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 manakoush, shashuka, housemade 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 of their five 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, eight-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 5.30-7.30pm onwards, the dumpling dinner includes roving dim sims, steamed buns, street dumplings and tasty plant-based options, too. 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 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. 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 on 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 are 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 one of the city’s most popular spots for an all-you-can-eat feast. 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. 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 barbecue 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.

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 $42.80 per person and you can order anything off the set menu with more than 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?

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-10.30am, the brekky selection boasts feather-light pastries, housemade jams, toast, fruit platters, omelettes, yoghurt, eggs cooked however you like, coffee, smoothies, juices, pancakes, waffles and crepes – plus some of the best city and river views of Melbourne. Wow! 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 ten 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.

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.

If you were born with sharpened canines, then B’Churrasco’s Brazilian all-you-can-eat barbecue is the carnivorous feast for you. It costs $70 to $79 a head depending on which day you go, with wine, beer and cocktails sold separately. Over the course of your meal, you’ll get to try 12 different kinds of marinated meats served from huge skewers at your table, with mountains of chips, rice, salads and beans as sides, and traditional Brazilian desserts like sweet banana fritters to finish. Try the garlic rump with parmesan, the pork neck and the lamb ribs with polenta chips. All of it’s saucy, super succulent and easy to share with a hungry group.