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6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Rossini is a well-established Malvern institution, and can be busy even when other restaurants nearby are quite quiet. It's status as such is definitely reflected in the prices! The front room, although quite congested, has a good atmosphere, but the back room is very ordinary. Nevertheless, this doesn't seem to deter the Malvern-ites.

The food is reliable with a good choice of pastas and pizzas plus the usual Italian mains. On one visit, we had the salmon with pesto and roasted vegetables and the gnocchi with four cheeses sauce (very rich!). On another occasion, we had a vegetarian pizza and the vegetarian lasagna. All these offerings were good, and the serves were generous, too.

The service is pretty slick. The wine list is adequate, but as with the food menu, it's on the pricey side for what you get, so take advantage of the ability to BYO.

May 16, 2012

6 Average

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  4      Value  6     

Walking in off Greville St, Prahran, you might be in a Parisian Bistro. The wait-staff all look and sound French, the decor is appropriate and menu certainly has all the classics. However, in spite of the fact that the reviews are mostly pretty good, we felt that this restaurant fell short in some respects.

The wait staff seemed to have been selected for their ability to speak French rather than do the job, the wine was amateurishly poured and was spilt, there was some minor confusion over one aspect of our orders, our routine allergy issue seemed to cause confusion, the refill of water didn't arrive and the coffees turned up over an extended interval. Perhaps, we just encountered a night when there were some relatively new staff?

My French onion soup was fine, but there were some grumbles about the bisque (too thin?). A comment was made about one of the duck dishes to the effect that it could have been cooked a little less, and about another that it could have been cooked a little more.

On the other hand, my seafood gratin was fine, and there seemed to be no complaints about the steak from the other end of the table. The side serve of beans was a little light on for what we paid, although the mains had generous portions. The food and wine prices were in line with what you expect to pay these days. The wine list had a good selection, including French wines, at various price points.

May 11, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  8     

Given the location, when friends suggested we eat here, we had visions of a pizza establishment. But we were pleasantly surprised because it's much more than this. My gnocchi was excellent, and I'm told the other pasta dishes were good, too. The service was friendly and efficient, and the prices reasonable.

Apr 20, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

The food here is described as “Modern Italian”, and we were impressed. We shared some primi dishes, and followed this by mains such as the suckling lamb, the hapuku and the steak. I think every member of our group was satisfied. The service was very good, the room is pleasant and the wine list offered a reasonable range. But this quality doesn’t come cheaply!

Mar 30, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  6     

A fascinating venue with a number of nice areas, including a courtyard. We went for dinner as a member of a group. The dinner deal is that you get 3 courses for a fixed price (apparently cash only), and you BYO wine. There isn't a big range to choose from, but the menu apparently changes regularly and would cover most tastes. Not cheap, but we thought it was worth it so long as you had all 3 courses.

The asparagus entrée and eye fillet were both impressive, and other members of the group were happy with their choices, too. We had drinks beforehand in the courtyard, which set a nice tone for the evening. The service was good all night.

Mar 18, 2012

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Rossini is a well-established Malvern institution, and can be busy even when other restaurants nearby are quite quiet. It's status as such is definitely reflected in the prices! The front room, although quite congested, has a good atmosphere, but the back room is very ordinary. Nevertheless, this doesn't seem to deter the Malvern-ites.

The food is reliable with a good choice of pastas and pizzas plus the usual Italian mains. On one visit, we had the salmon with pesto and roasted vegetables and the gnocchi with four cheeses sauce (very rich!). On another occasion, we had a vegetarian pizza and the vegetarian lasagna. All these offerings were good, and the serves were generous, too.

The service is pretty slick. The wine list is adequate, but as with the food menu, it's on the pricey side for what you get, so take advantage of the ability to BYO.

May 16, 2012

6 Average

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  4      Value  6     

Walking in off Greville St, Prahran, you might be in a Parisian Bistro. The wait-staff all look and sound French, the decor is appropriate and menu certainly has all the classics. However, in spite of the fact that the reviews are mostly pretty good, we felt that this restaurant fell short in some respects.

The wait staff seemed to have been selected for their ability to speak French rather than do the job, the wine was amateurishly poured and was spilt, there was some minor confusion over one aspect of our orders, our routine allergy issue seemed to cause confusion, the refill of water didn't arrive and the coffees turned up over an extended interval. Perhaps, we just encountered a night when there were some relatively new staff?

My French onion soup was fine, but there were some grumbles about the bisque (too thin?). A comment was made about one of the duck dishes to the effect that it could have been cooked a little less, and about another that it could have been cooked a little more.

On the other hand, my seafood gratin was fine, and there seemed to be no complaints about the steak from the other end of the table. The side serve of beans was a little light on for what we paid, although the mains had generous portions. The food and wine prices were in line with what you expect to pay these days. The wine list had a good selection, including French wines, at various price points.

May 11, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  8     

Given the location, when friends suggested we eat here, we had visions of a pizza establishment. But we were pleasantly surprised because it's much more than this. My gnocchi was excellent, and I'm told the other pasta dishes were good, too. The service was friendly and efficient, and the prices reasonable.

Apr 20, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

The food here is described as “Modern Italian”, and we were impressed. We shared some primi dishes, and followed this by mains such as the suckling lamb, the hapuku and the steak. I think every member of our group was satisfied. The service was very good, the room is pleasant and the wine list offered a reasonable range. But this quality doesn’t come cheaply!

Mar 30, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  6     

A fascinating venue with a number of nice areas, including a courtyard. We went for dinner as a member of a group. The dinner deal is that you get 3 courses for a fixed price (apparently cash only), and you BYO wine. There isn't a big range to choose from, but the menu apparently changes regularly and would cover most tastes. Not cheap, but we thought it was worth it so long as you had all 3 courses.

The asparagus entrée and eye fillet were both impressive, and other members of the group were happy with their choices, too. We had drinks beforehand in the courtyard, which set a nice tone for the evening. The service was good all night.

Mar 18, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  5     

A group of us had Saturday lunch here. It was a warm day, so the atmosphere was very pleasant. We liked the careful attention to detail in the meals, and appreciated some of the interesting flavours. However, some of the serves were certainly small. No, it's not cheap, it's quite expensive in fact (this depends on the number of course you have, 2, 3 or 4. No doubt Sage would justify this by the effort they put into preparing the food.

Perhaps, because we discussed the food with, and gave some feed-back to, the wait-staff, we got good attention, so no issues in this regard from us.

Mar 15, 2012

5.8 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  5     

Acceptable pasta but not really memorable, good service. Very limited selection of wines, but redeemed slightly by the fact that the house wine is Jacobs Creek. Prices no bargain, but this is The Rocks so tourist prices apply! Go next door to Guylian for a chocolate fix dessert.

Mar 15, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

Great location on the foreshore. We were there on a weekday at lunchtime. One of us had the harpuka on risotto and the other had a Caesar salad. Both were fine. Service was prompt and efficient. Prices reflect the location, so no bargains here!

Mar 15, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

You might not think so, given the name, but this is a Thai restaurant. However, it also operates as a cafe during the day-time, so, perhaps, that's the reason for the name! We haven't tried the coffee, but on both the evenings when we went, the food met all our expectations. On our first visit (on a weeknight), things were pretty quiet and the service was efficient.

Our second visit was on a busy Saturday night and every table was taken so not unexpectedly the room was a bit noisy and the service a little stretched (but it still coped reasonably well). However, the quality of the food on this occasion was still good.

Mar 15, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

The food was fine and the service was good. You can BYO wine, which suits us. Gungahlin isn't the trendiest part of Canberra, but once you're inside the restaurant, you don't have to worry about the world outside!

Feb 11, 2012