Melbourne's Best Healthy Restaurants & Cafes For Feel Good Eating

If you’ve found yourself craving some of the nutritionally balanced goodness after a period of naughty eating – you'll be happy to hear that the Melbourne restaurant scene has plenty to offer in this category.

Long gone are the days when healthy food meant boring food. Restaurants and cafes across the city are delivering inspired dishes that are all kinds of fresh, tasty and healthy, including some very delicious vegetarian restaurants that even meat enthusiasts will love. Here is our round up of the best healthy restaurants in Melbourne to add to your list for when you feel like entering your clean-eating era.

Yawye

Acai bowl for under $15?! It's unheard of, but not entirely impossible. Yawye is one of the newer acai and wellness cafes to land on the block, and they're delivering health to citygoers in the form of delicious, nutritious smoothies and acai bowls.

Smoothies range from cosmic blue to sunset orange as just about every colour under the sun is captured on their menu. Pick from flavours like coffee and strawberry, or if you want a benefit-based smoothie, try their post-workout, immunity or fountain of youth.

As for the acai bowls, if you have a bit of a sweet tooth, we recommend opting for the PB&J, otherwise, the health bowl is a nourishing treat.

181 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Hotel Nacional

Nestled in Melbourne's bustling Hardware Lane, Hotel Nacional welcomes diners to a new era of healthy eating atop the former Campari House. This five-level rooftop bar and restaurant boasts a 100% gluten-free menu inspired by authentic Mexican cuisine.

Designed with modern minimalist touches, this healthy restaurant in Melbourne features warm tones and a vibrant charm. Head Chef Sergio Tourn crafts dishes like cauliflower tofu escabeche with wakame, peanut, and salsa macha, birria braised beef taco with pickled onion and consume - and we can't get enough of it

23-25 Hardware Lane, Melbourne

Green Cup

Every Melburnian loves a good acai bowl - thanks to the influence of Byron Bay - and no one does it better than Green Cup. This smoothie bar and cafe makes the tastiest acai bowls, toasties, and smoothies that will fill you right up.

With house-made peanut butter that is to die for, a smoothie named after Hailey Bieber, plus a pesto toastie that's to die for, you have your breakfast, lunch and afternoon treat sorted all from the one place.

Multiple locations across the city, see website for details

Misschu

The food at Misschu is inspired by the traditional flavours and meals of Vietnam...but flipped on its head. This contemporary food joint is creating delicious salad bowls, noodle salads, bao buns, and dumplings, amongst other things, creating the perfect medley of flavours that'll dance along your taste buds.

We recommend the lemongrass beef vermicelli salad as the perfect lunch time meal. Refreshing and filling, but won't make you feel sick!

276 Toorak Road, South Yarra

111 Cecil Street, South Melbourne

Shoku Iku

If healthy eating to you means bland salads and not a lot else, then prepare to be schooled by Shoku Iku. The term itself literally translates to food education and that is exactly what owner Yoko Inoue set out to do. While the menu changes daily, expect to feast on raw, vegan plates enhanced by traditional Japanese macrobiotic philosophies.

Ready to join the superfood revolution? The Shoku Iku store has a premium array of superfood blends, tonic herbs and longevity supplements to take your health to the next level. 

120 High Street, Northcote

Vegie Bar

An institution that has graced Fitzroy with its presence for over 30 years, with rustic industrial digs and a diverse menu of wholesome vegetarian fare. Caring for the health of the planet and their customers, Vegie Bar caters for a huge range of dietary requirements using fresh, sustainable and natural ingredients to prepare their menu, making it one of the best healthy restaurants in Melbourne.

380 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Terror  Twilight

With a mantra that reads “nice people, great coffee, food & cocktails” you know you’re in very safe hands at Collingwood’s Terror Twilight. Known for their nutritious bowls and broths where you can embark on a choose-you-own-adventure-style experience, as well as their extensive gluten free and vegan menu - you’re destined to leave here feeling great.

Situated in a beautiful light-filled venue on Johnston Street, with a curated vinyl playlist spinning in the background, this is the perfect spot to while away a weekend.

11-13 Johnston Street, Collingwood

Shimbashi Soba

Proudly gluten, dairy and nut free as well as vego and vegan friendly - Shimbashi Soba is sure to cover every dietary requirement in your friendship group. With three locations in Northcote, Collingwood and Carlton North, and a fourth location in North Melbourne coming soon, Shimbashi clearly has a good thing going. Head here for freshly made 100% Tasmanian buckwheat soba noodles, nutritious rice bowls, sashimi and a selection of all your favorite classic Japanese dishes like agedashi tofu or nasu dengaku.

257 High Street, Northcote

344 Rathdowne Street, Carlton

140 Smith Street, Collingwood

Just Falafs 

For pitas and plates, there’s no going past Fitzroy North’s Just Falafs. Serving up delicious, nutritious food since 2017, Just Falafs is also conveniently close to Eddy Gardens and offers picnic-friendly packaging for your next park sesh. If we’re talking about healthy options here, you could forego the haloumi and opt for a flavourful Middle Eastern-inspired salad to pair with your falafel and hummus. Or...you could just get both.

207 St Georges Road, Fitzroy North

Rudimentary

Three shipping containers have been cleverly grafted together to create a modern, sun-dappled cafe that's now a key asset to the Footscray foodie scene. Simple dishes get a fancy touch here at Rudimentary. Think housemade kimchi added to cheese toasties and NY style blueberry bagels.

The menu also offers plenty of options for vegetarians, vegans and gluten-free diners. Out the back, a bountiful kitchen garden provides many of the vegetables, fruits and herbs that go onto your plate.

16-20 Leeds Street, Footscray

Small Graces

An inner-city cafe with a country heart, Small Graces takes its ethos of wholesome, delicious everyday food made from sustainable ingredients very seriously. Minimal waste, locally sourced ingredients and eco-friendly practices are all part of the feel-good equation. Tuck into cheffy brunch plates, housemade sodas and cheeky brunch cocktails. And it should come as no surprise, that vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are available aplenty.

57 Byron Street, Footscray

Nosh

Eating clean is not always easy when you have 30 minutes to grab a quick bite. If you find yourself lining up at one of the city's many fast-food joints a little too often, Nosh could just be the answer to your prayers.

With three locations in the CBD, their tasty Japanese menu uses seasonal, locally sourced ingredients to serve up fresh, nourishing bowls of goodness. Feast on one of their picture-perfect poke bowls (the poke party is a winner), or grab a couple of their spicy salmon nori tacos to go if you're in a hurry.

352 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

727 Collins Street, Docklands

211 La Trobe Street, Melbourne

Seedling

From researching menus ahead of time to the awkward encounters with staff explaining that it is, in fact, not a lifestyle choice - being a coeliac is hard work. If you or one of your brunch buddies is part of the one in seventy Australians living with coeliac disease, Seedling's 100% gluten-free cafe needs to be on your radar. All the usual suspects are on offer including cakes, smashed avo, salads and acai, as well as paleo and plant-based items.

275 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Heal. Thy Self Co.

Heal. Thy Self Co's wholefoods focused menu takes the best local seasonal produce and serves it up to absolute perfection. If watching The Game Changers has you trying to eat more plant-based (we know we're not alone), this cosy cafe in the heart of the Yarraville Village makes it beyond simple.

26 Ballarat Street, Yarraville

Combi

Paying tribute to the ultimate symbol of off-the-grid living, this Elwood eatery's humble origins started just there - in a Kombi van. With a community that is considered family, Combi's relaxed, roll with the punches vibe is backed by one hell of a menu. Organic eats come in the form of superfood smoothies, Vegan Buddha Bowls and thick-cut toasties which all pair perfectly with their organic, fair trade coffees.  

138-140 Ormond Road, Elwood

Alimentari

Trust us; no one does salads like these guys do. Fitzroy's favourite Mediterranean style deli, Alimentari, has gained a cult following thanks to the likes of roasted spiced cauliflower with chickpeas, and heavenly pesto spiked farro, feta and almond. Their fresh and flavourful dishes will leave you feeling full and wholesome in equal measure – the holy grail of healthy restaurants in Melbourne. Plus the setting? The piece de resistance! 

304 Smith Street, Collingwood

Moroccan Soup Bar

Here you'll find warming, soulful and oh so nourishing eats. Moroccan Soup Bar's veggie-filled stews, soups, tagines and salads are the stuff of local legend. Packed with authentic North African flavours and all the vitamins your body could need, diners are encouraged to bring Tupperware to house their leftovers. This charming strictly alcohol-free eatery is perfect for a nourishing weeknight meal with your mates.

47-51 Boundary Road, North Melbourne 

Green Man’s Arms

Who says pub grub needs to be heavy? Not the folks at Green Man’s Arms, an entirely meat-free pub nestled in leafy Carlton. Featuring a seasonally inspired menu, with most ingredients plucked from the owners’ Yarra Valley farm. Dishes such as a vegan friendly charcuterie board or their eggplant schnitzel offer a truly delicious take on veggie fare. It's one of the best healthy restaurants in Melbourne!

418 Lygon Street, Carlton

Now that you're feeling satiated thanks to the best healthy restaurants in Melbourne, it's time to add the best gluten-free cafes and the best fine dining restaurants in Melbourne to your breakfast, lunch and dinner rotation.