Osteria Ilaria - Melbourne

The week before Christmas is a real test of a restaurant and Osteria Ilaria passed with flying colours.

Exceptional food, wine and service. Sitting at the bar enhanced our dining experience 100 fold. Well done to the whole team.

First night out post ISO. Felt surreal with minimal tables and reading full wine lists off your smartphone to reduce contamination. All dishes were presented beautifully. But that’s where it stopped. There were no real stand out dishes unfortunately. Service was friendly and knowledgeable.

We six morphed into the quiet back room, duff, duff free. We all selected the two course $40 menu. Flexibility was permitted, anchovy sauce was replaced with basil and two entree’s were permitted. Wine by the glass provided a plethora of fine drops and we all enjoyed the food. The crew were the best.

As soon as you step into Osteria Ilaria, you know you’re in for an amazing treat rustic and no frills decor, open kitchen; short no nonsense menu with a great wine list; attentive staff; and most importantly, one of the best Italian degustation ever. My favourites were:<br/ mushroom croquettes (melt in your mouth, an absolute must try! <br/ paccheri (sheets pasta w crystal bay prawns<br/ spaghetti w sea urchin and pippies<br/ wagyu 7+ strip loin (7+ grade, nuff said