The Q Train Melbourne: A scenic lunch experience
THIS Q Train Melbourne lunch trip wasn’t recent. April 2025, to be precise, but I would place this experience as one of the most memorable wedding anniversary celebrations in my life – far to go to a decade, still.
Since I moved to Australia in 2021, I’ve heard about the luxurious multiple-day train trip across the four cardinal edges of the continent, such as The Ghan or the Indian Pacific, where you can enjoy a quiet trip with chef degustation sessions, an open bar with good wines and spirits, and some stopover activities in several iconic but remote regions. However, emphasising on the ‘luxurious’ and ‘quiet’ parts of the trip, they’re indeed too costly as a holiday option at this moment. And as someone who was born in the Kalimantan (Borneo) Island, I’m too familiar with the quietness of nature, a jungle outskirt, in my case. The Q Train service offers a fraction of those experiences, a scenic trip and a full set course of lunch with delicious local beers or wine on top from across the southeastern part of Victoria.
It ran out of seats so fast as it only has limited space and usually takes a couple of weeks for maintenance shutdown, and we were lucky to secure our spot with shuttle service included around two months before.
The Q Train trip starts at Drysdale near Geelong, and you practically have three options to reach there. Aside from driving yourself, you can take a shuttle from the CBD – like we did, or pre-extend your journey by taking a ferry from Docklands to the Geelong Port. Everything was sorted in one go with a neat time management, because our driver waited and took up a couple of passengers in Geelong as well.
Arrived at Drysdale
Everyone was welcomed with the red carpet, an individual photo session in front of the train’s branding, and a variety of refreshment beverages.
It was a warm – or hot for us Asians – afternoon, and I was glad to pick a pint of local beer as the welcome drink. It was delectable! Later I learned that it was from Bells Beach Brewing that I kept ordering during our lunch.
Lunch on the train
The train wasn’t even in motion yet. A basket of bread, cured butter, jamón, and pickled olives was served not long after we were escorted to our table. Within the next 60 minutes, we realised our suspicion was right; this was going to be a lengthy lunch. The kind where you didn’t just eat to get full or replenish yourself, a concept that still feels virtually novel to me.
Still having time before the trip commenced, I walked around curiously. The Q Train basically has two seating classes: the communal dining area and the first-class cabin for a maximum of four people. It has a large window with a small-sized curtain, a small painting on one side of the wall, and maroon-coloured seats matching the curtains. You can easily notice that the interior was intentionally kept that way as part of the unique selling point. It adds to the vibe of a legacy from the past.
Two dishes were served during the first leg of the trip to Queenscliff Station. One of them was ‘just’ cheese and sliced heirloom tomato, and we were surprised that this seemingly simple dish could be so refreshing and perfectly prepare us for what was coming next.
The one and only stopover: Queenscliff
We had a 30-minute stopover at Queenscliff, but all we could do, or even think of doing, was … watch a steam locomotive fuming and crawling forward at an almost theatrical pace. I’m sorry, I genuinely have no explanation for it. 😅
All the sense we got was that Queenscliff is a beautiful, quiet countryside.
Resuming lunch on the train
We devoured the final main course and a portion of dessert on our way back to Drysdale. This also included a glass of locally crafted cola and another pint of beer – see? I loved it.
It was a really lovely three-hour lunch on a train that wasn’t really transporting you anywhere 😂, the lunch experience was its main destination, and we immediately thought it would make a great activity for when our parents visit from overseas.
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The Q Train website: theqtrain.com.au
