Where to take your parents to dinner

Best for: Introducing your partner to your parents

Introducing your beau to your parents is a daunting experience as it is, so keep it low-key with a pub session. Fitzroy’s Builders Arms bar and bistro areas are nice enough for mums who like a sit-down lunch, and there’s enough craft beer on tap to keep the old man happy. The menu runs the gamut of meaty pub fare (done very well) as well as more exotic mains like the Cypriot lamb rissoles and whole roasted flounder with tarragon vinaigrette.

Best for: Low-key birthdays and anniversaries

Your parents hate being fussed over and just want to spend some quality time with you. Bar Idda’s comfy decor feels like you’re in Nan’s dining room (complete with embroidered tablecloth covered with plastic) and while service is top notch, there’s zero pretence. For $55 per head, you’ll get the Chef’s Selection: a four-course seasonal Sicilian feast. The nutty beef meatballs are pillowy light and the housemade tagliatelle with prawn and pistachio pesto is worth celebrating in itself. Feeling extra festive? Order house wine by the litre or a jug of the Sicilian spritzer.

Best for: Introducing your parents to new flavours

Unless your dad is Christopher Walken from Blast From the Past, recently emerged from 35 years in his purpose-built nuclear bunker, he’s probably tried pan-Asian cuisine. But there’s an energy to this high-voltage operation and a sweet/salty/spicy boldness of chef Michael Lambie’s Southeast Asian flavours that are bound to thrill the parentals. Unlike many Flinders Lane eateries, you can book, too. Parents love booking.

Best for: All-out celebrations

They’re paying, so why not splash out with dinner somewhere really nice? Seat your parents facing out over Port Phillip Bay: it's a fitting backdrop to big life announcements. Mum’s already impressed with how well you’ve scrubbed up, and she’ll be even more impressed with the last course: Donovans' famed Bombe Alaska, best served with a glass of champagne.

Best for: Vegetarians with carnivore parents

You’re vegetarian, you’ve been vegetarian for years, and yet you’re still having the “but where do you get your protein/iron/flavour from?” debate with your folks. Fitzroy’s Transformer – brought to you by the Vegie Bar crew – is all about haute meat-free cuisine without the capital V. The leafy warehouse conversion is entirely devoid of incense sticks and pictures of cows roaming free, and dishes like the buttery, airy gnocchi with pumpkin mousse feel complete without meat. You’re in food heaven, and your parents won’t miss a thing.

Best for: Asking your parents for money

Shame isn’t the dominant emotion that you want to be feeling when asking your parents for money. They’ll sense it a mile away. What you need is a pleasantly luxurious space, replete with old-world charm and an excellent wine list, where you can hold your head high, eat enough mushroom risotto with truffle oil to sustain you for days, and calmly outline your financial situation.

Melbourne's bar scene continues to be the envy of the nation, and our late-night credentials only get stronger with every new opening. Here is Melbourne viewed through the bottom of a glass: from its world-beating cocktail lounges to its down-and-divey saloons.