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The 50 Best Restaurants

@theworlds50best

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A small Australian restaurant nestled in the Fitzroy Gardens, on Wurundjeri Country, Melbourne.

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BREAKING: Yiaga in Melbourne wins the Visa One to Watch Award 2026, as part of The 50 Best Restaurants.

Set within Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens, Hugh Allen’s restaurant Yiaga has given new energy and excitement to the Australian fine-dining scene. “I didn’t want to do a restaurant that felt just like another restaurant,” says Allen. “Everything from the architecture to the design to the tiles, furniture and hand-blown glassware had to be Australian.”

If you can define the menu at all, it would be classic European and Asian techniques, resolutely Australian ingredients and frequent Asian flavours – a hallmark of Australian cooking thanks to the nation’s serendipitous Australasian geography. “[We had to use] amazing fishermen, farmers, divers and foragers. And although I wanted a tasting menu, I wanted it to be ever evolving.”

With Yiaga claiming the coveted Visa One to Watch Award 2026, Allen hopes it encourages the world – both diners and those in hospitality – to take the time to discover exactly what modern Australian cuisine is today. He says: “We want the world to taste it all, and for young hospitality professionals to travel here to learn. I think we really know how to deliver high-end, creative and above all fun dining experiences.”

Learn more via the link in bio.

@yiaga.au @hughsallen @visa @visaperu taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @theworlds50best

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15 days ago

Some of the tables at Yiaga sit wrapped within a continuous curve of Australian terracotta. From design and prototyping through to making and installation, with tiles and build wall took more than two years to complete. It’s made of nearly 16,000 individually extruded and cut tiles, all made in Melbourne.

Every table has its own energy and outlook, whether that’s into the dining room, towards the open kitchen, or out to the green of the Fitzroy Gardens.

Bookings for January 2027 open 1 October at 10am AEST. by @theworlds50best

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17 days ago

Spring is here! The flowers and trees surrounding us in the Gardens are beginning to bloom again, which also means a new array of produce begins to arrive to the kitchen. The chefs are putting the final touches on our new menu, we’re pretty excited to cook and share it!

Bookings are now all open for the remainder of the year. If you’re looking online and can’t find availability for your preferred date/time email us at reservations@yiaga.au to join the waitlist we use it pretty regularly when cancellations happen. by @theworlds50best

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a month ago

Our head chef @michael____mcaulay worked on this bread for many weeks when we opened, after dozens of trials we settled on the bread we currently use today.

Starting with our own spelt koji , cooked into an aromatic porridge, then mixed with white miso, before being folded into a spelt flour sourdough, brushed with smoked butter after baking, currently served along side our main course of wild deer from the Victorian alpine region. by @theworlds50best

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2 months ago

If you haven’t already, meet our restaurant manager Silvia, from Milan, and our general manager Hugo, from Fátima, Portugal. Silvia has been in Australia for nearly three years, by way of London. Hugo has worked with Hugh for over a decade and was there at the very beginning of planning Yiaga.

See yourself working alongside these two legends?

One spot has opened up for a chef de rang (waiter) to join the team at Yiaga in the Fitzroy Gardens. If you’re a driven front of house professional who loves the art of service and is ready for the next adventure, send your resume to hello@yiaga.au by @theworlds50best

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2 months ago

Lettuce tart, an opening snack where essentially every part is made from the humble lettuce. Cos outer leaves cooked, cut and dried for the delicate tart shell, a paste of the cos hearts with white miso and horseradish, and oak lettuce dressed with aromatic herbs, vinegar and blue mountain meadow honey. by @theworlds50best

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3 months ago

Pre service moments at Yiaga. Winter’s well and truly settled in here in Melbourne! Truffles have arrived, sea urchins are plumping up, and all the other beautiful producers the colder months bring are coming into their own.

October bookings open on the 1st of July, 10am AEST. If you’re after a reservation sooner, send us an email or give us a call to go on the waitlist, we use it regularly for cancellations. taken in Fitzroy Gardens by @theworlds50best

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4 months ago

So many little items we hope our guests find as special as we do, these here are some of our favorites, both forged in fire, but very different crafts. Wood fired Ceramics and knife making.

First, our little gumnut wood fired cups made by @diannecollins_ceramics fired in Frida the wood fire kiln in Gippsland.

And our table knives made by Tobi @metalmonkeyknives in huon valley all native timber handles and cut, hardened and hammered steel blades by @theworlds50best

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5 months ago

Our little garden home. The surrounding gardens are doing very well, having shot up so much over the last six months. But now the leaves are falling, the nights are growing longer and the air is turning cooler, and the roars from the MCG can be heard as footy season is well under way! taken in Fitzroy Gardens by @theworlds50best

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5 months ago

Our current Yiaga beer, a barrel-aged mandarin saison brewed here in Melbourne in collaboration with the incredible @lasirenebrewing as part of our Australian beverage pairing.

Saison is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale, ours gets the addition of Victorian mandarin and further complexity from a mix of barrel ages from the brewery.

Each bottle was individually hand-painted by our team (can also get by the bottle!) by @theworlds50best

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5 months ago

Some dishes from late summer that have left the menu now, as we move into autumn — kangaroo chops with maitake and native peppers; tomatoes, Davidson plum and lapsang souchong; school prawn and torch ginger.

Lots of new dishes with some incredible new producers and ingredients, including wild sambar deer with heritage apples barrel aged cherry vinegar , snowflake mushrooms and Tassie whisky.

🍁🍂 by @theworlds50best

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5 months ago

Our first summer treated us well in the Fitzroy Gardens, some great moments, amazing people, and some seriously delicious staff meals shared under the trees.
@cityofmelbourne taken in Fitzroy Gardens by @theworlds50best

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6 months ago