Assaggini Wine Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

tl;dr - Don't go here for cocktails or service.

My partner and I visited this location because it had been described as a "new cocktail bar" in Mornington ... regrettably, we left thinking this term rather generous. On the menu there is offered a "Dirty Martini" which they make with vodka. Gin being my preference I enquired what varieties were available, and after being offer Hendrix (which is infused with cucumber and should never be used in traditional martinis with olives), I should have been skeptical. Then I was informed they had "run out of vermouth, or whatever" ... another bad sign and not only because dry martinis ought not to have but a whisper of vermouth anyway.

In the end my "martini" arrived looking like it was lemon juice (sigh), I would have been just fine with a Churchill style martini but instead what I was served was a shaken mixture of 1:1 gin and olive brine.

I was not going to say anything and chalk this up to another occasion when I simply missed the signs and shouldn't have ordered my favourite drink to begin with, but when my partner went to pay she was asked "And how was everything?" and so she told them. This then becomes the worst part, instead of offering up even a mere apology or taking any kind of responsibility, the bartender felt the appropriate response was to have a fight about how the real difference was that it was shaken rather than stirred and I should have specified ... not that the cocktail was half olive brine ... the best part being that the owner was sitting there the entire time listening to the exchange (I guess we know where the staff are taking their lead from). I would encourage anyone looking for a decent cocktail in Mornington to avoid this place and know that the only reason I have it at 2 rather than 1 star is because the atmosphere was quite...

Had the chef's menu for Saturday lunch, for $70pp +5% Saturday surcharge. We were the first in restaurant but the offer tables soon filled up. Generous portions that we were unable to finish. We had beautiful bread and evoo, olives, calamari, burrata and tomato salad and polenta chips for entrees. We're not olive people normally, I found the Smokiness a little artificial, and the olives a bit hard, would have preferred them slightly warmed. Polenta chips were nice, but came with a normal aioli instead of the smoked tomato on the menu which would have mixed it up as the calamari came with same aioli. Calamari, bread, burrata and polenta chips were all good. Mains were pumpkin risotto, lamb rump and a salad. Salad was beautiful though quite overdressed. Rump was nice and pink though at the expense of rendering off some of the fat cap which wasn't pleasant. The texture of the mashed potato was too loose, and it had the same artificial Smokiness as the olives, so much so that I thought it was parsnip mash. The jus it came with was tasty but has separated into an oil layer on top. Risotto was good and tasty but the presentation lent itself to losing its heat too fast, perhaps a deeper bowl might be a more practical alternative. Portions were generous, we were so full we had to get desert to go. Service was mostly good, water was kept topped up, they came to check in regularly and happily provided takeaway boxes with no charge so we could enjoy the food later. For the price point and the generosity of the servings, and the service we're happy, though a few improvements to the food would have made this...

Chef Tasting Special is completely truly out of the park... in the worst way possible.

We were really excited to come here because of the wind reviews and high ratings, but boy what a disappointment!

Serve 1 - Appetiser Spread... was without any creativity. Cold bread with Olive Oil (not even Balsamic), Risotto Ball was fried, Polenta Chips was fried again with a side dipping sauce. The Smoked Olives was probably the only Saviour.

Serve 2 - Entree... Fettuccine Bolognese was a turn off. I expected something "unique" from the Chef, like Angel Hair with Shrimp as an example.

I just wanted to pay at that point and leave. But the Manager came and heard our challenges and offered a chance to make amends. This was very commendable but I guess the damage was already done.

Serve 3 - Main Dish... We asked for the Pork Belly (and the Manager confirmed it, yay) but we got the Crispy Barramundi which was the other Chef option. To be honest, that dish was fair. But why confirm the choice and give us another dish? OMG.

Then right beside us was a couple who has been eating at Assaggini for over 20 times, they even complained about the food tonight. We had a bit of a laugh...that was one of the highlights of the evening.

Serve 4 - Dessert... The Tiramisu. It was good but I didn't eat it because I have lost all appetite since the end of Serve 2.

At the cashier, our bill was compensated with complimentary drinks.

Oh what a night. Hope it improves. I would love to give...