Carlton Wine Room — Restaurant in Melbourne

My absolute favourite, it is always such a treat to come to Carlton wine room.

I have been here 5-6 times now and absolutely adore the food, the staff and their impeccable service and this venue.

The oysters were 10/10, so fresh and delicious. I usually hate anchovies but the anchovy fried bread is stunning and I order it every single time! The octopus with Nduja transports me to a Spanish tapas bar, the pickled fennel and thyme? add such a delicious flavour pop. The olives in the dish are the best I’ve ever eaten. The duck and pork croquette is such a rich, comforting starter and the sauce is unexpected and unique but pairs so beautifully. The pickled mushroom straciatella is incredible and a must have I will say I the only criticism I have was the focaccia was a bit different this time, not as flavourful, quite bland.

The rump cap for main and fried potatoes are my absolute favourite. I do have to venture out and try something different next time! The wagyu rump cap is cooked to perfection, it absolutely melts in your mouth and is nicer than any $250+ steak that I’ve had elsewhere. Pairing it with the spring pesto and smoked greens that it comes with take it to a whole new level. I appreciate the little variations to this dish depending on the season. A touch of flaky salt on top of the meat at the end would have been great but nonetheless still perfect. The fried potatoes are the best potatoes you will ever have! I will just say the portion size could be adjusted for couples, the bowl is HUGE and no matter how hard we try we can never finish them and feel horrible wasting them.

Even when you’re too full for dessert they still manage to make you feel special on your birthday by bringing out a chocolate truffle and candle. Thank you!

The menu is impeccable, the service is the best I’ve had in Melbourne. The staff are lovely, calm and collected. Every staff member seems to know what’s going on even when they’re not in the room the service from start to finish runs so smoothly.

And THANK YOU for bringing out the seafood starters first and then bringing out the meat/heavier items. I ate at an extremely expensive fine dining restaurant recently where all of our starters/entrees seafood and meat were all mixed in times of arrival and it ruined the experience. Something that seems so simple makes such a difference.

Carlton wine room just gets everything right every single time.

PSA if you are planning on dining at CWR and driving, allow yourself extra time for parking as it is a nightmare! Took me over half an hour to find a spot on Wednesday night, even the nearby parking garage was full and most parking is...

Booked in for a 9pm dinner reservation. Our Flight was slightly delayed and so called, as a courtesy, to warn that we would be late. (Thankfully we made good time due to traffic and arrived 10mins later than expected). Interior is has a classic revivalist interior, hard wooden floors and high ceilings, with intimate booths and mood lighting.

Seated at our table. Beautiful interior upstairs - wood floors. Bare walls and contemporary modern design. Beautifully set table, with a 5 star service style (classical French table service).

Host seated us and identified our waiter for the evening and offered us pre dinner drinks. Order 2 glasses of an Italian procecco. Deliciously sweet with a hint of honey.

bread and butter was served to the table to begin. I found the Bread a little chewy and tough, but definitely welcomed while we surveyed the menu.

Selected a bottle of the Toscolo Sangiovese from Chianti. A little varietal, suitable for the variety of our selection. Bottle was presents, tasting offered, and ladies poured first. The bottle then removed and topped up as need. Beginning to be a rarity as more just place the bottle on the table. Well done and thank you.

Ordered some appetisers to start. Anchovies on toast 6$ each And a duck croquette. 8$ each Pricy for an individual serve but the duck croquette was an experience worth trying.

Broccolini with smoked pork, Aioli and smashed egg for the entree. surprisingly creative and yet homely and comforting in flavour.

For our Mains we ordered the Snapper, which was incredibly buttery and melted in our mouths. The flavours make it worth the painstaking task of pulling bones out of your mouth. As well as the Chicken dish. Moist, yet crisp and sophisticated in flavour and presentation. I normally avoid chicken at restaurants but this exceeded my expectations.

For dessert we choose the Rum Baba and Chocolate pot creme with salted Carmel, with some coffee. The Rum Baba was amazing, I was talking about it the next day. Shot of rum cream on top. Slightly warm, and soaked with rum. So welcoming and a perfect end to the night.

Service was perfect and the food inspired. Perfect for a romantic date or a night out.

Only issue was the room can be quit loud. Due to the hard wood floors and...

Booked a table at the CWR for our anniversary. My wife is vegan, so that was a requirement. Reviews online suggested good vegan options and good ratings. On the day of our booking I sent a number of messages through OpenTable making sure we had a good table and asking for detail on the vegan options. It was 5.00 when I asked about the vegan option, so perhaps too busy to answer (questions about the table were answered politely earlier).

Upon arrival a surly young man showed us upstairs to a "nice table". The table allowed us to sit close, which was great, though the seat was uncomfortable. When my wife asked if they had a cushion he said no and said we could move to another table (by a set of stairs). When he saw our discomfort he just left. Not a good impression.

Another server came and asked if we'd placed our drinks order yet. She was not particularly friendly, perhaps just busy - happy to cut her some slack. We told her about the uncomfortable seating and she confirmed there were no cushions - she provided us with water and gave us time to peruse the menu.

Contrary to what I had expected, the vegan options seemed non-existent, so we asked our server to explain. The options came down to bread with olive oil (replacing cultured butter) and a tomato pasta with all the non-vegan stuff removed. She was very uncomfortable explaining the options, which made the situation more uncomfortable, after our less-than-stellar welcome.

We asked for some time to think about it. We decided that spending upwards of $400 for our meals and wine, including a worse than average vegan option, wasn't what we were looking for on our anniversary. Also, the discomfort we felt on not being welcome.

When our server returned she said that the menu wasn't really geared to anything vegan.

So we left, went to the pub on the corner who welcomed us with open arms, made us feel special without even know this was our anniversary.

Though online reviews indicated good vegan options, their website doesn't. In hindsight that was the indicator for us not to eat here - live and learn.

Even so, it doesn't excuse the way we...