Italian Adventures @ Maccaroni Trattoria Italiana

10/16 Manchester Ln, Melbourne VIC
9090 7634

9:00am - 9:30pm Weekdays

9:00am - 10:00pm Weekends

Located in Manchester lane, Maccaroni Trattoria Italian's, to be quite frank ranks at the top 3 of my go-to places when it comes to pasta. With a vibrant and dimmed atmosphere, it's a great place to eat with a small group of friends or if you're having a date night.

It's fairly easy to spot the restaurant, as seen above, you'll be able to see the bright and attractive signs as soon as you walk into Manchester lane.

With candle lit tables, relaxing music playing in the background, and also the light-lit plant (which can be seen above), This place has a pretty nice atmosphere.

Lemon Lime Bitter ($4)

Would have been a lot more enjoyable if the restaurant had not run out of ice, which eventually resulted in the drinks becoming warmer as time went by.

(4/10)

Misto Fritto (Serving for 2) ($15)

Bolognese Arancini, spinach aracini, ascolane olives and panelle 

An interesting dish, a lot of hit and misses. The bolognese arancini was definitely the standout and probably the only stand-out, as it was crunchy and had delicious mozzarella in the center. Spinach aracini was quite average, alongside the other bite sized delights. 

(6/10)

Gnocchi Mushrooms ($16)

Small potato gnocchi with mushrooms, cream & parsley

After a long research on what to eat, I've heard constant positive reviews about the gnocchi here with many absolutely loving it. 

My review, the gnocchi was cooked perfectly and was overall quite delicious. But I felt that it was lacking in something, or perhaps i'm not much of a fan of gnocchi since it was my first time trying it. But overall, an enjoyable experience.

(7/10)

Spaghetti Carbonara ($18)

Spaghetti with egg, bacon, cream, parsley and parmigiana cheese

The carbonara was absolutely beautiful, though not the traditional carbonara it was delicious either way. The creamy sauce paired incredibly well with the spaghetti and is just delightful.

(8/10) 

Chocolate Mousse Cake 

I'm not sure what the exact name / price the cakes were as the dessert menu is separated from the main menu, but i do remember the taste so i'll base it off that.

The chocolate mousse cake was underwhelming, lacking in sweetness, I was quite disappointed as it did look pretty promising.

(4/10)

Creme Brulee Cake

The creme brulee cake was pretty good, had a distinct coffee taste which is to be expected and was quite delightful. Though it's not as good as many other cakes I've tried therefore i'll rank it on the bottom half of the ranking board.

(5.5/10)

Food - 5 / 10

Ambiance - 9 / 10

Service - 6 / 10

Total FoOodie Points - 20 / 30

 

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

Italian Adventures @ Bar Napoli (2015)

Emporium Melbourne, Level Three, 287 Lonsdale Street, CBD, Melbourne

9020 4302

10am - 7pm Sat - Wed

10am - 9pm Thu - Fri

Located in the level 3 food court of Emporium, Bar Napoli is known to serve up authentic pasta and pizza dishes that will fulfill your taste buds within the first few bites.

In terms of food courts in shopping centres, the emporium food court is probably one of the best in Melbourne. No typical fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, KFC, etc, they have takeaway joints which are on par with actual restaurants with different types of cuisines.

Gamberi Pizza ($13)

Prawns, cherry tomatoes, fontina cheese, fresh rocket, shaved grana padano cheese, E.V olive oil & vincotto

For the price of $13, you get a generous size of wood-fired pizza, with generous amounts of ingredients. The prawns were indeed fresh and delicious and the rockets worked well with every single ingredient on the pizza. It's great quality coming from a food court.

(7/10)

Real Carbonara ($12)

Real Carbonara made without cream with Guanciale instead of bacon

I've tried the carbonara here on numerous occasions, and the quality is pretty consistent. The carbonara is quite different from the ones I've tried and that's probably because it was made without cream. I'm not sure if I like this more than the ones with cream, but it's still quite delicious.

(6.5/10)

Food - 6.7/10

Ambiance - 7/10

Service - 7/10

Total FoOodie Points - 20.7/30

Italian Adventures @ Tiamo (2015)

303-305 Lygon Street,Carlton, Melbourne, VIC

9347 5759

7am - 10:30pm Everyday

Conveniently located right next to my favourite ice-cream store 'Pidapipo', We decided to dine at Tiamo before indulging on some quality ice-cream next door.

Photos are a quite poor in quality as this was a 2015 post and when I didn't have a proper camera but I can assure you the food is quite good here.

Though on entry the place itself felt quite cramped, we were seated directly next to the door which was uncomfortable because there was barely any leg space / space in general because I had to move my chair in when someone wanted to enter/exit the store. Service on the other hand was quite friendly.

 Caesar Salad ($15.50)

Cos lettuce with a poached egg, anchovies, crispy bacon and croutons topped with shavings of parmesan and served with house-made caesar dressing

Let's be frank, if you're trying to eat healthy, don't go for a caesar salad. Even though it's a salad, it's probably one of the most carbs inducing salads you'll get, but nonetheless, it is delicious. 

With whole cuts of crispy bacon, generous amount of shaved parmesan, delicious dressing and a fluffy poached egg. This was amazing, though completely ruining the purpose of a salad being healthy, it's still an amazing dish.

(7.5/10)

 

 Zucca Pizza ($21.90)

Mozzarella, roasted pumpkin, pinenuts & fetta

The pumpkin & feta combination has been a new pizza trend from what I've seen lately, and it works incredibly well. The creamy and strong taste from the feta combined with soft roasted pumpkin works well with the pizza dough.

(8/10)

Salsicce Pizza ($23.90)

Mozzarella, tomato, pork sausage, caramelised onion and rouqette

The pork sausages, pizza dough and rouqeutte worked really well together and made this pizza on par with the pumpkin and feta pizza in terms of flavour, if I were to compare, the 'Salsicce' is more savoury whilst the other is more sweet. So choosing one would depend on cravings. 

(7/10)

Food - 7.5/10

Ambiance - 5/10

Service - 8/10

Total FoOodie Points - 20.5/30

 

Italian Adventures @ Universal

139-141 Lygon Street, Carlton VIC

9347 4393

11:30am - 11:00pm Everyday

Universal has always been renown for one thing, and that's their chicken parmigiana. When I ask someone about Universal their first comment is "see if you can finish the chicken parma". It's no surprise as the portion of the parma is huge, and for the price of $14 it's definitely worth it's value.

Though i feel that Universal leans towards the cheaper prices than the taste itself as majority of the dishes I've tried here have been at an average level.

 Carbonara ($16.9)

Bacon, Egg & Cream Sauce

Generous in portion, the Carbonara in terms of taste was quite average. The sauce was too overpowering that it starts to become difficult to eat after consuming half the portion. Therefore it's a good idea to share this dish.

(6/10)


(LQ)

Chicken Parmigiana ($14) + 2 sauces ($1)

Homemade chicken breast schnitzel, with napolitana sauce, mozarella cheese, served with universal beer battered chips and coleslaw

A behemoth, a suitable word to describe the portion of the chicken parmigiana. If you're looking for something to challenge yourself with, or to simply just stuff yourself full. Then look no further if you ever come to Universal.

The parma is pretty good, though the chicken breast schnitzel has a higher batter to meat ratio but you can't complain for the measly price of $14. The sauce and cheese were delightful, chips were inconsisent with some being nice and crispy whilst the soggy being slightly under cooked or soggy.

(7.5/10)

Food - 6.75/10

Ambiance - 7/10

Service - 8/10

Total FoOodie Points - 21.75/30

Italian Adventures @ Gradi

Located in the luxurious Crown Casino, Gradi is a restaurant that offers a more casual and affordable option compared to the premium fine dining restaurant that Crown has to offer.

Whilst it isn't on par with top restaurants such as Nobu, Rockpool, etc. Gradi still lives up to its reputation and stands dominantly with their outstanding customer base.

Arancini ($6)

Crumbed rice ball made with pork sausage, peas, mozzarella heart on a spicy rose sauce

The Arancini was an delightful entree, small in quantity but it made up for the quality of the dish. The combination of the spicy rose sauce was amazing and each bite just made me want more.

(4/5)

Margherita Verace ($26)

San Marzano tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil

We chose the Margherita Verace as it we heard it was great. Sadly it wasn't as great as anticipated  and was pretty average. the mozzarella was smooth and delicious but the pizza as a whole didn't give that "wow" factor i was hoping for.
(3/5)

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara ($35)

Traditional spaghetti carbonara with egg, Italian guanciale and pecorino sardo

For the price for the dish, its safe to say that it wasn't worth at all. It was lacking in both quantity and quality and i was dissatisfied with the Carbonara. It lacked flavour and the pasta wasn't al dente

(2/5)

Carpaccio Di Manzo ($21)

Beef carpaccio with genovese pesto, croutons and cherry tomato

Another dish i had high expectations for, but sadly turned out to be something disappointing. The Beef carpaccio was lacking in flavour which resulted in the bland taste. I'm not sure if its me, but the texture was really thin which i wasn't expecting, perhaps the dish wasn't for me.

(2/5)

Food - 5/10

Ambiance - 7/10

Service - 6/10
Total FoOodie Points- 18/30 

Italian Adventures @ Vons

Today's uni-lunch break session restaurant is 'Vons'. We decided to explore Hardware Lane because we had nothing else to do and there was a lot of restaurants i haven't tried here before. 

We decided to choose this place because one of the owners approached us as we were browsing the menu stating that they had the 'Best Italian in Melbourne'. As dodgy as it sounded we decided to give it a go cause it sounded fun. The restaurant itself was completely empty and anyone who proclaims that their restaurant is the best in Melbourne is questionable in general.

 

Hand-Cut Fries ($3) & Garlic Bread ($3)

For starters we got 'Hand-Cut Fries' & 'Garlic Bread'. The chips were nice and crunchy but came in those tiny tomato sauce packets (-1 for me). The garlic bread was crispy but the garlic taste was overpowering. It was the strongest garlic bread I've ever had, had to take a mint after it so people didn't smell it :)

Spaghetti Carbonara ($10)

The main reason we decided to try this place out was because they had cheap $10 lunch specials, and as the poor university students we are, this pulled us in. I decided to go for the 'Spaghetti Carbonara'. It was pretty average, the sauce was too runny and the flavour was quite average.

(2.5/5)

Grilled Fish & Chips ($10)

My friend decided to go for 'Grilled Fish & Chips', he quoted "its alright", "needed more seasoning". I wasn't able to try part of his dish but he also stated that the "sauce wasn't the best". Overall he was unsatisfied and hoped he tried something else.

(2/5)

Spaghetti Bolognese ($10)

My other friend decided to go for the 'Spaghetti Bolognese' , he said it was too salty which killed the overall bolognese taste. There was too much sauce for his liking, overall unsatisfying for him also. He got a stomach-ache when we left the restaurant but that was probably because he managed to eat his dish in less than a few minutes. 

(2/5)

Overall, the food quality was quite disappointing. For a self-proclaimed 'Best Italian in Melbourne' there was a reason why there was no customers in the restaurant when we arrived. But this is what exploring new restaurants is all about, the good and the bad :). Won't be coming here anytime soon.

Food - 4/10

Ambiance - 6.5/10

Service - 5/10
Total FoOodie Points- 15.5/30 

 

Italian Adventures @ Wood 'n Chimney

We ventured upon Wood 'n Chimney after purchasing a $25 Groupon which consisted of an entree, 2 mains of your choice and 2 soft drinks. The restaurant is located next to Hoyts in Melbourne Central, and honestly, i rarely see customers inside besides peak hour so i was quite hesitant in trying out this place. But my uni break just started so i was in a rush to eat, so i took the gamble and bought the Groupon.

Upon entry, we were the only customers in the store, with the manager i will assume serving us. Sadly service wasn't up to par as our food was left sitting on the bench waiting to be served, but our server was distracted for a good few minutes watching soccer on the television.

 Trio Of Dips w/ Garlic Bread ($13.90)

After a long wait, we finally got our food. The deal came with a "Trio of Dips" entree. Visually, it was quite appealing, but that was all there was to it. The garlic bread and dips were nothing special, it was ordinary and quite tasteless. The salad didn't help either. There was no little to no dressing, tasteless and dry, i did not finish it.

Peri-Peri Chicken Pizza ($20.90)

mozzarella, spinach, capsicum, chicken, homemade peri-peri sauce

Clearly we weren't off to a good start, but we hoped that the pizzas would make up for it.
The first pizza we ordered was the "Peri-Peri Chicken Pizza," it just came fresh out of the wood-fired oven so it was quite hot, just the way we wanted. Overall the pizza was okay, the chicken was dry and tasteless but the other ingredients made up for it.

The Lot Pizza ($19.90)

Mozzarella, Ham, Salami, Onion, Pineapple, Mushroom, Chicken.

Our second order was "The Lot Pizza", Luckily this one was the best out of the 2 and partly made up for our disappointed experience so far. It was tasty and flavorful, though i felt like it was lacking in toppings as it was quite thin.

Overall the experience was okay, maybe less than average but it was really cheap and left us bloated. So you can't complain there since i wanted a cheap feed. 

Food - 4.5/10

Ambiance - 5.5/10

Service - 3/10
Total FoOodie Points- 13 / 30 

 

Italian Adventures @ 39+ Pizzeria

The destination today is 39+ Pizzeria. I've been meaning to try this place for a while, searching for potential places  to try out and to tick one more restaurant in the "Try everything in Melbourne Checklist". As i was craving Italian food because i haven't had in so long. i felt that after a bunch of researching, 39+ Pizzeria was the place for me.

 Collezione Bruschette w/ basil pesto, cherry tomato & Mozzarella Di Bufula & Crudaiola Pizza ($6.5)

The Mozzarella Di Bufula was the star of this dish. Simply refining, it was an great entree and made me hungrier.

Lasagna Classica ($22.5)

I rarely try lasagna when i eat out as there isn't many good joints that serve great lasagna but wow! the lasagna was the star of the show for Pizzeria 39. The dish was full of flavour, the only thing i would have been disappointed about was that there wasn't enough. Don't let the photo fool you, it may look small and unappetizing in my opinion but the taste was definitely on the spot. Surpassed my expectations by a mile!. I recommend this dish to anyone that decides to come here.

Crudaiola Pizza - Hand torn buffalo mozzarella, Prosciutto di Parma on a bed of marinated Roma tomatoes, rocket & parmesan ($26.5)

The pizza was large in portion and was generous in toppings, the pizza also came with complimentary chilli oil was a pleasing condiment. I absolutely loved the whole combination of the the buffalo mozzarella, rockets and Prosciutto di Parma. Though the letdown was that it wasn't cut properly  so the toppings was a complete mess when pulled it apart.

Overall the meal was extremely satisfying besides the post food coma, but that's okay because it was all worth in the end

Food - 8/10

Ambiance - 7/10

Service - 7/10
Total FoOodie Points- 23/ 30