Umberto Espresso Bar — Restaurant in Melbourne

Unfortunately this is the end of an era. We didn’t check reviews because we’d been here several times before over a number of years. Such a disappointment, and never will eat there again. (Also as I paid the poor man asked ‘how it was’ and I told him it wasn’t good. I asked if change of ownership. No, he said. But change of staff. Whatever that means. Whoever is in the kitchen doesn’t know how to cook pasta. Doesn’t know about flavours. It was the worst Italian I’ve ever eaten. TRAGIC!!)

These are my daughter’s notes, taken on the night, during the meal:

Took forever for food to arrive Garlic bread came first and then was cold by the time mains came Pasta very undercooked and clumped together Marinara was 3 mussels, 2 scallops, three prawns, used to also have fish Very hard to get waiter’s attention left with empty glasses for a while Water not replenished Salad didn’t come until we were almost done with the meal, though they brought it and put it on the house which was nice Used to be our fave marinara would’ve said the best in Melb, now so disappointing Been coming here since it was the smaller venue over the other side of the road - it’s lost its atmosphere and the staff seem stressed and run off their feet so not a good vibe Obvs issue with the kitchen I’ve never felt a need to leave a review but this has hurt me in my soul (this comment is from my daughter; I obviously HAVE left reviews on google) End of an era

If the owner/manager reads this: you need to have someone in the kitchen who can cook Italian food, knows how to cook pasta, how to balance flavours. There are reviews about how poor the food is going back months. You will go out of business if you don’t attend to this and you should address the issues sincerely and immediately if you want to keep customers. But you’ve lost us and many others from what I can see on this page. Good luck, it’s a sad end to a wonderful...

ORDERED: 🍞  Tre bruschette: 3 ways, buffalo mozzarella, tomato & basil, rosemary & cannellini bean ($16.00)

🍝  Spaghetti aglio e olio: mushrooms, semi dried romas, garlic, chilli, roquette ($27.00) 🍝  Pasta fatta in casa: spaghetti al nero di seppia with blue swimmer crab, bottarga ($34.00) 🥔  Patatine: Italian style rosemary potatoes ($12.00)

🍰  Tiramisu della casa ($14.00)

I paid $57.50 for my portion.

REVIEW: My favourite pasta at Umberto Espresso Bar was the Pasta fatta in casa; the spaghetti al nero is a special which makes me so sad to know it'll disappear one day! The spanner crab is combed really well through the pasta, so it's slightly sweet with every bite. The bottarga were little salty fishball roes, again adding so much flavour.

I also like the fried rosemary potatoes. They had little scraggly bits that became super crispy, and I lived for those moments! Apart from that, Epocha in CBD still has my favourite tiramisu.

Service was pretty decent with friendly smiles. Apart from introducing the menu, there wasn't much interaction...

Umberto Espresso was on out menu today as we felt like eating Italian food ☺.

The venue is really rustic, simple and very 'Northern' suburbs 😅, but don't judge it by the look. Service was top notch, friendly and caring 🙌.

We sat down and ordered an Antipasto Platter for 2, their Carbonara and Ragu Pasta 🍝. The entrée made its way quickly, and we smashed it even quicker 😂. Delicious and simple, but not that simple considering that most of the elements on the plate were very likely made in house and not just from a jar.

The pasta bowls came next and Mamma Mia! we knew we were in for an authentic treat. Great flavours and original ingredients made both meals exquisite and really Italiano 😚. The only small flaw was the ragu, some of the chunks were a bit chewy and could have been softer, but only a few, so that is such a minor detail.

There you have it, Umberto Espresso, a very small place packed with big flavours, truly Italian meals and authentic ingredients that will give you a fantastic dining experience...