Osteria Ilaria

My friend took me here for my birthday after hearing good things, but honestly left pretty disappointed. For the price you pay, the food and execution just didn’t deliver. Mushroom Croquette (2.5/5) – Looked promising but was bland. Hardly any mushroom flavour came through, and overall it tasted quite flat. Tuna Crudo (4/5) – This dish had a pleasant salt and citrus balance once mixed properly. At first, eating the top layer alone was too salty, but when combined, it came together quite well. King Prawn Tagliolini (2/5) – Easily the biggest letdown. The prawns were overcooked, tough, and dry, missing that sweet, juicy bite. The pasta was also overdone, lacking that proper al dente texture. The flavour was okay, but that’s about it. Sher Wagyu (4/5) – The saving grace of the night. Nicely cooked with a good beef flavour, and the lemon sauce with a hummus-like texture actually worked well. But serving it with just three stems of broccolini felt lazy for the price point. By the end, we skipped dessert; the prices and limited choices, combined with the underwhelming experience, just didn’t feel worth it. Overall, the dishes looked good but didn’t live up to expectations. For a birthday dinner, it felt more disappointing than special.

We had such a wonderful dining experience at Osteria Ilaria. The wait staff were incredibly accommodating, friendly, and genuinely caring. They took the time to explain the chef’s specials in detail and offered thoughtful recommendations, which made us feel very well looked after. We decided to go with the Chef’s Selection, and it was an excellent choice. The menu offered a generous variety – two entrees, two starters, two mains with a side, and two desserts – all perfectly paced so each dish arrived at just the right moment. Every dish was beautifully presented and full of flavour, but the standout for us was the Wagyu rump steak. It was cooked to perfection – wonderfully crisp on the outside while staying rare and tender in the centre. Absolutely outstanding. Overall, a fantastic experience from start to finish. Great service, an impressive menu, and food that truly delivers on quality. Highly recommended.

Cosy fine dining restaurant with flavourful and delectable food. The portion sizes looked a little underwhelming but we ended up leaving with happy full stomachs. The tagliolini has extraordinary flavours and was delicious with perfectly cooked pasta and juicy prawns, a little oily but still delightful.

My husband and I dined here tonight and had the best experience. The food was amazing with locally sourced ingredients. We were lucky enough to sit at the chefs table and enjoyed watching the them do their thing and chatting to them. It just added to the whole experience, thank you The tortellini and the stracciatella were our favourites ! We will be back :)

Came here for my friend’s birthday two weeks ago. The food portions were pretty small for the price, and the oysters weren’t that fresh. The total bill was 230 for 4 girls but we weren't full lol. The service was nice though! I’d say this place is better if you just want a cozy spot to grab some drinks and chill with friends after work, not really for a proper dinner.

Great service and nice spot but the food was mediocre. Out of all our dishes, the tiny mushroom croquettes were the most flavourful. The desserts were nothing great—with the truffle flavour really offsetting the pumpkin mousse in a bad way.

Highly recommend this place, and get a bar seat if you can. The intricate dance of the chef and his team is fascinating. Food and wine selection have been great as well. Service is on top of everything and know their stuff.

We got the chef's selection and came out hungry after all of it. The service was particularly slow. We had to wait quite a bit in between the dishes. I guess it's a mix between slow service and tiny portions you can finish in a few bites. Highlight for the food were the cultured butter and bread, mushroom croquettes, and the steak. However the rest of it was average. The black garlic tasted burnt and bitter. It was an experience but I wouldn't go back.

WOW! Just WOW! The food here was amazingly delicious - we had the ciabatta and cultured butter, kangaroo polenta appetizer, tuna tartar starter, lamb pappardelle pasta and a coconut ball sweet as a free treat at the end of our meal. The portions looked small but were very rich and filling and were all very flavorful. We ate at the bar and the bartender gave us excellent service as well as the sommelier took us through tasting a couple of excellent wines before we settled on our glasses of a wonderful Grenache. Highly recommend checking this place out if you like really excellent food and service.

Local Italian restaurant with lots of great food and charm. I highly recommend doing the chef's tasting menu. Just sit back and be pleasantly surprised by the various dishes that just comes out. They brought out 3 appetizers (fried blossom, yellow-tail carpaccio, burrata), home-made pasta with shrimp, octopus, and grilled pork chop with roasted eggplant side dish. Everything was super fresh and executed perfectly. It was truly great food without the huge price tag.

Nice staff, pleasant tables in the back, front area is crowded and more noisy. Good service. Our dinner was ok -- I had the crab, octopus pasta which was a bit bland but ok. My friend had the game ragu pasta which had no flavor, she didn't finish it. The salad was excellent. The bread pudding was nothing special, Melbourne has so many wonderful restaurants I won't return here.

Monday night and the restaurant was packed. For good reason. With seamless service, comfortable surroundings, and beautifully conceived, and executed dishes, we had a dining experience of the highest order. We started with octopus. Four baby octopi over an anchovy brown sauce, ensured that each bite was tender, with hints of salt, and heat in the gravy. Somehow the intense anchovy flavor was harnessed, so that it complemented, rather than competed with the delicate octopus flavor. On to the paccheri pasta, with crystal bay prawns, in a sorrel sauce. Home made al dente pasta, with a delicate sauce that supported the small, flavorful prawns. Our last main was the duck. Exquisitely tender, with crunchy roasted hazelnuts, bitter cooked radicchio, in a duck sauce. I was happy that they did not take the easy way out, with one of those over used, overly sweet fruit sauces. This dish was for mature palates, and married beautifully to our Pinot noir. We concluded with chocolate cake. The dish was deconstructed so that little bites of cake sat alongside bites of chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, various fruits, strips of tarragon, and then covered in a blanket of very thin persimmon slices. Again bitter notes were emphasized over sweet ones, leaving one with a more complex dessert than any chocolate cake you have had before. Embrace the vision of this restaurant, and you will be well rewarded.

We just had dinner here tonight. Everything was wonderful. The service and food were both outstanding. We shared the mushroom croquettes, tiger prawns, nightly special of Mushroom Gnocchi and also a dessert of chocolate cream with coffee gelato. Would highly recommend

Osteria Ilaria is the wonderful cousin of Tipo OO, next door. I made the call to have a corporate team dinner here and was so was so pleased with the experience. Mediterranean inspired sharing plates, international wine varietals (try the Bosnian red) and seamless, unpretentious service. Dietary requirements are effortlessly catered for and the causal yet quality dining environment made for a relaxed evening. I especially liked the octopus and duck dishes. Although, everything was perfetto, including the house warmed bread the creamy butter. I have a crush for restaurant bread and butter. Grazie Mille. Looking forward to my next visit.

The four of us split a bunch of small tapas sized plates of food (it was almost half the menu). We left satisfied but not overly full. Apparently this is the sister restaurant to the Italian one next door that was too packed to sit. I would definitely eat here again. My favorite dish was the burrata.

We tried to get in to this restaurant but was put on a wait list, we were told that because there was 6 of us it would be an hour to an hour & a half wait. We kept checking in only to be told that they have a table of 4 away and that 6 was too hard! 3 hrs later we left to eat at another restaurant. Would NOT recommended this place as they were quite rude. I wouldn't give them a star but to post this review I had to give at least one. Not worth the trouble!

Totally agree with Glen Ellyn about the wine-listing rip-off. Outrageously sharp practice: it meant we ended up paying $85 for a bottle of wine which to all intents and purposes, following normal listing practices, should have been $45 - no mention of a carafe! Who buys a decent wine by the carafe? (Not that I have an issue with buying wine by the carafe if you want a vin ordinaire to glug with lunch, or w.h.y. - as I often do myself). Food-wise, helpings were definitely on the small side at any price, though the flavours were very good. The service was professionally pleasant and the ambience was relaxing with well-judged design and a well-lit interior. But the wine-listing catch is unforgivable.

The week before Christmas is a real test of a restaurant and Osteria Ilaria passed with flying colours. We made a booking for lunch a few days before , not on line but in person. We requested the quietest area so we could chat with our two friends.We arrived promptly at 12.15 and within a few minutes were sitting at our table, sparkling water poured and wines ordered. The open kitchen was busy gearing up for the guests to arrive as we walked past. The staff were cheerful and proactive offering advice on wine and food. We went for the 3 course menu with a couple of sides. ( the delicious chickpea fries and a mixed salad) my Hapuka starter was finely sliced , almost sashimi thin but very fresh and with a delicate sauce. I was told it was the first day on the menu and I think it may become a regular. My main were two baby snapper fillets on a smooth potato purée garnished with snap peas and cannellini beans. I was told the beef rump was delicious too. My dessert was panettone with cream, ice cream and berries, with a shard of white chocolate sprinkled with freeze dried raspberries. Coffee was excellent. I think the meal which worked out about $70 a head including tip, wine and charity donation was very good value for money. Don't go expecting huge serves, this is a refined if casual bistro place with excellent service, simple but stylish "Melbourne" food, bare timber tables, nice china and glassware , a massive wine list and paper napkins! Sorry, too busy eating to take photos!

Went here when we couldn't be accommodated at TIPO 00. The food was delicious, but serving sizes are tiny. Besides the snooty server, my biggest beef is with the wine prices. Wine list has two prices for each wine choice, separated by a slash, like every other restaurant. Except at this restaurant, the prices are not glass and bottle. They are glass and carafe. So the wine we chose which we thought was $13/$48 for a glass and bottle respectively turned out to be $78 a bottle! Unseen unless you happened to make it to the end of the 10 page drink list. Buyer beware! Again, food was tasty, portions were tiny and 4 small plates and wine came to $180. Felt a bit ripped off when we left. Won't be back.