lagata

6.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  4     

Looks as good as sister restaurant Pendolino's, but unfortunately not as tasty. Go for the pizza and the dessert (the donut!) but avoid the cocktails: we had 3 and each was disappointing. The mains were small and ordinary - I had the lasagne which reminded me why I stopped eating lasagne. The other mains were equally forgetable. We ordered a salad which was not required since each of the mains had a salad - but this wasn't listed on the menu nor did the waiter did give us a head's up. Otherwise the service was cheerful and efficent with an authentic Italian accent to boot.

Aug 01, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  8     

Once you get to the door, don't be put off by the decor, the musty-smell, the RSL look; keep walking to the dining room towards the back to eat some of the yummiest Japanese food in Sydney. When we got here at 6.30, the place was empty bar a few stragglers. That soon changed and we realised how lucky we were to grab a table without a booking. Sashimi, tofu and tempura highly recommended.

Apr 10, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

The Lygon St cafe used to be a must-stop every time I was in Melbourne. It was sooo Italian, the suited staff, the range of cakes and beautiful breads, the hustle and bustle of the crowd. But slowly, slowly it's losing it's sheen - the food is not quite as good as it was before, yet the prices have climbed. I had the arancini but it was dry and tasteless. The citrus-ricotta sweet I eat every time I'm there, is not quite what it used to be. The coffee hasn't changed, but then it was never as good as it should've been. The bread though is still sensational.

Apr 10, 2011

7.8 Recommended

Drinks  7      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  8     

You can't book here but we turnd up at 8.30 and were seated immediately. Ordered the pasta with zucchini and it was great - hand-made pasta, simple flavours, just what the doctor ordered. A lovely looking room, very Italian waiters. Will return.

Apr 10, 2011

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  9     

Wonderful coffee! I order a black with milk on the side and never has it tasted as good as it did in this place. My fried ordered the toast and she is still raving about the bread and the 5 spreads she got with it (and 5 spoons and she used every one!). As the name suggests, the place is small and intimate, cosy, and perfect for starting the day. If only I lived in Melbourne.

Apr 10, 2011

6.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  4     

Looks as good as sister restaurant Pendolino's, but unfortunately not as tasty. Go for the pizza and the dessert (the donut!) but avoid the cocktails: we had 3 and each was disappointing. The mains were small and ordinary - I had the lasagne which reminded me why I stopped eating lasagne. The other mains were equally forgetable. We ordered a salad which was not required since each of the mains had a salad - but this wasn't listed on the menu nor did the waiter did give us a head's up. Otherwise the service was cheerful and efficent with an authentic Italian accent to boot.

Aug 01, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  8     

Once you get to the door, don't be put off by the decor, the musty-smell, the RSL look; keep walking to the dining room towards the back to eat some of the yummiest Japanese food in Sydney. When we got here at 6.30, the place was empty bar a few stragglers. That soon changed and we realised how lucky we were to grab a table without a booking. Sashimi, tofu and tempura highly recommended.

Apr 10, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

The Lygon St cafe used to be a must-stop every time I was in Melbourne. It was sooo Italian, the suited staff, the range of cakes and beautiful breads, the hustle and bustle of the crowd. But slowly, slowly it's losing it's sheen - the food is not quite as good as it was before, yet the prices have climbed. I had the arancini but it was dry and tasteless. The citrus-ricotta sweet I eat every time I'm there, is not quite what it used to be. The coffee hasn't changed, but then it was never as good as it should've been. The bread though is still sensational.

Apr 10, 2011

7.8 Recommended

Drinks  7      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  8     

You can't book here but we turnd up at 8.30 and were seated immediately. Ordered the pasta with zucchini and it was great - hand-made pasta, simple flavours, just what the doctor ordered. A lovely looking room, very Italian waiters. Will return.

Apr 10, 2011

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  9     

Wonderful coffee! I order a black with milk on the side and never has it tasted as good as it did in this place. My fried ordered the toast and she is still raving about the bread and the 5 spreads she got with it (and 5 spoons and she used every one!). As the name suggests, the place is small and intimate, cosy, and perfect for starting the day. If only I lived in Melbourne.

Apr 10, 2011

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Ordered a croque monsieur imagining, a golden, pan-fried, buttery delight. But instead got a jaffle. Disappointed. Please can you put jaffle in brackets on your menu, so those like me who are treating themselves on a long-weekend are not let down. Also shared the french toast which was soggy!Huge disappointment! Lastly shared the poached pear which was very nice albeit small. Actually everything is small here! The coffee was OK, should be better (you have some very nice sugar though.)

Apr 10, 2011

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  6      Value  10     

I stopped ordering lasagne in Australia years - actually decades - ago. I ordered one at Pellegrini's last Saturday and a week later, I'm still dreaming about it. Love this place, love the non-service, the 1980s decor (decor may not be the right word), the Italian-testosterone-fuelled banter at the counter. It is unique, and I suspect a spit-and-polish would ruin it. The only thing that could've improved it: a glass of red with my lasagne. Oh, and the recipe would've been good too.

Apr 10, 2011

7.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  7     

I agree with most of the comments regarding the food, the corn on the cob is sensational, ceviche was lovely, the pork belly tasted like reconstituted beans and I don't like beans! We even tried the tongue, which was pretty good. We came out really, really full but I suspect we ordered way too much. And that would be my only complaint about the place - the waiter should have warned us, but perhaps he'd rightly picked us as 2 greedy little pigs from the outset. The place has great atmosphere, but the best thing about it is the service. The staff are amazing. First they remembered us as we were lining up at the door - (after an earlier, brief exchange - amazing to witness for us Sydney-ites where attitude is king), then, on discovering my mate's knee injury, the waitress swiftly swapped our position at the bar with a table allocated to other diners - we didn't have to ask; then the most attentive, charming, helpful waiter,(who even went and looked up a book when we enquired about the cheese! OK, he might've been making up the book thing, but he did come back with information!) Even waiting for a table was not too painful. 30 mins on a Wed night, which gave us just enough time to decide what to eat. If we could bottle up this level of service and transplant it to Sydney it would be a very good thing indeed.

Apr 10, 2011

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

There is a note on the menu, something along the lines of "my mother's food is not like your mother's food.." And very true this turned out to be - Hellenic Republic's greek food is better that my mother's (sorry mum!). Even the spanakopita, so rare to find one that matches the quality made by my extended family (if you ignore the evil dill that is..) The grain salad was a particular favourite, I could eat this every day and I suspect inspired by the koliva you get at Greek Orthodox churches. One disappointment: the fried eggplant. Not only that it was bitter and undercooked, it was more the way staff handled the return of the dish to the kitchen. The waitress quite graciously took it away, later returning with the same 3 slices she took away. (3! Did they think we were trying to scam another 2 slices of eggplant?). The eggplant, now correctly cooked was still bitter and the skin was so thick and chewy, it obviously hadn't been road-tested by the chef. The waitress said she'd return to check on it, but didn't ask until after the bill had been paid (with the eggplant still on it) and I was out the door. My friend told her it was fine, but she was only being polite. So that bit of eggplant - meanness, is my lasting memory of Hellenic Republic.

Apr 10, 2011

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

There is something about this place that I just like, even though staff were surprised we were ordering mains, even though they failed to inform us that most of the menu was unavailable due to a change in menu the next day. Which is Ok for people like me who will eat anything, but others in my group struggled to find something to eat. Service was friendly and fun. Great ambience. Really nice set-up, there are lots of interesting things around to look at. I would like to return, don't know if I can persuade my friends though.

Dec 24, 2010