La Porchetta South Yarra - Melbourne

Close to the closing time on Saturday night there were not too many people here so not sure whether this place is available in a district where there is no lack of restaurants. independent of this, the price-performance ratio is difficult to beat. great. selection of meals on the menu, plus a few specials, all reasonable prices. a must-have, if other upmarket options are almost not in line with the budget or palette.

I come here every year and command the same. the seafood pescatore is always delicious and the tim tam celheese cake is simply sensational. in the course of the years many things have changed, but the service and quality of food have always remained unbeatable!

Ordered the bolognese arancini for starters which was nice but it was SWIMMING in bolognese it wasn’t actually inside the arancini. like a main than a starter. My girlfriend ordered the lasagne for herself as she had eaten it there before and loved...it the first time. Tonight when it came out, you couldn’t even see that it was lasagne! Again, the dish was SWIMMING in the same bolognese.. way too much food and not at all “lasagne”. Huge waste of food. I ordered the fried calamari which was completely unseasoned there was no taste from it at all. When we asked the waitress she said the calamari was “cooked fresh every morning” but I still don’t believe this, definitely frozen and the breadcrumbs weren’t seasoned one bit. In all, the portions were far too big, probably to try take away from the less than average food. When we were approached by the waitress she was quite condescending, telling us at least we will have enough food for breakfast tomorrow.. not good enough. To be fair, we weren’t charged for the mains but we did not leave satisfied with the service. And we did not get an apology on the way out either, waitress said “see you again soon” no you certainly will not!

As an American photographer, I covered the Australian Open for 14 years, and this was my favorite restaurant. Great pizzas, and many other items, coupled with reasonable prices and a great staff. If you are an American visiting Melbourne, this is a true Australian experience.

Very friendly staff and great service. The menu has a wide range of options, making it easy for families with young or picky children to eat. The pricing is reasonable and the location is lively.