Massimo Restaurant & Bar
Massimo Restaurant & Bar things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
Description
Ratings
Posts
We dined at Massimo on a Sunday evening and had a wonderful dining experience from the moment we entered the venue right through until the time we "rolled" out and can easily say that it was the best dining experience we had during our stay in Brisbane. We were warmly greeted by the lovely Priti and were taken to our table that was overlooking the Brisbane River and Storey Bridge on a gorgeous Brisbane night. Both Priti and her colleage Abbie looked after us for the evening and were very friendly, attentive while being non-intrusive, were well versed with the menu, offered recommendations and ensured that our drinks were always full. Service-wise, absolutely flawless and really made our night all the more enjoyable. Ambience-wise, the restaurant was brightly decorated with tasteful decor with a light, vibrant, Mediterranean vibe. You could have through you were sitting at an Italian seaside trattoria. With a gentle breeze on a lovely Brisbane evening and enough of a buzz to know that the restaurant is busy but quiet enough to have an easy conversation it was a really pleasant place to be. Now foodwise, this place was just wow! For entrees, we started with the sand crab cavatelli with white wine, garlic, lemon and cherry tomatoes and the scallop risotto with nduja, ricotta, evoo and chilli. The sand crab meat was sweet, very fresh and there were generous portions of meat. The pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce was well balanced in terms of being quite rich but not overpowering the freshness of the crab. The dish was very satisfying, well balanced with flavours and hearty. Presentation-wise the dish looked so cool when it arrived with the big crab shell sitting on top of the pasta. The scallop risotto was really out of this world and hands down one of the best risottos that we have ever eaten. There were 5 plump, juicy, perfectly chargrilled scallops sitting on top of a generous serve of the most delightfully flavoursome, perfectly cooked risotto that had a very pleasant spicy kick from the chilli. Generously sprinkled with nduja crumb that added an extra flavour dimension to the dish it was for me the standout dish of the evening, which is not to discredit the other dishes as they were all wonderful as well. For mains, we ordered the pollo alla forno (baked half-chicken glazed with burn onion sauce) and the Massimo veal cutlet with sides of sauteed creamy parmesan peas and spinach and chips with pecorino and truffle aioli. The chicken was well cooked, very tender, juicy and combined well with the gorgeous burnt onion sauce. For a half chicken, this was really a really generous portion (or it must have been a very big chicken). The veal cutlet was also very satisfying (and filling) with a huge cut of juicy, thick veal coated in a lovely crunchy parmesan crumb, topped with a rich napolitana sauce and cheese. The sauteed parmesan peas and spinach may not have looked particularly attractive but it was delicious and moreish. Don't judge it until you try it. For dessert, we forced ourselves to order the limoncello semifreddo and had absolutely no regrets. The dessert was light, sweet (but not too sweet), very delicious and surprisingly refreshing so it was really a wonderful way to complete our evening. So a very big thank you to Priti, Abbie and the rest of the Massimo team for providing us with our best dining experience while we were in Brisbane. Priti, bless you and we hope that your little one arrives safely in a couple of weeks.
Rod TeoRod Teo
00
I held my birthday celebrations at Massimo on the weekend and I had the most amazing experience! The staff provided the most exceptional customer service, the lunch could not have gone any more seamless and perfect. From the moment I started enquiring Ruffa and Janet the ladies I spoke to were so accommodating and polite. On the day I stepped into the restaurant and was greeted by two beautiful ladies who were a pleasure to deal with; Janet and Joice. My table was setup so elegantly, I was able to bring some decorations with me that matched so well and popped them on the table, it looked absolutely amazing. Where do I get started on the food, every fine detail was noticed and the exquisite aromas and flavours that these dishes possessed were sensational. The timing of the courses was on point, the ordering was seamless and made so easy. The lovely waitress; Thais serviced the table and made everyone feel comfortable and had everyones glass full. We didn’t want to leave as we felt so welcomed and looked after. The event was made so special because of Massimo, the staff and food. Thank you and your team for making the celebration so special and amazing. Massimo truly will hold amazing memories for me, this could not have been more perfect. Thank you! Look forward to coming back and seeing you all soon.
Monica GregoryMonica Gregory
00
Being a pretty busy day of the year, I had planned ahead and booked a table for two at this Italian Restaurant. Having seen pictures on social media and lots of positive reviews on various websites, we thought we would be in for great experience 👌🏼 . The night started off with an unexpected queing up outside the restaurant 🤔 "Weird?", we thought but proceeded to join the line and wait to be seated. Our seating was booked for 7:30pm, however, we ended up standing outside the venue (along with everyone else) for nearly half an hour, waiting to be let in to be seated. Surely a luxury dining venue could organize/plan better than this? If we wanted to be seated at 8pm, I would have booked for then or if the venue couldn't keep up with pace with the previous intake of customers, a polite call or message to let us know they were running late would have been appreciated (I tried to call the venue while waiting in line to see if they could explain why we were all standing there for so long staring at a seemingly 3/4 vacated restaurant but the phone went straight to a voice message stating too busy to answer) 🤷♂️ . Anyhoo, with that side, we were finally in and seated and ready for the night's set menu. We were greeted with our glasses of Champagne and then the first course of Natural Oyster - it was simple, fresh & tasted nice with the accompaniment of the vinaigrette 👍🏼 . Our next course was supposed to the Wagyu Bresaola with toasted focaccia but due to the busy-ness of the evening they brought out the following dish of Kingfish instead of the Bresaola. Had to tell them we hadn't had the Bresaola yet, so they took the Kingfish back and eventually brought out the Bresaola. This had a strong meaty flavor to it, simple but tasted solid 👍🏼 . After that, out Kingfish Carpaccio came out. Thinly sliced Kingfish with a zesty taste served with a slice of crusty bread. Next was the Bug Spaghetti. Deep flavour to the sauce, pasta cooked nicely al dente, the caviar wasn't really strong tasting but with the Moreton Bay bugs, it went well 👍🏼 . Final main meal was the steak. We really liked this one - cooked nicely, still pink/red in the middle and very tender. The mushrooms accompanying the steak were really yummy to! Definitely the best dish of the night! 🥳 . Then the last dish came out - cheese, fruits and a puff pastry & Vanilla custard dessert. Wifey liked the cheeses and I smashed the puff pastry 👌🏼 . All in all the food here was okay, not sure if it lived up to all the wonderful reviews I had previously read. The steak was by far our most liked dish for the evening, maybe a non-Valentine's Day experience would have been different 🤔 . The service was good, in the fact the staff are all very polite and friendly. However, the organisation/managing of the evening just seemed to fall short of expectations for me from what I'd expect of a venue that pride's itself as a luxury dining experience. The fact our table (along with a few others that we observed) was not served certain dishes from a set menu for the evening, seemed to indicate they didn't know which table was served what yet? Also the whole waiting outside to be let in with no explanation or apologies was really unexpected 🤷♂️ . Probably an unpopular opinion but I am going to say it was an okay venue, with friendly staff but it was just a let down by the overall managing/organisation of the night. (And no, I didn't voice the concern on the night - as I did not think it would add any value nor improve the situation anyway) 😶 . Anyway, hopefully everyone had a great Valentine's day 🥳
Eric LamEric Lam
00
The entrees tonight were good, we enjoyed the entrees the most out of the three courses, they were delicious. Seafood cioppino main, which two of us ordered, the seafood was cooked nicely, except the mussels were a little under done, the sauce was ok it tasted a lot like sea water, there were subtle flavours there but it just wasn’t very good, sadly, wouldn’t order this again. Gorgonzola gnocchi was lovely. Zucchini fritters were ok, the thicker cut ones were better. The deserts were ok. The service tonight was odd. We had at least three servers, although they were nice and friendly, we found them to be unprofessional, one server told us that he had been pulled away to serve his boss’s friends table.... We were told at the beginning of the service that we ‘had a booking for 1.5hrs, and that they were going to have a busy night ahead’. Although this is said with a smile on their face, this is a very unprofessional thing to say to customers. I wonder if this is how the servers choose to greet everyone at Massimo. I think if we had one server rather than 3, perhaps there wouldn’t have been a longer wait time between entrees and mains and then our meal would’ve been completed within the 1.5hr timeframe. 15 or so minutes before our booking was up we made our dessert and coffee orders. Coffee didn’t arrive. Still eating dessert we were given our check and also asked to move/leave, we told the server to give us a few more minutes to finish our meal. Asked for the check to be altered as we hadn’t received the coffees. We had only gone over the booking time by a few minutes at this point 🤔. Our server told us her start time (same girl that took our coffee/dessert order and presented the check with the added cost of coffees that weren’t received) and that she didn’t know what was going on, this is the kind of information that is inappropriate to tell customers, as an excuse for the pressure they feel for moving people on when the booking time is up. Not in a hurry to return to Massimo, poor dining experience really. Perhaps management at Massimo needs to focus on service, considering extending seating time to 2hours, or increasing their staffing?
Carley TownshendCarley Townshend
00
Was there on May 4th 2024 in the afternoon. I've had lunch there before, which was quite lovely, but today we got their Pronto banquet, and we were very disappointed. All pictures were taken before we even start eating. Tiny oysters. Both focaccia and Calamari were too salty, and calamari was only a small serve for 2 people. Only 4 tiny slices of steaks for main as shown in the picture, each piece was about thumb size. And the iceberg salad wasn't even chopped into smaller pieces, while dressed with too much vinegar, which makes the flavor horrible. Paccheri was slightly under cooked to both of us, and they're an Italian restaurant where we didn't expect such a mistake to happen. Service was good, so still gave 3 stars, plus I enjoyed the dessert. But I've tried many other banquets all around, and so far this is the most disappointing one, which was a huge shame, since normally these menus were designed to introduce the restaurant to new customers, but not to push re-visiting customer away. My advice is that, since there are table salts, and all dishes comes with loads of sauce already, the chef should stop pre-salting the food, as it's really too much and covers the true flavour. Also, the table was only tiny, so you should choose plates which is not overly big for the table, since the food portion wasn't even that big, hence I don't know why you even need a plate as wide as a football field? Anyway, I probably should have give the feedback while I was there, but I didn't quite have a chance as it would have been awkward if I'd bring it up. Hopefully they will see this and make some changes.
Lee ElwynLee Elwyn
00
Our second time dining in for the banquet successfully met our expectations. A few months ago, we enjoyed a $54 lunch banquet that was top-notch, so we opted for the $82 banquet tonight. The service, food, and atmosphere exceeded what you would expect from an Italian restaurant in the city. ❤️❤️ When people ask me where they should go for dinner, I always recommend this place, and they always return with a smile. The focaccia, as everyone says, is exceptional. It pairs well with any side dish, but I particularly loved it with the whipped ricotta. My friend enjoyed it with the prosciutto and even mentioned that she usually doesn't like oysters, but the ones here were delicious. The only downside was that the main dishes were served all at once. Three out of four of them (cavatelli marinara, pollo al forno, and chips) are best enjoyed hot. It would have been better if they were served one by one since each dish was quite substantial. This might have been because the restaurant was closing soon, but it was still around 8:50 PM. Additionally, the waitress handling our payment seemed a bit stressed when I asked to split the bill. As a hospitality worker myself, I understand the restaurant was busy, so it wasn't a big issue, though it could have been handled a bit better:)
MarinaMarina
00
Nearby Attractions Of Massimo Restaurant & Bar
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
Queen Street Mall
Uptown
QueensPlaza
MacArthur Central Shopping Centre
Museum of Brisbane
Story Bridge
W Brisbane
King George Square
Captain Burke Park

Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
4.7
(4.9K)Click for details

Queen Street Mall
4.4
(4.6K)Click for details

Uptown
4.2
(3.6K)Click for details

QueensPlaza
4.3
(2K)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Massimo Restaurant & Bar
The Pancake Manor
Betty’s Burgers
Opa Bar & Mezze
Maru Korean Restaurant
Vapiano Albert Lane
Story Bridge Hotel
Cloudland
Felons Brewing Co
GRECA
Riverbar & Kitchen

The Pancake Manor
4.0
(2.9K)$$
Click for details

Betty’s Burgers
4.7
(1.6K)$$
Click for details

Opa Bar & Mezze
4.8
(1.5K)Click for details

Maru Korean Restaurant
4.2
(1.7K)$$
Click for details
Reviews
- Unable to get your location