Eight new regional Victorian restaurants worth planning a road trip around

• The best new restaurants worth a road trip in NSW

Here are some of the more interesting restaurants and wine bars to open outside Melbourne city limits in the past year or so, as featured in the The Age Good Food Guide 2023. What better reason to squeeze in that summer road trip you've been meaning to do?

Audrey's (Sorrento, Mornington Peninsula)
Decked out in pretty mint-coloured velvet with a killer wine list and a special-occasion menu that will please nearly everyone, one-hatted Audrey's is the star turn at the redeveloped 147-year-old bayside Continental Sorrento, which now features multiple dining options, bars and luxury accommodation. Overseen by prolific restaurateur Scott Pickett and with young gun Nicholas Deligiannis heading the kitchen, the degustation menu comprises about seven courses and leans heavily into its coastal location. Snacks include a mini seafood tower holding an oyster spangled with finger lime, tender barbecued abalone and mussel escabeche. An exciting option in Sorrento's sparse dining terrain.
1-21 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento thecontintentalsorrento.com.au

Bar Merenda (Daylesford, central Victoria)
Take a seat at the bar or a table overlooking Daylesford's less-hectic Howe Street and enjoy this uncluttered wine bar with a Parisian bistro vibe and an interesting list of French, Italian and Victorian wines. Start small with buffalo mozzarella on wilted greens, or with oeuf mayonnaise, a boiled egg cloaked in mayo and crowned with an anchovy - simple but intensely delicious. Roast pumpkin comes with ricotta that's house-made, creamy, light and sweet. Stay with the snacks, or move on to something more substantial, like braised pork from Jonai Farm.
Shop 3, 22-24 Howe Street, Daylesford barmerenda.com.au

Chauncy (Heathcote, central Victoria)
​From the moment you're welcomed into the meticulously restored Georgian-style former surveyor's residence that Chauncy occupies, you can tell you're in for a treat. It's lunch only - as four courses plus cheese or dessert - and nothing is rushed, so settle in with some champagne and a comte gougere, a puff of pastry packing a cheesy punch. Chef Louis Naepels (ex-Gross Florentino) takes simple things and elevates them into something sublime, like a boiled egg dressed up with mayo and caviar. Wine? You're in the assured hands of sommelier Tess Murray, so stay nearby if you can because the list, a mix of local and French drops, is worth exploring.
178 High Street, Heathcote, chauncy.com.au

Fen (Port Fairy, western Victoria)
Step off Port Fairy's main street into a vintage shopfront, and a hallway made of curtains leads you into the slightly brooding realm of Ryan Sessions, chef and owner (along with partner, Kirstyn Sessions) of the newly revived two-hatted Fen. The OG closed in 2018 and this version delivers both more and less than its predecessor. More: An exceptional tasting menu that celebrates the beautiful produce of the region. Less: No a la carte dining, no menu substitutions, no table of more than four people, one seating a night, two nights a week. Seafood is the star of the show, from tender abalone with smoked eel to calamari with macadamia, finger lime and samphire.
24 Bank Street, Port Fairy, fenportfairy.com.au

La Cachette (Geelong)
This is a bistro in the modern sense, influenced by a younger gen of European chefs who are schooled in tradition but not bound by it. The small room, fitted out in clean white and classic French cornflower blue, is as intimate as can be, but the personal feel is underpinned by a sense of calm professionalism. Local owner-chef Matt Podbury offers balance that's rare in such an informal setting. It shows in the roast chicken paired with parsley puree, and hapuka dotted exactingly with tiny capers and overlaid with lightly pickled chard stems. Podbury says he wants guests to feel as though they're having dinner in his home, and the set price point is intentionally reasonable to match, suiting the mood perfectly.
Steam Packet Place, Geelong, cachette.com.au

Man Bo (Geelong)
Established in 1982, renovated in 2008, and now with new owners, this 250-seat restaurant feels lifted from a movie, with a glittering, gold-tiled ceiling, multiple dining spaces and the sound of traditional music and sizzling hot plates filling the air. Chef William Zhang cooks from a list of mostly Cantonese classics. Start with sesame prawn toast made fresh daily, or duck with lacquered skin wrapped in pliant pancakes. The old favourites continue, from sweet-and-sour pork to black-pepper beef to the oversized siu mai and translucent har gau served at Sunday yum cha. Whatever dishes you pick, you'll likely leave your table covered in spills - the sign of any good meal.
361 Moorabool Street, Geelong, manbo.com.au

Quarters (Coldstream, Yarra Valley)
This classy new canteen at Hubert Estate has a fun but refined menu that will appeal to all comers. It's as good for groups who want to share a tasting menu of crowd-pleasers - citrusy raw kingfish, chilli-glazed quail razzed up with kimchi and maybe saucy lamb ribs that collapse at a mere nudge - as it is for wary parents who can fire off orders via QR code for wood-fired pizza and strawberry soft-serve. There's lots to like about the glam yet all-embracing venue that's open daily and serves wine by the carafe. Easy to like, easier to enjoy.
1-3 St Huberts Road, Coldstream hubertestate.com.au

The Stanley Pub (Stanley, Northern Victoria)
A new team of hospitality veterans has given the wisteria-wreathed pub new clothes, painting the dining room midnight blue and adding plants, gilt mirrors and a menu with a discernibly Asian accent. Monday to Wednesday the bar flogs drinks with snacks such as ikan bilis (tiny fried anchovies, peanuts, curry leaves), then later in the week the options expand to include things like butter-soft calamari with a fresh apple, mint and rocket salad. In summer the leafy beer garden really comes into its own.
6-12 Stanley-Myrtleford Road, Stanley stanleypub.com.au

The Age Good Food Guide 2023 magazine is on sale for $9.95 at newsagents, supermarkets and thestore.com.au.