Bar Carolina — Restaurant in Melbourne

Bar Carolina is a contemporary Italian restaurant located on Toorak Road in South Yarra. Upstairs you will find their rooftop sibling venue @tettodicarolina. 🇮🇹

We visited for their “La Bella Vita” special, a $20 authentic Spaghetti Carbonara available before 2pm on weekends only. If I had that weekly, it would indeed be a beautiful life. 🥹

⭐️ Spaghetti Carbonara - perfect flavour, creamy, crispy guanciale. 10/10 dish I’m obsessed. ✔️ Half Shell Scallops, Garlic Butter ✔️ Mushroom Truffle Arancini - strong in flavour, delicious. ⭐️ Tagliata Di Manzo - one of the best, juiciest, tastiest Porterhouse’s I’ve had. The sear was incredibly flavourful. ⭐️ Hand Cut Patate - crispy as ever ✔️ Insalata Carolina - fresh and well dressed ⭐️ Tiramisu - easily one of the best in Melbourne. It’s new. It has half cream half chocolate mousse. Good coffee hit, hints of salt. Not super traditional but it’s INCRED.

One of my favourite meals of the year, everything was spot on, with a little bit of their own flair to keep it interesting. Such an aesthetic, funky spot. Granted it was Cup Weekend so it was quiet vibe during this lunch but that just meant we got the best most attentive service! Kicking myself for waiting so long to visit. 🤪

🍹 Aperitivo Daily 3-5pm 🍝 Pranzo Express Daily Changing Pasta $25 Tuesday - Friday Lunch

⭐️ 4.6/5 💸 $$

Have you visited? Let us know your thoughts!👇🏽

invite |

—

This is one of the best carbonara I’ve ever had and trust me, I’ve had a lot! You can get it at Bar Carolina, cool, contemporary Italian restaurant on Toorak Road in South Yarra. We visited specifically for their “La Bella Vita” special, which is a plate of creamy spaghetti carbonara with crispy Guanciale for just $20, every weekend only before 2pm. I actually dream of this dish so I highly recommend going! While we were there would be rude not to try more of the menu. Everything was almost faultless, they had one of the best Porterhouse steaks I’ve ever had, so tender and juicy with the perfect sear. The potatoes were crispy and hand cut and for dessert I wasn’t sure how a tiramisu with half choc mousse would turn out but WOW. Another winner. And it had hints of salt too ugh so good. Don’t wait so long to...

My recent visit to Bar Carolina in South Yarra was a journey of mixed emotions. Nestled in the vibrant heart of the area, this Italian eatery boasts a sophisticated atmosphere and a promise of culinary delights. The experience, however, was a blend of exceptional service overshadowed by some culinary inconsistencies.

Starting with the positives, the service was impeccable. The staff were attentive, friendly, and truly made us feel welcome. Their professionalism and warmth added a special touch to our evening.

However, the culinary experience did not entirely match the high standards set by the service. The Sydney Rock Oysters opened our meal on a high note, fresh and bursting with flavor. We then moved on to the Spaghettini alle Cicale, which, while aromatic with its prawn essence and cooked al dente, was unfortunately served lukewarm. This detracted significantly from what could have been a delightful dish. Additionally, the portion size felt small compared to the price, an aspect that was consistent across our other selections.

The Tagliata di Manzo showcased well-prepared beef and an enticing sauce. Yet, similar to the pasta, the portion was on the smaller side for its cost. We concluded our meal with a Panna Cotta priced at $24, which, although delicious, felt overpriced.

In summary, my experience at Bar Carolina is a tale of two halves. On one hand, the service was outstanding, making our visit pleasant. On the other hand, the dishes, while flavorful, were marred by issues like lukewarm serving temperatures and small portion sizes that did not align with the pricing.

Overall, I would rate Bar Carolina 3.5/5 stars. The potential for an extraordinary dining experience is certainly there, but attention to detail in food preparation and portion...

We were highly recommended Bar Carolina by an ‘Influencer’ friend, and we were not disappointed.

As we walked across the road from a neighbouring bar, the waiting staff saw us coming, unaware of whether we were walk-ins or had a reservation. We were greeted by a very professional, well dressed and well spoken Italian gentleman. Great first impression.

We sat and ordered a bottle of wine to peruse the very varied, yet very simple and not overwhelming menu. We wanted to order everything from the menu.

As a table, we started with the Calamari Fritti, Vitello Tonnato and Burrsta ‘Nduja’. These were crazy good. I loved the Vitello Tonnato, and the Nduja was nice and spicy.

From here we started ordering cocktails, and these were great. Not the ‘alcohol’ taste you get with most cocktails.

For mains Spaghettini Alle Cicale, Pappardelle Al Coniglio and Petto D’Anatra. We all tasted each others and they were also so unique but so tasty. The duck was so well cooked, seafood pasta just the perfect combination of taste and spice and the rabbit pasta was so creamy yet not heavy and so full of taste.

The cocktails kept coming while we decided on dessert. By this stage we were past our finishing time, by our waiter made adjustments so we didn’t have to rush out without dessert or even rush our dessert. Such a great waiter.

Unfortunately, we only tasted one dessert… the Bomba Carolina as every person at the table ordered the same dish. The presentation and they way it was served was a site. It was so good, not too rich and so tasty, perfectly balanced. We’re spewing we didn’t try any other dessert.

If you want a fantastic night out, we would highly recommend this place; great food, great service and great service...