunger strikes you don’t have to venture far; simply slink next door to the adjoining Gin Kitchen, which offers a five-course banquet menu inspired by Southeast Asian cuisine.

Great Ocean Road Gin Tasting Room, Aireys Inlet, Great Ocean Road, VIC, Autralia — Help yourself to some negroni. (Image: Great Ocean Road Tourism; Lauren Doolan)

Want more? Visit the Apollo Bay Distillery , which runs gin blending masterclasses.

Address: 32 Great Ocean Rd, Aireys Inlet

11. Noodledoof Brewing and Distilling Co., Koroit

Open from your morning cold drip coffee, brewed over 12 hours, through to your evening gin – distilled with botanicals plucked from the crater of a dormant local volcano, no less – Noodledoof is no one-trick pony. Beyond beverages, this brewery and distillery also serves up an indulgent menu of burgers, loaded fries and chicken wings come lunch and dinner, while breakfast is a slightly more salubrious affair, running the gamut from almond and chia pudding to fruit toast and granola with coconut yoghurt.

Beer and food at Noodledoof Brewing and Distilling Co, Koroit, Great Ocean Road, VIC, Australia — Beyond beverages, this brewery and distillery also serves up an indulgent menu. (Image: Great Ocean Road Tourism; Lauren Doolan)

Address: 128 Commercial Rd, Koroit

12. Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-op, Apollo Bay

A coastal restaurant with plenty of rustic charm, Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-op is a mecca for seafood lovers. Situated just a couple of metres from the salty surf, it dishes up a bounty of impossibly fresh fish and crustaceans. So fabled is the southern rock lobster that’s hauled from the depths of this bay that the seaside town and its catch took centre stage on a season 13 episode of MasterChef. Pull up a pew at one of the co-op’s picnic tables, devour a fisherman’s basket and watch on as sailboats bob around in the water before you.

Seafood at Apollo Bay Fisherman's Coop, Great Ocean Road, VIC, Australia — Enjoy Apollo Bay’s bounty of impossibly fresh fish and crustaceans. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Address: 2 Breakwater Rd, Apollo Bay

13. Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld

Among the region’s most show-stopping offerings, Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel is a non-negotiable for fervent foodies. This hatted restaurant has an extensive kitchen garden, said to be among the biggest in Australia, which furnishes the kitchen’s fridge and pantry with all manner of fruits, veggies and herbs. Moreover, the hotel even raises its own beef and lamb. But food is not the sole focal point here: the restaurant’s award-winning cellar is home to an encyclopaedic collection of wine (some 25,000 bottles, to be precise).

For those who fancy a more casual a la carte meal, try the hotel offshoot Parker Street Project .

Wickens Great Ocean Road — Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel is a non-negotiable for fervent foodies. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Address: 98 Parker St, Dunkeld

14. Timboon Fine Ice Cream, Timboon Railway Shed Distillery and Schulz Organic Creamery & Cafe, Timboon

In the thick of the Otways hinterland, among the verdant pastoral landscapes, lies a little pocket awash with artisanal food and drink producers. From a natural ice creamery founded by a third-generation dairy farmer, to a single malt whisky distillery run by a cattle farmer in a railway shed that dates back to the 1800s, and a ‘grass to glass’ single-site organic dairy and cheesery, the tiny town of Timboon (pop. 1,202) punches well above its weight.

Timbon Shed Distillery, Great Ocean Road, VIC, Australia — Visit this little pocket awash with artisanal food and drink producers. (Image: Great Ocean Road Tourism; Lauren Doolan)

Stop in at Schul z Organic Creamery & Cafe for a spot of morning tea: we’re talking chocolate babka, a smattering of bagels, and scones with local jam and homemade cream. Then pop into Timboon Fine Ice Cream for a scoop of apple pie ice cream or maybe even one of their Sundae School classes. Finally, drop by Timboon Railway Shed Distillery for a dram of whisky alongside farmer and head distiller Josh’s slow-cooked grass-fed black Angus beef.

Bottles of whisky, Timboon Railway Shed Distillery, Great Ocean Road, VIC, Australia — Drop by Timboon Railway Shed Distillery for a dram of whisky. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Addresses in order: 1A Barrett St, Timboon; 1 Bailey St, Timboon, Victoria; 3 Ford and Fells Rd, Timboon

Updates written by Chloe Cann

Read our ultimate travel guide to the Great Ocean Road for more on what to do and where to stay.

A town charmingly paused in time has become a hot mountain biking destination.

There’s a forest reserve full of eucalyptus and pines surrounding town – when you combine all the greenery with a main street of grand old buildings still standing from the Victorian Gold Rush, Creswick looks more period movie set than a 21st-century town.

old gold bank Victoria — Grand buildings from the Victorian gold rush. (Image: Visit Victoria)

This entire region of Victoria – the Central Goldfields – is as pretty-as-a-picture, but there’s something extra-special about Creswick. I used to live 30 minutes north; I’d drive in some evenings to cruise its main street at dusk, and pretend I was travelling back in time.

It was sleepy back then, but that’s changed. Where I used to walk through its forest, now I’m hurtling down the state’s best new mountain bike trails. There’s a 60-kilometre network of mountain bike trails – dubbed Djuwang Baring – which make Creswick the state’s hottest new mountain biking destination.

Meet Victoria’s new mountain biking capital

Creswick bike trail — This historic town has become a mountain biking hotspot.

Victoria has a habit of turning quiet country towns into mountain biking hotspots. I was there in the mid-2000s when the tiny Otways village of Forrest embarked on an ambitious plan to save itself (after the death of its timber cutting industry) courtesy of some of the world’s best mountain bike trails. A screaming success it proved to be, and soon mountain bike trails began popping up all over Victoria.

I’m no expert, so I like that a lot of Creswick’s trails are as scenic as they are challenging. I prefer intermediate trails, such as Down Martuk, with its flowing berms and a view round every corner. Everyone from outright beginners to experts can be happy here. There’s trails that take me down technical rock sections with plenty of bumps. But there’s enough on offer to appeal to day-trippers, as much as hard-core mountain-bikers.

I love that the trails empty onto that grand old main street. There’s bars still standing from the Gold Rush of the 1850s I can refuel at. Like the award-winning Farmers Arms, not to be confused with the pub sharing its name in Daylesford. It’s stood since 1857. And The American Creswick built two years later, or Odessa Wine Bar, part of Leaver’s Hotel in an 1856-built former gold exchange bank.

The Woodlands is set on a large bushland property. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

Creswick is also full of great cafes and restaurants, many of them set in the same old buildings that have stood for 170 years. So whether you’re here for the rush of the trails or the calm of town life, Creswick provides.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Inside the Woodlands, a chic 1970s log cabin. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

RACV Goldfields Resort is a contemporary stay with a restaurant, swimming pool and golf course. The Woodlands in nearby Lal Lal comprises a chic log cabin set on a 16-hectare property abundant in native wildlife.

Eating there

Le Peche Gourmand makes for the perfect pitstop for carb and sugar-loading.

The menu at Odessa at Leaver’s Hotel includes some Thai-inspired fare. Fuel up for your ride on baguettes and pastries from French patisserie Le Peche Gourmand . The Farmers Arms has been a much-loved local institution since 1857.

Playing there

Creswick State Forest has a variety of hiking trails, including a section of the 210-kilometre-long Goldfields Track. Miss Northcotts Garden is a quaint garden store with tea room.

14 of the best places to eat along the Great Ocean Road