Italian Adventures @ Pellegrini's Espresso Bar

66 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC

9662 1885

8:00am - 11:30pm Everyday

You don't find any classic Italian style restaurants nowadays, as most restaurants aim to go more a modernized look and atmosphere. 

But that's an exception for Pellegrini's Espresso Bar, because from just looking at the store outside, with it's cozy atmosphere that will make you feel like your in Italy.

You can really tell this store has been here since 1954 and has almost remained unchanged with its old classic interior which takes you back a few decades in the past.

To be honest I was really confused about how the ordering system worked, upon entering we weren't greeted so we just awkward stood at the entrance before deciding to just sit at one of the stools.

What disappointed me about this place is one of the waiters here, we were served by a waiter and he gave off a rude vibe and it felt like he didn't want to be there. But the owner on the other hand, though we weren't served by him, we could tell who he was by his bright personality as he was very talkative to the other customers.

Anyways, ordering was really confusing as we ended up figuring out that the menu is actually on the wooden board hanging from the ceiling, but luckily we did our research so we already knew what to get.

 Lasagna ($19)

Classic, home-style Lasagna, obviously the presentation from Pellegrini's doesn't have much effort put in we were hoping the flavour would make up for it. 

To be honest, it was good, but it wasn't anything superb. I felt the Lasagna was lacking in actual cheese instead of the Parmesan added on top of it, the dish was a bit too salty for my liking and to be honest wasn't quite worth for $19. 

(6/10)

Spaghetti Bolognese ($19)

The Spaghetti Bolognese was pretty average, generous in portion, it lacked in flavour and didn't taste as great as other bolognese dishes I've had before. The store doesn't actually show how much the dishes cost so we were quite surprised to find out at the end that the dishes were $19 each. 

(6/10)

Also to mention that they provide complimentary bread with butter which is a plus. Though the quality was inconsistent with my bread being quite dry whilst my friend had soft and fluffy bread.

Sadly it just wasn't worth for the price as we can easily find better restaurants elsewhere.

Food - 6 / 10

Ambiance - 6 / 10

Service - 3 / 10

Total FoOodie Points - 15 / 30