Da Noi — Restaurant in Melbourne

Yesterday, mum & I had the best dinning experience at one of the boutique italian restaurant right in the middle of South Yarra. We went there to make plan for my sister graduation coming up. Michela took us through the whole tasting plates with all the mouth-watering food. Mum “wowed” on her very first dish of Tasmanian Oyster with Gingertonic Granita and the whole culinary experiences started to come. First time in my life, I could sit my mum down (haha...; she always seem to do things ! )to enjoy a truly fun and meaningful time together. Mum disclosed to Michela that today was also my birthday and guess what ????, a party was thrown in on the spot for me. The dessert with a piece of choco crafted out with “Happy birthday” for me made my day. The reasons why i trusted and chose Da Noi to hold a special event coming up for our family , not only because the food were good, the service was great, the venue was cosy but the “name” of the restaurant, also. Da Noi, the name took us back to our beautiful country of origin. Da Noi, somewhat, sounds like Da Nang & Ha Noi combined. France had left us with all the beautiful names, cultures and tradition which we were inspired, kept and maintain til today. After 20 years in Australia, feel like i’m getting them all back , of those memories, through all the cuisines made out by this special place in the mist of all the hustle & bustle city of South Yarra right on Toorak road. No need to travel far ! I highly recommend Da Noi to everyone that would like superb food with outstanding services at very affordable price for all your lunches, dinners and special occasions.

Car park wasn’t an issue yesterday at all either. Right at the back of the restaurant, there were some parkings (ticket till 6pm), free and...

My experience: The cons - Value for money: When paying $175 just for food, I expect to leave full and feeling satisfied The portions were absolutely tiny. 3 culurgiones, 1 filled tagliolini, and probably 50g of pork (which also had bones in it) per person is no where near enough food. I hate having to go out for dinner and then drop more money on food on the way home. Please up the portions guys, we left starving and this is not an Italian way of eating. I definitely agree with quality over quantity but there needs to at least be some quantity and not just trying to fill guests up on bread. No menus or drinks list (which can be fine at times), were on the table but the guest should at least know what to expect to pay beforehand especially in these economic and over inflated times we are living in. 'Wine Matching': Although I don't drink, the rest of my table do and our waiter did not understand the concept of wine pairing and simply made us order a bottle of wine which did not at all pair well with our main dish. Every wine pairing I've ever had a small amount of wine per course, of course alternating dish by dish which actually complimented the course itself. The pros - Atmosphere: lovely authentic Sardinian ambience and vibe. I truly felt like I was back in my family's house in rural Iglesias upon entering, this was very special and I haven't seen this anywhere. The food: Very good. Tasty and seasoned well, traditional flavours with modern spin and love the fact that absolutely everything comes from a...

Don’t make the same mistake that we did!! As first time diners and new locals to the area we were very disappointed with our experience at Da Noi. We went for a quick pasta and a glass of wine, on a Wednesday night, but the drinks menu was the only menu offered to us and we started to wonder if we’d walked into a set menu arrangement. When I asked about it, the only thing offered to us was a six course ‘chef’s choice’ menu. The waitress would have been able to tell that this was not something we either expected nor wanted as walk-ins and given our reactions, but she still did not offer us another choice and we didn’t even know if there was such a thing as a dinner menu. We were there, we’d sat down, with a drink now on the table and getting up to leave would have been embarrassing. We felt completely rail roaded into going with this only thing offered, and it was after the first 2 courses that we noticed a couple of other tables not having 6 courses. Only when I asked the direct question about an a la carte menu was I told that that was indeed an option. In addition, I have to say that for a highly positioned restaurant, bringing a glass of wine to the table already poured with no sighting of the bottle, and at $20+ a pour, is just not good enough. We just felt ‘had’ and wondered if this was a deliberate ploy, and I write this review so that others don’t make the same costly mistake. The food by the...