Totti's Lorne — Restaurant in Lorne

June 2023: Service: very friendly and non intrusive. We ate there on Kings' birthday long weekend, so many staff had been shipped down from Sydney, luckily to cope with the crowds.

Atmosphere: reminds me of eating in Italian restaurants of the 1980s, so a little odd, but it works well. Went there as a couple, but we got put with families with young kids on three sides, which was strange and disappointing. We'd prefer to be sat away from young kids.

Food: bread as a starter was delicious served with octopus and peppers, both of which were great. Main dishes of pork schnitzel (crunchy and huge) and XO sauce prawns with procuitto. Prawn dish had no procuitto, so that was false advertising and had too much XO sauce, so I would not recommend it. Broccolini was tasty, and duck fat potatoes were great, but there were too many to get through for two people. It's a shame that the steaks cost a minimum of $129 for 800gm. It would be good if there was an affordable steak on the menu in the $40-$50 range.

Too full to order dessert, but we saw a tiramisu and some of the gelato dishes, both of which looked great.

Next time: fewer starters and mains to save room for dessert.

Overall, room for improvement but a nice night out. Very busy place!

January 2024: All food was amazing. Learnt from our mistakes the first time and did not order potatoes! Pork schnitzel still great and lamb ragu parpadelle was delicious served with a side of the broccolini. The bread with the peppers and octopus was very nice, though the octopus was a little tough Will definitely return.

July 2024: Our waitress seemed too busy a lot of the time taking to other tables to serve us and take our drinks order so the entree came and I had to demand that she being our wine ASAP which was a bit frustrating. Other than the waitress the food was great as always but the starter of zucchini was a bit underwhelming and would be better served as Grilled. The broccoli and walnut pasta was fantastic. The pork cotoletta amazing as always and served with the radicchio and persimmon salad, it was perfect 👌.

September 2024: Another great experience. Dishes all very large. Could barely finish the meal. Will order less next time.

January 2024: Had the most wonderful experience at Totti's this month. We were seated in the bar area which is much quieter and had a starter of the roasted peppers and the lamb ragu pappardelle pasta both of which were amazing. For mains we had the pork cotoletta with sides of pesto zucchini and butter lettuce. The zucchini was great and very tasty but the lettuce salad was quite small, but still tasty. Shared a bottle of pinot noir and had a great evening. Can't wait to return in a few months.

April 2025: Another fantastic meal with timely service. This place has the best ragu pasta by far. Broccolini is now served coveted in some yoghurt sauce so ask for it in the side to avoid disappointment. Will be back soon.

May 2025: Another amazing meal. Table of 4 and ordered the bread, peppers, king fish, pasta, lamb parpadelle, pork schnitzel, chicken, whiting, etc. All so tasty except the chicken was odd and we wouldn't order rid again. Needed to be crispy or better cooked as it was underwhelming.

June 2025: Fantastic food, great service and wonderful atmosphere. Ordered the whole king George whiting which was super tasty again along with the lamb backstrap special which was delicious. The lamb ragu parpadelle had a distinct lack of lamb to normal which was disappointing. Ordered the house Totti's sangiovese which was a lovely light red but good depth. Can't wait to return. We asked waiter to request the kitchen offer half servings of the bread as a whole bread between two is too much in our view. Let's hope the kitchen listens!

September 2025 Ordered peppers and octopus for starter, both were great. Didn't order bread which still continues to be too big for 2 people and has increased in price to an extortionate $19! What a rip off. For mains, had the king George whiting and pork cotoletta and both were lovely with...

My wife and I were excited to try out Totti during our visit to Melbourne from Canada, as we had heard positive reviews from friends and online. However, our recent lunch experience at the Lorne location left much to be desired.

Let me start with the positives – the food was decent overall. We had a set meal that included pasta (choice of 2), chicken, fish, potatoes, salad, and dessert. The pasta and potatoes were delicious, but unfortunately, the fish was bland, and the dessert was underwhelming. Any satisfaction from the food was overshadowed by the disappointing service, which ultimately impacted the entire experience. I will try to briefly summarize below:

1. Upon arriving on time for our reservation, we were not immediately seated as one of the tables were not ready. It was nice that a staff member asked for our drink orders while we waited. We ordered a bottle of wine, but were provided with water glasses instead of wine glasses, and we never received our bottle of wine until after we got seated.

2. It was weird to be restricted to a set menu ($85 or $105 menu), especially for a group size like ours. The staff's explanation of how the portions of pasta, fish, and chicken would be divided among our two tables was unclear and inefficient. For example, one table would receive two plates of pasta to share while the other table received only one plate. Splitting the items into four plates for each table would have made more sense.

3. Food came out really slow. We had placed our order around 3pm but didn't finish until around 6pm. I'm not sure if this was intended or not, but for all other customers to be aware of.

4. A couple of people in our group had dietary restrictions, including my wife who was pregnant. After relaying the restrictions to the staff member, he made remarks that were off-putting.

5. While I understand a 10% gratuity for parties of 8 or more, the level of service we experienced did not justify the additional gratuity. Basic serving etiquette like using the correct drinking glasses, understanding the menu, pouring the wine for customers and not reaching over a person's shoulder while pouring water would go a long way.

For larger groups, I recommend being aware of the gratuity structure in advance, especially if dining on a public holiday or Sunday as it automatically adds to the 10% surcharge included.

I am usually willing to give second chances, but until Totti improves its service, especially for larger groups, I find it challenging to recommend this...

My partner and I visited Totti’s Lorne to celebrate his birthday, choosing the restaurant for its reputable name and coastal location. We noted the birthday in our booking under “special occasions,” and upon arrival, we were asked again if it was a special occasion. However, there was no acknowledgment of it at any point during our meal from the waiter serving us.

Trying to stay positive, we overlooked the lack of enthusiasm in the service at first. Our waiter seemed disengaged and uninterested when taking our order. As it was our first time dining at Totti’s, we asked for recommendations but received indifferent, one-word responses. The food arrived at a reasonable pace, but the manner of service was unusual — the waiter reached over my shoulder from behind the bench seat to serve our dishes instead of approaching from the side, which felt careless and against basic etiquette. After our mains, he abruptly cleared the table, scraping the paper tablecloth and leaving our drinks scattered.

The food itself was average and did not live up to the restaurant’s reputation, aside from the wood-fired bread, which was excellent. The lamb special was overly smoky, the kingfish crudo with orange and fennel was served at room temperature, the roast potatoes were unsalted, and the tiramisu was overwhelmingly strong.

Toward the end of the night, it took multiple attempts and nearly twenty minutes just to pay. We had to flag down staff twice — ten minutes to get the bill, and another ten before the EFTPOS machine arrived. When the waiter finally brought it over, he said only, “thank you, sir,” placed it on the table, and walked away immediately after payment without a farewell or acknowledgment. No one greeted us when we left, which felt dismissive and disheartening. We couldn’t help but notice he interacted far more warmly with other tables. Given that my partner and I were among the few Asian diners, we couldn’t ignore the possibility of discrimination, especially after reading other reviews describing similar experiences.

TL;DR: Disappointing overall — inattentive service, average food, and no greeting when we left. The experience fell far below expectations for a restaurant with Totti’s reputation. Not worth the...