Enoteca Boccaccio — Restaurant in Melbourne

Very disappointing first experience. We sat at the bar. This is a small restaurant, def looks more comfortable in the restaurant area, the bar area is small and there are tables against the wall behind you creating a narrow hallway feel. You are looking at prep staff behind a glass encased food prep area. It was cold where we sat did not feel warm or cozy. First dish was the spanner crab, delicious, but it's a cold dish, luckily I ordered a side of the focaccia bread as it needed something staple to go with. We shared 2 mains, squid ink pasta with vongole $45 and the steak 300grams $65 with a side of duck fat potatoes which was extra. The issue for us is the food took a while to come but even worse the dishes were served luke warm to cold. Seriously like $45 for a cold pasta dish. The portion size was not favourable either. Pasta cooked al dente served cold, tastes undercooked. Mentioned this to the waitress, she did not offer any solution, said "I'll let the chef know and asked if I wanted to do anything about it?" Really that's for you to take care of not me. We waited forever to have our plates cleared, only reason we stayed is we wanted to grab a takeaway lemon tart. They did offer this complimentary as a way of appeasing the failed experience, but I still felt there was little care and professionalism provided to us. I will say it appears everything is cooked and made onsite using quality ingredients which is brilliant, just did not get the service or the meals right. We spent just under $280 to share 3 dishes & a bottle of wine. Could not get comfortable, was cold the whole time, not like I can't make these dishes at home myself, sometimes it's nice for someone else to serve you, especially when we work so hard in customer service ourselves, however this was a...

Started off beautifully with a lovely antipasto so I was really looking forward to the other dishes…then my pasta dish came- covered in Parmesan.

If it’s not on the menu, do not serve it. I decided to send it back because I don’t like it and I am not paying for something I do not like, especially when it is not listed on the menu. Only to have two wait staff come back to my table (standing over me m with the plate of parmesan and a dash of pasta seemingly ready to throw it in my face) one of them asked if I was allergic to it. My health issues are actually none of their business, but this guy seemed to think it was ( and quite frankly who does he think he is ?) I said no I just don’t like it and I didn’t expect it to come out with Parmesan because it wasn’t listed on the menu. He then mimicked me pulled a face and said ‘oh she just doesn’t like it’ and walked off. I called one of the waiters back and said not to bother with the dish as I do not want to be spoken to or treated that way or be confronted by wait staff.

The pasta ended up coming out scalding hot and terrible tasting- much like the attitude of the wait staff who decided to confront me.

The dessert came - which was beautiful. A couple of bites left we were asked if we were done twice within ten minutes…Then they ask for a tip.

There are plenty of other restaurants in Melbourne- better ones with better service and staff who don’t get stroppy with customers for not wanting to be served things that are not listed on the menu. I hope they understand that in time, as my money is better...

Overall: Very impressive for a place that has only been open for a short period.

Negatives:

We booked on the day and the only option was for counter seating. Big mistake. Hard wooden stools, with no backs, do not make for a relaxing meal. So, if you want more than a nice drink and some snacks, avoid the counter! Update Dec '23 - they've been reading the reviews! Stools at the bar have been replaced! Excellent!

Entry stairs are clearly designed for mountain goats. Hang onto the rails. Don't get pixelated before attempting the downhill departure!

Positives:

Lots. Really well thought through list of wines by the glass. For two of us this was a much better option given that our food choices were quite divergent. Staff knew their wines (a good thing - lack of wine knowledge in a place like this would be dreadful). Food menu is more focused on smaller plates and primi. Worked for us. Entrees of calamari and ox tongue were well executed - but our primi were outstanding. Pasta with veal ragu was on song. And the risotto with burnt carrot, blood (?) orange and onion oil was a revelation. Not sure why I ordered it - but boy, was it good (and the rice perfectly textured). If I'd change one thing, it would be have a standard small salumi plate (or one to share) on the main menu. I could be wrong, but there seemed to be lots of good stuff behind the counter that doesn't seem well taken up.

So: Go. Book ahead. Don't opt for a counter seat. Let the staff do their thing (they are good at it!). Enjoy. Appreciate having a place of this calibre in our...