Ember & Ash

Book now

Bookings open a month ahead and the good tables go quickly. Reserve online in under a minute, or call the room if you would rather talk to a person — someone is by the phone from 15:00 every day we are open.

Reserve a table

Opens our booking page in a new window.

Large groups

Seven or more sit at the long table beside the fire. Call the room and ask for Marco — we will talk through a set menu and hold the whole end of the room for you.

Walk-ins

The bar and the two window seats are held for walk-ins every night. If the calendar looks full it is still worth trying your luck at 17:30.

Prefer to call?+61 3 9042 1188

We answer

Mon–Thu 17:30 – 22:30
Fri–Sun 12:00 – 23:00

Getting here

122 Rathdowne Street
Carlton North VIC 3054

Tram

Route 96 to Stop 20, then a three-minute walk.

Parking

Unmetered street parking on Fenwick and Newry Streets after 18:00.

Access

The dining room and bathrooms are step-free from the Rathdowne Street entrance.

Get to know us

Who are we

Marble table set with a burrata plate, a negroni and a pomegranate spritz in afternoon light

We are a small crew of cooks, growers and stubborn romantics who care more about the plate than the presentation. Elena opened the room in 2019 with one wood oven and a short list of suppliers she trusted. Very little has changed since — we still write the menu the morning it is served, and we still keep the last table free for whoever walks in.

Read our story

In the press

“A room that knows exactly what it is, and cooks like it.”

Good Food Guide, 2026

“The lamb shoulder is worth the tram ride from anywhere in Melbourne.”

Broadsheet

“Carlton North’s best argument for eating out on a Tuesday.”

The Age

Negroni Hour

A hand lifting a negroni over a sunlit table beside a carafe of orange wine

When

Every Friday & Saturday, 17:00 – 19:00

Where

In the restored cellar bar, downstairs

The pour

Campari, a Melbourne gin and the sweet vermouth we barrel-age upstairs. Six dollars off the list price. No bookings — first in, best seated.

Off menu this week

Split marron grilled over coals with burnt butter

Marron over coals

$52

Two only each night, driven up from Warrnambool on Friday morning. Burnt butter and lemon.

Freshly shucked oysters on crushed ice with a wedge of lemon

Coffin Bay oysters

$6 ea

Shucked to order, dressed with burnt-butter vinegar. Available while the tide allows.

Order online

From the pantry

Bottle of Ember & Ash extra virgin olive oil

House olive oil$32.00 AUD

Jar of Ember & Ash slow-cooked tomato sugo

Tomato sugo$14.00 AUD

Smoked chilli oil$18.00 AUD

Shop the pantry

Cook's note

Ciao amici!

We press the oil, cook the sugo and pack every jar in the same kitchen we cook your dinner in. Nothing leaves here that we would not put on our own table.

Elena