Thirty Eight Chairs

ORDERED: 🍞 Warm ciabattina with homemade truffle butter ($2.00 per piece) 🍝 Special pasta of the day: Homemade Lobster & Royal prawn ravioli: Spanner crab meat, cherry tomato, bisque sauce ($55.00) 🥔 Roast potato ($15.00) 🍰 Tiramisu ($21.00) I paid $85.00 here which included a mocktail! REVIEW: Let's kick it off with food: 1. My friend recommended that we start with the truffle butter. 🤎 You have the earthy umami flavour coming out which worked so well with the ciabattina. I also found it easier to tear the ciabattina up and then lather a generous amount of butter on top. 2. I loved Thirty Eight Chairs' special pasta. 🧡 The sauce was glossy, the cherry tomatoes were bursting with sweetness, and the spanner crab was delicious. Spanner crab has a lighter flavour compared to heavier proteins, so being able to taste it along with the prawn was phenomenal. As others have alluded to in reviews, the seating in this restaurant is tight. Nonetheless, we picked an earlier time (6.00pm) so we didn't have people squishing us on two sides. Service was straightforward. I would've liked if they pro-actively offered/advised us to get another serving of ciabattina, instead of leaving us to split 2 pieces between 3 people. I had to grab their attention across the room to get another piece. 🗣️ Overall, Thirty Eight Chairs is an easy environment to catch up with friends. Delicious pasta, straightforward service.

I have experienced these 5 versions of Barramundi fish in there SPECIALS. Each version has its unique flavor! Delicious! The small bread and other things are delicious as well. 👍👍👍

Consistently great food and service every time I visit. I never feel rushed, and the atmosphere is always warm and welcoming. The staff are attentive without being intrusive, and it's clear they care about providing a comfortable dining experience. It's a place I always look forward to returning to.

Great atmosphere and delicious food Staffs are friendly and gave good suggestion when we’ve been there in the first time

Enjoyed a quick, early dinner without a reservation (but probably best to book given how popular it was!). The staff were very accommodating, didn't rush us, and we were served quite promptly. A varied menu with plenty of starters and sides from which to choose to go with our mains. The lobster ravioli (daily special) was delicious, as was the tiramisu!

Mortadella focaccia is a highlight Pumpkin pasta tastes amazing! Must try! Seafood spaghetti is quite average. Tiramisu is quite average.

We had an absolutely amazing experience dining at 38 Chairs for our Christmas lunch. The place is intimate, but has a great vibe. The food was authentic and exceptional, but the real stand out was the service. Our server Gino was friendly and attentive-he didn’t miss a beat, without being overbearing. He treated us like family, and truly made our day. We will definitely be back!

Small Italian restaurant with a relaxed, intimate setting. We ordered a few different dishes and most of them are great. The ox tongue is sliced thinly and the sauce on the side has a bit of tanginess, I think the ox tongue itself could have better char on it. The fettuccine marinara is excellent with a very comforting seafood sauce. Veal schnitzel also recommended, it was thin, juicy and lightly crumbed. Food - 8 Service - 9 Vibe - 9 Price - $$$$

This Italian restaurant is worth a sit down ! Per person: 100-150Aud/person. Dining experience: Natural Pacific Oysters 7AUD/each Shallot Viaigrette Seasoning. 8 out of 10 for freshness, 7 out of 10 for flavor. Pan Seared Scollops 28AUD Peas puree, Chorizo crumble. A very nice appetizer. Warm Ciabattina & homemade truffle butter 8AUD The starter packet was overly firm and hard, the texture and flavor were ordinary, the truffle butter had little truffle flavor, and it was overall mediocre and unmemorable. Black Angus Scotch fillet 65AUD Meat, fire, texture, sauce seasoning are all medium to high, pretty good. Spegjetti Marinara Seafood Pasta Ingredients include calamari, pipi, shrimp, scallops, seasoning is mainly tomato and lemon, sour and salty, moderately acidic, spaghetti texture plus, chewy and Q-bouncy. Tiramisu I think it's pretty good, moderately sweet and bitter, smooth texture, and what's the point of eating Italian food without ordering Tiramisu? Mocktail It's just the feeling of juice, nothing special. Dining Environment: The restaurant is not large, small and exquisite, the store is busy but not chaotic, the overall atmosphere is relaxed and romantic. The entire restaurant can be seen everywhere in the details of the thought put into it, the combination of modern and classical decoration, displays with ethnic country characteristics, beautifully decorated, in the rich and romantic lighting, surrounded by the sound of guests talking and laughing mixed with the sound of music, SO CHILL!

Great food and cool spot. Great service and vibe. Defiantly worth a visit. Decent servings and pretty good menu.

Great place for dinner with family, the menu is just right not too complicated. The Duck Ragu is to die for!!

Amazing Restaurant!! We celebrated our wedding anniversary last night at Scopri. It all started with a glass of truly refreshing sparkling Prosecco

There are more than 38 chairs now, but this still feels like an intimate family restaurant. Trendy cocktails, modern and classic menu items and attentive service. We split a risotto and salad to start and then the fish special (fresh and light) and gnocchi (small pieces, great texture and flavour) with a bottle of house Shiraz. All very good, not too expensive, and would be 5 stars except for a couple of mistakes (quickly rectified) with the order.

Very good restaurant These people know what they're doing Very good service Tasty well presented food Lovely bread Well worth a visit or two

Pasta was perfection. There was so much taste and flavour in their duck ragu. That was definitely the highlight for me. Croquettes were very average, and the parmi di melanzane was a little too doughy for my liking. Would've liked to see the eggplant sliced a little thicker, so that the flavours from it could be tasted and the texture from the eggplant could've been acknowledged.

38 Chairs is aptly named for it's limited seating but what it lacks in space it makes up for in authenticity. The staff all speak Italian, know their menu well and make service a top priority. Specials are listed on the wall but if you can't see them from your seat, they will gladly describe them for you, in addition to recommending dishes from the standard menu. There is a decent wine list, most from Italy, some specialty cocktails and a range of aperitifs. Since the trio of cold fish was suggested as an entree, we gave it a go. Beautifully sliced swordfish, ocean trout and slivers of octopus with a light olive oil with complementing lemon juice really brought the seafood to life. Such a simple dish was so delicious. For our mains, we went with the pappardelle al ragu with duck and mushrooms, which my dining companion enjoyed immensely. It was hearty and fulfilling. I had the costoletta di miale, a large cut of pork chop atop mashed potatoes and peas. It was juicy and satisfying. We also shared the Verde 38 salad, which was so large that we didn't finish it all. The dressing was light and the greens were fresh along with orange slices, really tasty. We couldn't help but indulge for dessert on the Affogato Liquore 38, a blend of ice cream which you pour espresso and your choice of liquor over the top. We chose the Amaretto, a silky almond flavour that heightened the experience. I highly recommend this dish, so save room! 38 Chairs is simply a fantastic Italian restaurant with superb customer service and high quality dishes. If you are looking for the perfect place for a celebratory meal, this is the place to go.

Thank you Gino for looking after 8 ladies today at your beautiful Thirty-EightChairs. We had a fantastic lunch and thank you for recommending the wine - it was delicious and hit the right spot. Your lamb macaroni and burrumandi special is divine and the service is spectacular

This restaurant provided a really nice experience for date night with my partner. One waitress was really helpful for deciding which wine bottle to get and didn't try to push us to the more expensive options like other places have done to us before. We both ordered salads to start and enjoyed the fresh flavors of their creative combos. For the mains, I got the gnocchi and my partner got the spaghetti and we could both taste the difference of the "homemade" pasta rather than "store" pasta. Overall, it was a fantastic meal and the service was excellent (...even dealing with annoying patrons such as the table went to us!)

Filthy Monday evening in Melbourne. Heavy rain and cold. Had a reservation but seriously considered cancelling and getting takeout. Glad we didn't. Arrived, pretty damp it has to be said, just in time for our reservation and were seated immediately. Joint was leppin' Small room, tables quite close and packed to the gills. Loved it. And the food was sublime. I had the special seafood linguine after we shared a very tasty bruschetta. An overpriced but excellent Pinot Noir complimented the food superbly. Could easily have gone for a second bottle but my credit card was already maxed out. The highlight of the evening for my female companions is that we were seated rIght beside a very famous Australian actor, singer and impresario who shall remain nameless as I am a professional and it is an irrelevant detail in this review but, if it's good enough for him, trust me, it's definitely good enough for you. Excellent Italian restaurant. Highly recommend.

Loved this place - found it on Yelp and the reviews were right. We got here slightly early for a 8.15pm dinner and we're offered complimentary prosecco, olives and prosciutto - such a lovely gesture as we waited. For dinner we had the school prawns with mayo and then the pasta duck Raghu and the pork and veal spaghetti Raghu - simply amazing particularly the duck. Dessert was the apple donuts which were to die for. All with good wine and even better table service and some great conversation from Gino the owner. I can't recommend this place enough.

Every element of this meal was highly enjoyable. A true Italian dining experience. We started off with a solid bottle of Australian Pinot. The wine list is geographically extensive and has a range of budget options from medium to ostentatious. The pasta had the texture and taste you only get with a freshly made touch. The salads were equally exquisite and had great balance of taste, texture, and unique ingredients. Dessert blew our mind-awesome apricot sorbet with a true Italian chocolate and pistachio mousse. So satisfied with the food and the service was also top notch. For this I give 38 chairs 5 stars.

"Vino devino!" Wine makes me happy, good wine makes me truly joyous! I'm sure that some people will disagree with me on this but personally I find it difficult to find a good, backstreet watering hole on the south side of the river. I will honestly admit that my previous failures were on my mind as I snuck off Chapel St to try and duck in for a quick glass of wine as I wrote up a rather boring proposal, a chore that should only ever be attempted with vino! Upon sitting down and perusing the menu I found myself a little shocked; I was enjoying myself! They didn't have a wine list a mile long but the stuff that they did have was marvellous and matched the experience, leather bench seating, marinated olives that were to die for and a glass of Nero D'Vola, Then, the moment of truth, I pulled out my laptop! For those reading this who don't work from a cafe/restaurant, many places will become cold the moment your laptop lid opens in the fear that you will suddenly become an immovable piece of furniture and they will have lost the table for the evening. 38 chairs didn't even bat an eyelid, I flicked up the laptop lid and started hammering away at the keys while devouring, one, two, maybe four glasses of wine before deciding that maybe it was time for a work break and a lovely little bite to eat. Like I always do, I had pasta, because of my long love of the controversially Italian claimed cuisine I judge places on this more than their wine. The pasta at 38 chairs surpassed the experience of the wine, words I never thought I would type in my life! Cooking pasta to a perfect aldente and then allowing the silky, creamy sauce to handle the rest is an art, one I have never had the good luck to master. The chef in 38 chairs should be commended for the way that they could soothe my palate, their pasta was devine! All in all I left with a rather lengthy proposal, a full stomach and a satiated palate! If you ever happen upon the circumstance to try this place I would very much recommend sitting down and taking the time to be blown away. Pro-tip: don't like crowds? Go early, their quality is fast becoming renowned on this end of town!

The quality has gone down significantly over the last few years. Seafood starter was so dry and bland. Presentation was terrible. It was thrown on a piece of newspaper. Fennel salad was very average. Seafood linguini was Ok.. service was very average too.

I had a reservation for 8:30P. Showed up at 8:25P and was immediately seated. I was given the wine list and menu and that's all. The table on either side of me were seated slightly before me but ordered and received their wine and then ordered appetizers. No server or wait staff acknowledged my presence. I waited for 20 minutes before walking out. No one stopped me.

It was a bit loud but what do you expect. Good food and good vibe attracts people. The food was good. The waiting staff were attentive. The place was clean. And the chef knows his presentation.

This is a busy little place, tucked away down a side street off Chapel Street. As the name indicates it is quite small, however what it lacks in size, it makes up for in spirit. The food was excellent. I had the gnocchi which was soft and fluffy. The staff were very friendly and attentive. Due to its size and the concrete walls, it was quite loud, so probably not a good choice for a romantic dinner. I will go again.

Enjoyed a fantastic meal at this small but vibrant dining spot. I especially enjoyed the dessert

Over rated and horrible service. Small and crowded place. Will not recommend and will never come here again. The food was okay, not amazing but not too bad, although not worth the price though, u can get similar food in much cheaper Italian chains. Our experience was however tarnished by the bad service: The waiter first of all threw the water glasses onto the table, didn't greet us, then spilled water on the table when filling the glasses but didn't apologize or anything. When ordering drinks to start with, as we brought our elderly parent, the waiter did not ask her what she liked to drink at all or even looked at her. When we were ordering food, I asked if he had any recommendations or any special dishes of the day, normally at other restaurants the waiter would at least give the options but u know what he said? "No recommendation, depends on what u like." There was no explanation or whatsoever, he kept looking away while talking as if he couldn't wait to go away. I told him this was the first time for us to be here, yet he did not help at all. No smile. Just impatience. When the main courses came, as the table was tiny for 4 people, i tried to give back a plate so that we could have more space, i asked him while handing over the plate, he looked at us and just walked away. Despite the bad experience, as courtesy we still gave $10 tip at the end, yet there was no smile, not a single thank you or bye. If u want to come, expect to pay a high price for ordinary dishes and do not expect even standard service where wait staff at least have a smile, eye contact or greet u. Horrible.

Bliss. The Risotto was one of the best. All the ingredients in each dish were unbelievable and the menu fantastic .

What a great little neighborhood restaurant. Superb Italian food. We asked the waiter to pick our meal start to finish, he didn't quite understand that... So we picked each course, including our own wine pairing... But it delicious. The pastas are to die for. The ox cheek was wonderful. Every flavor better than the next. We sat inside. It's close quarters, but very cozy. Again wait staff could be more knowledgeable, and friendly, but we did go to eat ;-)

Second visit. First was a month ago, excellent food and service. Second visit yesterday, once again spot on: food and service outstanding! From the folks who brought you caffe e cucina, but more intimate: you feel like part of the family.

Delicious unpretentious Italian that hit all the right notes. I tried the milk bun with lobster/moreton bay bug (can't remember but trust me it is wonderful, the aioli lightly spiced for a kick) and the curly pasta duck ragu - generous portion, perfectly al dente despite saying there don't do that and the sauce was rich and delcious. Service is also super friendly and gracious. Highly recommend this cost neighborhood restaurant.

What a lovely little Italian place. A small, stylish looking place with a cosy, warm atmosphere. A great set up! I had the pork belly as an entree and the vegetarian macaroni as a main. I must say when it comes to pork belly I prefer it done Asian style, but it was still pretty good, although it could have done with some more seasoning. The macaroni was a wonderfully simple dish full of flavour. Oh and the wine we had by the glass was delicious! All in all I would recommend this place. Great for a date!

Perfect for an afternoon sav blanc and an up close and personal afternoon with fabulous company. Casual and classy

Fantastic coffee & great authentic Italian service. Atmosphere of this little cafe & restaurant is also great.

The duck ragu was my favorite pasta! I also loved the berry compote dessert! Great service and nice staff! Small and cozy restaurant.