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Good Food Guide 2022: 10 of Melbourne's best BYO restaurants

Anna Webster

Teta Mona in Brunswick East allows diners to bring their own beer or wine to drink with their Lebanese banquets.
Teta Mona in Brunswick East allows diners to bring their own beer or wine to drink with their Lebanese banquets.Jason South

Looking for a restaurant that'll allow you to bring that special bottle you've been saving for an occasion, or some beers to go with your banquet? Here are 10 Melbourne restaurants offering BYO.

Teta Mona

If you needed an excuse to get to Teta Mona, which dishes up Lebanese soul food to hordes of hungry locals daily, it's this: you can BYO wine and beer for just $5 per person. At the time of print, BYO is the only option (there's a Blackhearts and Sparrows across the road if you forget) but the team are waiting on a liquor licence.

100a Lygon Street, Brunswick East, facebook.com/tetamona

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Ladro

Pizza bar Ladro allows you to BYO wine only to both its Fitzroy and Prahran (where usually it's TAP wine only) locations on Monday nights. There's a tiny corkage fee involved – $5 a bottle – but it goes straight to charity. Sounds like an invitation to rally the troops for a start-of-the-week Italian feast.

224 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy; 162 Greville Street, Prahran; ladro.com.au

Jim's Greek Tavern in Collingwood.
Jim's Greek Tavern in Collingwood.Simon Schluter

Jim's Greek Tavern

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The relaxed BYO policy adds to the charm of this Collingwood taverna. They'll bring house-made dips, salty fried saganaki and platters of grilled meat, and you bring whatever you want to drink in whatever quantities (a whole slab of beer is a-OK), whack it in the dining room's communal fridge and top yourself up as required. Corkage is free.

32 Johnston Street, Collingwood, facebook.com/Jims-Greek-Tavern

The Waiters Restaurant AKA The Waiters Club.
The Waiters Restaurant AKA The Waiters Club.Justin McManus

The Waiters Restaurant

As befits the spirit of hospitality this CBD institution is famous for, the Waiters Club (as it's also known) allows you to bring your own wine for free. Climb the flight of stairs that lead from Meyers Place to the rustic, whitewashed dining room and order either pasta or classic Italian dishes like osso bucco to pair with your favourite bottle.

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20 Meyers Place, Melbourne

D.O.C Pizza & Mozzarella Bar

Carlton favourite D.O.C. Pizzeria lets small groups (less than eight) bring their own wine. So get some friends together and start with a DOP-certified prosciutto board or a "mozzarella degustation" (including a lightly smoked fior di latte) before loading up on pizza and finishing with a sweet goat's cheese-based tiramisu or cannoli – all matched with your wine of choice.

295 Drummond Street, Carlton, docgroup.net

Lebanese feasting at Abla's in Carlton.
Lebanese feasting at Abla's in Carlton.Eddie Jim
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Abla's

If you're looking for traditional, home-style Lebanese fare in a more upmarket setting, Carlton institution Abla's also allows you to BYO wine. So if you've been saving a special bottle that you think will pair perfectly with chef Amad's juicy cabbage rolls or her famous almond-topped chicken and rice, you can bring it for $15 per bottle (Monday to Thursday only).

109 Elgin Street, Carlton, ablas.com.au

Ocha

Discerning Hawthorners have been coming to this neighbourhood restaurant for date nights, birthdays, business meetings and more for almost three decades. Alongside sophisticated Japanese fare – think pristine sushi and sashimi, and heartier dishes like konbu beef or miso black cod – chef and owner Yasu Yoshida allows diners to BYO wine for lunchtime bookings and on Wednesday nights for $15 per person.

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3 Church Street, Hawthorn, ocha.com.au

Pacific Seafood BBQ House

Both north and south iterations of this Chinese barbecue house allow diners to BYO wine only for $6 corkage per bottle. So make for the flock of golden-breasted Peking ducks you'll see hanging by their necks in the front window, grab a table among the tanks of live seafood, and dive in.

Shop 1, 210 Toorak Road, South Yarra; 8/240 Victoria Street, Richmond; facebook.com/pacificbbqhouse

HuTong Dumpling Bar

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Photo: Mike Baker

Soupy, expertly pleated xiao long bao draw every type of diner – from students grabbing a quick bite to large groups settling in for a feast around the Lazy Susans – to this three-storey CBD dumpling house. But as well as the food, diners are also drawn to the BYO policy: you can BYO (wine only) for just $4.50 per head.

14-16 Market Lane, Melbourne, hutong.com.au

Penang Coffee House

Signatures at this Hawthorn institution include roti paratha (roti with curry sauce) and laksa lemak – a rich, steaming bowl of soupy noodles with roasted pork, chicken, bean curd and bean shoots. But the best bit? You can BYO for 80 cents per person which covers the use of the restaurant's glassware. Drink straight from the source and you won't be charged.

549 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn, penangcoffeehouse.com.au

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