Riserva Wine — Restaurant in Melbourne

This place has always intrigued me. It's tucked away in a mini stretch of stores right near a corner of a tight intersection of two busy roads, but due to the end of the tram line, for some reason, you couldn't be blamed for missing it. Anyway, I've noticed it before, and have wanted to try it for a while. Many reviews say the service is very friendly and food is great, but a bit overpriced. I can now give my own opinion on this.

Yes, the service is good. The food all came out within good time, and the wait staff were friendly (though I don't love staff touching my back when they fill up my water or something. It's my personal space, and I don't love it though it happened several times during the course of the meal). One thing they do which surprisingly a lot of places don't, is they wait for all at the table to be finished with their meal before clearing away the plates. I like that. It's good service and polite and diners don't feel rushed.

The entree was heaven. I ordered the fried buffalo mozzarella sandwich. It was light and cheesy and beautifully presented. Everyone else ordered different items, but they all loved what they got, and were also presented well. They were out of a couple of items, which I don't think is good for a restaurant of this caliber, but I guess these things happen. For main, I got the spinach and ricotta gnocchi in a four cheese sauce and WOW. It was so good. Soooo good. I don't really think they needed to even wash my plate, as it was completely mopped up by the time they came for it. Dessert, though not needed, was the chocolate mousse tart, raspberry compote and a spiced mascarpone. As you can see, it was beautifully presented and plated and I didn't want to really start into it. For my liking, the compote was a bit too tangy, but everything else was lovely.

So ... value. Yes, it is a little pricey. It definitely is. But this isn't the kind of place you come to often on a casual night. It's more like a bit of a treat. I mean, I ordered a coke, and it came in a can, but one of the mini cans, and it was $4. The mains were maybe a bit high, but then again the quality is great. Overall, I really would recommend trying it here. There's a great selection of beautiful wines, and a good choice of meals on the menu. Parking isn't too hard, and there's beautiful ambience and a lovely interior design. I will come back again for a birthday or...

I met a friend here for lunch today with a noon booking. We arrived early and they very kindly let us in at 11.45am to sit and chat and have a delicious pre lunch Pimms. In our usual fashion we decided to share each dish so we could greedily taste everything without actually being gluttonous. So we ordered two small dishes, two mains, and one side.

Starting with tuna carpaccio we had a couple of mouthfuls each and it was lovely and full of rich fresh tuna flavour with salt and sesame and some avocado mouse puffs on top, and I chased the serving oil around the empty plate with my finger. The second small dish was of mixed tomatoes with basil and a lovely silky creamy cheese called baratta. It was a fresh, surprisingly delicate, and yummy dish.

Then into the mains. I'm sorry I didn't photograph our first main of fresh gnocchi with a rich veal and mushroom ragout but the aroma was so delicious we both dived in and gobbled it down tout suite. All gone, no photo. Ooops. Seriously yum though. For our second main we were no longer quite so ravening, so we stopped to admire the presentation. Eye fillet medium rare on a bed of sweet potato and jus. Our side was roasted cauliflower, a huge and delicious dish that could easily serve four. The fillet was perfectly cooked and tender and so meaty in flavour, and yes my finger once again might have chased some left over jus around the plate, while my friend took minimal persuasion to just spoon it directly onto her tongue. And a second round of Pimms was enjoyed by all.

We thoroughly enjoyed our window seat location, the ambience, and the surprisingly conversational acoustics. The menu didn't overwhelm you with too many choices, but showed a clear culinary style that had clean flavours that relied on quality ingredients without too much elaboration. A most delcious experience.

For lunch this was a very nice, almost leisurely meal. Maybe an hour and three quarters. About 75$ per head, and service was excellent, timely but not at all intrusive.

They also had what looked to be a seriously wonderful wine selection and an excellent bar. Very much...

Dined here for the first time for a birthday in the small private room a the back (good for groups of up to 10),. Two things I hoped and expected were spot on. The authentic and creative Italian culinary experience, and a great wine selection. The additional aspects you never know until you've been (Google reviews aside) are the ambience and quality of food and service. The waiter who looked our party - Tomassio - certainly helped make the night. From Veneto himself, and now more 'local', as he related, was the right balance of knowledgeable, frendly, funny and professional in the hospo sense - with a good memory for orders and the ability to pace the service - that we appreciated. We were with people who'd eaten there many times and they related that the food has been better, but the quality was still clearly there for the most part. Fish of the day was a bit bland and two porterhouse steaks ordered medium rare were essentially bleu. The steaks could have been sent back for a bit more pan time but both diners were good with meat that way so it was more than acceptable, and great quality. I'd had the steak tartare which was an interesting take and a good indication I don't mind beef super rare! The beetroot 'ravioli' was also creative and I gather a bit of a signature dish. A dessert special of lemon cheesecake with blood orange gel centre and mild mint gel dots was delicious. The menu is diverse and the wine list has a great range. On leaving it was clear a few local wine lovers were inhabiting the front bar area enjoying a social drink. A nice experience and I anticipate going...