Studio Amaro — Restaurant in Melbourne

⭐️ 9/10 💰 $$ (spent around $80-$90pp)

My friends and I absolutely LOVED the Antipasti from Studio Amaro, we even said it’s giving “Totti’s vibes” 😂 I’m always a big fan of those smaller plate entrees so you can nibble on everything

ANTIPASTI 🍞 Sourdough Focaccia $9.50 🫒 Sicilian Olives, Oregano, Orange $9 🥓 Compressed Rockmelon $10 + Prosciutto $8 🐓 Chicken Liver Parfait, Amarena Cherry $14 🐟 Anchovies $15 🥒 Cucumber, Dill, Stracciatella, Chilli $16 🧀 Burrata, Herb Oil $19 🍣 Tuna Carparccio, Tomato, Olive, Capers $25

PASTAS & SIDES 🍝 Campanelle, Milk-Braised Pork, Nduja $35 🦐 Mafaldine, Prawn, Citrus Bisque $38 🍟 Fries, Rosermary Salt, Aioli $12 🥗 Bitter Leaves, Fennel, Burnt Orange $16

Out of the Antipasti plates my favourites were the Chicken Liver Parfait, Burrata, Cucumber and Tuna Carparrcio. Loved the presentation of the parfait and it was such a generous serving, we had to order some more bread after. The cucumber dish was light and refreshing and I always love any carparrcio dish and this one had really nice flavours.

The Prawn pasta was my favourite out of the two, I love a good seafood pasta and I liked the mafaldine pasta shape as all the sauce coats all the little grooves along the ribbons of pasta. The milk-brasied pork Campenelle was nice too, it was nice and creamy but not too heavy. The table next to us ordered the Paccheri with Osso Bucco Ragu and that looked so good!! I definitely want to come back and order that next time.

Loved the interior and vibes of the restaurant which you can see from the last couple of photos. One small thing I would say is the lighting of the restaurant, they have some orange/red stainless glass windows so overall there is a red hue in the lighting which is my worst nightmare 😂

A small negative was that we felt a bit rushed towards the end of our seating as they had another group which booked the table. If only the staff had told us a little earlier, so we could have eaten our mains quicker and then we could have had time to order dessert so unfortunately we didn’t get to try any of the desserts but I guess it’s a good excuse to come back...

ORDERED: 🍞 Sourdough Focaccia ($9.00) 🥒 Cucumber, dill, stracciatella, chilli ($16.00) 🧀 Burrata, herb oil, smoked salt ($19.00)

🍝 Paccheri, osso bucco ragu, gremolita ($36.00) 🥩 600 dry-aged sirloin on the bone, amaro & peppercorn jus ($74.00) 🥬 Iceberg wedge, caesar dressing ($18.00)

🍹 Passionfruit mocktail: Passionfruit puree, soda ($14.00)

I paid $80.10 for my portion here (between 3), which included the card surcharge.

REVIEW: My favourite dishes at Studio Amaro were the: ❤ Cucumber, dill, stracciatella, chilli. It was refreshing and great to ease you into the heavier stuff over the course of the meal. The spiciness played off the creaminess while the cucumber provided crunch - a fun array of flavours and textures! 🧡 The sirloin on the bone was great. Beautifully presented with the meat fanned out with a modest mustard selection (seeded and hot english) which is my favourite condiment with steak. It lets you enjoy the texture and heaviness of the meat, while adding a bit of additional flavour!

As another reviewer has mentioned, the focaccia crust was a little bit tough. It worked wonderfully with the burrata. I'd also encourage a side with the focaccia! 👍

🎂 It was a birthday event, we were pleasantly surprised by thoughtfulness of a slice of chocolate cake coming out with a really nice candle. We were then stung with a $14.00 price tag on the bill - when I didn't verbally order the cake for the table. I wouldn't have ordered the cake had I known, but since we were left in a position to eat it... the payment had to be made. 🤷‍♀️ Not sure how I feel about this 'hospitality'.

We found ourselves reaching to grab for attention to request for the bill as well. We were one short moment away from waving our hands like hooligans/walking up to them directly 😅. I feel like there can be improvements in Studio...

came over to studio amaro after seeing its viral prawn pasta on tiktok!

starters/ “antipasti” sourdough focaccia $9.5, 4 pieces really enjoyed the crisp and how bouncy the bread was wished it was a bit more warm? i saw a common theme in the reviews that the bread may be cold smtimes and unfortunately we got that too 7/10 whipped ricotta, lemon oil $12 really loved this and pairing it with the focaccia was actual heaven the lemon oil is so interesting and brings a lovely new citrusy taste to the cheese 8/10 tuna carpaccio the tuna was really fresh so that’s one box ticked! the flavors were interesting, i think it was like a crispy nut or maybe some fried chilli pieces, but we really liked that there was a slight like idk.. bitterness to the ‘oil/sauce’ the tuna was on idk it just didnt taste like the best yk 7/10

pasta mafaldine, prawn, citrus bisque $39 the most interesting pasta shape ive ever seen like ive never seen this shape before at other restaurants lots of great flavours, it’s got a nice umami spice to it which i enjoyed the prawns were like pan fried im guessing? tasted really good and there was a lot of prawn too which is great the pasta could be hotter? we only took like a minute and a bit to take some photos so i dont think it would have cooled down to the point it wasn’t event warm anymore? 8/10

desserts/ “Dolce” daily cake $15 soooo good omg it was like the lightest chocolate cake ever loved the inclusion of caramel and orange flavours in the cake super decadent and not heavy at all 10/10

overall, this is a pretty good restaurant although they do need to work on making sure their food comes out like actually hot! the HOSPITALITY THOOOO was amazing like the waiters were so considerate and so knowledgeable too! genuine warmth and...