Australian food is less a national cuisine than an attitude: excellent produce, British comfort food, the barbecue, and a century of Greek, Italian, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian migration, cooked with no rules about what goes together. The best meals are often the cheapest: a flat white and smashed avocado on sourdough at a Melbourne cafe for about AUD 25 (US$16), a bakery meat pie for AUD 7, a dozen Sydney rock oysters at the fish market. Eating out is expensive by world standards, tap water is free, tipping is not expected, and many casual restaurants let you bring your own wine.
What Australian food is like#
Cafe culture
Brunch is a national habit and espresso is taken seriously. The flat white is an Australian (and New Zealand) invention.
Modern Australian
“Mod Oz” restaurants mix Mediterranean and Asian technique with local seafood, lamb, beef and native ingredients.
Seafood
Rock oysters, Moreton Bay bugs, barramundi, prawns, King George whiting and Tasmanian salmon and scallops.
Pies, pubs and the barbie
Bakery pies and sausage rolls, chicken parmas at the pub, and sausages and prawns on a backyard or beach barbecue.
Asian and multicultural
Some of the world’s best Vietnamese, Cantonese, Malaysian and Thai food outside Asia, in suburbs like Cabramatta and Box Hill.
Wine and beer
Barossa shiraz, Margaret River chardonnay, Tasmanian sparkling and a big craft beer scene.
18 Australian dishes to try and what they cost#
Prices are typical for 2026 in the big cities, in Australian dollars (about US$0.65 to the dollar). Add 10 to 20 percent in resorts and remote areas.
| Dish | What it is | Typical price (AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| Flat white | Espresso with steamed milk and a thin layer of microfoam | 5 to 6.50 |
| Smashed avocado on toast | Avocado on sourdough with feta, lemon and often a poached egg | 20 to 28 |
| Meat pie | Hand-sized pie of minced beef and gravy, eaten with tomato sauce | 6 to 9 |
| Sausage roll | Seasoned sausage meat in flaky pastry | 5 to 7 |
| Sausage sizzle | Barbecued sausage on white bread with onions, sold at hardware stores and fundraisers | 3 to 5 |
| Chicken parma | Crumbed chicken schnitzel topped with ham, tomato sauce and cheese, with chips and salad, at the pub | 25 to 35 |
| Fish and chips | Battered or grilled flake, whiting or barramundi with chips, best on a beach | 15 to 25 |
| Sydney rock oysters | Small, creamy oysters from NSW estuaries, by the dozen | 25 to 50 a dozen |
| Moreton Bay bugs | Flat slipper lobsters, grilled with garlic butter | 40 to 60 as a main |
| Barramundi | Firm white fish from the tropical north, grilled or pan-fried | 35 to 45 as a main |
| Prawns | Cooked king or tiger prawns, peeled at the table, a Christmas tradition | 30 to 45 a kilo at markets |
| Kangaroo steak | Lean, gamey red meat, served rare | 30 to 40 |
| Aussie burger “with the lot” | Beef burger with beetroot, pineapple, egg and bacon | 15 to 22 |
| Halal snack pack | Doner meat on chips with garlic, chilli and barbecue sauce, a late-night classic | 15 to 25 |
| Laksa | Spicy coconut noodle soup, Melbourne and Darwin are famous for it | 18 to 25 |
| Lamington | Square of sponge cake dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut | 4 to 7 |
| Pavlova | Meringue with cream and fresh fruit, claimed by both Australia and New Zealand | 12 to 18 a slice |
| Vegemite toast and Tim Tams | The breakfast spread and the chocolate biscuit every visitor tries once | 4 to 8 from a supermarket |
Brunch and coffee culture#
Breakfast and brunch are the meals Australia does best. Cafes open around 7am and many close by 3pm, and on weekends the good ones have queues by 9am. The menu is fairly consistent from Perth to Hobart: smashed avocado, corn fritters, eggs Benedict, ricotta hotcakes, chilli scrambled eggs and acai bowls, each AUD 18 to 30, plus a coffee.
Coffee is the reason to go. Australian cafes roast their own beans or buy from specialist roasters, the espresso is strong and the milk is steamed properly. Order a flat white (the default), a long black (an Americano with less water), a piccolo (a small ristretto latte) or a magic in Melbourne (a double ristretto with milk in a small cup). Oat and almond milk are standard, usually for 50 cents to a dollar extra. A cup costs AUD 5 to 6.50. Big international chains have struggled here because the independent cafes are better and cheaper.
Melbourne is the coffee capital, with the densest cafe scene in the CBD laneways (Degraves Street and Centre Place) and suburbs such as Fitzroy, Collingwood and Brunswick. Sydney’s best cafes are in Surry Hills, Newtown and Bondi.
Seafood: oysters, bugs and barramundi#
Australia’s seafood is the highlight of its produce, and the best way to eat it is at a market or on a beach. The Sydney Fish Market on Blackwattle Bay at the edge of Pyrmont sells oysters shucked to order, prawns by the kilo and sashimi, and you eat at outdoor tables on the water; go before noon on a weekday. Sydney rock oysters come from the estuaries of the NSW coast, while Pacific oysters come from Tasmania and South Australia’s Coffin Bay.
Each region has its specialty. In Queensland order Moreton Bay bugs and Mooloolaba prawns; in Darwin and the Top End, barramundi and mud crab; in Adelaide and South Australia, King George whiting, tuna and kingfish from Port Lincoln; in Western Australia, rock lobster from Geraldton and Shark Bay; and in Tasmania, scallop pies, salmon and Bruny Island oysters. A grilled fish main at a good seafood restaurant costs AUD 35 to 50. Fish and chips from a takeaway shop is the budget version, and you will eat it best on the sand at Manly, Glenelg or Cottesloe, keeping it away from the seagulls.
Pies, the barbie and pub meals#
The meat pie is Australia’s real national dish: a hand-sized pastry case of minced beef and gravy, eaten from the paper bag with tomato sauce, at the footy or from a country bakery. Every town has a bakery that claims the best pie in the state; in addition to the classic, look for curry, chunky steak, pepper steak and, in Tasmania, scallop pies. Expect AUD 6 to 9.
The barbecue, or barbie, is how Australians eat at home and outdoors. Parks, beaches and campgrounds across the country have free public electric or gas barbecues: buy sausages, lamb chops, steak or prawns at the supermarket and cook them yourself, which is one of the best ways to save money. The sausage sizzle, a sausage in a slice of white bread with onions, is sold at weekend fundraisers and outside hardware stores for a few dollars.
Pub meals are the reliable mid-priced dinner. Country and suburban pubs serve chicken parma (spelled parmi in South Australia), steak, fish and chips, and a roast, usually for AUD 25 to 35, with weekly specials such as AUD 15 to 20 schnitzel or steak nights. Order and pay at the bar. Kitchens in country towns often stop serving at 8 or 8.30pm.
Bush tucker and Indigenous ingredients#
Aboriginal Australians have eaten from this land for more than 60,000 years, and native ingredients now appear on restaurant menus: finger lime, Davidson plum, quandong, lemon myrtle, wattleseed, saltbush, warrigal greens, bunya nuts and the macadamia, which is native to Queensland and New South Wales. Kangaroo and emu are lean meats sold in supermarkets, and kangaroo steak is a common menu item.
The most meaningful way to try bush food is with Indigenous guides. Around Alice Springs and Uluru, and in Kakadu and the Daintree, Indigenous-owned tours show you how plants are gathered and used, and some cultural centres sell native spice blends and teas. Do not pick plants in national parks yourself; you need to know what is safe, and it is usually prohibited.
Asian and multicultural food: where to eat in each city#
Australia’s cities have some of the best Asian food outside Asia, and it is where you eat well for AUD 15 to 25.
- Sydney: Vietnamese pho and banh mi in Cabramatta, Lebanese in Lakemba and Bankstown, Cantonese yum cha in Haymarket’s Chinatown, Thai on Campbell Street, Korean in Strathfield, and the Sydney Fish Market.
- Melbourne: Vietnamese on Victoria Street in Richmond and in Footscray, Chinese in Box Hill and Chinatown’s Little Bourke Street, Greek in Oakleigh, Italian on Lygon Street in Carlton, Malaysian laksa all over the CBD, and the Queen Victoria Market.
- Brisbane: Chinese and Taiwanese in Sunnybank, and the Eat Street night markets at Hamilton.
- Adelaide: the Adelaide Central Market, one of the largest undercover produce markets in the southern hemisphere, and Gouger Street restaurants next door.
- Perth: Northbridge for Asian food, Fremantle’s markets and fish and chips.
- Hobart: Salamanca Market on Saturday mornings and the Farm Gate Market on Sundays.
- Darwin: Mindil Beach Sunset Market on Thursday and Sunday evenings in the dry season, with laksa, satay and papaya salad.
Wine regions, beer and the bottle shop#
Australia is one of the world’s largest wine exporters, and many of its regions are a day trip from a city. The Barossa Valley, an hour north of Adelaide, is famous for old-vine shiraz and grenache; McLaren Vale, 45 minutes south of Adelaide, for shiraz near the sea; and the Clare Valley for riesling. Near Melbourne, the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula make chardonnay and pinot noir. The Hunter Valley around Cessnock, two hours from Sydney, is known for semillon. Margaret River in Western Australia makes some of the country’s best cabernet and chardonnay, and Tasmania’s Tamar Valley near Launceston produces sparkling wine and pinot. Most cellar doors offer tastings for free or for AUD 10 to 30, often refundable with a purchase. Do not drive after tastings; drink-driving limits are low (0.05 blood alcohol) and random breath tests are common.
Beer comes in different glass sizes in every state, which confuses everyone. A schooner (425 ml) is the standard in NSW, a pot (285 ml) or a pint in Victoria, and a middy means 285 ml in NSW and WA. Expect AUD 9 to 12 for a schooner and AUD 12 to 16 for a pint in a city pub. Craft breweries are everywhere, and Coopers from Adelaide, Little Creatures from Fremantle and Victoria Bitter are the brands you will see on tap.
You cannot buy alcohol in most supermarkets. Buy it at a bottle shop (“bottle-o”), often attached to a pub or supermarket; a decent bottle of Australian wine costs AUD 15 to 30. Drinking in public streets, parks and beaches is banned in many areas.
Prices, tipping, BYO and etiquette#
Eating out in Australia is expensive. A cheap meal from a food court or noodle shop is AUD 15 to 25, a pub dinner AUD 25 to 35, a main course at a mid-range restaurant AUD 30 to 45, and dinner for two with wine at a good restaurant AUD 150 to 250. Tasting menus at top restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne cost AUD 200 to 400 per person before wine. For daily budgets see our Australia costs guide.
Look for “BYO” on restaurant windows, especially Vietnamese, Thai and Indian places in Sydney and Melbourne suburbs. Buy a bottle at the bottle shop next door, and you pay a corkage fee of a few dollars per person or per bottle instead of restaurant wine prices.
The rules are simple:
- Tipping: not expected. Wages include service. Round up or leave about 10 percent at a smart restaurant if service was excellent.
- Surcharges: many cafes and restaurants add 10 to 15 percent on Sundays and public holidays, and 1 to 2 percent for paying by card. Both must be shown on the menu.
- Ordering: at pubs, cafes and casual places, order and pay at the counter, take a number and collect your own water and cutlery.
- Timing: lunch is noon to 2pm, dinner from 6pm. Popular restaurants book out on Friday and Saturday nights, often through their website.
- Water: tap water is safe and served free without asking.
- Dietary needs: vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal options are clearly labelled in cities, and staff take allergies seriously. Vegetarians have an easy time; vegans manage well in the cities and less well in the outback.
- Supermarkets: Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are the main chains. Self-catering with a public barbecue is the best way to cut costs, especially in remote areas where restaurant prices rise.
Planning a beach trip or a wildlife road trip too? See our guides to the best beaches in Australia and where to see Australia’s wildlife.
Where to eat well in Australia#
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Australian food FAQs#
What is the national dish of Australia?
There is no official one, but the meat pie is the closest: a hand-sized beef and gravy pie with tomato sauce, sold at every bakery and sports ground. The barbecue, Vegemite, lamingtons and pavlova are the other candidates.
Do you tip in Australia?
No, tipping is not expected because staff are paid a proper minimum wage. At a smarter restaurant, rounding up or leaving around 10 percent after excellent service is a kind extra, not an obligation.
What does BYO mean in Australian restaurants?
BYO means “bring your own” wine (and sometimes beer). You buy a bottle at a bottle shop and the restaurant charges a small corkage fee to open and serve it, which is much cheaper than ordering wine.
Is eating out expensive in Australia?
Yes. A pub dinner costs AUD 25 to 35, a mid-range restaurant main AUD 30 to 45, and a cafe brunch with coffee around AUD 25 to 35. Asian food courts, bakeries and cooking on free public barbecues keep costs down.
What is a flat white?
An espresso topped with steamed milk and a thin layer of velvety microfoam, stronger and smaller than a latte. It is the default coffee order in Australia and costs AUD 5 to 6.50.
What food should I try in Australia?
Start with a flat white and smashed avocado, a bakery meat pie, fresh oysters and prawns, a chicken parma at the pub, barramundi in the north and a lamington. In the cities, the Vietnamese, Chinese and Malaysian food is outstanding.
Can you buy alcohol in Australian supermarkets?
Mostly no. Alcohol is sold in separate bottle shops, often attached to pubs or next to supermarkets. Drinking in public streets, parks and beaches is banned in many council areas.
Is Australian tap water safe to drink?
Yes, tap water is safe in all cities and towns, and restaurants serve it free without being asked. In remote areas, check signs at campsites and carry water.