What it is
Samesyn 2.0 (most people just say Samesyn) is a small restaurant at 3/24 Bell Street, Torquay's main street. It holds two hats in The Age Good Food Guide 2026, and in October 2026 it was a finalist for Regional Restaurant of the Year at the Good Food Guide 2027 awards. The winner was Barragunda Dining on the Mornington Peninsula, but being on that shortlist puts a Torquay shopfront in fairly serious company.
It's a different sort of fine dining. There are no waiters. The chefs cook, seat you, carry the plates out and tell you what's on them. The kitchen works hard to waste nothing: there's no general rubbish bin on site, only compost, recycling and a bin for oyster shells. And it's run as a profit-for-purpose business, with all profits going to Feed Me, a local charity that rescues food headed for landfill.
It's a small room. The Surf Coast Times put it at 28 seats in August 2025. There's no ocean view to speak of. People come for the food and the story behind it, not the outlook.
Photo: Bec Hudson,
used with permission 
Photo: Bec Hudson,
used with permission 
Photo: Bec Hudson,
used with permission The story
Chef Graham Jefferies opened the original Samesyn on Bell Street in late 2019, just before the pandemic, after cooking in Geelong kitchens including Pettavel, Baveras and Tulip. It picked up its first hat in the Good Food Guide in 2022, according to Visit Great Ocean Road.
Then it changed direction. A friendship with Brooke Murphy, who founded Feed Me, got Graham thinking about food waste and food insecurity on the Surf Coast, and the restaurant relaunched as Samesyn 2.0 in February 2024. Graham had interned at Silo in London, often described as the world's first zero-waste restaurant, and that thinking runs through the menu here.
The restaurant publishes what it has given away. On its own figures, Feed Me received $17,180 in the first six months of trading, $43,640 in the 2024/25 financial year and $62,840 in 2025/26, for $123,660 so far. Feed Me sells rescued food and uses the money to cook meals for local families, and Samesyn uses some of that rescued produce itself, mostly for pickling and fermenting.
What's on the menu
The idea is that every dish uses something a normal kitchen would throw out. You'll see words like "spent", "retired" and "garum" a lot. The menu changes with the seasons, so treat the examples below as a taste of the style rather than a promise.
Snacks and starters
The current menu opens with house-made sourdough and cultured butter ($13), oysters with iced fermented chilli and finger lime ($6 each) and a cheese and onion eclair ($10 each). Starters run from grilled octopus with spent citrus kosho to raw kangaroo with fermented chilli and kefir cream, mostly in the high $20s.
The mains people talk about
Instead of Angus steak, Samesyn serves dry-aged beef from retired dairy cows, with garum butter ($72 for 300g). There's also a dry-aged half Great Ocean duck ($108), Murray cod, a lion's mane mushroom main and a "spent hen and chicken" dish built around birds that have finished laying.
Tasting menu
The tasting menu is $105 a head, with supplements if you want the dairy cow (+$22) or the duck (+$26). There's a vegan tasting menu too ($99), but it needs 24 hours' notice.
How they source it
Seafood is chosen from species with a green tick from the Good Fish Project, and the restaurant says all its seafood is Australian apart from the New Zealand king salmon. Milk and cream come from Schultz Organic Dairy and the dairy products are made in-house. There's a separate wine list on the website.
A 10% surcharge applies on weekends, which the restaurant says helps keep prices down and pay award wages. All prices here are from the menu page in October 2026, and prices change.
Photo: Bec Hudson,
used with permission 
Photo: Bec Hudson,
used with permission 
Photo: Bec Hudson,
used with permission Hours and bookings
When it's open
The official contact page lists dinner from 5:30pm Tuesday to Friday, and on Saturday lunch from 12 to 2pm plus dinner from 5:30pm. Sunday and Monday aren't listed. The Surf Coast Times has mentioned extra sittings over summer. Hours change, so check the website before you go.
Booking a table
Book online through the link on samesyn.com.au, or call 0482 560 776. With a room this size, book ahead, and further ahead for a summer Saturday or a long weekend. Saturday lunch is a good option if the dinner sittings are full.
Who it suits
A birthday, an anniversary, or a night off from the kids. The website doesn't mention a kids' menu or a dog policy, so if you're thinking of bringing either, ask when you book.
Getting there from Holyday House
Bell Street is about five minutes' drive from the house in north Torquay. Street parking along Bell Street and the side streets is usually fine on a weeknight, and busier in January.
If you're planning on the wine list, leave the car at home. It's about 25 minutes' walk along the foreshore into town, which is fine on the way there, but after dinner a taxi or a sober driver makes more sense. Our getting to Torquay without a car guide has the local transport basics.
Before and after
Bell Street's compact, so you can park once. For a drink first, the Torquay Hotel is a short stroll up the street. On a long summer evening, a wander along the Front Beach foreshore before dinner is a nice way to start the night.
If Samesyn's booked out, or you want something more casual, try Surf Hotel (another kitchen with a strong low-waste bent, led by Jo Barrett) or Ela, the Greek place on The Esplanade.
Samesyn FAQ
How many hats does Samesyn have?
Two hats in The Age Good Food Guide 2026. It was also a finalist for Regional Restaurant of the Year at the Good Food Guide 2027 awards, announced in October 2026. For its 2027 hat score, check goodfood.com.au.
Do I need to book?
Yes, realistically. It's a small room. Book online via the restaurant's website or call 0482 560 776, and book well ahead for summer weekends.
Is there a vegan option?
Yes. There's a vegan tasting menu ($99 on the current menu) that needs 24 hours' notice, plus a sample vegan à la carte menu on the website.
What does "profit-for-purpose" mean here?
All of Samesyn's profits go to Feed Me, a Surf Coast charity that rescues food from landfill and turns it into meals for local families. The restaurant lists $123,660 donated to date on its website.
Is there a surcharge?
Yes, 10% on weekends, according to the current menu.
How far is it from Holyday House?
About five minutes' drive to Bell Street. Walking takes about 25 minutes along the foreshore, so most people drive or grab a lift.
This is an independent guide; menus, prices and hours change, so check Samesyn's website before you go. For the rest of the town's dinner options, see our Torquay restaurants guide. Making a weekend of it? The wineries guide and breweries guide fill in the afternoons. And if you'd like a quiet house to come home to after dinner, check dates and send us an enquiry.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on 14 October 2026. Opening hours, patrols, rules and closures change — check with the source before you go.
- Samesyn 2.0 — Samesyn
- Menu (dine in) — Samesyn
- Contact — Samesyn
- Philosophy & Impact — Samesyn
- The Samesyn Story: A Foodie Journey in Torquay — Visit Great Ocean Road
- Torquay's Samesyn 2.0 turns food waste into fine dining — Surf Coast Times
- Gourmet at its finest — Visit Great Ocean Road
- Introducing the winners of the 2027 Good Food Guide Awards — Melbourne Food and Wine Festival