Ora D'oro — Restaurant in Melbourne

After reading all the good reviews and having a few personal recommendations, we decided to host Father's Day here for the whole family. On arrival, we found our table to be one seat short, but after a quick fix, we were met with a lovely waitress who took our drinks order straight away!

Everyone arrived within 10 minutes of our booking time, and within 1 minute of sitting, we were asked about drinks again and then, within 5 min, about food. We declined the food order just yet as we were still looking at the menu and had started conversations. However, we were being asked by multiple staff and were feeling pressured, so we ordered.

The food came out super fast! ... way too fast to be a freshly made scallopini, and you could tell by the texture. It was overcooked meat in an okay sauce, subpar salad and chips on the side. The bruschetta was fresh, and I enjoyed that. It was a little upsetting to find the kid's $18 pizza was the same as the adult's version sold at, I believe, $24. However, those who had pizza said it was pretty good. Clearing off the table was great, except between entree and mains, they kept on top of it... some would say a little too quick.

When dessert and coffee orders came through, we had some real issues. One guest ordered a hot chocolate, which was a cup of frothy milk. Another guest ordered an Irish coffee however it seemed the staff did not know what this was by the first attempt of making it so it was explained, hot coffee with a shot of Irish whisky, it then came out as a cold drink again and was explained again.. the staff mentioned baileys and the guest agreed baileys would be fine, however, it then took what I believe the manager to come out and ask how to make the drink before it arrived properly. An affogato was served to my child, which I was not impressed by, and I explained to the staff member it was not for a child as it had coffee and alcohol. It then turned out the alcohol was missing so this was followed up. Again another coffee was taken to the children. I'm glad my children are old enough to understand that it wasn't theirs, and luckily, nothing was consumed by them.

After all, I found the food to be okay quality but not worth the price, and the staff to be so attentive that it came across as pushy. The male bar staff, manager, I believe, as well as the front house manager (lady with the iPad) seemed to know what was going on and were apologetic. However, the other staff were undertrained.

As far as the restaurant was concerned, the place was quite spacious and large but lacked atmosphere and something to make it feel warm and inviting. Also, the bathrooms were very dusty, and the walls and skirts needed cleaning...

TLDR: If I could give zero stars I would! This restaurant is masquerading as fine dining and charging as such; however service is terrible, the cleanliness/hygiene of the setting is questionable, and the food and coffee are disappointing and unappetising.

If I could give zero stars I would! Service was slow, my food came out cold (even though it was avocado on toast). Portion sizing was extremely inconsistent person to person. The soy latte I ordered was weak, and somehow sour and bitter at the same time. The soy milk had separated from being steamed for too long.

Listed components of my meal were not present on my plate when it arrived, I had to ask for them. I ordered a side of mushrooms, they tried to serve me a single button mushroom as a side. The charge for a side of mushrooms is $4; a single button mushroom does not make a side of mushrooms, so I insisted it was not acceptable.

The menu I ordered off was covered in food and clearly had not been wiped clean between customers! There was remnants of food on a couple of the side plates on our table. There was a persistent sewage smell in the corner where we were seated, we told the manager and asked to move tables. The manager did not seem concerned by the smell and said he was unable to reseat us. This sewage smell would increase each time someone finished using the bathroom/a toilet was flushed.The manager was unprofessional and far too blasé about everything.

This restaurant is masquerading as fine dining and charging as such; however service is terrible, the cleanliness of the setting is concerning, and the food and coffee are disappointing and...

Edited: Came back here and brought some friends and unfortunately the foods were disappointing. My prawn garlic was just ok, nothing to rave about. I asked for it to come with cooked vegs on the side. Whilst they cooked the prawns and veggies well, and I appreciated the variety of vegs and the portion of prawns and vegs, the prawn sauce was just ok. It’s creamy and heavy but cant say it’s the best garlic prawn i have had. Veggies were not seasoned much. Husband ordered the Mexican wood fired parma but it was bland and dry and we couldn’t see what was so special about wood fired then. The good things from today was the friendly waiter we had at beginning and also their coffee and white hot chocolate were nice. I have the feeling they aren’t consistent with the foods because last time I was here with friends and they ordered the garlic prawns and it looked quite different. But yea just sad, i thought it’s my go to restaurant in Croydon but not anymore.

It’s a big place but rather spacey, not filled much in terms of furnitures or decorations, feels empty and sad. Their menu is big. Tried their carbonara and it was one of the best one I have had. Quite impressed, will come back another time. Also saw they sell gelato, good to know...