Bar Romanée — Restaurant in Melbourne

ORDERED (May 2023): 🍞 Bread by Cobb Lane, Cultured Butter ($8.00) 🧀 Burrata, beetroot jam, basil, hazelnut ($24.00) 🦀 Dressed Fraser Island Spanner Crab, Apple, Dill, Brioche toast ($18.00 each) 🦪 Abrolhos Island scallops, red pepper, garlic ($26.00)

🍝  Pan Fried Potato Gnocchi, tomato sugo, stracciatella ($36.00) 🍝 House made spaghetti, cuttlefish, white wine, chilli, lemon ($46.00) 🍟 Fries, aioli ($14.00)

🍨 Coconut Panna cotta, dragonfruit, passionfruit, pistachio ($16.00) 🍰 Warm chocolate cake, prunes, hazelnuts ($16.00)

We spent $65.21pp for 4 people including card surcharge.

REVIEW: 9 months on and it's nice to see my favourite dish from previous, the Island Spanner Crab, is still on the menu for the same price. However, it's made a little differently now and I wish there was a stronger spanner crab flavour. However, my favourite entree has now shifted to the scallops! It had a delicious red sauce and the juiciest texture. A little bit of crust from the grill imparts more caramelisation and flavour. Big fan of this!

Mains were a little bit of a let down. Nothing was particularly amazing, and the overwhelming amount of spring onion in the house made spaghetti threw me off a bit. Definitely less Italian, and more modern Australian. Chips were delicious to snack on, and were a great filler between the pasta.

Regretted getting the dessert a bit. The coconut pannacotta had a strange toppings that didn't quite work well together. The sweet dragonfruit, the tangy slightly sour overwhelming passionfruit and the nutty pistachio were very much different elements which somehow found themselves trapped in a glass. Had to be eaten separately, because the flavour together was very strange. Warm chocolate cake was overwhelmingly decadent. So if you like chocolate a LOT, you may like this.

Service was decent, and friendly. We lost them when we finished our main, so I had to walk up to the counter and be a bit more assertive to pay the bill. On the bright side, they were very aware of the water levels and on top of ensuing our waters were always filled. A dicey move, when they don't leave a water jug at our table.

ORDERED (August 2022): 🍞 Rosemary & Caramelised onion baguette, cultured butter ($8.00) 🦀 Fraser Island Spanner Crab, Apple, chives, toast ($18.00 per piece) 🦪 Freshly shucked pacific oysters, cucumber, apple, shallot ($6.00 each)

🍄​ Late Season Pine Mushrooms, Broccoli Leaf, Fried Egg ($24.00) 🍖​ Braised Lamb Ribs, Toasted Seeds, confit lemon ($26.00) ​🍝 House made spaghetti, cuttlefish, chilli, white wine, capers ($40.00) ​🥔 Roast Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts ($14.00)

​🍰​ Lemon Curd ($14.00)

We spent $104.00pp including a glass of wine!

REVIEW: 💃 European by nature, and modern with green and black accents by design. Bar Romanee is in yarraville, and has almost converted me to start living there!

Favourite from our entrees was the Fraser island spanner crab on toast. Although $18.00pp was a bit dear, it's worth it. Carefully combed crab pieces, you also got the sweet tartiness of the apple which was refreshing on the tongue. Then it's carried with a bite of the sweet soft bread... it's a pleasant bit of joyfulness.

Service is friendly, and atmosphere is chill. Great place to have dinner with mates...

Our family of 4 visited for a birthday dinner early Saturday evening. Nice, buzzy but cosy French bistro with an unexpectedly generous amount of space for restaurants in Yarraville. A couple of house-mixed soft drinks and a delicious spicy margarita whet our appetites nicely. We typically order to share and were able to do so easily here despite the place serving to the higher price end of the market. A small Cobb Lane baguette was a hit served with whipped butter, and just what was needed to wipe up the citrusy juices of the scallop ceviche served with cornchips on the specials board that night. A pair of grilled QLD tiger prawns were smokey and nicely charred but expensive at $14 per prawn. Also on special was white asparagus which was cooked just on point served with a beurre blanc but the dish lacked needed acidity. The scattering of croutons didn't really add much to the dish. We had the pork chop perfectly cooked sous vide and finished on the pan with a buttery jus. Our other main was more carne, an $70 aged 500g steak served perfectly medium rare on the bone. A tad heavy handed on the salt. An accompanying dressed leaf salad of iceberg lettuce and slivered cucumber cut through the richness. Kids demolished the creme brulee and their scoop of ice cream to finish. Service was attentive and perfectly timed throughout. Overall a great meal although on the pricey side relative to the experience. A local option for us to visit on...

Came here tonight for my partner's birthday dinner. Bit of a mixed experience. Service was very friendly and attentive, and the ambience was nice - so no issues there. We got there before 6pm, so we got to experience half price oysters and $10 Romanée Spritz as part of the happy hour specials. The flavour combination of the oysters and apple vinaigrette was fantastic. The oysters were very small in size, but the flavour made up for it (especially when they are half price from happy hour). The Romanée Spritz drink was a big let down. It was extremely mild in flavour, and tastes super watery. I definitely would not recommend it, even for $10. However, the pineapple mai tai cocktail was very nice, and we ended up ordering a couple more of those. The chicken parfait was very nice. The combination with the pickles was good, so if you go, I would recommend trying the parfait. The ox tongue was cooked nicely, but the flavour combination with the mustard didn't work for us. The cuttlefish pasta was cooked OK but it was too mild in flavour, so we wouldn't order that again. We also ordered the briosh with spanner crab and it was ok but nothing to write home about.

Given the prices and reviews, I expected all of the dishes to hit the mark, but alas this was not the case. All up, despite some of the dishes and the spritz being a let down, we still enjoyed...