Punch Lane Wine Bar & Restaurant
Punch Lane is a cosy and inclusive Wine Bar and restaurant, which prides itself on serving delicious food from a seasonal menu, mouth-watering cheeses from an eclectic board, matched with exceptional wine and service.
Conveniently nestled along the northern section of Little Bourke Street, Punch Lane sits right in the heart of Melbourne’s entertainment and political district. Chinatown, Princess Theatre and Her Majesty’s Theatre are just minutes away by foot.
Open seven days a week, Punch Lane can cater for business lunches, after work drinks, group celebrations or intimate dinners for two. Simply want to relax and watch the world go by? Then pop in for a glass of wine and a yarn with Punch Lane’s friendly staff – the choice is yours!
Experiences
Valentine's Day Lunch
A$105.00 per personPrepaidFeb 14, 2021 only
Love is in the Air! Celebrate with your loved one this Valentine’s Day at Punch Lane with our 4 course chef's tasting menu.Valentine's Day
A$125.00 per personPrepaidFeb 14, 2021 only
Love is in the Air! Celebrate with your loved one this Valentine’s Day at Punch Lane with our 5 course chef's tasting menu.
Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitised between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitised menu provided
- Sanitiser or wipes provided for customers
- Contactless payment available
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
We used to go to Punch Lane often but hadn't been for a few years. It was great to see that this restaurant had maintained its standards. The place was busy but the service was attentive and friendly. The food and wine were excellent. Overall an outstanding experience.
Gosh !! so good to read your review and particularly that you enjoyed your time with us … it has certainly been a journey over the past 25 years and counting 😊
Great food, and a vast selection of wines to choose from. We were completely looked after by the friendly and professional staff. A very enjoyable evening, Punch Lane is always on our 'best restaurants in Melbourne' list
Thank you for your kind words we certainly loved seeing you again really appreciate your ongoing support of us :) all the best for 2021
Amazing food and service was fantastic, great atmosphere, definitely will be returning
Thank you for visiting and for your feedback , really boosts morale and rewards the effort staff make daily bases, I'm so proud of the team both front and back of house :) all the best for 2021
A little underwhelmed this time around. Service was not very attentive. Food was good, but we've certainly had better previously. Been dining here for years and left feeling rather disappointed.
It was disappointing to read this as will Laurie, Aaron and Oliver who are all customer focused and very knowledgeable young men, we catch up early in the week so we will be discussing your review. The kitchen and food and for me is at its best been since starting Punch Lane however I would really appreciate to know what you had and where it fell short as will the kitchen be grateful your feedback. I don't take for granted that you have been a regular customer and value your comments.
I enjoy Punch Lane and have been going there on various occasions since it opened. It was my birthday but we just enjoyed a lovely dinner for 2. The food, wine and service was excellent as it always is.
Happy Birthday and thank you for your ongoing support ,it’s been quite a journey over the past few decades .
Thanks Punch Lane team for an incredible dinner! After providing feedback from our first time dining, the team reached out and offered us a voucher to make up for the experience. The whole evening far exceeded any expectations we had, and 100% flipped our opinion. Lovely food, wait staff were nice and attentive, and perfect wine. Thanks team
Our sincere apologies , we were very disappointed to read your comments . I so sorry that you were made to feel this way I can only think the stress of the busiest night we have ever had in 25 years created a few stress cracks on the night however as you said you were expecting a lot more . Could you please send and an email to us as we would like to send out a voucher as a way of acknowledgment and apology .
We couldn’t have been more impressed with our New Year’s Eve dinner meal and celebration at Punch Lane wine bar.
The atmosphere and sound level of music playing was perfect. The food itself was delicious and extravagant.
Although the service crew were run off their feet during the night they kept up and did an outstanding job.
Very happy and would definitely dine there again.
Thank you for that compliment , I have to say it was one of the hardest and most satisfying nights I have worked in 40 years and in the 25 years since starting Punch . Great way to end 2020 !!! thank you soooo much for your support and hope we can make 2021 the best ever :)
News Years Eve dinner and probably one of the best meals on 2020 - thank you Punchlane
Let's see if we can raise the bar in 2021 , seriously thank so much for joining us and contributing to an amazing finish to a year we will certainly all remember ! :)
We had an enjoyable New Year’s Eve dinner. Service, food, wine was all very good. Had not been to Punch Lane Wine Bar before but will certainly be back.
Thank you for giving us a go and for your support and feedback :)
Loved the whole experience.great service and yummy food
Brilliant thanks so much really appreciate your support :)
Dined here for NYE and loved it. Food was amazing and waiters were friendly attentive. Would definitely go back!
Love to see you back soon hopefully :)
Amazing service and food. 100% worth booking here.
Wow!!! thank you for the commendation ... all the best in 2021
Excellent little restaurant, great food and atmosphere. Stand out service.
Loved having you in all the best for 2021 :)
We had a beautiful meal, thanks Punch Lane!
Thank you for your kind review :) hope 2021 is a good one for you !!
We were disappointed that the squid was cold, the pate was not great and the cheeses on the cheese board were bland.
We placed our trust in the waiter who chose the seafood dinner for us. I chose the Bader Schlossberg pinot gris and would have appreciated a warning that it had a lot of residual sugar. Had I been told, I would have picked something else.
Thank you for your feedback very much appreciated :)
The food was excellent, the wine too
A wonderful experience
Thank you for taking the time to give your feedback , hope 2021 is a good one for you :)
I have been to Punch Lane many times before lockdown and I used to love their food and services. I went with a group of friends last night for dinner, i felt so embarrassed for recommending Punch Lane!!
The waitress that was looking after our table was very pushy and rude, she came back multiple times and asked my guests if they want to order any drinks. After the first 3 attempts everyone who want to drink alcohol would have ordered, but she kept on coming back and asking us to check the wine menu. The same waitress kept on taking away one of my guests unfinished drink on 2 different occasions, she didn't even bother to ask if he have finish with the drink!!
When she tooked our order she skipped guests and it caused alot of confusion when we were being served. For the entire dinner no one check on us how was our mea, everyone who have ordered steaks on my table was unable to eat our main as it was covered in charcoal and extremely burnt!!
The best part of the dinner was dessert, but it took over half an hour before our plates was cleared for it to be served.
I would no longer recommend Punch Lane to anyone, personally i would avoid it in the future. I came with expectations but i was let down.
We noticed you had written this review also on Zomato a few days ago , you took photos of all your dishes and the steak dish you described looks juicy ,beautifully charred and very well presented not covered in "charcoal and extremely burnt ". Just to give you some feedback, your guests playing video games, a large Fluro flood light at the table and being ignored does make it difficult ,hence repeat attempts at drink orders.
Great food, wine selection and service. Highly recommend.
Thank you for the heads up , hope you have a great Christmas and hope to see you 2021 :)
Very friendly staff , although we were sat outside , great atmosphere. We thought the food was a little over priced but very good overall.
Thank you for your support and feedback .
We love this wine bar for a night out! Great wine, great food, great service! It is our 'go to' whenever we make our way to the city.
We are so please to be back and we really apprecaite your continued support :)
Punch lane is an institution and never fails to deliver. We had a girls night out to celebrate three 50th birthday’s. The food was delicious; Service was impeccable. I had the quail for an entree - the flavours were matched together perfectly . The lamb was cooked a little more than medium rare but the knife sliced through it like butter. We couldn’t decide on dessert, so we ordered all 3 & shared.
That lamb we have been getting in is amazing , just like butter !! Thank your for sharing your 50th with us :)
We had a great night here. The food and wine were delicious and the service was very friendly and welcoming.
Thank you for sharing, we are all so thrilled to get your feedback ! Happy Christmas
Super friendly staff, couldn’t do enough for us. We didn’t eat but had plenty of drinks. Quick, cheerful service. We will be back!
See you for dinner next time around :) Happy Christmas
Always enjoy eating at Punch Lane
Service is great so is the food
really appreciate your support :)
Service was overdone - a bit intrusive. theendtheend
Thank you for letting us know .
Great spot for a mid-week glass of wine and snack! Cosy with great service. Excellent wine and fries were AMAZING!
Thank you very much for swinging past .... if you think the fries are AMAZING imagine the full menu ... :) Happy Christmas
So disappointing. From being ignored for a few minutes once walking into the restaurant, to the complete lack of service, forgetting some of our items and what did arrive was really average. They seemed really understaffed which is fine, but I think acknowledging that at the beginning of the night would have made us feel less “forgotten”. Given the quality of options in the city I would definitely not go back or recommend. I’m sorry.
From all of us at Punch Lane our sincere apologies for your experience, we are defiantly better than this. Please email jane at Punch Lane as we would like to make it up to you if this is of interest. All the best
Always an excellent dining experience. Wine and food superb and staff friendly and with good humour. This place never disappoints. Central location and wonderful ambience.
Thank you for your support , and I agree humour is so important , especailly over the last year :)
Service and ambiance were excellent, as was the food. The lamb was so tender and cooked to perfection and the salmon entree was cured perfectly. Could have stayed all evening, unfortunately with COVID we were restricted to a two-hour seating. I will definitely be back.
Look forward to seeing you in the near future, we are very excited about 2021 and have some new and amazing staff joining the team and we hope to keep the 26-year journey going strong!
What an absolute pleasure! Service warm & friendly, food great and ambience perfect. Looking forward to my return.
Thank you for your heartfelt words , it really means a lot especially at the moment when there is so much pressure on staff to deliver quality food and service when hospitality is under resourced with limited staff and high demand, it has certainly been felt this week so your review has a special place for all of us .
Punch Lane is always an amazing experience. The food and wine are delectable! Service impeccable with a lovely ambience to ensure your experience is complete.
Gosh !!! thank you so very very much :)
We reserved a table for 8pm but on arrive just before 8pm we were told our table wasn’t ready and to wait outside. Then at 8:18pm the waiter pointed to an outdoor sitting. I called prior and requested an indoor table which a girl confirmed and amended for me. The waiter was kind enough to get us seated indoors but we had to wait another 10 minutes. Once seated we looked over the menu and ordered by this time is was 8:40pm. Our entrees came out rather quickly at around 9pm but then we were sitting there waiting till 10pm before I asked the waiter where our main course was. I was annoyed no one came over sooner and on delivery of our main course no apology was given. We paid the bill in full but I was very dissatisfied with the service and would probably not go back.
It was disappointing to open up to your review, yes 8pm was a hectic time that evening with 3x tables arriving earlier and some earlier tables had arrived late , COVID has presented its challenges not full capacity inside , lots of outdoor seating, sanitising as well as high demand and turning tables etc. We have found post COVID, diners more than ever have got that these are unusual times and have been very understanding. We sincerely apologies for not making your night a success.
Our favorite place in Melbourne. Only go here for the best of what I consider the premium Melbourne dining. Just love the joint.
LOVE your support !!!! just amazing and much appreciated, 25 years in and humbled by your sentiment :) Cheers from all of us at Punch
One of the staff wasn’t polite when she tried to explain about the set menu requirement by guilt-tripping us by saying: “we have turned away MANY customers for this reservation/ booking system. If you want to cancel this booking, it’d be 50 dollars per person.” And proceed to continuously raise her voice into my ears for the next 2 minutes without giving me some space to speak with my friend to decide if we want to stay or leave. The whole experience was ruined with just her having a massive attitude, but also, the steak was below average. The lamb was fine however. The rest of the staff members were polite, professional, and considerate, but there’s just this one specific staff member that seems to be extremely rude to us.
Firstly my apologies for being overwhelmed and for your experience . Just to clarify we have been running a 20% of our capacity due to COVID restrictions which require either a 2 or 3 course meals as per our bookings policy hence leaving cc details to secure the bookings this is due to no shows , last min cancellations, reduced covers attending or people just booking drinks only etc. With restrictions easing we will slowly be able to get back to being more flexible with our offering.
It was a perfect Melbourne night and it was our anniversary. The services was amazing, the food wonderful and the spot under the awning on the street was lovely. The oysters, fish soup, salmon and chocolate delice were all stunning.
Thank you for sharing :) from all of us at Punch Lane
Punch Lane was absolutely terrific. The service was outstanding and the food delicious. We sat outside and it was so lovely watching people walk by.
Brilliant thank you very much :)
Very relaxing evening, very nice food. Staff were excellent & friendly. food price is very good but wine prices are way too expensive, took the edge off the night. I would go back though.
Thank you for your kind words and your support ... its great to be back :) from all at Punch
It was mostly fine. Quick service, lovely wine. Excellent salmon entree. Not great steak, but I guess you really need to go to a “steak place” for a great one.
Thank you for your feedback and for the positives , the kitchen were disappoint to read you didn't enjoy your steak and that checking the degree of cooking with a probe , resting the meat so that it is not bloody and tendered didn't translate into your experience and wasn't reflective of the attention to detail. We are please that you felt the service was quick and the wine lovely . All the best :)
Great to see these guys open again. We were really blown away by the food they made for us
Thank you soooo much.. we have been blown away with the goodwill and support we have been shown ... a match made in heaven :)
FAQs
Punch Lane Wine Bar & Restaurant offers takeaway which you can order by calling the restaurant at (03) 9639 4944.
Punch Lane Wine Bar & Restaurant is rated 4.4 stars by 94 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.