Doesn't allow a baby into their ('wine bar' portion) premises, thus missed an important function…read more Legally okay under current liquor laws, personally not okay with venue. Strange. Quirk not communicated on website, not communicated verbally, not communicated with person who booked venue. But anybody under 18 is allowed into the restaurant! 3 month old located the other side of a plaster wall, no can do. Manager typically arrogant, unapologetic and occupied solely by self interest when confronted for an explanation. I'm sure you'll remember this feedback. I would advise seeking the services of another venue, unless you can be sure everybody you invite, along with dependants are over 18. Biagio's - communicate with everybody who books the wine bar - communicate this personal choice via a statement on your website.

First time here, quite a nice place, friendly service & a spacious & stylish interior. There's also…read morea lot of choice in the drinks menu & I was glad my lemon lime & bitters was not brought out in a bottle. We ordered the salami pesto pizza, which was very tasty & enough for 2 to share. Although I didn't have a coffee, it seems to be a popular spot for coffee & cake with a selection of delicious looking cakes on display.

In the middle of last week I was sitting happily at home contemplating an alcohol-free day, and how…read moremuch my overworked liver may appreciate such a wondrous happening. Long story short, is I got a phone call saying there was a new wine bar down the road in Essendon, and that I should tag along to check it out. If you like a very competitively priced glass or bottle of wine, I suggest you do to. The wine bar down the road in Essendon turned out to be the Essendon Wine Bar. The night I went was the soft opening, and there was the odd fixture waiting to be fixed in the back of the venue, but it also gave us a chance to look through before it was all polished and suave. One of the highlights for me was seeing inside the old safe (the venue was a NAB branch in a previous life) which now serves as a liquor store (as in backup booze cache, not bottle shop). Somewhere between being a bank and becoming a wine bar, this was also a nightclub, so some of the furniture has been re-purposed, but much of it is slick and new. The back of the venue will retain a wide dance floor and as it will be open until late a few nights a week, but it will be given a facelift. The smoking area out the front is a nice spot when there are no smokers, and there is footpath seating. Food is outsourced to neighboring restaurants. Armed with my initial freebie-opening-night-celebratory-wine, I perused the wine list. It was still being printed, but the interim one was interesting and featured a number if wineries I had never heard of. Second glass of wine was a Heathcote Shiraz, and it was great, at $6 a glass or $22 a bottle. In consultation with my group, we invested in a bottle for the third round. Then another. A third, equally-well-priced bottle was purchased, but I can't remember what it was. Then there was a discussion about sampling a white, so we did that obligingly without doing too much damage to the bank account. Finally it was time to leave as the sober driver wanted some sleep. A beer for good health courtesy of the bar manager was all that stood in the way of a swift departure. Throughout all this I nibbled on samples of the catering, and can tell you the olives a good, the arancini balls delightful, fries moreish, and meatballs worth the wait. As a special tip for those of you who made it this far into my review, bottles of Champagne, real Champagne from Champagne, start at $65 a bottle for Mumm Cordon Rouge or Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label. Now tell me you don't want to check this place out!

Got a groupon as a gift at this place and as mentioned on the coupon went made a booking for 9pm…read morethis evening. The place smelled of puke (or was it cheese), either way it was not too pleasant. The voucher was for a 'Wine Tasting Experience with a Meat and Cheese Platter' for two. Their menu states that a platters include 'cheese (4), cold meats (3) Marinated olives, water & gluten free rice crackers' and the pictures on the website looks scrumptious. Infact, I though it was one of those hidden gems, a cozy nook and and was eager to try their yum cha. However, when I made the booking last evening I was told that I could only order what was available as yum cha was outsourced. The wine list consisted of a few low to mid range wines and I settled for a glass of '2013 Mike Press Pinot Noir Adelaide Hills' and my husband settled for a glass of Pimm's. As for additional food, we were told told that the only food available was from the pizza menu. Husband came back with the drinks from the bar and it took approximately 30 minutes for the Tasting Platter to arrive upon questioning it's whereabouts. The slightly rude personnel behind the counter had the nerve to say 'It is because we are busy', when we politely questioned as to how much longer it would take. Made a mental note to not spend a penny more than what the voucher would cover and to take our dinner bill elsewhere. The cold cuts, prosciutto and the salami tasted funny, the cheese was alright, the water crackers were soggy and who the hell serves Peckish Crackers. I could have made a better platter at home. I wish restaurants would stop existing for the sake of existing and actually do justice to the culinary art. Absolute disappointment!

Very mediocre- I had a linguine laziale with pumpkin and feta in a tomato sauce. Also garlic bread…read more My wife had the vegetarian focaccia. I had a glass of Pinot Grigio. The linguine was over cooked - no concept of al dent! I had to request Parmesan. The garlic bread was served with the meal instead of being put on the table to nibble on with my wine. My wife remarked the the caremelized onions in her focaccia were greasy... I ordered another glass of wine and it took until I'd finished my meal for them to bring it. Could have been worse - and the waiters were very friendly. But how hard can it be to make pasta right? I make pasta better than this, and I'm not a chef!

In the past I've mostly had breakfast or brunch at Mammalinas and have always found the meals to be…read moreconsistently good and the service attentive and friendly. Situated on the corner of Graves St and Keilor Rd, Mammalinas is away from the busier section of Keilor Rd. Niddrie. Pride is taken with the presentation of meals as well as the cleanliness of the restaurant itself. A visit to the amenities and you'll see what I mean, in addition to vases of succulents adorning the wall, someone must be an Audrey Hepburn fan. It's a nice touch. On weekends, Mammalinas is especially popular with families and groups. It's also fully licensed, stocked with wines and spirits.

I enjoyed the food here. They've got an interesting selection of burgers with some unique American…read morestyle varieties I haven't seen at other burger places in Melbourne. I went for the LeBron burger, a spicy beef burger. The chips were pretty good too. The dining areas were a bit of a let-down. inside was too noisy and outside is right next to a large, congested and ugly intersection.

Good solid burger joint in the North. Cheesy Bacon fries were just as you'd expect, American out of…read morea can style cheese sauce, American style bacon pieces (you know the type, almost candied), and really good thick chips. The chocolate cookie shake was divine. The burger itself was nice, a good mix of sauces, but the meat pattie itself was probably a little dry if anything? The brioche bun wasn't too "briochey", and it is served in a half unwrapped, ready to eat and catch your drippings fashion. Service was quick and friendly, the decor is basically a basketball court, complete with rings, and they have a decent sized outdoor space out the front, but multiple tables big enough for big groups (we had 7). Fun Fact - the burgers are all named after prominent NBA players (hence the title Dribbles). I went the good Ol' original Jordan Royale. I mean, well i had to, we were sitting on table number 23.

If there was an option for negative star ratings this place would be a 5. We had a meal that cost…read moreover $120 for four. Fish & Chips was $32.00. I swear it was Basa from the freezer at Coles. The Chicken Parmi had a choice of one sauce "Napoli". The mozzarella topping looked & tasted like plastic, the sauce was so watery it was akin to a small serve of soup & the chips were cold. I swear they were cooked the night before & even then weren't great. Pasta dishes were between $25 & $36. I got packet linguini topped with a jar of some sort of white sauce which was absolutely NOT Carbonara & exactly 4 frozen prawns. One choice of burger, which was tasteless & cold on the smallest Brioche bun I've ever seen. That cost 27.00. Even the garlic bread came out of a packet. The beer garden is a sad smoker's lounge & that's about it. Don't think they've emptied the ashtrays for a week but that's OK as most of the patrons just seem to prefer to stub out their butts on the ground. Staff were cold & unwelcoming & so were many patrons. On the bright side if you're a big drinker, they seem to serve people far past the point where they ought to have been offered a coffee. Shame really as from the outside it's all heritage charm but the inside seems to be only inviting to those who want to get legless sit in front of a row of poker machines losing their pay packet.

I found this pub when I was on my way to an engagement party one Saturday, though because I had to…read morego to the party I couldn't suddenly change my plans and go inside. Mind you, when I left to go home a couple of friends asked me if I wanted a lift, to which I politely declined explaining that there was a pub that I discovered that I hadn't had a beer in as yet - being this pub. Well, there isn't all that much that really stood out about this pub though - it is what you would expect from a suburban pub. There was a TAB, pokies, and a restaurant, as well as an outdoor area out the back, which was full of smokers (which doesn't make it a really enjoyable experience if you are not a smoker, and I would hesitate to call it a beer garden). The pub itself wasn't bad, but it is certainly not one that I would travel all the way out to Essendon just to visit.