Zia Teresa Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

I feel compelled to share what this place really is. I've never contributed to this platform prior to tonight. The experience left a most sour taste in my mouth & pocket. Upon first encounter one thinks this a suitable place to dine. Please think again. Save your mouth, dignity & money. One enters the establishment and notices a lack of ambience at 6 30 pm on a balmy March Saturday. The lack of vibe and "good food smell" is obvious in the corner haunt, which probably had better days of entertaining. Once seated you realise to the table, peel up your napkin and glass to refill it. This sticky surface can only be surpassed by a 1960's Melbourne pub carpet. The Meal. Everything is lack lustre. Entrée Arancini (passable) and Prawns. If you like tiny frozen tasting prawns like on a cheap pizza or the corner Chinese takeaway with of bit of Woolworths sweet chilli on top order away! Spaghetti is mush, sauce red but flavourless. Next the lasagne, quite frankly a packet microwaved dinner that's warmer on the outside and you can eat your way to the cool and dry centre. Much like my ex wife's soul. McCain Lasagne would have been better. Bring on the steak. The most surprising meal of the evening. Cooked "medium" as ordered! Upon receiving you'll notice it arrives steaming. You wonder, is this the Gravox the steak is swimming in like a pie floater? But I thought it was a red wine reduction. Has the steak too been microwaved? Or is it the red cabbage that's hot & piled beside it to mask the small amount of potatoes that have sunk to the bottom of the "reduction". Either way you look at this meal its a steaming mess of cardboard flavoured greatness. Fortunately ill save you time on a review of desert as we left. I would have shared my discontent with the staff but alas I feel It would have fallen on deaf ears. A complete refund would not have stopped me from how myself and our party felt. This establishment rides on a reputation which it has not held in years. Its website paints a nice picture of authentic Italian. Lies. It makes me question the calibre of individual that has rated this highly. Lack of class, taste or perhaps you've found places worse than this and it made this disgusting meal seem 5 stars? Who knows, all i know is Please don't waste your time...

It was a birthday dinner, and we’ve had previous good experiences here. We were seated a doorway in the restaurant. The waiter was pleasant, but didn’t know anything about the wines. When we ordered wine we questioned the year of the bottle as it was advertised as a 2020 bottle then delivered as a 2022 bottle. It was explained the menu should be updated. No opportunity to taste the wine before pouring. The man delivering the wine was quite curt. Garlic bread was ordered. It was 2 very thin slices of a bread stick with minced garlic spread on top. Yuck! We ordered a share plate of pasta- 3 dishes at $85. Food was cold and virtually no flavour. There was no meat in the duck ragu pasta AT ALL - totally bland no ragu present. Very little seafood in the seafood pasta and no flavour, even though the menu said garlic and chilli flavour. A few meatballs in the meatball pasta ( possibly the cheapest to produce). Nobody asked if we were happy with our meals, we simply paid and will never go back. I wonder if there’s been a change of ownership, because the passion for delivering great food and service has long gone. Will...

TLDR: an Italian gem - must visit.

Service: Julian was great - Friendly, quick and helpful.

Entree: mozeralla - light, fresh and subtle flavours.

Pasta: pappardelle duck ragu - for once, I actually finished this dish. I order it almost everytime at an Italian restaurant, and it usually let's me down Usually the duck is too tough or hard, or the pasta is not aldente. But the duck here was consistently soft and tender, and the pasta was perfect.

Mains: baked rabbit - the meat was tender (fall off the bone soft), sauce was amazing (sweet, savoury and full of umami notes), crunchy greens and balanced vegies.

Sides: roasted potatoes - not as crunchy as I prefer, but flavours were punchy (full of butter and herbs).

Beverages: Amaretto sour and the Chianti (red wine: both delicious. The Chianti especially.

Value: To be honest, we've paid more and have received much less (in taste, satisfaction, service, serving size) at other places. By no means was it a cheap meal, but very satisfied and happy with the recommendation. A must visit for our next...