A friend and I ate dinner at Ezard the other night, located smack-bang in the middle of Flinders…read moreLane, down a flight of stairs and into a somewhat uninspired restaurant. We were greeted by a very friendly and lovely waiter who led us to our table and thus began our wonderful service. Now before I go on, I hadn't known at the time of eating here that it was a two hat restaurant and when I did find out the next day I was admittedly a little surprised. The decor is okay but nothing special, very safe with dim lighting and a small candle-type light on each table. The service by each waiter was excellent so no complaints in that department. After ordering we were presented with a piece of bread and three accompanying salts and oil on the table. The szechuan salt was a personal favourite and went well with the bread. Our entree - the steamed spanner crab dumplings w/ salmon roe & coconut tom kha - came out quickly. The three crab dumplings were cooked well, however lacked any real flavour. The only flavour you could muster was from the coconut tom kha sauce in the bowl. Somewhat disappointing but we were hopeful our mains would be better. The crispy skin barramundi w/ caramelised eggplant, tomato & lime sambal in a yellow curry dressing was nice, and the fish was cooked perfectly. Our other dish, the pan fried sesame crusted John Dory w/ gnocchi, black rice paper & a chestnut custard was good. We were still a bit hungry as these are all quite small portions so we decided to order a dessert. We settled on the blood orange & vanilla parfait w/ black sesame crackers & white aero chocolate. The blood orange was delicious! This dish was the highlight of the night and was presented beautifully. Overall I'm not sure I would agree with Ezard being worthy of two hats, although the service is fantastic, the food and decor lets it down slightly. For the same price you'd spend here you may as well go to an abundance of the other great places Melbourne has to offer. Although I can completely accept that this restaurant is probably not to MY taste but I'm sure it is to others, hence the four star rating from me.

YES to DEGUSTATION menu, modern fuzion, lots of Asian influence, I'm a fan, just make it a little…read morebigger portion please. YES to the Wine List, matched to each dish. YES to exquisite service. YES to the luxurious salon basement ambiance. It was a successful 50th for my friend. I don't mind paying for all that and looking forward to coming back soon.

If you want properly made absolutely delicious pizzas then this is a place you must try. A small…read morefriendly family business offering real Italian foods made right there and at realistic prices. I was so happy to find them after I moved to Bentleigh in 2024, now I can see and taste why 'Pizza on Patterson' has a very loyal following in the area. You can eat in if your just passing through, but ideally take home your foods and enjoy them at their best on your table with your choice of drinks etc. 'Pizza on Patterson' is recommended - YUM ISH !!

This is basically the restaurant for the Princess theatre, which means that you can come here…read morebefore, or even after, a show. However, that can be pretty tricky on the grounds that you tend to have to fight your way through a huge number of people, or just spend an incredible amount of time waiting for things to happen. It's rather small as well, meaning that there isn't much in the way of seating. Still, it's not too bad, and the pies that they had were rather nice as well. A nice place for lunch, but not really before, or after, a show.

Unbelievable! One of the waiters assaulted a customer right in front of me for no reason, grabbing…read morehim by the neck! We had to call the police as a result as it was unprovoked!

Love this place. It's really close to work and their sushi rolls and Bento boxes are delicious…read more I never have to wait long for my order and and am always satisfied. The staff are so very nice and the prices are very reasonable. So much better than my work cafe.

Quick quality bento, sushi & all round japanese fills. I haven't had a bad meal from here. I love…read morethat it's so fast and convenient as i work just up the road and often pop in. Can't go wrong as it's reasonably priced and consistently good. Love it!

Definitely one of the best meals on our trip so far. Everything was super delicious but the best…read moreflavor came from the amazing broth from the Garlic Ramen... it's divine! The service was excellent as well. We had issues paying on their portal but they were able to run the card manually at their station. Very nice service from everyone there. Be prepared for a long line but it does move fairly quickly since it's ramen and they serve it fast! Seating is fairly tight but that is pretty normal here.

I was told of a Michelin star ramen restaurant so of course I had to check it out…read more I was not disappointed. This was probably the best ramen I've had in a while. Extra toppings can be added to the ramen you choose and I couldn't say no to an extra egg which was delicious. I looked at the menu beforehand and was hoping to try the Matcha ramen which I'd heard good things about but turns out it's only available on the dinner menu. As for the karaage, it was tasty but it wasn't mind blowing in any way. Be wary, the restaurant is rather small so depending on when you arrive there may be quite a long queue. I happened to arrive about 10 minutes before opening on a Monday and was one of the first to be seated. Regardless I would love to be able to come back here to tey out the dinner menu

2.8 is my call. The…read moreplace needs an overhaul, I'm afraid. It has a slightly run down feel and a renovation is called for. Our food was ok but well short of outstanding. We started with antipasto piled on two plates for ten. It was a bit rough and ready with insufficient thought given to presentation. Somewhat hurled on the plate. The quality of the antipasto was good again but not top draw by any means. The calamari dish was too rich for us as it came with a thick, strong intense tomato sauce covering it. I love tomato sauce but this was too much. Others had the barramundi. It was on the menu as grilled barramundi with calamari. The barra was crumbed though which took people by surprise as that wasn't mentioned on the menu. Again, the calamari on top of the barramundi was in that thick tomato sauce which was not specified either and didn't agree with several people. Dessert was ok. The tiramisu was served at the table with the glad wrap removed in front of everyone to reveal the dish. A tad eccentric. The trio of gelato was nice but not that well priced at $12. Service was not that great here either. The staff weren't really on their game and tried to clear dishes several times that hadn't been finished. Once is understandable. Multiple times is not. I don't like talking places down but this was a disappointing meal overall. I detect warning signs here as it's hard to talk up any aspect of the experience.

Cosy atmosphere, home made salami, wine, pasta etc, just like the olds in Italy…read more We've here over and over and it's consistently great.

If you have a hankering for BBQ with real smoky flavour and goodness, Up in Smoke is the place to…read morego. From the outside, it doesn't look full of promise, being set next to an old tyre/car repair shop. However, upon entry you'll notice a nice set of tables outdoor and a clean, open space inside. The high ceilings help to ventilate the smoky goodness wafting from the smoker room. Take a peek and see where all those delicious meats are cooking. There is a very decent beer selection listed (and cool bar at the back), although we managed to find two beers from the menu that were not in stock, along with another that was not good for serving. The waiter comped another similar beer with no hassles. Clearly this isn't their first rodeo. Coming with a large group that included children, I noticed a theme during the late afternoon. Many families enjoyed this establishment because it was pram-friendly, catering to more of the singles crowd queueing up as we left later into the evening. They were quite patient with our extended use of the table. The noise level seemed reasonable for a crowd of that size and tables were filling fast. Then came the food! Having to sample a bit of everything, we ordered the Big Tray, featuring spicy sausage, pulled pork, beef brisket, milk buns, two types of pickles and sauces, one sweet and one spicy. This also came with your choice of sides, which we selected the mac and cheese, and chilli mayo slaw. In addition we got a side order of hot wings. I would say the only surprise was the hot wings, as they were more of a smoky, mellow taste than spicy. Still really damn good. Stand outs for me were the mac and cheese with crumbles on top and the pulled pork. I enjoyed having some spicy bites and others sweet. A really great combination. Lastly, the finishing touch, which I didn't feel ready for but went for it anyway, the ice cream donut. What looked like a bagel was cut into two sweet, soft slices with a layer of real vanilla bean ice cream in the centre. It was so good that I immediately regretted my decision to share it. The perfect ending to the meal. I would definitely return to try more off the menu. Other guests in my party had yummy sandwiches and tacos. I could go for the smoky ribs, melting off the bone. There are plenty of choices and a good reason to return soon!

After much anticipation, Up In Smoke finally opens its doors to the public however there's…read moredefinitely room for improvement. We had no trouble getting a table-for-two however after being seated and given ample time to look at the menu, once we were ready to order it was only then we were told that there were 4-5 items on the menu that were sold out. I think it would be preferred service etiquette if the wait staff advised the customers in advance. "The Big Tray" feeds two people for $42. You get 3 meats (beef brisket, pulled pork, sausage) you don't get to choose these but you do get to select the 2 sides. We tried the fries and chilly mayo coleslaw. You also get 2 milk buns, pickles and sauces. My favourite was the pulled pork. The portions were decent but my disappointment would have to be in the sauces and seasoning. With the sharing plate you get 2 sauces that are served in mini silver deep dish bowls but check out my photos and you'll see you barely get anything. Pretty much the size of sweet n sour sauce you get from Maccas. I love BBQ sauce and that's what I love smothering my brisket in but generous they are not with their condiments. The sauces aren't as sweet and flavoursome as other smoke houses I've tried in Melbourne. I don't particularly like spicy foods but it was my mate's choice to try the coleslaw and she said that there wasn't enough mayo. Finally the last variable that made me give up a star on my review was that I was saving room for dessert. The menu said "banana cream pie" which isn't common so I couldn't wait to try it. Unfortunately when I was ready to order I was told that they hadn't released the dessert menu yet. This is game changing information. I would've been more forgiving if I was told beforehand. I think the business and staff need to communicate this with a billboard upon entry or at the very least tell patrons when seating them. Up in Smoke goes down in flames. =(

When I decided to pay a visit to Williamstown one of the first things I planned on doing was…read morefinding a random place to grab some breakfast, and this place basically won the prize. Okay, I can't comment on the coffee, namely because I went for the tea, but the breakfast was certainly delightful. The staff were okay, but what was really cool was the outdoor area out the back, which did give the place a little more space. The service was pretty prompt, and my eggs benedict delicious, so this is definitely a place to check out if you happen to be looking for some coffee in Williamstown.

Lovely "café & patisseries" in Williamstown. The place is…read morecute and you will fond an amazing range of pastries. The staff is really friendly and the backyard is really cute. It is perfect for an afternoon "tea time"!