Charcoal Lane

A stunning showcase of Australian flavours. The kangaroo was the standout. Wallaby was great, too. The wines were excellent. I really enjoyed their in-house bread and Australian dukkah. They have good gluten free and vegan options. The service is fabulous and I'll definitely be back.

Deliciously interesting food. Great unique flavours you don't get anywhere else. Service was really nice and friendly. Bit on the pricier side but the quality of food shows for it. Venue was really nice with aboriginal art all around

I'd put this in the top 5 of my dining experiences in Melbourne. Why? The menu is creative and different from anything I've seen. The native ingredients produce exotic flavours that feel new but are not "shocking" to distract. It's been a while since I had such a welcoming and unique dining experience. To top it off, the service was great and the ambience is stylish but not stuck up or over the top. Plus I like the idea of the social enterprise. I recommend the halloumi and the wallaby shank.

The chargrilled kangaroo was sublime and all other dishes we tried were also really good, with plentiful lunch portions. The restaurant is quiet and feels very welcome. It also made me more curious about Australian native art, mostly due to the paintings on its walls.

I've been here twice now, once with a small group of 4 and the second for an event with 17 people and a set menu... Both times were great! The food was delicious, staff are super friendly and knowledgeable, and the overall atmosphere is perfect! I must especially thank them for the large group night, everything went along like a well oiled machine and the rest of the restaurant was full! The particular reason I like it though, is its confident connection to Indigenous Australia... As a social enterprise restaurant, with training for youth to get hospitality experience... and the food itself, everything has local Indigenous ingredients, flavours and textures you just can't get anywhere else. Thanks for a great night team... We will be back!

Fantastic food with purpose. Loved the atmosphere and service and that everything was local. It was quite reasonable for the price too. The food highlight of my Melbourne trip. We had the chef's selection for appetizer which was generous and offered a wide range of tastes. I had the kangaroo filets and my boyfriend had the fish of the day. The kangaroo was very tasty and not tough at all like some people warned me. We also guiltily shared a side of shoestring fries which were crisp and crunchy. I tried different wines throughout the course and it amazed me how diverse and delicious locals wines can be from sparkling thru muscat, rose and pinot grigio. We finished off with a chocolate and macadamia torte which was perfect size and sweetness to cap off the evening. I would come back again!

Having been there a couple of times in the past years already, there's always a new taste buds explosion to have. Had the Mushroom Tian and that was one of the best dishes ever, with excellent combination of new and unusual flavours. The soufflée as dessert was very delicious too. Staff is very professional and friendly. A unique restaurant and highly recommended for all Gourmets.

Overall the experience was nice. It's a great place to go to discover more about native cuisine, and I'm sure overseas friends would be impressed with this restaurant. Just a few notes: The attention was great but a smile wouldn't hurt from the waiters when explaining dishes. I really enjoyed the Chefs native tasting plate as you could savour a variety of items such as Emu, kangaroo, salmon garnished or accompanied with native spices and herbs. The main meal I had was the Roasted emu fan fillet, which was nice but needed a bit more flavour for my liking. Price was kind of the average for a place like this. $60-70per person including drinks

A trainer restaurant for Australian Natives, serving Australian cuisine, I was very excited to try dishes that I've never experienced before as well as be part of a good cause. Overall a definite recommend, as we had an overall great experience with some hiccoughs. Food: Food here was amazing. My wife had the wallaby and everything about the dish was fantastic. For myself I had the emu, and it was just good. The meat itself was a bit chewy, but never having had emu before I wasn't sure if it was normal (although it could also have been because it was cooked a bit more on the rare side--who knew Emu was red meat!). It was juicy, and the accompanying sides with the meat (salad and polenta) were great (I don't think I've ever left a plate so clean). The fries we also had were great as well. There was very little to complain about for the food. Drinks: They had an okay beer selection. Nothing to write home about. The cocktails were all very expensive as were the desserts which I'm lumping here as well. We passed on the last two. Ambience: Very nice. Small restaurant, and they put lots of space in between the tables which is nice. Not sure if it's because they are low staffed (more on that below) but they put a lot of space between their reservations and the restaurant was half empty most of the evening due to this. Service: Our main server was very nice and very knowledgeable about everything as well as attentive about all of my wife's allergies. However with only him, another server and then the manager to oversee a dozen tables (several with parties of 8+) it sometimes took way too long to get someone's attention, our fries were forgotten about and we had to remind them halfway through the entree (they ended up coming significantly after we were finished with our entrees). I had also expected that at this caliber of restaurant, they would have comped the fries due to their mistake, as was the case at another Aussie restaurant we went to, so I was a bit disappointed by that but I'm also not sure if that's custom as it generally is at American restaurants. Overall: The service was enough to deduct one star from the but it did not subtract from the overall experience at Charcoal Lane. I think if they add one more person to help out, and improve their table turning it could help their business even more since their food is already absolutely delicious. Definitely recommend.

The last dinner of our trip and we decided it would be bush tucker. My partner and I shared the chefs tasting plate for two. The shrimp or bugs were the best of the dish. For my entree I had the wallaby and my partner the enu. The wallaby had a game taste, which I don't mind but was surprised as the other wallaby's I had on my trip did not have this. Ot than that the wallaby was a bit tough to eat, though cooked medium rare. My partners emu was a better tasting dish. The flavors of the emu accompanied by the sauce worked well. Our server was nice and attentive, as the restaurant was not filled to capacity. A great experience non the less to end the last meal of our trip.

We came in on a Saturday evening for dinner. For the appetizer we ordered the mango prawns and another dish that I can't remember. The prawns were very delicious and cooked well. My main entrée was the pan fried emu. Cooked medium rare. It was quite tender but could use a bit more seasoning. To finish, I had the wattleseed crème brulee. I found it to be a little grainy. I don't think they fully mixed in the sugar for a smooth crème. I applaud this place for giving underprivileged kids an opportunity for real life work experience and I'm assuming the evenings meal was prepared by those kids. For a cook with no formal culinary training, I think it was a good meal. I think with a little more polish these dishes would be right up there with those high end restaurants.

My cousin and her husband live in Melbourne and are serious foodies. They took us to Charcoal Lane. The emu, wallaby and variety appetizer were excellent. Ditto the pear dessert. As others noted, the restaurant trains staff, so cut them some slack on service. We were the second table at 6:15; wss full when we left.

Very well presented and prepared food with an emphasis on indigenous Australian ingredients. The Kangaroo I had last night is level-pegging with Dining Room One (Mildura back in 2004) for the best I have eaten. We were a party of six and enjoyed a diverse range of offerings starting with rabbit and water buffalo terrine, crocodile curry, and an Australian shared platter with a range of native plants and animals followed by main courses of kangaroo, emu, or a gnocchi with kangaroo. Everyone was happy with the food. The ambience is very good- spacious quiet enough to converse easily across The table with no interference from adjacent tables. A near perfect birthday celebration experience was, however, tarnished when it came time to pay and I was asked to provide a tip. The very act of suggesting a tip is a form of moral blackmail. The customer is made to feel stingy if he doesn't leave a tip or feel like a mug if he does. This is Australia and we should not be expected to tip. It is not customary because our servers are paid much better wages than their counterparts in the USA. $500 for 6 people isn't enough? The two bottles of Shiraz already had $60 worth of markup on them. The food and the ambience were good but the on-sell was not welcome and I have dropped my rating by a star. I'm writing this the following day to cool off but I am still feeling resentful of my treatment at the cash register.

Set Xmas menu with limited choice on offer here. They weren't quite on their game here today. I had the fish of the day, orange snapper. It was nicely done and well cooked but lacked a bit of flavour. I also had the strawberry, praline and eucalyptus terrine with chocolate ganache for dessert. It was very nice but a bit too rich and no one at the table could finish it. Service was a little slow but they are all trainees as this is a social enterprise.

Interesting food and a good cause make this place worth a stop. The portions are huge and they feature local ingredients, Australian dishes including kangaroo and act as a training kitchen to help jumpstart careers. But, they forgot one of our dishes and the flavours were underwhelming. If you want to try kangaroo once, maybe try it elsewhere, as it seems difficult to prepare properly.

Hell yeah. After three years in Melbourne Frenchy Pants and I were beginning to despair: We hadn't yet had an exceptional and well priced "gourmet" meal in Melbourne and were longing to go back to Paris on holiday and indulge in a bit of affordable gastronomy. What we really missed about Paris was this little bistro in the 13th called L'avant gout. For 32 euro (or around 45 Australian) we would enjoy three pretty marvellous courses and a glass of excellent wine. Try as we might, we couldn't find anything comparable in Melbourne. Until Charcoal Lane that is. At 35 dollars, the lunch menu is an absolute steal: Two courses and a glass of wine. I ordered the leek and pancetta tart which was served with a dollop of creamy chevre beside it and a teeny tiny salad of micro herbs drizzled with pomegranate gems. It was unbelievably good; the pastry was delicate and crispy, and the pancetta and creamy leeks melded together perfectly. Frenchy Pants had oysters served rather stylishly on a bed of snowy salt crystals. They were dressed in a fruity rosella dressing and were fresh as fresh can be. For our main we both had the kangaroo loin with a buttery potato puree and and roasted winter vegetables. I've been a slow convert to kangaroo as it's usually a bit gamey for me but this was a revelation: Tender, savoury, and absolutely perfect. The whole artful "stack" of deliciousness was surrounded by a lovely espresso cherry sauce. We split a desert of rhubarb crumble, vanilla bean ice cream, and pistachio creme anglais and had tears in our eyes when we got to the last mouthful. My dining companion looked at me as he put down the spoon and said, "i think we've found our Melbourne L'avant gout". I heartily agreed with him. As if being affordable and delicious wasn't enough, Charcoal Lane trains Aboriginal youths for jobs in the hospitality industry so you can enjoy a great meal and help support a deserving cause. This place, has brains, heart, and soul. Highly recommended.

Absolutely fantastic. Wonderful staff. Yes, some are training but you can tell they really care and are trying really hard which is more than can be said of sine if Melbourne's "better" restaurants. Great food. The presentation and taste of the food was exceptional. Again the effort was obvious. Cheap! Considering that the menu includes exotic items like Kangaroo, Wallaby or Emu I was pleasantly surprised by the pricing. The prices are about half of what you would expect elsewhere but that does not sacrifice the quality. Will be back.

What's better than an amazing dinner in a beautifully restored heritage building in the heart of Fitzroy? All that while giving back to the community!! Charcoal Lane, unbeknownst to me the first time I went in, is an admirable business in this city. They bring in underprivileged and Aboriginal youths and teach them the necessary skills to flourish and excel in food service. But through this help, the people that find opportunity at Charcoal Lane can learn a much bigger message of social responsibility. Thanks for that! On top of this, the food is amazing. It's not just some thrown together place. I've never been for lunch, but their dinner menu is creative and very well executed. Though a bit expensive, it's beautiful for a splurge night. I loved the main dish of mixed mushrooms with egg, truffle and asparagus. So rich. Also split a tuna sashimi starter and its spicy citrus accompaniment really made it stand out. Great food and giving back to the community just seems like a no brainer!

Amazing place. Brilliant concept. Giving back to the community in a big way. The kangaroo and pork loin are truly special. Amazing place. Brilliant concept. Giving back to the community in a big way. The kangaroo and pork loin are truly special.

We came here about a month ago and had such a wonderful lunch! The inside looks very nice. Since we came on a weekday, they had some $15 express lunch options. We ordered: 1. Barramundi topped with pepperleaf, with green beans and potatoes (15) 2. Lamb with bacon, with green beans and potatoes (31) My dish was sooo good! The skin was crispy and the pepperleaf was unexpected -- I thought it would be like basil leaves, but they were like tiny little fried hollow chickpeas. The fish was super tender and the potatoes drenched in the oils/sauce were so delicious. My boyfriend also enjoyed his lamb very much, and even though my dish was half the price, they were pretty much the same size (and arguable mine was better!). What a steal! We found this place just by walking past on the street, and were pulled in by the traditional Australian theme (it was my first time in the country). But now I'm looking online and found out they also train homeless and unemployed kids as trainees in the hospitality industry -- how awesome! Even better. Improvements: 1. Wifi -- they have a really complicated wifi system where they have to generate a code off a machine for you, instead of just giving you a password. We tried multiple times and it didn't work. 2. Long wait for food -- we went during off hours but it still took a while to get our food. Luckily we weren't in a hurry! If I'm in the area again I'll definitely come back!

Have friends from overseas visiting wanting 'Aussie' food? This is a close as I could get with native ingredients. We tried a lot of items from the menu as there were a few of us. Entree - try the sashimi and 'bolognaise' Mains - the kangaroo and barramundi is recommended. Beautifully plated and though the portions are on the smaller side. meals are still filling.

Fantastic, distinctive food. It is in an excellent location. The social justice angle of the place is a plus as well. It is one of the few things I recommend to all visitors I have to the city.

I shall overlook the somewhat lax (albeit friendly) service and put this down to the fact that this restaurant also serves as a training facility for homeless and unemployed kids... But the rest of the experience was off the charts... The building feels steeped in history, the food is incredible... We had the wallaby loin and the emu but the highlight was the saltbush lamb which not only was the best lamb we've ever had but pretty close to the best meat ever had, it was so tender I could have used a spoon. The wine list, whilst not extensive, carried a nice mix of choices at most price points. This sort of experience is difficult to find and I would highly recommend it. Great concept, wonderful delivery!

I went for lunch and, unfortunately, i couldn't enjoy the full a la carte menu; however the two lunch menus at 35 AUD (2 courses) or 45 AUD (three) plus a glass of wine was ok. I had a warm salad with gnocchi and rocket, forest berries and gongorzola absolutely superb. The kangaroo burger was ok, I'm a foreigner and I had to indulge in it. Finally some cheese for desert...very good ones. The waiter was extremely kind and the ambience is cosy and clean. A Must in Melbourne