Melba Restaurant

Melba is set in the impressive Langham Hotel with a view of the Yarra River. I came for a business lunch and the buffet was large and well stocked.
There is something for everyone, which appealed to my group. You can start with fresh seafood but not everything on the website menu will be available. I was hoping for more seafood options whilst there were just three fish to choose from at the sushi bar along with a few toppings if you fancy a roll.
There is a decent salad and fruit bar, if you are trying for healthier options. Dolmades were a nice choice along with sliced meats and cheeses. I definitely enjoyed the Peking duck wrapped pancakes. There were many proteins to choose from — chicken, beef, and pork along with the usual side dishes.
There always seemed to be a queue at the Asian stir fry, where you can build your own dish. That was a theme throughout, having fresh, custom made dishes. There were some Italian options and Indian/​Tandoori selections of different naan.
Lastly, the dessert table had a range of sweets along with a chocolate fountain and ice cream. Something for everyone.
I suppose it is this ‘upscale food court’ vibe that doesn’t suit me. If I am shelling out $ 58 for lunch, I want to make sure I am getting the best of my favourite cuisine, rather than a random selection of many. The quality was good but I won’t be running back anytime soon to spend upwards of $ 85+ for dinner when I can get a more specialised experience somewhere else.

A great place for a romantic dinner with fantastic views over the Yarra. Its not cheap so I hope you really want to impress.
You wont be dissapointed. The food is delicious and portions are generous. Service is honest and wonderful.
I have had the duck over lentils… yum and the Idian thali — a selection of curries cooked by Indians — yum yum. Thete is a $ 90 buffet which I highly recommed if you are hungry, want to impress a client or a person.
Tip: you can have the same menu at the bar if you want someting more casual yet delicious.
For alacarte, the mains are plenty but leave room for dessert. About $ 65 each with a glass of wine

Saw the sushi chef use the same unclean hand to handle the raw fish after he just finish the moving other his staff

Great to see a gluten free food bar for us celiacs, but the service was poor for the hotel’s reputation.
Plates not cleared, no water, noisily shifting tables during breakfast for the lunch service which was 2 hours away.
Food and coffee were good but not good enough to rave about.
It’s a pity because the hotel has such a lovely classically styled foyer and staircase. It sets you up for a classy meal experience, but the breakfast shift was not up to it.

My Family & Myself have eaten many times at The Melba over many years. I decided to treat my Wife to the Melba for her 65^th birthday.
I was a little apprehensive because of the News reports regarding food poisoning several weeks ago. I called to make the booking and to request our widow seat and to be assured that there was not a problem regarding the News reports. I was told that I would be contacted by the manager on that day. I received a call literally 15 minutes after my call, the manager assured me that it was the cleanest restaurant in Melbourne and not to be concerned and enjoy our evening.
Which I may add was a wonderful experience for my Wife, Daughter and Myself, the food the service and the venue where exceptional ¹⁰⁄₁₀. We will continue to dine at the Melba. My compliments to all the Staff.
Thank You
Cheers Russ R.

We had dinner here which had two options — buffet or a la carte. The a la carte menu was somewhat boring so we opted for buffet.
They had a sushi bar with 3 types of fish and we thought the tuna was great but the salmon and kingfish were not.
I really liked the strawberries that were there for dessert and the chocolate fountain.
The rest of the food was not very impressive — the quality was good but the dressings for the salad had food floating in them and the price for this experience was way way higher than it deserves (86 bucks!) — in a foody city there are better choices so I wouldn’t recommend this one.

This is literally the best restaurant and buffet I’ve ever been to in Australia. We come here for my birthday and I look forward to it every year. The staff are wonderful and the food is the best. They have all the chefs where you can see them and who are happy to cook whatever foods you wish. The selection includes Japanese sushi and sashimi, seafood, roast meat, savoury cheeses and other yummies, stir-​fry, Indian food with roti made on the spot and of course a large selection of desserts. If you’re wondering whether to go or not, as it is expensive, go because you absolutely won’t regret it.

This is probably the fanciest buffets I’ve been to. With a sushi station, Indian station, noodle bar, roast bar, mini cake station and ice cream bar I walked into a very impressive buffet.
The thing the impressed me the most though was how things were freshly made. You could order hand rolls on demand, pick your own noodles to be stir fried in front of you and have your naan fresh from the oven in minutes. The star attraction was definitely the naan for me a choice of plain naan, cheese naan, herb and cheese, garlic and cheese, herb and garlic, spinach and cheese, lamb and cheese and even chocolate and m&m naan. I was a bit overwhelmed with the selection and so tried a few but the herb and garlic was definitely my favourite as it brought out the flavour of the bread as I found the cheese to be a bit overpowering because they do put quite a lot in it.
If you have a sweet tooth the dessert bar will definitely be your favourite. So many little delectable delights! They also have connnesiur ice cream which was a tick in my books.
Buffet price is a tad on the expensive side so value for money wise I’m not sure it’s actually worth it especially since the majority of what I ate was just bread so I think I can only give this place a ³⁄₅ overall.

Okay, I’m aware that buffet restaurants tend to err on the side of crap quality when it comes to the food on offer. However, if you have a family dinner or need to cater for diverse tastes then Melba is your lady.
There is a lot on offer here, so I’ll be brief:
Seafood: Fresh, lots on offer, try the sashimi but people tend to flock to the seafood first so there may be lines
Curries: YES! They also do naans on demand in various flavours
Stir fries/​noodles: Stir fried lobster. That’s all.
Roasts: Meh, not that great compared to everything else on offer
Desserts: Fairly average but heaps of variety
I didn’t get around to trying everything else, because although the servings from each station were smaller, you tend to get a lot of them and fill yourself up. Yes, buffets aren’t exactly fine dining and drinks are at hotel prices, but it’s well worth visiting at least once to experience a buffet beyond lukewarm bain maries.
When making a reservation, be sure to ask for a table by the window as the view of the city and the Yarra is lovely.

Buffets always seem to disappoint me. I would prefer to have a chef’s degustation experience or at the minimum a few courses of memorable beautiful food as a smörgåsbord tends to lead to more disappointing enduring thoughts for all of posterity. Melba at the Langham Hotel like with other buffets has positive aspects but also negative ones, the latter sadly shining through more prominently.
After dining at the Crown Casino’s Conservatory a few months ago, I was excited in a bizarre way to compare and contrast that experience with what Melba had in store. The Conservatory is a beautiful space and when you enjoy the buffet, there is a semblance of service however all of the food in general was not very exciting although they should be crowned the King of desserts. To refresh your memory with my thoughts on Conservatory, here is the review.
You are given a professional and enthusiastic greeting when you present yourself at the kiosk of the restaurant. After verifying that I had a booking, I was asked if this was my first visit to Melbourne. I would have thought petty conversation would have included a query as to whether or not I am staying in the hotel so I was a bit amused. The dining room is accessed by walking a phalanx of seafood, including a small sushi bar and is bordered by glass so that the views of the beautiful (sic) Yarra River and CBD are on display. The hungry patrons seem to be herded all near the window as they assume that everyone wants a view but also to effectively make it a bit easier on the service staff to provide you some courtesy however the close proximity of so many people just makes the environment a bit loud.
When you are seated, drink orders are taken and a little too much attention is given by the staff to sell wine. «No» means NO and asking the customer «are you sure?» if you really do not want wine was a bit pushy and rude. Not long after disappointing the restaurant because you don’t order wine, a large empty ceramic bowl is placed on your table along with a small finger bowl with water and lemon as the restaurant presumes that you will be making a beeline for the alter of prawns, yabbies and swimmer crab and require the use of, in our case, a chipped bowl, to hold the discarded exoskeletons. I know I wasn’t going to work for my food and de-​shell prawns at a $ 84.90/head buffet and my amused mate certainly had no interest either. Given the prices of fresh seafood at the Prahran and Queen Victoria Markets, it seemed silly to pick apart swimmer crab in an inauspicious way with so many other items on offer. After toddling up to the buffet tables for the first time the sparkling water and beer did arrive though.
One of the highlights of this buffet that differentiated it from others is that there is a small sushi bar with a chef ready to cut various slabs of fish into sashimi for you. I found the chef extremely bored and the kingfish, salmon and tuna sashimi that I tried over two separate trips to be as exciting as the chef and previously frozen. This is when I noticed a couple of flies circling the area. The chef didn’t seem to care. There is a vat of miso available and I must of looked like a performer in Cirque du Soleil as I attempted to fill a bowl with a ladle and also swat at flies at the same time as I did not one to actually get into the vat.
A further trip to the food area yielded some Indian-​inspired fare. This was the highlight of my experience. The Chicken Tikka which was prepared on skewers actually had some spice, were both soft and moist and were generally just awesome. When added to the handmade cheese and garlic naan bread that is made to order, the two matched were simply divine.
Returning to the flies and the heavily worn chairs in the dining room, one of the plates placated my desire to sample each of the cuts of meat on offer. Five-​spice duck was the highlight however it was presented very lazily. The cartilage and meat were both cut up in chunks together, obviously quickly plated up so the hungry masses would be satisfied. I did learn that you could have the duck served in pancakes which encouraged the server to take more care and not serve you cartilage. The pork belly, beef and chicken were all rather dry. There were two beautiful roast chickens on display however like with the duck, the one that was being served was sloppily cut so that a chunk of white meat from the breast also included the breastbone. There was a bowl of steamed vegetables on display but no potatoes (mashed or otherwise) so I added some cherry tomatoes and mayonnaise-​style dressing along with some small pork buns, which despite being small were full of flavour fortunately to accompany my dry and boring meat.
I gave up hoping that the server would come and ask if I wanted to order another beer when the original one was vacated. Much like I think I will abandon hope of thinking this will be a venue worth venturing to in the future.

I may sound like I am really exaggerating here but this is one of the best buffets I have been to. I walk in a stunning hotel, looks like glam and glitter everywhere, I can tell it took ages to design to make a place this stunning.
The staff were really friendly, not in your way all the time but very helpful. The food was like I was in heaven, for appetisers I got a selection of all these different types of cheese, salmon, salami, and cherry tomatoes, the salmon was the best tasting salmon ever! It had me in awe throughout the whole feast, there was so much selection I wish I had a big stomach to just eat all night.
My second dish for my main was meat! Since my love for meat is more stronger then any other food I was a bit disappointed with their steak since I tasted better, but the sweet and sour pork made up for it! The chicken was just so soft it melted in my mouth, and the skin had an eruption of flavour just chewing it in my mouth, I had to have more! Then some more! Its like in my head I imagined a story of some Asian chef never going to sleep for 2 weeks just cooking this chicken trying to perfect the taste of the skin. Also the creamy mushroom pasta floated my boat ;)
2 Words, Sushi bar! They actually have a sushi bar and a sushi chef standing by, and you can tell him to make you custom sushi, they they even got that yellow caviar that you pop between your teeth and bursts flavour out.
The girls will like the dessert menu, there are these little cups which they put little desserts in, since I am a bit of a gym junkie I only had two but I saw other people taking 6+! There was such a big variety and they even had a chocolate fountain!
Have a look at the food porn I uploaded, simply irresistible, have your tongue in a frenzy, your pants unbuttoned, your mind in awe and your date bedazzled ;)
Atmosphere: ⁹⁄₁₀
Setting: ⁹⁄₁₀
Service: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀

Location is the best thing going for Melba Restaurant. There is a great range of food & if you love seafood then his buffet is for you. Personally I found the food average & uninteresting, but definitely not good value for $ 90 per head.
The big thing is the ridiculous charges for some beverages & the credit card surcharge. Any espresso coffee (short black, latte, flat white) is $ 6 — yep that’s right, 70% more than average market price.
But just to top it off they slug you with a 1.65% surcharge which is at least double their merchant cost.

Part of the Langham Hotel, this place can be quite expensive for the breakfast we had. Hash browns were a little stale, but the selection and variety is huge.

Upon arriving at the Langham and checking in we were too exhausted to go out looking for lunch so we stopped in at Melba. We were told it was their lunch buffet and we could look around first – glad we did! We both had the buffet and every ingredient was fresh and amazing! From the sushi bar I ordered tuna and kingfish sashimi and it was fresh and delicious. From the Indian buffet I had chicken tikka and the naan is made to order in the clay oven in front of you. The seafood was all fresh and delicious and the Chinese potstickers/​dim sum were great! And dessert? A whole section of little treats so it’s great to sample! Chocolate fondue tower with strawberries and marshmallows! We were very full after this meal; so much so we could hardly eat dinner 7 hours later! Pricey at $ 49/​head but worth it in my opinion!

Great selection of food — really fresh seafood, sushi and sashimi prepared to order, 4 – 5 different types of roasts (last time i went they had beef, lamb, chicken, duck), an asian stir-​fry station, pasta cooked to order and an indian section with the famous naan breads. Oh and a pretty decent selection of sweets as well, nothing too special but enough to satiate your sweet tooth.
I’d say it’s pretty good value, although the prices seem to vary (by around $ 10) depending on the days.
They have a decent wine list and service is quite good even though it does get quite busy. If you’re lucky and get a table near the window, you’ll be dining with a great view on the yarra.

Located in the Langham Hotel, this buffet is a very popular choice, as it seems to constantly be buzzing with diners no matter what day of the week.
Melba buffet offer a range of fresh seafood, sushi/​sashimi, roast meats, western dishes as well as cook to order Asian stirfrys and a variety of curries. A very popular aspect of Melba, is its naan bread. Cooked to order, you choose your ingredients-​be it chili, cheese, garlic, parsley or chocolate. The chef then makes this in front of you and places it into a traditional tandoor oven– which takes around 2 minuets to cook.
I really enjoy coming to Melba thanks to its variety of foods and the quality of them. The dessert bar is also something worth mentioning, as there is a huge selection of assorted cakes and desserts to try. The serving sizes of the desserts are small, so you are able to try most of them before filling up. There is also a chocolate fountain and ice cream available.
The service at Melba is also good, as is the interior of the place. Its clean stylish nature produces an up class atmosphere that is far far away from your typical cheap and nasty buffets.

Let me start by saying Melba is famous for its buffet. Before you screw your nose up, this isn’t a buffet like you’re thinking. If you (like me) firmly put buffets in the category of RSLs, Sizzler and conference lunches you won’t know what hit you when you see Melba.
Imagine for a second that fine dining food be done buffet style. Sure, it wouldn’t actually be fine dining anymore, but that calibre of food and chef with a different service mechanism. That is essentially Melba.
We’re talking a dedicated sushi chef that will cut fresh in front of your eyes all the sushi you can eat. Experienced Indian chefs that can whip up a customised naan while you watch. Asian-​style fry ups with your chosen ingredients. A salad bar full of fresh seafood, creative salads and cold meats.
And possibly the mother of all dessert offerings. Row upon row of tiny cakes, pastries, tarts and other sweets paired with fresh fruit and delectable cheeses.
Oh, and if you go on a weekday the fixed price per person is rather attractive. Just don’t eat for about a week before you go.