10 Best Yarra Valley Restaurants For 2025

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.

No.7 Healesville is an urban winery, restaurant and cellar door.

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 .

Emerald City Yarra Valley — The multi-course menu is ever-changing, playful, and colourful.

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

Inside Levantine Hill — The architecture at Levantine Hill is as exquisite as the food.

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.

Levantine Hill helicopter. — You can arrive at Levantine Hill via helicopter.

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.

Levantine Hill menu — Mediterranean-inspired dishes are served alongside some of the rarest wines in the world.

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.

Interior view of 1309 Balgownie Estate — The interior dining room is warm and inviting. (Image: Neisha Breen)

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.

Patrons dining on the deck at 1309 Balgownie Estate — Spend a lazy afternoon dining on the deck at 1309 Balgownie Estate. (Image: Neisha Breen)

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.

1309 Balgownie Estate smoked duck breast — The smoked duck breast is a highlight of the current menu. (Image: Neisha Breen)

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.

Diners at Yering Station in Yarra Valle — Dine at Yarra Valley’s oldest vineyard Yering Station. (Image: Visit Victoria)

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 .

Quarters at Huberts Estate Yarra Valley — Quarters at Huberts Estate is the latest winery restaurant to join the mix in Yarra Valley.

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.

Menu at Quarters at Huberts Estate Yarra Valley — The majority of the menu at Quarters is cooked over wood and charcoal in the custom-made grill.

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.

Inside The Stables at Stones Yarra Valley — The Stables at Stones was once used as the sleeping quarters for St Huberts’ winery stable hands.

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.

Menu at The Stables at Stones Yarra Valley — The food at The Stables at Stones is divine.

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

The Stables at Stones menu — Treat yourself to the Chef’s Table menu with wine pairings.

Originally written by Amanda Woods with updates by Chloe Cann.

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

Winding down in the Yarra Valley, where ‘work from home’ becomes ‘work from wine country’.

Steam from my morning coffee curls gently into the cool valley air, mist-veiled vineyards stretch out in neat rows below me. Magpies warble from trees, and the morning’s quiet carries the soft bleating of lambs from a nearby paddock. Midweek in the Yarra Valley has its own rhythm. It’s slower, quieter, with more empty tables at cafes and cellar doors, and walking trails I can claim all to myself. It’s as if the entire region takes a deep breath once the weekend crowd leaves.

walking trails in the Yarra Valley — You’ll find walking trails are less crowded during the week. (Image: Visit Victoria)

I haven’t come here for a holiday, but to do a little work somewhere other than my home office, where I spend too much time hunched over my desk. Deadlines still loom, meetings still happen, but with flexible work evolving from ‘work from home’ to ‘work from anywhere’, I’m swapping the view of my front yard to the vineyards.

A quiet afternoon at Yarra Valley Dairy

holding a glass of wine at Yarra Valley Dairy — Wine time at Yarra Valley Dairy, where you can enjoy a toastie or bagel in the cafe. (Image: Visit Victoria)

With the Yarra Valley just over an hour from the CBD, many Melburnians could drive here in their lunch break. I arrive late in the afternoon and am delighted to discover the Yarra Valley Dairy still open. On weekends, I’ve seen queues spilling out the door, but today there’s only one other couple inside. There’s no need to rush to secure a table; instead I browse the little store, shelves stacked with chutneys, spices, artisan biscuits and gorgeous crockery that would look right at home in my kitchen. It’s hard not to buy the lot.

a cheese tasting plate atYarra Valley Dairy — A cheese tasting plate at Yarra Valley Dairy.

I order a coffee and a small cheese platter, though the dairy has a full menu, and choose a wooden table with bentwood chairs by a wide window. The space feels part farm shed, part cosy café: corrugated iron ceiling, walls painted in muted tones and rustic furniture.

Outside, cows meander toward milking sheds. If pressed for time, there’s the option of quick cheese tastings – four samples for five dollars in five minutes – but today, I’m in no rush. I sip slowly, watching a grey sky settle over the paddock. Less than an hour ago I was hunched over my home-office desk, and now my racing mind has slowed to match the valley’s pace.

Checking in for vineyard views at Balgownie Estate

Restaurant 1309 at Balgownie Estate has views across the vines.

As my car rolls to a stop at Balgownie Estate , I’m quietly excited, and curious to see if my plan to work and play comes off. I’ve chosen a suite with a spacious living area and a separate bedroom so I can keep work away from a good night’s sleep. I could have booked a cosy cottage, complete with open fireplace, a comfy couch and a kettle for endless cups of tea, but as I am still here to get some work done, I opt for a place that takes care of everything. Dinner is served in Restaurant 1309, as is breakfast.

oysters at Restaurant 1309, Balgownie Estate — Oysters pair perfectly with a crisp white at Restaurant 1309.

On my first evening, instead of the usual walk about my neighbourhood, I stroll through the estate at an unhurried pace. There’s no need to rush – someone else is preparing my dinner after all. The walking trails offer beautiful sunsets, and it seems mobs of kangaroos enjoy the view, too. Many appear, grazing lazily on the hillside.

I wake to the call of birds and, after breakfast, with the mist still lingering over the vineyards, I watch two hot-air balloons silently drift above clouds. Perched on a hill, Balgownie Estate sits above the mist, leaving the valley below veiled white.

kangaroos in Yarra Valley — Spotting the locals on an evening walk. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Exploring the Yarra Valley on two wheels

the Yarra Valley vineyards — Swap your home office for a view of the vineyards. (Image: Visit Victoria/Cormac Hanrahan)

Perhaps because the Yarra Valley is relatively close to where I live, I’ve never considered exploring the area any way other than by car or on foot. And with a fear of heights, a hot-air balloon is firmly off the table. But when I discover I can hop on two wheels from the estate and cycle into Yarra Glen, I quickly realise it’s the perfect way to step away from my laptop and experience a different side of the region.

COG Bike offers pedal-assist e-bikes, and while the bike trail and paths into town aren’t particularly hilly, having an extra bit of ‘oomph’ means I can soak up the surroundings. Those lambs I heard calling early in the morning? I now find them at the paddock fence, sniffing my hands, perhaps hoping for food. Cows idle nearby, and at a fork in the bike path I turn left toward town.

It’s still morning, and the perfect time for a coffee break at The Vallie Store. If it were the afternoon, I’d likely turn right, in the direction of four wineries with cellar doors. The ride is about 15 kilometres return, but don’t let that put you off. Staying off the highway, the route takes you along quiet backroads where you catch glimpses of local life – farmers on tractors, weathered sheds, rows of vines and the kind of peaceful countryside you don’t see from the main road.

A detour to the Dandenong Ranges

legs hanging over the sides of the train, Puffing Billy Railway — The iconic Puffing Billy runs every day except Christmas Day.

The beauty of basing myself in the Yarra Valley is how close everything feels. In barely half an hour I’m in the Dandenong Ranges, swapping vineyards for towering mountain ash and fern-filled gullies. The small villages of Olinda and Sassafras burst with cosy teahouses, antique stores and boutiques selling clothing and handmade body care items.

I’m drawn to RJ Hamer Arboretum – Latin for ‘a place for trees’. Having grown up among tall trees, I’ve always taken comfort in their presence, so this visit feels like a return of sorts. A stroll along the trails offers a choice: wide open views across patchwork paddocks below, or shaded paths that lead you deeper into the quiet hush of the peaceful forest.

The following day, I settle into a quiet corner on the balcony of Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis and soon hear Puffing Billy’s whistle and steady chuff as the steam train climbs towards town. Puffing Billy is one of Australia’s most beloved steam trains, running through the Dandenong Ranges on a narrow-gauge track. It’s famous for its open carriages where passengers can sit with their legs hanging over the sides as the train chugs through the forest. This is the perfect spot to wave to those on the train.

After my midweek break, I find my inbox still full and my to-do list not in the least shrunken, just shifted from one task to another. But I return to my home office feeling lighter, clearer and with a smug satisfaction I’d stolen back a little time for myself. A midweek wind-down made all the difference.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Balgownie Estate offers everything from cellar door tastings to spa treatments and fine dining – all without leaving the property.

Playing there

the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Yarra Valley — Visit the TarraWarra Museum of Art. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Wander through Alowyn Gardens, including a stunning wisteria tunnel, then explore the collection of contemporary artworks at TarraWarra Museum of Art . Cycle the Yarra Valley with COG Bike to visit local wineries and cellar doors.

Eating and drinking there

Olinda Tea House offers an Asian-inspired high tea. Paradise Valley Hotel, Clematis has classic pub fare, while the iconic Yering Station offers wine tastings and a restaurant with seasonal dishes.

seasonal dishes at the restaurant inside Yering Station — The restaurant at Yering Station showcases the best produce of the Yarra Valley. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The 10 best Yarra Valley restaurants for 2025