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

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.

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 from 10.30am-5.30pm and Sunday from 11am-6pm. 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.

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 ranges from $58 to $78 per head, depending on which banquet you choose.

Unlike traditional all-you-can-eat situations, dinner at Okami doesn't involve food sitting out for a questionable amount of time. There’s table service, and the food here is made to order, coming to you fresh out of the kitchen. In a boon for budget-conscious indulgence, you only pay $39.80 per person and you can order anything off the set menu with over 30 authentic Japanese options. The atmosphere is cosy and relaxed, ideal for a casual catch-up with family or friends. Or how about a low-key date night?

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 you love your buffet fun in the early hours, Sofitel’s sky-high No. 35 restaurant is worth a look in. Offered daily from 7am to 10:30am, the brekky selection boasts feather-light pastries, housemade jams, toast, fruit platters, omelettes, yoghurt, French and European style breakfast, eggs cooked however you like, coffee, smoothies and juices, pancakes, waffles and crepes – plus some of the best city and river views of Melbourne. If you’re not a guest of the hotel, bookings are required. The experience will cost you $50 a head, not bad when you consider all that’s available over the sitting.

For just $25, you can get an authentic all-you-can-eat curry feast at this popular Sri Lankan restaurant in Fitzroy North. The service is known for being warm and friendly no matter how busy it gets (and busy it gets), and on any given day there’s a rainbow of at least 10 to 15 homestyle dishes to choose from. Think aromatic meat curries like lamb and chicken, lentil dahl, fish stew, tart pickles and chutneys, rice and biryani, and papadams. The mango lassi is one of the best in Melbourne, though you have to pay a bit extra for it. There’s a tight selection of ice-cold beers too, if you’d prefer.

While we’re on the curry train, our next mention is fellow Fitzroy North eatery Horn Please. Here you can get a 90-minute all-you-can-eat bottomless brunch of Indian food, cocktails, beer and wine. Serving up  "proudly unauthentic" curries and other street food snacks, the rule-breaking modern restaurant isn’t to be confused with your local takeaway joint. The North Indian chef Amar is known for his creative spins on beloved classics that showcase some of the best local ingredients, like Macedon Ranges lamb, Trentham potatoes and beef from Bendigo. The experience costs $69 per person and it runs on both Saturdays and Sundays, from noon to 3pm.

Sushi lovers, rejoice! South Yarra fusion restaurant Gaijin hosts a lavish all-you-can-eat sushi night from Monday to Thursday, allowing you to load up on as much soft shell crab tempura, scallops, and sashimi as you please. Melt-in-your-mouth salmon and velvety ripe avocado rolls are par for the course, and crisp deep-fried tofu, edamame and miso soup make for some top allies. The entire Japanese feast only costs about $55 to $65 per head. 

Otherwise known as Conservatory’s arch nemesis, Melba at the Langham offers one of the only few traditional hotel buffet lunches in Melbourne. Some would say it’s still the best. Start with a few freshly shucked Tasmanian oysters with mignonette, or blue swimmer crab with a squeeze of lemon. There’s fresh sushi and sashimi if you prefer, and Italian antipasti and charcuterie platters galore. A salad bar offers plenty of pretty pairings for the chargrilled and roast meats on offer, which include minute beef steaks with peppercorn jus, tiger prawns with tropical salsa, and harissa-roasted chicken. Don’t go past the butter-poached lobster bathing in a piquant lemony sauce if you want to milk the most out of your dollars spent. With curries, pasta, Asian-style street foods, cheese and desserts also on the menu, the buffet lunch at Melba is one you won’t walk away from feeling hungry.