Vialetto Ristorante

Location: 75 Hardware Lane, Melbourne
Link: www.vialetto.com.au
Cuisine: Italian

Having tried booking a restaurant for 10 people on a Friday night at very short notice, we tried numerous places with no success. I mean, seriously, as if you don't make an effort to set up a table of 10? Imagine all the money!! Then I gave Vialetto a call and they were more than happy to set up a table for us.

Seafood linguini: linguini tossed with garlic prawns, mussels, calamari, pipis, complimented with fresh tomato, Tuscan olive oil and fresh herb salad

Lamb shank: braised lamb shank served with its braising vegetables on herb mashed potato

Beef lasagne: rich meat and tomato sauce layered with fresh pasta sheets, herbs, bechamel sauce topped with fresh parmesan

Atlantic salmon: pan seared salmon fillet served on a Russian potato salad with horseradish mayo and beetroot jus, finished with fresh herbs

Warm strawberry crepe splashed with Grand Marnier and served with vanilla bean ice-cream

Chocolate macadamia brownie served with dark chocolate sauce, mascarpone & coulis

We originally wanted the chocolate mousse they had on their specials menu for the day but they had run out. So we opted for the chocolate brownie instead. The brownie was nice and gooey on the inside, very cakey on the outside. The chocolate sauce was rich and thick, and went well with the mascarpone and coulis. We had asked for ice-cream on the side but it seems that the waiter forgot to mention that to the chef.

Service was pleasant as always - polite, friendly and happy to oblige with most requests. The food came out rather quickly which kept us happy.

Overall Impression: 9/10

Vialetto Ristorante: $30 Two Course Deal

Location: 75 Hardware Lane, Melbourne
Link: www.vialetto.com.au
Cuisine: Italian

I've been to this place a few times now, so there isn't much point in re-iterating the wonderful atmosphere and generally quite good service. Straight onto the food!!

Vialetto's currently have a deal on for dinner - $30 will buy you two courses (entree and main or main and dessert). And they do have free drinks - the tip is to appear hesitant about going in until they offer you a complimentary drink on them. The only thing is that if you book in advance, or appear to have already made up your mind to go in, they won't be offering you that drink.

Italian style dips - olive tapenade, smoked salmon & chive and sun dried tomato dips served with toasted bread and salad garnish

This was a bit of a let-down after the work girls raved a bit about how good it was. This time they mushed up the three dips in the one dish instead of giving us three individual dishes. My favourite was the smoked salmon - light but creamy and had a very nice, almost pate-like, taste. The sun-dried tomato dip was sweet, probably too sweet, and the olive tapenade was just a little too oversalted. More bread (maybe warmed turkish bread) would have solved most of the problems with this dish.

Chicken medallions - marinated chicken medallions, pan seared, served with seeded mustard mash, green beans, garnished with a rocket and semi dried tomato salad

Veal saltimbocca - pan cooked baby veal scallopine with Virginia ham and fresh sage, served atop confit potato, sauteed onion, wilted spinach and chive beurre blanc

The veal was a little undercooked which was disappointing, but the sauce was perfect. Creamy but not too heavy, and I could taste the lemon or lime juice through it. The potatoes were soft and creamy in texture. The onions were tasty but I would have preferred them caramelised rather than just sauteed. The spinach was soft and helped break up the meat and cream.

Bigne con cioccolata - profitteroles filled with crema pasticcera and served with warm chocolate sauce & vanilla bean ice-cream.

This was amazing. The profitteroles were filled with thick cold cream and the pastry outer shell was hardened but a little crunchy. The chocolate sauce and ice-cream matched it well. My only complaint is that there should have been more strawberries!

Service: excellent, albeit a little slow
Food: average
Value for money: excellent, especially with a free drink (includes basic alcohols)
Atmosphere: excellent

Overall Impression: 8.5/10

Vialetto Ristorante - Scallop Risotto

Location: 75 Hardware Lane, Melbourne
Link: www.vialetto.com.au
Cuisine: Italian

A late finish at work led us to Vialetto Ristorante for a quick dinner (quick for me anyway). After something easy to eat that hopefully would not take too long to cook, I ordered the scallop risotto. A bit on the pricey side, but at $19.50 it was well worth the money, There were plenty of scallops, which mostly tasted fresh, or at least not straight from a freezer, and the snow peas added a very nice crunch and light texture.

The others seemed to be pleased with their entrees, and were very happy that we were given one complimentary drink each. The service was pleasant, as should be expected in Hardware Lane, and the atmosphere was quite nice - I'm generally impressed by restaurants who use white tablecloths because it at least suggests they are clean and can be bothered washing them thoroughly. Leaves a good impression.

Overall Impression: 8.5/10

Max Bar and Restaurant

Location: 54-58 Hardware Lane, Melbourne
Link: www.maxbarrestaurant.com.au
Cuisine: Modern Australian

13 people for a birthday dinner and Max was my choice. Having been there quite a few times (including a work Christmas function), I knew that they were capable of handling large groups. I also knew that there was a pretty extensive menu meaning that everyone would be able to find something to eat.

So here was all the food we ordered...

Crumbed Calamari - lightly crumbed lemon and pepper calamari served on a bed of salad and tartare sauce

Thai Beef Salad - marinated beef with hokkien noodles, crunchy Asian salad and a Thai chilli dressing

Max Classic Caesar Salad - grilled chicken fillets, bacon, crispy cos lettuce, poached egg, croutons, parmesan and anchovy dressing

Special: Chicken and Chorizo Paella

Linguini Pescatore - seafood flamed in olive oil, garlic and herbs and napoli sauce

BBQ Chicken Pizza - marinated chicken pieces, baby spinach, pineapple, mozzarella cheese and garlic yoghurt

Chicken Max - char grilled chicken breast filled with roast capsicum and macadamia nuts, served on a potato rosti and drizzled with a light dijon cream sauce

Veal Scallopini - pan cooked baby veal in a white wine sauce with garlic mash and seasonal vegetables

Main sized crumbed calamari

Prawn & Scallop Risotto - tossed with fresh tomato, garlic, chilli, white wine and fresh herbs

Salmon Fettuccini - smoked salmon, onion, capers, tomato and spinach in a white wine cream sauce

This was beautiful. The salmon was cooked but only slightly, so that the smokey flavours still remained and the meat was nice and soft. The sauce was smooth and creamy, perhaps a little on the rich side, but the tomatoes, spinach and a squeeze of lemon juice tamed it a little. The serving size was a lot bigger than it seems to be in the picture.

T-bone Steak - grain fed T-bone with a jacket potato, seasonal vegetables and a mushroom jus

Pumpkin risotto

Italian Style Lamb Shanks - oven roasted with a red wine jus and served with garlic mash and seasonal vegetables

Gelato

The serving was as large as I had last time - when I ate it by myself. I always find the chocolate gelati doesn't quite fit in with the strawberry and what I think is either lemon or pineapple, but on its own tastes smooth and creamy.

Warm chocolate pudding with vanilla ice-cream

By all means, the dish of the night. The pudding was thin and wafery on the outside, and oozing with chocolately goodness on the inside. The chocolate sauce on the outside was rich and just sweet enough, and surprisingly did not cause a chocolate overkill with the chocolate goo inside. The ice-cream was just ice-cream, but necessary to balance out the richness of the rest of the plate.

Sticky date pudding with vanilla ice-cream

The food was pretty good value for money, especially the $27 two course meal deal. We were very disappointed with the waitress who served our table though - she was particularly rude and abrupt about how the deal worked. Generally the male waiters at Max are a lot more polite and friendly. She destroyed the restaurant's reputation for good service.

Overall Impression: 7.5/10

Vialetto's Ristorante

Location: 75 Hardware Lane

Link: www.vialetto.com.au
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Company: Jie, Jenn, Law Crew

~Food~
The menu lists a rather large variety of mains, pastas, salads and desserts. I ordered the roast duck, which was tasty but a little on the dry side. The orange sauce wasn't as sweet as I feared it might be, and tasted awesome on top of the vegies. This time I managed to get photos of what everyone else ordered.

The mains...

[semi-boned half duck, twice cooked to a crispy skin, served with an orange citrus sauce and seasonal vegetables]

[grilled fish of the day with a herb butter and white wine sauce,served with seasonal vegetables]
This may look pretty, but came with plenty of fish bones intact and they took it off the bill.

[seared fresh Atlantic salmon nicoise served on baby beans, desiree potato, red onion, tomato and olives, all dressed with Tuscan olive oil]

[aged scotch fillet char-grilled and served with a green peppercorn sauce, Tuscan style mashed potato and seasonal vegetables]

[char-grilled veal served on a bed of rocket salad with olive tapenade]

[linguini tossed with chicken, avocado, roasted capsicum, cream and fresh herbs]

[salad of pan-seared warm calamari, served on an artichoke,rocket and semi-dried tomato salad]

[grilled calamari tubes filled with fresh spinach, prawn meat, sundried tomatoes, chilli and mushrooms, drizzled with basil oil and served with a salad]

And then for dessert...

[warm strawberry crepe: splashed with Grand Marnier & served with homemade vanilla bean ice cream]

[bigné con cioccolata: profitteroles filled with crema pasticcera and served with warm chocolate sauce & vanilla bean ice cream]

[trio of summer sorbets: a delightful selection of mango, green apple & rasberry sorbets]

[Bailey’s & white chocolate ice cream: homemade ice cream served with a chocolate wafer & a splash of Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur]

~Atmosphere and Service~
The main dining area was tucked away in the basement floor of the restaurant. The tables were neatly set [complete with white tablecloths] and the service was minimal but very accommodating despite them being quite busy (we went on a Friday night). Bookings are nearly essential and there is the option to pre-order to save time.

~Price~
Mains are less than $20, desserts are about $8. And the serving sizes are rather generous too.

~Overall Impression: 9/10~
Decent prices, pleasant, unintrusive service and a good variety of dishes. A perfect mix, not to mention the awesomeness of the desserts.

Cafe Max

Location: Hardware Lane
Cuisine: Italian
Company: Jie

~Food~
Since Jie had been craving for pasta for almost a week now, we finally went in search of a good place to eat. Stumbled across Cafe Max whilst perusing Menulog for restaurants to add to our growing list of places to eat at. The cafe was one of the many places hidden away in Hardware Lane - a place we always seem to overlook when looking for somewhere to eat - and was surprisingly spacey inside. Ordered a Peking duck risotto and linguine marinara. Although the servings were quite small [in comparison to other places], they had a lot of decent content. The risotto had heaps of duck where other places would sprinkle some on, and the linguine had lots of seafood.

~Atmosphere and Service~
The service was quite good, the waiter who seated us was friendly and didn't mind giving us extra plates [for good old Asian dining lol!].

~Price~
Somewhat pricey, but for a decent meal, it was worth it.

~Overall Impression~
Will possibly return when we crave good quality food, as for value for money, this is not the place to go.