Black Olive on Black Rock — Restaurant in Melbourne

From 5 stars to 2 sadly with new ownership…

Had stayed away for a little while to let new ownership settle in. Still only a month or so, but decided to give it a try.

What was previously authentic Italian, high quality, special service is low sadly lacking. The menu is big - too big - not sure how they expect to do so much well - do a few things expertly. It’s lost its Italian touch.

Lasagne was a sloppy mess - lasagne sheets far too soft, mince tasty, no bechmal that could be identified and grated cheese over the top quickly melted. They no longer make in-house pasta according the the waitress that served me. Asked if pizzas (haven’t tried them yet) were wood fired and response was ‘sort of’.

Hope they go back to basics. The menu is far too big to keep ingredients fresh, they’re open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week (by the way I’m a huge fan of a great restaurant being open for lunch on weekends as black rock is lacking), but just not yet seeing this as a success which I really want it to be. Loved the ‘olde’ black olive. Hoping to see some improvements …

Previous 5 star review:

Absolutely stunning food, and even better service. Their pumpkin agnolotti is incredible, a flavor explosion, freshly made pasta and fluffy pockets of yumminess. Have tried their lasagna (huge! gorgeous layers and the right amount béchamel sauce), carbonara (authentic), and their pizza's are the best around.... not to mention the calamari starters. Lots of gluten free options.

One of the few Italian restaurants in the area open for lunch on the weekend also - extra bonus - and often on public holidays.

Johan and the team are friendly, personable, consistent and customer focused. And clearly passionate. An absolute local gem, big enough for events, suitable for any occasion. My favorite (with True South a close second, but...

Quite a large restaurant with many areas for seating options available. (2) people ordered the ‘Agnolotti Pumpkin’; ‘Gnocchi Sorrentia’ & a ‘Regina Magharita Pizza’. Overall, the meals were served within a reasonable time, firstly the Gnocci Sorrentia- $28- had ‘melt in your mouth home made Gnocchi’, but the Napoli Sauce just tasted very bland. Missing a huge depth of flavour- it could have done with a touch of garlic & onion, the Tomato Napoli Sauce just tasted like it had no depth to it, I could even compare it with the taste of ‘Passata out of a jar’; also needed more Mozarella. So the Gnocchi dish was just ‘too bland’ overall. Onto the Regina Margherita Pizza- we’ll for $20.00; just your normal ‘bare minimal Italian topping & thin based pizza’- consisting of tomato paste & really could have done with a more generous quantity of Mozarella Cheese. Nothing special at all. Lastly, the Agnolotti Pumpkin-$30- A small serving size- again, I feel the interior Pumpkin, could have been ‘Richer in depth of flavour’ because- the inside is the ‘excitement piece’ and larger amount of pumpkin inside. Overall, just nothing I would really like to highlight to get me going back again. Expensive for a rather...

This was such a disappointing experience. To start, I ordered a vodka, lime, soda and when received it was flat. I went to the bar staff and explained it wasn't soda water and fizzy, she replied saying it was sparkling water. Mind you, she was judging me having previous hospitality experience in a fast paced bar, I knew it was not to the expected standard of a drink. The only thing I was offered was a new drink with Lemonade, which I did not want. On a good note, my partners calzone was nice and well flavoured, but as for my orecchiette pasta with prawns, zucchnini and tomatoes, for $30, had NO flavour and was incredibly small in portion size. Then came dessert. We ordered a Nutella calzone, which was great, the tiramisu and the creme brulee. To begin, both the tiramisu and creme brulee should not be served in an 'Italian' restaurant. The creme brulee was practically inedible, grainy, flat and zero creme. As for the tiramisu, it was basically just dry cake and cream. No marscapone and no liquor in the soaking of the cake. No atmosphere for a Friday night and some friendly staff, some blunt staff.

Very very disappointed,...