Group Dining & Banquets in Richmond

Group dining in Richmond covers everything from a long table booked at a regular restaurant to a full private function room with its own menu and minimum spend. Southeast Asian food suits group dining particularly well, since so much of it is built around shared plates rather than individual mains. This page is a general guide to how banquets and function bookings work in Richmond and Melbourne more broadly. We are an independent guide and do not run or book functions ourselves.

Banquet menus versus set menus

A banquet menu is usually a fixed, multi-course sequence of shared dishes chosen by the venue or agreed with the host in advance, designed to come out in waves rather than all at once. A set menu is similar but simpler, often just two or three courses per person with limited choice within each course. For Southeast Asian food specifically, a banquet format tends to work better for groups, since it lets the kitchen plan around curries, rendang-style dishes, noodle dishes and rice in a sequence that makes sense, rather than trying to time a dozen individual orders at once.

Private dining versus a long table in the main room

Not every function needs a separate room. Many Richmond restaurants will set up a long table in the main dining area for groups of eight to twenty, keeping the booking simpler and usually cheaper than a private space. True private dining, a separate room or a section closed off from the rest of the restaurant, generally becomes relevant above twenty to thirty guests, or for events where privacy matters more than the size of the group. Private rooms typically come with their own minimum spend and sometimes a room hire fee on top of the food and drink bill.

Minimum spends and deposits

Most venues set a minimum spend for function bookings, a total dollar figure the group needs to reach across food and drink, rather than quoting a strict per-head price upfront. If the group's order comes in under that figure, the difference is usually charged anyway. A deposit, commonly a percentage of the expected total or a fixed amount per head, is standard practice to secure the date, and it is worth asking exactly what happens to that deposit if numbers drop closer to the day or if the event is cancelled entirely.

What to ask before booking a function

• Is there a minimum spend, and does it include drinks or only food?
• What is the deposit amount, and under what conditions is it refundable?
• Can the kitchen accommodate dietary requirements across a shared banquet menu, and how late can those be added?
• Is there a time limit on the room or table, and what happens if the event runs over?
• Does the venue allow outside additions, such as a cake or decorations, and are there fees attached?
• Who is the point of contact on the day, and how are last-minute changes to guest numbers handled?

Typical costs

Banquet-style function menus in Melbourne have generally sat somewhere in the $65-$120 AUD per person range as of 2026, depending on the number of courses and whether drinks packages are included, though this varies a great deal by venue and by what is included. Treat any figure you see, including this one, as a rough starting point rather than a quote, and confirm current pricing directly with the venue before committing a group to a date.

Gifting a function or a group meal

If you are organising a function as a gift, a milestone birthday or a work celebration paid for by one person on behalf of the group, it is worth checking the venue's policy on gift cards and vouchers being applied to a group booking, since some venues cap how a single voucher can be used against a larger bill. Our guide to restaurant gift cards in Melbourne covers what to check on a voucher before relying on it to cover part of a function.

Finding a venue in Richmond

Richmond has a genuine spread of restaurants suited to group dining, from the casual share-plate spots along Swan Street to the more considered dining rooms that have opened along Bridge Road in recent years. Our guide to Richmond's dining precincts runs through the main strips and what each is known for, which is a reasonable starting point if you have not settled on a venue yet. Once you have a venue in mind, the actual booking should go directly through them: our guide to booking a restaurant in Melbourne covers what to expect from that process, including deposits and cancellation terms specific to larger bookings.

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