Meat Flour Wine — Restaurant in Melbourne

Visited Meat Flour Wine after it’s reopening and I have to say that the new building looks very impressive. For a Wednesday night the place was very full, although in the section we were in it was very noisy until later when the families started to leave. Given the number of customers, we did have to wait for 25 minutes to order our drinks but we were given water straight away so that was good. To start with we ordered the Chef’s tasting board. The menu stated that it was a ‘selection of starters and snacks designed to share - Small 2-3 ppl’. The mistake I made was not asking what it consisted of which was 2 pieces of bruschetta, two golf ball sized arancini and a handful of white bait for $48. Certainly not enough for our table of three more suited to one, possibly two people. Whilst the bruschetta had a tasty balsamic vinegar on it, it did not have any basil and only one very tiny sliver of onion on it (ie it couldn’t get any thinner and was simply a half round of the onion). As for the arancini and white bait I did not eat any of it as I left the small amount on the board for the other two to eat, so unable to comment on the taste and flavour. I do understand that costs these days are extremely high for restaurants, but the three tiny servings did fit the explanation on the menu. The two men on the table both went for the Crispy Pork Chop, apple ketchup, molasses glaze, and vine tomatoes. If you wanted sides, they were extra (which can be the case with more restaurants these days). The pork was far from crispy and if there was molasses glaze it was just a whisp of it. Instead, the pork was a bit dry, very fatty which the men kept pulling out of their mouth, and a big disappointment for both of them, although the chops were a generous size. I did fare much better with Nonna’s meatballs which was an entrée and not on the main menu. This suited me fine as it was also served with some fresh bread to soak up the sauce, which was delicious. The meatballs were very tender and moist, but they had too much salt in them. Once our orders were taken the service was fantastic and our main server, a young guy with curly dark hair was extremely attentive (wish I had asked him his name as he certainly went above and beyond to take care of us). All the staff that we encountered were very polite and friendly. I apologise for a negative review, which I never do, and did try to make up for it with the positives. Would we go back, not sure, although our friend really loves the place so there is a good chance we...

We arrived at this new restaurant and thought it looked great and had a great atmosphere. We tried to order our food and the waitress told us that they had run out of some ingredients so some of the dishes were off the menu. We weren't too bothered by this, but some of the girls I was with had to change their orders. We ordered entrees to share and a main meal each. We waited an hour for the food to start arriving. The restaurant was only half full and we were only a group of six people, but we still waited that long. I would hate to see what the wait would be if the restaurant was full.

The first meals to arrive were the pastas. Four out of six of us ordered pastas and the other two of us ordered pizzas. By the time we got our pizzas, the others were about halfway through eating their pastas and we still had no entrees. They also stuffed up my order. I ordered a vegetable pizza without mushrooms. The main ingredient on the pizza I got was mushrooms. I did not want to send it back and wait another hour and I was so hungry I just picked them off the pizza. This meant that I had a very bare pizza with a few little bits of vegetables on it and it did not taste great. The waiter who took our order came over and noticed that I had picked my mushrooms off and he told me that it wasn't his fault as he had definitely put the order through without mushrooms, but he did not try to make the situation any better or offer anything to try to fix the problem. The entrees finally came out when everyone was midway through eating their main meals. If the entrees came out at a reasonable time we would not have been so cranky at waiting an hour for our main meals.

It is very disappointing and I feel bad giving them such a bad review but I was looking forward to trying this new place. I also live very close and would have been a regular customer if it was good. I don't know why I would go here for Italian food when Michaelangelos is so close and had such good customer service and food. I will give this place another go in a few months and see if it improves. I wish them luck as I think this place has great potential but is it...

Ordered the calamari to share, lobster rolls, linguine with chilli and lamb shoulder.

Calamari was extremely disappointing. Too much batter and over salted. Tried to balance it out with by dipping in sauce and having it together with the watercress but it was still too salty.

Lobster roll was smaller than expected and in a circle bun style roll, not sure why I was expecting a baguette style roll. Portion was small but tasted great. Sauce was refreshing and buns nice and buttery/fluffy.

Linguine was nice and no issues with that. Tasty, light and a pleasant hint of chilli.

Lamb shoulder was nice and tender but undersalted. Came with a red wine base sauce which was overpowering and almost too bitter. Was unable to taste any herbs, spices or anything else in the sauce - tasted like plain red wine. The lamb itself needed salt and pepper to taste - had to add quite a bit otherwise it would be plain. The truffle mash that the lamb was served with was really delicious and a generous portion.

Spent about $140 for the 4 dishes, definitely on the higher end. Quality is understandable but was surprised at the pricing for a restaurant in the suburb, almost more expensive than some in the cbd.

Service was ok. We came at 6 so just an hour after their dinner opening hours started. We were forgotten for a while after being seated with no food menu and was difficult to get the waiter’s attention in the corner. Some of the waiters seemed like they had a bit of an attitude in that they weren’t as polite unless you were a regular. The restaurant is almost always busy which is understandable but I just felt like the stress was taken out on customers. Would probably not come back...