Omnia Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Melbourne

6:30pm. RESTAURANT - Omnia Bistro & Bar Kitchen Counter • Truffles & Bannockburn Wines Dinner Wednesday 13th August 2025. Before my comments. I have to say thank you to the magnificent chefs & staff. Chef was tremendously engaging loved a chat about food. Thank you Steven. The staff from the waiters to the sommelier were all amazing genuine in service polite and professional. I congratulate the management they have a wonderful team.

My choice of cocktail. SEASONAL MARGARITA Tequila, mandarin, carrot, jalapeno & passion fruit Who thinks of these this tasty things - Sarah does my new wonderful cocktail maker - Innovative delicious start. Wow what a blast.

Blue fin tuna Truffle Jamon Cream fermented tomatoes & egg yolk dressing, finger lime 2024 Bannockburn Riesling So delicious. Succulent tuna finger lime truffles. Hello you wonderful bite. Then you add this sensational dressing that is to die for. Yep I am in heaven with the first course. So I scooped up the remainder dressing on the plate with my fingers. It’s so beautiful it hums in the palate. I want a bucket full. The Riesling is also a stunner. Herbaceous Citrus just yum.

Comté and black truffle soufflé with Fino Sherry sauce 2024 Bannockburn Chardonnay This is why I do what I do. Stunning dish. It’s just a cheese soufflé. What a soufflé light with wonderful flavours of truffle cheese the smoky char. The aroma alone is so sensational Then you have the sauce which is pure genius. The depth of flavours amazing. So a light tasty soufflé with stunning sauce What could be better. An amazing 2 course sensational food with stunning wine. Excellent. Chardonnay. Wow soft with power. Buttery juicy hints citrus greens just wonderful. BUY BUY.

Truffled crusted Poussin Jerusalem artichoke, castle franco Bannockburn Mystery Wine (2019 Pinot) & 2024 Pinot Noir A delicate expertly cooked pousin. The chef has combined great flavours together without loosing any of the wonderful taste of each. Huge amount of truffle under the skin gave the flesh nutty earthiness. Crunchy artichoke adds to the earthiness of the dish. The light gravy delicious yet not over powering. Everything just works. At last an excellent Pinot 2024. Wonderful mouth moorish still young light. Opens up in the glass. Mystery wine is 2019 Pinot. Delicious.

Blackmore (West Gippsland) Wagyu rib cap Truffle miso smoked onion pickle, chestnut mushrooms 2022 Bannockharm Shinse

The restraints the chef has shown lets the ingredients do the talking. Boy do they talk. Buttery Steak melts in the mouth. Delicious truffle miso that delivers earthiness add the chestnut mushrooms the entire dish hums along to the perfect tune. Love it. 2022 Shiraz. Oh my goodness depth of flavour is amazing light packed with great cassis mulberry divine. It’s opened up to such depth of flavour the cherry/ mulberry is delicious. BUY BUY.

DESSERT Chestnut Paris-Brest (Pastry), Anjou pear & black truffle 2013 Bannockbun Shiraz

Nice light finish. Lots flavours. Light pastry pear and nuts go nicely with the truffle. 2013 Shiraz. Words will not describe this. Intense Powerful divine amazing flavours. Cherry Chocolate Cassis yet its light...

I was so excited for this place, great photos, great reviews and a few friends even recommended. However, I felt like it definitely didn’t deliver and I got a very substandard experience.

Let me talk you through my experience;

We were seated by the friendly staff, who were knowledgeable but appeared overwhelmed and slightly rushed as they were all each talking a million miles an hour which at times was hard to understand. We selected our drinks and they arrived promptly. The dinning areas, bar and toilets were all clean and of a high quality standard. However, we had to wait a further 20 minutes to receive our menus which is unacceptable as it then took another 5 mins to figure out what we wanted. *The restaurant itself wasn’t overly busy at 6:30 however, the orders and clients were increasing.

Moving onto the starters, that we ordered (trout cigar, celery rye lavosh, house sourdough). Absolutely Stunning!! A lot of effort was put into these and it showed, they arrived within a normal timeframe.

So far the overall experience was going good and things started to turn a little south when we then waited for our main. We ordered Omnias signature dish honey roasted duck for two, we were advised there would be at least a 40min wait (we accepted that). It took 1 hour and 10 mins from ordering the duck to finally receiving it. I find that wait time unacceptable and far too long. The duck was complimented with a side dish potato rosti.

For some strange reason the duck was brought to us and shown before being cut up and finally presented, they wanted to walk us through the flavours and how they cooked it. I find this process pointless either do the speech when the customer is ordering it or when it’s finally arriving as we’ve waited unnecessarily over an hour for the duck, you’re wasting more time for yourselves and the client by brining it to us then taking it away to then be brought back. The dish itself was exquisite, probably one of the best duck dishes I’ve ever had, it had so much finesse and went well with the potato rosti, I highly recommend both.

We had finally wrapped things up and sitting now at almost two hour mark from the time entering to finishing our meal. We then waited another 10mins for the bill which your staff would often look our way, make eye contact and move on knowing that we needed their assistance. (Personally, they all appeared to be going back and forth from other guests and kitchen appearing quite under pressure).

After we left, we felt almost robbed from the whole dinning experience as the food was amazing. I really acknowledge the quality of the food we received, it definitely was worth every penny and I see why people like this restaurant. However, there was a huge disconnect between the service delivery, time management and the quality of food. I’m extremely disappointed that the effort and time put into your amazing food wasn’t put into other areas.

Final, I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant unfortunately, I feel bad saying that but there are nicer places in Melbourne that deliver on all areas of a dining experience that a worth the premium...

We loved all of the starters! The oysters were perfect! The smoked ocean trout cigar is a work of art - crisp pasty beautifully wrapped around crème fraiche and cured ocean trout, topped with chives. A must-order! Both the bread and butter were soft and smooth - worth the $5pp! The quail eggs were a mouthful of flavour explosion.

The dish that brought me here was the 14-day dry-aged duck. The duck was stunning with the glossiest honey-glazed skin. It was succulent and incredibly tender, and the skin was very crispy. Is it the "best duck" as rated though? Probably not, but it definitely makes my top 3! The second preparation of the duck (duck leg presse) was a great unexpected addition.

The biggest and only disappointment of the night was the rib-eye. It was pitched to us as the last one of the night and specially saved for us as we're celebrating a birthday. It was a big miss 🥺 The steak was chewy and definitely not worth that price tag. Steak is always such a hit or miss.

Onto the sides - the potato rosti is a MUST! Soft potato that melts in your mouth covered in a crunchy exterior. The green beans were a little undercooked - not sure if they were supposed to be like this.

My favourite dessert was the mini meringue pie! The perfect bite in your mouth with light crispy flakes and a sweet and tangy pie base. The liquid-centred cheesecake had an interesting consistency and the tiramisu was very generous, but I wasn't a fan of the trifle jelly base.

When booking, I mentioned we were celebrating a birthday - and they emailed me to ask if I wanted to add on a written card and dessert for $10 - this was very thoughtful! & you get to save $9 on a dessert!

They also have a great selection of cocktails, and the service throughout the night was fantastic - everyone was very attentive. Towards the end, I felt like I was rushing them a little because I was running late for a movie, but they were accommodating with cleaning up the mains and bringing out the desserts quickly.

Overall, we had a great time here, and aside from the $185 rib eye, there were some great standouts.

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Featured items (⭐️ - highlights)

Snacks & Starters 🦪 - Pacific oysters [$6 each] 🍞 - House sourdough & butter [$5pp] ⭐️ 🐠 - Smoked ocean trout cigar [$9 each] ⭐️ 🥚 - Scotch quail egg [$14 each]

Main 🦆 - Dry aged honey roasted duck [$110] ⭐️ 🥩 - Rib eye on the bone special [$185]

Sides 🥔 - Blue Moon potato rosti [$16] ⭐️ 🥒 - Green beans [$16] 🍟 - Chips [$16]

Dessert ☕️ - Tiramisu trifle [$19]⭐️ 🍰 - Liquid centre cheesecake [$19] 🥧 - Crispy Bergamot meringue pie birthday...