Copperwood Restaurant

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  6      Value  7     

Well after a spell overseas it was fun to get back to see some old favourites, things have changed here! It was one of our highlights so far. New decor, fabulous tapas style food and great company what more could we want. Oh yes the bill?

May 11, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  8     

This is the busiest place on Lygon street and for good reason. 5-6 visits and I find the food is relatively cheap for the ambience it provides, best described as sexy sophisticated. Pizza is great, manager informed pizza makers were brought in from italy and it shows. Their ragu is something I had never seen before, pasta with a real lamb shank....amazing.

Great place, but recommend going in a group as it is very very busy and very very noisy. One warning avoid the weekends as this is a 350 seater and it gets very loud and hectic, if in carlton well worth a visit.

Jan 10, 2012 

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  1     

The most tasteless fettuccine I have ever eaten. I asked the waitress for parmesan cheese at least four times because there was no taste. My friend hardly touched his food, and was told off by the waitress because he didn't of that.

The great irony: as we politely left the restaurant trying to hold our tongue as to how awful the food was and the disrespectful service, the waitress said 'Hope to see you again.' In hell maybe.

Jun 21, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  8     

Nice place newly renovated with a slow combustion fire in the middle and some nice interior design. I had the lamb ragu... it was beautifully cooked and a very big serve. The meat was falling off the lamb shank. My fellow diners also had great meals, marinara etc. All delicious! Give it a go for dinner with friends or a date. Great for winter.

May 31, 2011 

2 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  4      Service  2      Value  1     

This was possibly one of the worst meals I have ever had. The only redeeming feature of the meal I had here with 5 friends was the layout and ambience of the restaurant- (pleasant decor with good space) and the bottle of wine we ordered.

The service was not unpleasant and certainly the waiting staff were friendly but they were incompetent. When our order was taken we were initially impressed by the lack of noting the order down but were duly disappointed by a whole host of wrong orders when the food finally came. The staff in general also did not know how to deal with a complaint! if the food was ordered wrong or they receive a complaint of the foods' terrible quality I don't necessarily expect a replacement meal but I do at least expect an explanation and discourse with either the manager or chef to explain my grievances. A demure "sorry" from our waitress and off hand comment from her colleague definitely did not suffice.

Onto the food, I started with a bruschetta, now a traditional bruschetta consists of toasted ciabbata, topped with freshly chopped onions and tomatoes topped with a drizzle of olive oil and chopped basil (or this is how I've experienced it at most other Italian restaurants). The dish is not complicated to make and using fresh ingredients is never a disappointment. What was put in front of me was a thick doughy pizza base with a few slices of tomato on top and some olive oil. There may well have been other flavours there but quite frankly the doughiness and thus blandness of the base was too overpowering to find any other subtleties in the appetiser.

For mains I went for a Lasagna. Again a classic, well honed dish that should be consistently well produced in any Italian restaurant worth its' salt. A dish with an amalgamation of too many pasta layers, an over abundance of poor standard beef ragu, cheap rubbery cheese and a distinct lack of bechamel sauce A Lasagna does not make. Any basic Italian cookery book can provide a decent enough recipe for lasagna and I would agree that chefs deserve a degree of artistic license but when that attribute turns my lasagna into a glorified Woolworths microwave meal, the chef should think about seeking an alternative career.

As you may have guessed we did not find much reason to stay for dessert. It was not only myself that found the meal poor, not a single one of my companions finished the meal, the carbonara (again a simple dish) was swimming in a bland cream sauce, the pizza base was again too thick and doughy and the lamb shanks were cooked too quickly so that the meat was tough and not falling off the bone as it should have been.

It was an offence for us to pay what we did for the meal as the restaurant charges premium prices for quite basic food. I hope that the owner of the restaurant can take some constructive comments from the above but currently I urge restaurant goers to avoid Copperwoods if they are seeking a good quality Italian meal.

Feb 11, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

There are just so many italian restaurants along Lygon Street I could take weeks to visit each one. But this one had good reviews and considering it's been around for 50 years must be a good sign. Like most restaurants along here there's always an older Italian gent on the door trying to get you one, but we'd booked anyway.

I liked the feel of this restaurant with the tree in the middle, dark wood tables and different sections to the eating areas. We were promptly served and ordered, but thought it was a shame we spotted a specials board afterwards. The haloumi was nice if a little sparse, the meatballs were generous and tasty. We went for veal scallopini and eye fillet steak for mains, and they both came out in a shiraz jus and were tasty and filling.

It's BYO but the wine list is actually really well priced so all this cost just over $100. If I were to say one thing I'd change is the food came out really quickly so our table was turned over in less than 90 minutes. We would've been greedy and ordered more drinks/wine if we had the time to kick back and enjoy the feel of Copperwood.

I'd go back but I'd just have to try some other offerings on Lygon.

Jan 16, 2011 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  9     

I had a pizza for an entree, amazing! Possibly the best wood fired pizza I have ever had. My partner had some of the Tapas, the stuffed mushrooms were amazing, our friends had some bruschetta and arancini, absolutely spot on!

For mains, I had the pappardelle ragu. This is the first time I have ever had a pasta that has a full lamb shank in the bowl! It looked awesome and tasted wonderful! My partner had the fish which was magnificient! Our friends had a steak and a risotto for their mains. All very, very nice. Dessert was Tiramisu and Creme Brulee. Both of which were fantastic. Great wine list and cocktails were very well put together.

Apparently recently renovated, this is one of the sexiest looking restaurants I have seen in Melbourne's little Italy. The fireplace is beautiful, the iconic tree is the perfect classy chandelier, the whole effect is beautiful.

The staff and service were quite good. I had no huge issues with anything there. If anything, they were a little too attentive, but it is nice to be well serviced, and they were friendly and seemed as if they really cared! We ended up at about $70 per head given entrees, mains, desserts, a bottle of wine and a couple of cocktails. Pretty good value in my opinion!

Finally, I think you will love Copperwood. Give it a try!

Oct 16, 2010 

4 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  8      Service  2      Value  4     

Sent raw garlic bread back twice only to be told by the owner that's how they serve it! Mashed potato tasted like wallpaper paste boiled with dirty socks. I would never eat there again.

Oct 08, 2010 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  8     

I've driven past this place so many times but never been in. Decided it was finally time to have a go. I walked in and immediately noticed the beautiful decor. It gives the restaurant more of a classy feel but I would recommend it more for a group of friends/family rather than an intimate setting.

The staff were very friendly but almost forgot to bring me my water. The older man noticed nobody has brought it and ended up bringing it to me himself. The food was nice. We got the Copperwood chicken and Copperwood Veal. We were happy with our meals.

The price is just a tiny bit more than the other more popular restaurants down Lygon Street but overall I think we paid for what we ate so it was fine.

Sep 08, 2010 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

The most delicious pizza I have ever had in my whole life, with the best customer service in town.

Jun 21, 2010