The best all-you-can-eat restaurants in Melbourne

Could this be the fanciest all-you-can-eat offer in town? For $49 , tuck into as many small plates as you like in 90 minutes – we're talking eats like fresh Tahitian ceviche, housemade fish pivithier, and fancy-fied cauliflower steaks. It's all happening at @northside_wines right now, and for an extra $49, you can tack bottomless wines on that offer to make it a very bougie, boozy afternoon indeed.

This hot new Lebanese bakery and French café in Port Melbourne is offering uniquely authentic Franco-Lebanese eats at amazing value. Think freshly baked manakish, hummus with Awarma, crispy falafel and indulgent sweets like knefeh – all crafted by chef Mariana Chedid. Speaking of value, we recommend heading in for the eatery's all-you-can-eat breakfast. It's just $35 per person and includes warm, freshly baked manakoush, shashuka, house-made dips, soujouk eggs, cheeses, and all the Lebanese brekkie faves – plus bottomless tea, of course. It's available daily from 8am-1pm.

The legends at Eat Pierogi Make Love told Time Out that this winter, they want to "offer a torch to cut through the depressing grey sky and return smiles to happy diners dreaming of catchups since lost to bad tv on unhappy couches". And how do they propose to do that? By offering all-you-can eat Polish dumplings, of course. The offer is on every Monday night from 5-10pm and costs just $39 per person. Eat your winter blues away with any mix oftheirr 5 different pierogi flavours – ad infinitum, of course. All pierogi come served with sour (or vegan) cream and dill. 

In response to popular demand from their cult following of barbecue devotees, the smoke masters at Mulgrave's Q Barbeque are pulling out all the stops to deliver a hot new bottomless feast. Available every Sunday for both lunch and dinner, the offer includes 90 minutes of Q's signature smoked meats, including the highly prized 16-hour smoked wagyu brisket. The rest of the bottomless platter includes 16-hour smoked pulled pork, smoked and fried chicken wings, 8-hour smoked beef short rib, Sichuan spice-rubbed pork ribs, Texas Hot Link sausages and more. And as for the starters, sauces, sides and dessert? Well, you'll just have to find out and make a booking at the website. The price ranges from $65 to $95 a head, depending on which feast you choose.

Hit up at Welcome to Brunswick's food hall every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday evening to enjoy an all-you-can-eat bottomless dumplings feast for just $29. What a steal! Bookable across 90-minute sessions from 5:30pm to 7:30pm onwards, the dumpling dinner includes roving dim sims, steamed buns, street dumplings and tasty plant-based options, too (get a sneak peak of the full menu here). You can make a booking here.

This stylish South Melbourne eatery offers a “Feast and Flow” package, a two-hour bottomless brunch sitting including a sumptuous buffet of sweets, savouries, and made-to-order hot dishes, with rivers of unlimited house and prosecco wine, beer, non-alcoholic options and cocktails. A little fancier than what you’d get at other all-you-can-eat restaurants, Half Acre’s experience resembles that of an elevated hotel buffet in New York or Paris. You’ll find wood-fired veggies, coal-roasted meats and even a build-your-own pavlova section. Two-hour sessions are available on Saturday and Sunday. It’s $69 per person for just "The Feast" (if you’re happy to go alcohol-free) and $98 per person for the full "Feast and Flow" experience with drinks included.

If your dream afternoon sounds like bibbing up for endless ribs and juicy slow-cooked meats, then Bluestone American BBQ has just the offer for you. Each Saturday from noon until 3pm and Sunday from noon until 9pm, you can get a bottomless feed for just $65 per person. Chow down all the barbecue eats you can eat, such as Berkshire pork ribs, smoked wings and stone-ground grits – plus free-flowing cocktails, Prosecco, wine, beer and soft drinks across two magical hours. Get more info and make a booking at the website.

Nothing hits the spot quite like an unlimited yum cha. Many Melbournians would argue that the Shanghainese one at David’s is among the best and we tend to agree. From juicy xiao long bao soup dumplings and chicken ribs to Peking duck and pork belly bites, everything is made fresh and the attention to quality sings. Gorge on as many housemade pork buns, bao and forkfuls of veggie-loaded fried rice as you can manage, and then wash it all down with a frosty Tsingtao or a pot of premium Iron Buddha oolong tea. There’s white chocolate dumplings for dessert, and your vego mates won’t be left hungry; an optional plant-based yum cha menu is on hand. The cost is currently $64 per head ($45 for kids). 

Been down to the Conservatory yet? It’s Crown’s upmarket buffet restaurant and it’s one of the city’s most popular. The globally diverse menu covers fresh Aussie seafood, sushi, curries, stir-fried dishes hot off the wok, salads, meat carving stations, pizza, pasta and more over the course of three sittings per day. Go in for a bottomless brekky, laze around for a luxurious lunch or take dinner up a notch before you hit the surrounding Southbank bars and nightlife. Just be sure to leave room for sweet treats at the end. The bar’s glorious chocolate fondue fountain provides plenty of scope for a choose-your-own-dessert adventure.

The holy grail of cheap eats for students and budget-conscious city workers, Crossways can be overlooked as just another Hare Krishna vego joint. But in terms of value, taste, and nutritional bang for your buck, there’s not much better in Melbourne. The eatery serves dahl, plant-based curries, rice and wheat-free sweet treats, all of which are healthy, wholesome and surprisingly satisfying. For lunch or dinner, the unlimited meat-free meal will set you back only $9.50 (or a paltry $7.50 if you’ve got a concession card.) 

If all-you-can-eat wagyu beef sounds like a good time to you, make a beeline for Lygon Street the next time hunger strikes. You’ll have to weave your way around the hustling restaurant hosts lining the strip, of course. But once you catch the aromas of Shinbashi’s smoky BBQ on your nose, you’ll be glad you made the journey. From Monday to Wednesday, you can get an all-you-can-eat DIY Japanese grill extravaganza, premium cuts included.