La Porchetta Restaurant Hastings — Restaurant in Melbourne

La Porchetta is known for Italian and they do deliver great Italian food. Homey atmosphere and enticing smells traveling from the kitchen as you wait for your meal. Cocktails for the drinkers but non-alcoholic drinks for the non-drinkers. Friendly staff and hard working as I watched them darting around the restaurant, asking if the food is good and working hard to get everyone their orders. I was expecting a bit more for my seafood platter but with the eggplant chips, it was really filling and delicious. There was a minor annoyance when I asked for the calzone and they came back to tell me they didn't have any or the tiramisu as well, so I got the lemon meringue but then my calzone came out and we were confused as we were told there was none. It seems that maybe one was cooking and they went to the back to look for it and then came out and told us there was none when there was. They know who said it and as a way of saying sorry, they gave me the lemon meringue for free which is the way it should be when there is a mistake. Very clean as well. Can't remember if there was music playing or not. They have somewhere to eat outside as well. My fruit tingle cocktail was...

My recent experience at La Porchetta was disappointing enough to warrant one. I ordered the chicken mushroom risotto—what should have been a warm, comforting dish full of depth and balance. Instead, it tasted like it had been made with oil well past its prime. The rancid flavor was unmistakable: sharp, stale, and lingering in a way that completely overpowered the delicate earthiness of the mushrooms and the savoriness of the chicken.

What made things worse was the underlying taste and smell of an unwashed cast iron pan. That kind of metallic, greasy aftertaste speaks to carelessness in the kitchen. It gave the entire dish an unpleasant, grimy undertone—as if it had absorbed the ghosts of a dozen old meals that hadn’t been properly cleaned away.

There’s a difference between rustic and careless, and unfortunately, this meal fell squarely into the latter category. I couldn’t finish it, and I won’t be ordering from here again unless I hear they’ve made some serious changes in their kitchen hygiene and ingredient standards. A real shame, because risotto is supposed to be a dish of love and attention—this felt...

I don’t usually leave reviews, but my recent experience at La Porchetta was disappointing enough that I felt compelled to share. I ordered the pesto pasta, expecting a warm and comforting dish rich in flavor and balance. Instead, what I got was something that tasted like it had been made with oil well past its best—rancid, sharp, and stale. The unpleasant flavor completely overwhelmed any of the fresh, earthy notes that pesto should bring.

What made things worse was an underlying taste—and smell—reminiscent of an unwashed cast iron pan. That metallic, greasy aftertaste suggested carelessness in the kitchen. It gave the entire dish a grimy, off-putting undertone, as if it had absorbed the residue of meals long gone.

There’s a fine line between rustic and careless, and unfortunately, this meal landed on the wrong side of that divide. I couldn’t finish it, and I won’t be ordering from here again unless I hear there’s been a serious improvement in both kitchen hygiene and ingredient quality. A real shame, because pesto pasta is meant to be a dish prepared with love and care—this felt...