The ultimate Good Food Guide to a summer road trip on the Mornington Peninsula

A breezy 90-minute drive from the city, the Mornington Peninsula offers plenty of drawcards. Along the coastline, hit vineyards, general stores and breweries scattered across Merricks, Flinders and Point Leo. Or venture further inland to Red Hill, named for its vivid volcanic soil. Cellar doors and fine dining are abundant in this pretty pocket, as are idyllic farms for apple and cherry-picking. Speaking of which, these are the top spots we’ve plucked out for anyone road-tripping through one of the most picturesque corners of Victoria.

Merricks, Flinders and Point Leo

Social Club Balnarring

Locals flock here for craft beers and Pisco Sours under gum trees, but that’s not all. Latin American plates are supremely share-friendly whether anticuchos chicken skewers, chilli prawn tacos or smoked lamb ribs with lime-chilli glaze. A kids’ menu sticks with the theme. Beers on tap – mostly independent – include Social Club’s own brews, from pacific ale to mid-strength and a sparkling ale. The venue even puts on the occasional live gig, with acts including Magic Dirt and Cosmic Psychos.

2998 Frankston-Flinders Road, Balnarring, socialclubbalnarring.com.au

Shoreham General Store

This general store – one of many across the peninsula – is where you’ll go to buy cereal and dishwashing liquid, but you can also pick up Mumma Made relishes crafted in nearby Dromana, and a great flat white. The weatherboard building has a verandah with outdoor seating and a cute sign out front that advertises “dog parking”. Inside, half the space is used as a cafe serving basics such as bacon and egg rolls, chicken nuggets, salad rolls and pies, while the retail area is a showcase of local products.

57 Byrnes Road, Shoreham, shorehamgeneralstore.com.au

Flinders General Store

Encompassing a boutique grocer, wine store, cafe and everyday supermarket, this is an essential stop for both residents and visitors to the Mornington Peninsula. Find ready-to-heat pies and lasagnes from Johnny Ripe; pantry fillers (and great gifts) from local businesses such as Red Gum BBQ; fresh seafood, cheese, charcuterie, Tuerong Farm bread baked nearby, and essentials such as milk, eggs, butter, fruit and vegetables. Hot food to-go includes pies, potato cakes and toasties, plus there are muffins baked in-house, and coffee by Blume.

50 Cook Street, Flinders, flindersgeneralstore.com.au

The Hidden Kitchen

General stores are often your best bet for coffee on the peninsula but this little spot on the backstreets of Tootgarook is reliable if you’re venturing further towards the peninsula’s tip. Using beans from Commonfolk, which roasts in Mornington, the petite cafe also offers hearty all-day dishes including corn fritters, mushroom bruschetta and lamb on grilled flatbread. Pies, muffins, tartlets, bomboloni and pastries fill the cabinets, all either baked in-house or sourced from local bakeries.

77a Mathis Avenue, Tootgarook, thekitchens.au

Phase Two

Clean and bright, this cafe within Balnarring’s shopping village is a great pit stop between wine tastings, swims or walks. All-day brunch dishes cram in plenty of flavour, whether it’s a stack of corn fritters layered with avocado, sour cream and sweet chilli, or lamb koftas with flatbread, yoghurt sauce and salad. Toasties tick the grab-and-go box, while Commonfolk coffee is supported by a deep line-up of smoothies, juices and specialty drinks including Biscoff lattes and iced boysenberry matcha.

Shop 11/3050 Frankston-Flinders Road, Balnarring, phasetwo.com.au

Quealy

While Red Hill has the largest cluster of cellar doors, the peninsula’s southern side holds pioneering Quealy, one of the region’s first to plant pinot grigio and other Italian grapes. Stop by for tastings or a glass (the latter start from $13), taking your pick of refined pinot noirs, skin-contact whites like friulano, and lesser-known varieties such as ribolla gialla. Snacks include focaccia with Ortiz anchovies, olives, cheese and more. Starting in late December, the cellar door will also host a weekend pizza pop-up by dough legends DOC Gastronomica on Saturdays and Sundays from December 27 to January 25.

62 Bittern-Dromana Road, Balnarring, quealy.com.au

Montalto

This Mornington Peninsula grand dame has wowed vinophiles since opening in 2002, but its sphere of influence encompasses a broad demographic: parents sipping wine while their children play on the lawn, multi-generational families celebrating milestones, and young couples dipping their toe into fine dining. It’s a safe space on that front, with an assured set menu of 10-odd dishes based on the crowd-pleasing flavours of French-Med classicism.

33 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South, montalto.com.au

T’Gallant

One of the region’s longest running cellar door crowd-pleasers, T’Gallant was given a new lease on life after renovations in 2023. Groups big and small gather for mussels in white wine and chilli, lemon and pepper calamari, and roasted porchetta with salad. Thankfully, the wood-fired pizza hasn’t gone anywhere. Choose toppings such as prosciutto with rocket and parmesan or customise a margherita by adding pork and fennel sausage, mushrooms or garlic prawns. Outdoor dining is abundant, with the bonus of vineyard views and a gelato stand.

1385 Mornington-Flinders Road, Main Ridge, tgallant.com.au

Plonk & Stink

Find carefully selected bottles from across Victoria at this wine store and bar opened by David and Karina Reyne in 2021. Most budgets are catered to across the 700-bottle line-up, which heroes names including nearby Paringa Estate, Beechworth’s A.Rodda and up-and-comer Sierra Reed. Even the martini is an all-local creation, made with gin from Gippsland’s Loch Distillery and Maidenii vermouth. Stick around for a glass or two – plus cheese from local maker Boatshed and chicken liver pâté from Red Hill Kitchen – so you can eavesdrop on the local gossip.

37 Cook Street, Flinders, plonkandstink.com.au

Devilbend Farm Beer Co

Beer nerds will feel seen at this brewery and tavern set on a farm, where seven varieties of hops are grown for a bitter-edged dark ale, a citrus-forward West Coast IPA and more. To try the lot, including limited-edition releases, a tasting paddle is your best friend. The 33-hectare farm also raises beef, used for burgers, ragu and steaks on the approachable menu. Snacking? Go for the cobb loaf filled with cream cheese and an onion jam made with Devilbend’s own brews.

990 Stumpy Gully Road, Tuerong, devilbend.beer

Barragunda Dining

Located on 405 hectares, Barragunda spans restaurant, regenerative farm and native bushland. Chef Simone Watts transforms the farm’s produce into gorgeous dishes on a bargain of a five-course tasting menu. A fantastically lacquered savoury Danish may cradle Jerusalem artichoke and onion or smoked eggplant with black garlic. Animals, too, are raised here: hogget, which is smoked for kofta, and black Angus, used for steaks, osso buco and more. The orchard dictates dessert: perhaps a stonefruit and semolina confection in summer, or mandarin with orange blossom and carrot for winter.

113 Cape Schanck Road, Cape Schanck, barragunda.com.au

Merricks Store

This collection of gorgeously restored weatherboard buildings holds plenty of gold, starting with European-inspired plates in the restaurant. Tender lamb shoulder, pan-roasted blue eye cod and grass-fed beef burgers dot tables, complemented by sides of vegetables grown at the off-site kitchen garden. The takeaway coffee window, with pastries from local outfit Tuerong Farm, is a life-saver. And the “general store” component keeps holiday houses stocked with Main Ridge cheeses and Peninsula wines; supplies locals with leather horse reins and Tilly raincoats; and lures visitors with its covetable homewares.

3460 Frankston-Flinders Road, Merricks, mgwinestore.com.au

Pt Leo Estate

This oceanside winery and sculpture park hosts three restaurants of varying formality. Think of Pt. Leo Restaurant as the Goldilocks. A three-course prix-fixe menu comes with views of monumental artworks from big names, a little glitz (caviar bumps, anyone?) but also solid hits such as wood-fired snapper crusted with almonds and resting on silken beurre blanc. At two-hatted Laura, snowy tablecloths are the stage for well-crusted Blackmore wagyu in a dashi broth. Murray cod sits proudly among streaks of bright-green rocket sauce and chilli-stained pil pil sauce. A handwritten “thank you” note and sculpture park tickets arrive with your bill, plus a box of macarons to take home. Then there’s the Wine Terrace, where lobster rolls, pasta and plates to share suit casual visits.

3649 Frankston - Flinders Road, Merricks, ptleoestate.com.au

Red Hill

Doot Doot Doot

For somewhere with a 10,000 globe chandelier, Doot Doot Doot is defiantly dark. But the sleek black interior only makes the artful dishes pop more. You might watch clear mushroom broth poured from a teapot onto a bed of silky pine mushrooms and chestnut-filled agnolotti. Match your glass of made-on-site wine to tender miso-enriched rockling or truffled chicken. After your endlessly customisable three-course meal, have a skilfully made nightcap at adjoining bar Flaggerdoot or retire to your room upstairs at Jackalope Hotel.

166 Balnarring Road, Merricks North, dootdootdoot.com.au

Miller’s Bread Kitchen

Early risers will be rewarded with no queue for breakfast pizzas at this breakout hit of a bakery, located in a former Dromana car-wash. They’re great, but it’s the pesto-slathered chicken focaccia with pickled zucchini that everyone rightly raves about. The line-up of baked goods also includes excellent pies with flaky tops and generous fillings (the beef Bourguignon is legendary), pastries spanning fruit Danishes to orange-cinnamon cruffins, loaves of sourdough, and slices of cake including strawberry and brown butter.

116 Nepean Highway, Dromana, millersbread.com.au

Main Ridge Dairy

Red Hill is farming country so get amongst it and hand-feed the cheeky goats at Main Ridge Dairy. At paddock-side cafe Billies you’ll try your new pals’ fromage in the cheese tasting, but our tip is to upgrade to the deluxe grazing board to collect the set (including an unforgettably buttery chevre). Platters come with various cheese-friendly, locally made condiments, including Mumma Made pear and ginger paste. Other dishes might include juicy seared peaches served over whipped cashmere, honey and mint. Settle in with a glass from one of the surrounding wineries and enjoy the lush scenery.

289 Main Creek Road, Main Ridge, mainridgedairy.com.au

Green Olive at Red Hill

Trade goats for two friendly kelpies who roam the groves at nearby Green Olive at Red Hill. Book the pickleball court for a pre-lunch thwack, and try the veggie garden produce in an olive-heavy all-day grazing platter. Picnics are also popular here if you’d prefer to be outside. For $150 for two, sit among the olive groves or by the dam with a bottle of an estate-grown wine of your choosing, plus a boxed version of the restaurant platters, filled with farm-grown olives and other accompaniments plus two small cakes.

1180 Mornington-Flinders Road, Main Ridge, greenolive.com.au

Mock Red Hill

In the lounge attached to this apple orchard, run by the fifth generation of the Mock family, you can try the full range of ciders in an alcoholic or alc-free tasting. Cold and rainy afternoons call for mulled cider, but any time is a good time to savour Golden Delicious apples grown just past the window in a locally made Johnny Ripe pie, served warm with ice-cream. In summer, grab a rug and enjoy a picnic in the orchard. Five minutes away, Ripe N Ready offers pick-your-own cherries, a great addition to any picnic spread.

1103 Mornington-Flinders Road, Red Hill, mockredhill.com.au

Red Gum BBQ

Round a bend in the road to find a bustling repurposed truck repair shed, its roller door thrown open, meat-smokers humming away like burly cars toiled over by mechanics of meat. There are 12-hour pulled pork, fall-apart brisket with a peppery dry rub and more, all smoked low and slow, piled onto metal trays and rounded out by classic American sides: pickles, slaw, potato hash. Ask for extra napkins and let the good times roll.

87 Arthurs Seat Road, Red Hill, instagram.com/redgumbbq

Hawkes Farm

Family-run Hawkes Farm does it all: coffee, fresh produce and, on weekends from 10am, the best hot chips you’ll ever experience – no exaggeration. Chunky, golden and thrice-cooked, they’re made from potatoes grown on the farm and are worth the sometimes-epic queue. There’s a vintage tractor for kids to play on, and on select days throughout the year you can bump around the farm on a tractor-towed trailer and pick your own corn, strawberries or carrots, depending on the season.

661 Boneo Road, Boneo, hawkesfarm.com.au

Rare Hare

Finish your trip back at Jackalope for lunch at its daytime-only venue, the hatted Rare Hare, where you can warm your bones by the double-sided fireplace and admire the vineyard through impressive floor-to-ceiling windows. Fried barramundi wings with ’nduja butter are a crowd fave, but no matter whether you choose the Thai-inspired spatchcock or the fall-apart monkfish as your main, you must indulge in the chocolate-chip cookie for dessert. It’s wood-fired, and arrives in the still-warm skillet with a scoop of malt ice-cream.

166 Balnarring Road, Merricks North, rarehare.com.au

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