Zsa’s Bar & Bistroteca — Restaurant in Melbourne

We just wanted a coffee and a cake. As soon as we told this to the hostess, she kinda, changed her smile and informed us that almost all the cakes are sold. Or, though, it was 2 pieces of Almond cake on the plate next to the register. I said we would like to have this. Perhaps she did not get it but, she walked away. We left standing , waiting for someone to show us to the table. The young girl at the counter ask as if we ok, called the Hostess again, she come back and point out to the sit next to the window. The older gentleman took over and I told him that we would like a latter a cappuccino and that almond cake next to the counter. I watch him asking the lady at the counter to put the order into there computer and give him the cake… and..she laugh, wiped her hands over her bum, took the one slice of cake WITH the same hand she just wiped… and just, kinda, showed it on the plate.. it was no any finishing touches, no a little cream/ ice cream.. nothing. The gentleman who looked after us coming back with the cake and I asked him : “ Can you please ask the lady if she , actually, washed her hands before she put this cake on the plate?” The water did not even blinked, and like it was the most common thing he is hear every day, he just turned around and went back to the counter. And he did asked the lady. She was telling him something very angry I think… anyway, we just walked away. What a disappointment! It was after 3.00 on Sunday, Father’s Day. It was not that busy… but in any case , this should not happen. Please be carefully aware before you eat cakes in this place. You never know what hands were touching it.. and where were those hands...

Went to Zsa’s for the first time in 4 months a few weeks back and I was very sad and disappointed in their porchetta panini. It was completely different to how it tasted in 2021-2022. Still a nice meal, but compared to the old panini it was quite bland and a little dry. Much less veggies and chilli through it too. It was also smaller and to top it off about $2 more expensive than it used to be. I was sure this had to be a bad “one-off” so I returned recently (a few weeks later) and it was sadly no different. I also ordered a pizza fritta but sadly they no longer sell them. The person behind the counter was polite and patient enough to answer my queries and they explained Zsa’s had changed bakeries. This was evident, but it wasn’t just the bakery, for me it seems like they’ve changed cooks and recipes too and might be skimping on ingredients to cut costs. If this is the case to the detriment of their greatest food item, what was once one of, if not the greatest sandwich you could get in Melbourne. It might seem like I’m overreacting but the original porchetta was really THAT good. And I know several people who’ve mentioned the same change in quality. Please bring back the original porchetta! And please bring back the pizza fritta! Otherwise, this place is still great. Always good service, friendly and professional staff, sells other great produce and there’s always a warm and thriving atmosphere so I would still recommend. When I lived closer I was a regular patron of Zsa’s, but given that the porchetta and pizza fritta were the main reasons I would go there I probably won’t be returning any time soon or at least nowhere near...

Very disappointing experience. Came with a group of ten, had the $75/head tasting menu. When you spend $75/head you generally expect the food and service to be pretty good, sadly this wasn't the case. One person advised they were allergic to onions, there had to have been onions in almost all the dishes we ate, and when we asked a waitress if there was one plate of a particular dish without onions she said the dish was onion free - when we pointed out the large pieces of visible onion she said "oh, those are shallots". That person was feeling extremely ill by the end of the meal. They were able to accommodate gluten free however without a problem. We sat down at 6:45, but weren't served anything other than bread and ceviche until around 8:30pm. This was despite the birthday girl getting up and going to find wait staff twice during the meal to find out why it was taking so long to be served. I'm sure the table would have ordered more drinks if anyone had come to check in on us. The food itself was just ok. I wouldn't go back. For a table of ten people they brought out only two steak dishes to share between us. There wasn't quite enough dishes for everyone to taste everything that was brought out. I will say the wait staff were lovely but just very inconsistent, there was either no one checking on us for long stretches or suddenly 3-4 of them at once. They did bring us some extra sides to apologise for the wait, we were just not that excited by a few cos lettuce leaves with some apple slices and walnuts on them. Wanted to like this place based on other reviews but sadly it fell short. I'd save your money and try...