Christmas lunch in Melbourne

[skillsandtea]

We are going to Aus for the first time in Dec and will have Christmas Day in Melbourne, NYE in Sydney. I am sooo excited. It will be the four of us and very good friends - another family of four. I have been tasked with sorting a lovely Christmas lunch and I like the idea of the cliche BBQ on the beach. My questions are:
How easy will this be to do?
Which beach would be best?
Could I arrange for someone to do the actual BBQ for us?
Will it be ridiculously hot?
Would it be better to scrap that completely and go to a nice restaurant, on the beach?

Any suggestions/recommendations very gratefully received!

It will be really hot but it sounds like a great idea - maybe plan to only have a couple of hours outside and then have somewhere you can crash and escape the heat? Disclaimer: I'm from Perth so can't comment on Melbourne but I'd imagine it's pretty similar. But I've always loved our hot Christmases!

It might be hot, it might be 16 degrees. One year we lived there it hailed. It's Melbourne, it really is impossible to plan this far in advance! More likely than not it will be decent weather temperature wise at least, and it is less likely to be ludicrously hot than later in the summer but Melbourne's weather is famously random.

Where will you be staying?

We've never done a park/beach bbq ourselves but from what I know it's likely that the bbq's will be claimed quite early, so if you're happy to spend the day there that should be fine but you probably can't arrive at 1pm and expect to find one. The blog post below links a couple of sites for finding public bbqs

www.weekendnotes.com/melbourne-public-barbeques/

Where you're staying and how long you're prepared to devote to the day probably dictate where's best, more than anything else.

We've done a Christmas Day bbq in Fitzroy Gardens before and that was very quiet. We had family over from the States and they ordered some stuff from David Jones in advance (cold meat platters etc), and I believe we contributed dessert, but it's a while ago now!

www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-26/christmas-day-hail-storm-hits-melbourne/3747854

Thank you both for your replies. Very useful. We haven't thought about where we are staying yet. I guess somewhere central so that we can access/visit places with ease. I didn't realise there could be a variation in temperatures. Always assumed December in Melbourne would almost be unbearably hot. I'll have a look at the links to get ideas. Are there any beaches that we should actively avoid?

To be fair, I've just looked back at the last 5 years and the lowest Christmas Day high, if that makes sense, was 20 degrees, highest 36 so from a temperature perspective it should be fine. One of them had thunderstorms, think the others were OK but can't remember for sure. Perhaps we just lived through a particularly variable period!

In terms of which beach, well it depends a bit on what you want. As I said, we never did a beach Xmas Day but did live there for 6 years. I'd have thought St Kilda would be pretty busy, so if you want lots of company and atmosphere that would probably be your best bet but probably a lot of competition for the bbq areas. There are a few public bbq areas in St Kilda so it might be that you could use a quieter one and then head to the beach afterwards.

What are you looking for in terms of do you want quiet and chilled out? Picturesque? Busy party place? Will you swim or mostly just hang out and possibly paddle?

From what I'd expect, St Kilda would probably be a bit busy for me, for example, although I'm just guessing!

Thank you @tentative3. I think we're looking for somewhere quieter so will probably avoid St Kilda.

Hi skills, we are also going to Melbourne for Christmas !!
Staying with family though so will be having Christmas dinner at home so can't really help you with your question but was excited to see someone going to Melbourne at Christmas.

Have you been before?

We never did a BBQ for Christmas, but The Brighton Baths restaurant did a smashing New Year dinner so I'd give it a thought for Christmas. Lovely views and lovely food.

I'd have a look at Cerberus in Blackrock too. Great food and views, but not sure if they do Christmas lunch.

Oh, and be sure to go into the CBD to see the Christmas secs. The town hall on Swanson always looked great!

@bimbobaggins and @Scotinoz thank you for your replies. I thought this thread had dropped off and I forgot to check back! I have never been to Oz before and am so excited. Really need to start putting my plans/itinerary in place. It's exactly 4 months until we go. Thank you for your Christmas lunch suggestions. I will definitely have a look at that.

I'd probably plan something down the Great Ocean Road or rent a big house, we spent 3 years in Melbourne and Christmas was never even hot!

I think guaranteeing a BBQ spot on Christmas Day would be REALLY hard unless you arrived at 6 in the morning. I would book a nice beach restaurant.

Ok I think I'm giving up on the idea of BBQ on the beach on Christmas Day and moving on to a fabulous restaurant but still on the beach or at least a fantastic sea view. I've had a look at the Brighton Baths which does look good but seems more cafe style than luxury Christmas lunch. Or is that the general style of beach restaurants? Does anyone have any recommendations?

The restaurant upstairs at the Brighton Baths is super nice, and very much restaurant rather than cafe. There is a cafe downstairs though.

Can't really think of other beach fronted restaurants. Depends where you want to go I guess

Do give up on the BBQ idea. If it's a hot day outdoor BBQ will be banned. It's called a total fire ban and they are very common in summer. It's to stop bushfires. I grew up and lived in Melbourne for 31 years. You could get a v hot day or a v cold day. I agree perhaps preordering good from David Jones, but I'd prob book a nice restaurant and go to the beach afterwards. The old Stokehouse in St Kilda would have been brilliant. It burnt down, but there were plans to rebuild in its original position - you could check that out.

Donavans in St Kilda?
Cerberus in Blackrock?
Vue du Monte in the CBD? Not beach view, but excellent views.
'Celeb' chef restaurants? Grossi Florinti was good. George Calombaris' was too.

Cafes and bakers are often open on Christmas morning. Walk along the beach then a coffee is pretty good!

I recommend breakfast on the beach on Christmas morning.
We gofor Bucks Fizz, smoked salmon croissants, etc but whatever feels luxurious to you but is easy to assemble.
Of course you have to wear Santa hats/ reindeer antlers/ Xmas T-shirts and take lots of cheesy photos.
Plan to be off the beach before noon to avoid the strong UV and the crowds.
Then shower, change & off to lunch. If you want to be near the beach, the restaurants will have a casual look but great food & wine, like Brighton baths as PP recommended.
Then back to the beach late afternoon when the crowds & UV have subsided.
Word of warning, the TV stations go into a sort of caretaker mode over Xmas & New Year, no Christmas specials etc, in fact the programming is much worse than usual as no-one is watching. So if your Christmas evening will involve being home while little ones sleep, download lots of Christmas movies and provide your own Christmas TV.
Due to the long, hot days is won't naturally feel like Christmas at all. I wasn't joking about the Santa hats, etc and ideally squeeze some folding paper Xmas decorations into your luggage or buy some when you arrive. You need to actively make it Christmassy as much as possible.
You also need to book your accommodation sooner rather than later, especially NYE in Sydney within walking distance of Fireworks viewing.
I would go for serviced appartments rather than hotels so that you can assemble simple meals/picnics rather than eating out all the time, with a washing machine too.

Great advice @imip thank you! @Scotinoz @MargaretRiver will sit down and go through your suggestions. Thank you all for taking the time to reply with lots of info. This is trip has been a long time coming for us and I want it to be really special. Want to do so much but need to make sure it's all quality not quantity!

I'm assuming you have booked your Sydney accommodation by now? Sydney on NYE is ridiculously expensive if you want to be anywhere central. I love the fireworks but generally we have only gone into the city when we have had tickets to private functions or access to offices with views.

@ToesInWater no accommodation booked at all yet but my husband has contacts in services apartments so I'm hoping he can sort that!

Williamstown beach is nice and less popular for tourists than Brighton or St Kilda. Nice serviced apartments in Willy too and some great restuarants.

Altona beach is also fab, huge and plenty of spaces, with some great cafes but less nearby accommodation.

We were in Melbourne for Christmas Day a few years ago. At the time there was a total fire ban across the state so no BBQS were allowed, even on the beach.

The time we went, Christmas Day was very hot - about 38 I think. We didn't feel like eating anything but the people we were staying with did thd whole traditional most turkey and trimmings. I would have preferred salad!

On New Years Day it was about 15 degrees and pouring with rain. Going outside was horrible.

Book Sydney ASAP.

stokehouse.com.au/melbourne/ are open again but who knows if they will open for Xmas lunch? Lovely food and lovely setting.

Thanks everyone! Ooh @StUmbrageinSkelt that restaurant looks fabulous. Looks like they're not booking in Christmas Day yet but I'll email them anyway.