Correction (1 October 2026): an earlier version of this page listed five dessert places (Red Depot, Wagtail, Sol, Press and The High Union) with addresses, opening hours, prices and seat counts that we could not find at any source, and claimed we had eaten at every dessert spot in the CBD. We could not find any of those five trading as a dessert venue at the addresses given. The page has been rewritten from scratch: every place below was checked against its own website or ordering page on 1 October 2026, every price was copied from its own menu, and every address was confirmed at a second, independent source.
Dessert in the CBD is a late-night sport. Korean bingsu on Lonsdale Street, Japanese-style ice cream on Bourke Street, a Sydney cake house on Queen Street, gelato down Hardware Lane, cream sponges on Swanston Street. Several are listed as open until 10pm or later, so dessert after a show is a real option.
Every entry below is read like a spec sheet. The build: what the menu says is in it, at the listed price. Mess forecast: low, medium or high, worked out from the build (a mountain of shaved ice with two sauces is high; a slice of sponge is low), never from eating it. Order: one menu pick to start with. Prices are what each venue publishes; counter prices can differ.
The quick picks
| If you’re after | Head to | Order | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korean shaved ice | Sulbing | Injeolmi bingsu | $19.90 |
| Japanese-style ice cream cake | Kōri Ice Cream | Hōjicha Hazelnut Cake | $85 |
| A showpiece celebration cake | KOI Dessert Bar | Strawberry Lychee celebration cake | from $75 |
| Gelato you can carry | Piccolina Gelateria | Tartufo | $16 |
| A whole sponge to share | Miilk Cake Studio | First Love | $59.95 |
| Thai-style bingsu | Homm Dessert at Heart | Mango sticky rice bingsu (What’s On’s pick) | not published |
Sulbing — 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Bingsu is Korea’s shaved-ice dessert: a mound of fine, snowy ice buried under toppings. Sulbing’s Lonsdale Street menu badges the Injeolmi as its signature. The build: injeolmi powder (roasted soybean flour), rice cake and almond slice, $19.90. The Tiramisu bingsu is $25.90: cocoa powder, parmesan cheese, caramel sauce, chocolate flakes, a coffee shot, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and a piece of tiramisu cake.
Mess forecast: medium for the Injeolmi (powder travels), high for the Tiramisu.
Order: the Injeolmi, $19.90. It is the cheapest bingsu on its menu and the one the shop calls its signature.
Kōri Ice Cream — 392 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Japanese-inspired ice cream, scooped beside a Bourke Street car park (the What’s On guide’s description). The flavour list leans hard on Japan: Hokkaido Cheesecake, Caramel Purin (purin is Japanese crème caramel), Genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice), Black Sesame, Miso Banana Caramel. Seven flavours carry a (VG) tag for plant-based, including Yuzu, Fuji Apple and Matcha Pistachio. We couldn’t find scoop prices on its website; the ice cream cakes are priced. The build: the Hōjicha Hazelnut Cake is $85, the Mango Cheesecake $75, the Strawberry Shortcake $80, and the Good Fortune Ice Cream Cake $88.88.
Mess forecast: low. One flavour, no sauce mountain.
Order: the Hokkaido Cheesecake flavour, which Kōri’s own flavour page calls a best-seller. Take the Hōjicha Hazelnut Cake ($85) if you’re feeding a table.
KOI Dessert Bar — 100 Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000
The Sydney dessert house’s Melbourne flagship, in the Queen & Collins precinct. It is walk-in only, with no reservations, per its own page. The City of Melbourne’s What’s On guide names the strawberry lychee as the store’s best-seller. The build: the Strawberry Lychee celebration cake runs from $75 to $175 depending on size, for click-and-collect (order before 5pm, collect the next day). The Pandan and Strawberry Japanese chiffon cakes are $90 each, and the Dubai Dream celebration cake runs from $85 to $150.
Mess forecast: low. It’s a whole cake you collect and take home.
Order: the Strawberry Lychee, from $75. The What’s On guide also mentions “a classic Basque”.
Piccolina Gelateria — 43 Hardware Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000
Italian-style gelato with three new specials a week, according to its own site. Hardware Lane is one of four Piccolina shops in the CBD; the others are at 274 Swanston St, 32 Degraves Street and 68 Bourke Street. The site lists the Hardware Lane shop as open every day from 12pm until late. The gelato cakes are priced online. The build: the Tartufo, $16, is hazelnut gelato and chocolate gelato around a soft chocolate-sauce centre, dusted in Dutch cocoa, and serves one to two. The Il Gelato Sandwich is $20, the Bombe Alaska Mini $39 and the Tiramisù gelato cake $45.
Mess forecast: low for the Tartufo. For any gelato cake, the shop asks for no more than about 30 minutes from shop to freezer.
Order: the Tartufo, $16. It serves one or two.
Miilk Cake Studio — 166 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Sponge cakes with South-East Asian flavours, and the online menu sells them whole. The ordering menu’s “Ready To Go Size” feeds about six to eight and is in store daily. The build: First Love, $59.95, is a strawberry sponge with lychee cream and lychee jelly. Ube Cloud, $59.95, is ube (purple yam) sponge with ube curd and ube-infused cream. The Triple Matcha Chiffon is $69.95, and the Miilk Cloud, a cotton cheesecake (the light, jiggly Japanese style) with Miilk’s own cream, is $59.95. Flying solo? The brownie slice is $9.90.
Mess forecast: low. It’s a cake box.
Order: First Love, $59.95, for a birthday that needs a cake tonight.
Homm Dessert at Heart — Shop GD071, Melbourne Central, 211 La Trobe St, Melbourne VIC 3000
A Thai dessert cafe with two CBD addresses on its own stores page: Shop GD071 in Melbourne Central at 211 La Trobe Street, and 23 Red Cape Lane in the QV precinct, at the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston streets. Its original shop at 294 La Trobe Street is no longer listed there. The City of Melbourne’s What’s On guide points to its Thai tea or mango sticky rice bingsu, and Japanese milk bread with pandan kaya dip. The build: Homm’s own menu page says new menus are on the way and publishes none for now, so there are no items or prices here.
Mess forecast: high for the bingsu, as with any shaved-ice mountain.
Order: ask what’s on today; What’s On’s pick is the mango sticky rice bingsu. Check the price at the counter.
Quick answers
Which dessert places in Melbourne CBD are open late?
On 1 October 2026 the City of Melbourne’s What’s On listings showed Kōri Ice Cream on Bourke Street open until 10.30pm Sunday to Thursday and 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and Sulbing on Lonsdale Street until 10pm Sunday to Thursday and 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Piccolina’s own site lists its Hardware Lane shop as open every day from 12pm until late. Hours change, so check before you head out.
Where can I get Japanese desserts in Melbourne CBD?
Kōri Ice Cream, 392 Bourke Street, scoops Japanese-inspired flavours such as Hokkaido Cheesecake, Caramel Purin, Genmaicha and Hōjicha, and sells ice cream cakes from $75. KOI Dessert Bar, 100 Queen Street, lists Pandan and Strawberry Japanese chiffon cakes at $90 each for click-and-collect.
Are there vegan desserts in Melbourne CBD?
Yes. Kōri Ice Cream marks seven plant-based flavours with (VG) on its flavour page, including Dark Chokorēto, Yuzu, Fuji Apple and Matcha Pistachio. Piccolina marks some gelato flavours GF/V*, made with gluten-free and dairy-free ingredients, though it warns they may contain traces of gluten and dairy.
Where is KOI Dessert Bar in Melbourne, and can you book?
KOI’s Melbourne flagship is at 100 Queen Street, in the Queen & Collins precinct. Its own page says walk-in only, no reservations. Celebration cakes can be ordered online for click-and-collect, from $75 for the Strawberry Lychee.
What is bingsu, and where can I get it in the CBD?
Bingsu is a Korean dessert of finely shaved ice piled with toppings such as fruit, red bean, rice cake and ice cream. Sulbing at 168 Lonsdale Street starts at $19.90 for its signature Injeolmi bingsu, and the City of Melbourne’s What’s On guide points to Thai tea or mango sticky rice bingsu at Homm Dessert at Heart, which has a shop in Melbourne Central.
How we checked
On 1 October 2026 we read each venue’s own website, menu or ordering page and copied every item and price exactly as printed: Sulbing’s CBD menu PDF (the file is dated October 2025 and is the one its site links for the Lonsdale Street store), Kōri’s own site and flavour page, KOI’s Melbourne click-and-collect shop, Piccolina’s own site and online shop, and Miilk Cake Studio’s ordering page and stores page. On 2 October 2026 we re-checked Homm’s stores and menu pages, which had changed, and updated its entry. We confirmed every address at a second, independent source, mainly the City of Melbourne’s What’s On listings, plus DoorDash and Halal Food Melbourne for Miilk. Opening hours come from the venue’s own site where it publishes them, otherwise from What’s On, and are named as such. We did not use delivery-app prices or star ratings. The photos are illustrative, from Unsplash: they show the kind of dessert, not the venue’s own.
Seen something out of date? Email [email protected] with the page link and what has changed, and we will check it again.
Sources
- Sulbing: sulbingcafe.com.au, Our menus and the Lonsdale Street menu PDF; address also at What’s On Melbourne
- Kōri Ice Cream: kori-icecream.com.au, store locator and signature flavours; address also at What’s On Melbourne
- KOI Dessert Bar: Melbourne flagship page and Melbourne click and collect; address also at What’s On Melbourne
- Piccolina Gelateria: piccolinagelateria.com.au, our stores, gelato and the Tartufo; address also at What’s On Melbourne
- Miilk Cake Studio: ordering menu and its stores page; address also at What’s On Melbourne, DoorDash and Halal Food Melbourne
- Homm Dessert at Heart: our stores and menu page; Melbourne Central address also at What’s On Melbourne
- Late-night dessert round-up: What’s On Melbourne, After dark dessert bars
