Bar Bianco — Restaurant in Melbourne

We had an evening at Bar Bianco, sadly, for the price of $260 for two, it is one we regret.

Here is why: The online booking form: ‘is it a special occasion?’ to which we answered ‘yes, it’s a birthday’. Other eateries we’ve been to acknowledge the message with a little something extra like a candle sitting amongst the ‘petit-four’ for example or just a flower to make it 'special'. Bar Bianco: niente, nothing, zilch, not even asking ….. clearly a management issue. Drink for starters. We order Prosecco from Italy. It arrives in glasses; it was not poured at the table so we could see the label of the bottle it came from. It could have been anything …. Wine. We order wine by the glass. A Bordeaux from France. It arrived in a carafe, again not poured into the carafe at the table as it should be. We again could not see the label of the bottle. The wine was below standard we expected, so it could have been some cheap plonk or “Chateau Incognito” from anywhere. Food: • Entrēe: Calamari Fritti, Lemon + Herbs, Smoked Paprika, Aioli or simply, Calamari, fried. The chef must have poured a whole packet of salt on them. The salt was overpowering any flavour the calamari might have had. We kept soldering on, thinking the flavour would improve. A mistake. • Bread: Baker Bleu Bread, Olive Oil + Balsamic – superb. • Mains for Madame, Tartare di Manzo, Beef Tartare, Quail Eggs, Black Garlic. Superbly flavoured and perfect 10/10. • Mains for me, Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu Pappardelle, Pecorino served in a bowl with fork and spoon. The lamb was well cooked, in a tomato-type sauce - which I could not desipher - sitting with flat very wide pasta strips, the length of spaghetti. Pasta is al dente. The dish has absolutely no flavour, zero taste, like coming out of the water. Even ground pepper could not enhance this serve. Again, kept soldering on, thinking the flavour would improve. A mistake. • Desert: for Madame, Coconut Panna Cotta, Mango + Mint Salsa, Roasted Coconut. Superb ! • Desert: for me: Dark Chocolate Cremoux, Chocolate Sable, Mixed Berries. The Chocolate base was as hard as a rock with some Raspberries, smothered in Raspberries sauce so sour it killed all other flavours there might have been. Again, kept soldering on, thinking the flavour would improve. What a mistake, I had the sour taste in my mouth till the next morning. It was a shocker! • Service: Our table was attended by a young Italian, here in Aus on a working visa. His service was very attentive and also very discreet, as it should be. A true professional who knows what he is doing ! I take my hat off ! • Atmosphere: the place is well fitted-out, has a good atmosphere and is small, which is what attracted us.

If it wasn't for the waiter, this place would deserve a 0 star as it turned out an evening spoiled and...

I was going to try to write a review but in the end I thought it would be better to publish the response from the management and let you make up your own mind.

All I will say in summary, is the management's response to raw "cooked" pork and dry raw fish was "we were busy" which by the way, they were not.

Hi, you requested feedback prior to publishing a review. The main issues we experienced were as follows:

• The Staff were great. • The Spaghetti Vongole were very good, although it seemed to be packet pasta and not homemade. Please correct me if I am wrong. • The Cured King fish were dry around the edges – very poor • The Cotoletta di Mailale, besides being a crumbed pork chop with a little bit of fennel and orange on the side was raw around the bone (about one centimetre of meat) – not acceptable. • The Lasagna Genovese, plonked on a plate with no presentation and totally lacking flavour. • The Salad, about 10 - 12 leaves which were too big put in one’s mouth but no utensils to cut it. The dressing was very good.

Frankly, we considered the overall standard of the food was deplorable for an above average restaurant, but Bar Bianco is not supposed to be above average, it is advertised as “the essence of Italy” and priced way above average.

I am not sure when the chef last ate an authentic Italian meal, if ever, but in Italy bread is provided with the meal, the food is fresh and flavoursome.

For the record, all four guests were from Italian heritage, and we holiday throughout Italy regularly. We know Italian food.

I don’t normally provide feedback or write reviews for restaurants but this time I believe it must be done.

I hope this helps.

-----------------------REPLY-------------------------------------

First of all we are deeply sorry if your experience wasn't at higher standards. At Bar Bianco we always aim to give the best possible Italian experience to each person coming into our venue. We have now taken into consideration each of your feedback regarding food and we will discuss this with our kitchen staff in order to improve presentation e preparation of each dish mentioned above. Usually those dishes are highly appreciate by our clientele, I believe that they were not at the higher standard most likely for the busy services that we encountered over the weekend, but this is no excuse. We appreciate your feedback regarding our staff members, I personally feel very lucky to have such a great time giving their best to make feel patrons at home during their staying with us. And we have appreciated your feedback overall. We take feedbacks from customers very seriously because we believe those are one of the best tools for us in order to improve and grow as a company. We hope to see you back at Bar...

Choosing Bar Bianco for our wedding welcome party was one of the best decisions we made. From the moment we stepped through the doors, we were greeted with exceptional service that truly made us feel special. The team at Bar Bianco went above and beyond to ensure that every aspect of our event was perfect.

First and foremost, the customer service at is unparalleled. Every member of the staff was attentive, friendly, and accommodating throughout the entire evening. It was clear that they genuinely cared about making our experience memorable, and their professionalism truly shone through.

The food, wine, and cocktails served at were nothing short of outstanding. Each dish was expertly prepared with fresh, high-quality ingredients, and the flavours were absolutely exquisite. The wine selection was impressive, offering a variety of options to suit every palate, and the cocktails were crafted with care and precision.

Davide the manager was an absolute dream to work with, ensuring that every detail was taken care of and going above and beyond to accommodate our needs. His professionalism, attention to detail, and warm hospitality truly made our experience unforgettable.

Overall, we cannot recommend Bar Bianco highly enough to anyone who appreciates fine food, wine, and warm hospitality in a chic setting. Whether you're hosting an intimate party or simply looking for a memorable dining experience, Bar Bianco is the perfect choice. Thank you to Davide and the entire team for making our evening so special. We can't wait to...