Grossi Florentino - Melbourne - review

Name: Grossi Florentino

Address: 80 Bourke St
Melbourne 3000 VIC

(03) 9662 1811

Food: Italian

Average price:  Entree: $39-$50, Mains: $50-$55, Dessert: $26-$35
Degustation menu: 8 courses, $195
Set menu: 5 courses, $140
Degustation with matching wine flight $265; Five-course menu with matching wine flight $190

Complimentary:  Bread basket with olives, butter and olive oil.

Quality ingredients.


Amuse bouche - potato soup

Nice, simple soup.



Cream and berries

Petit fours of a macaron, nougat and chocolate brownie.

We ordered: (somehow this post fell through the cracks and is actually from November 2010.)
Zuchhini flowers
olive and goats cheese, mint, pumpkin caponata, white aspargus shavings, pumpkin jus

This was lovely and well executed.

Spaghetti with alba white truffle and potato - $110 supplement

The pasta was the perfect al dente texture whilst the truffle gave light earthy fragrant flavour with butter potatoes. It was lovely, but not worth the expensive additional price tag.

Risotto venere - venere rice,morton bay bug, parmesan sabayon
Egg yolk ravioli - pumpkin, egg yolk, vincotto, parmesan - (veg version)

The pasta  was well cooked, the pumpkin was quite sweet as was the vincotto, and the egg yolk quite heavy.
Mr.M thought his dish was only 

Baby onion tart carpaccio crumbs, beetroot, wilted spinach

The presentation was lacking. The onion tart extremely wet with a soggy crumb, the wilted spinach avereage, and the beetroot puree too tangy - overall too much sweetness with unwelcome tang.

Glenloth pidgeon roasted breast, leg ravioli, black cabbage, marsala, cardamom and liquorice powder, beetroot, couscous

Mr.M said jus was overwhelming and he couldn't taste the other nuances.

Slow cooked waygu rump cap
pickled veal tongue, shallots and potato saltate, fennel and rosemary praline, salsa verde

Mr.M said this was quite nice.


Valrhona chocolate soufflé malt ice cream and chocolate sauce

I thought this was lacking a chocolate depth, it was more akin to a malt and chocolate milkshake. The soufflé was gorgeously fluffy though.

Buffalo ricotta slice pumpkin, 30year old balsamic, amaretto crisp, amarena cherries, roast quince

The ricotta was dry and tasted like aged cheese, it very smelly too. It was bitter, salty and tasted like a foot, as if it was off - the alcohol from the cherries and sweetness from the quince did not help - we did not like this dish one bit.

Cost: Around $500.

Service: Good. The food came out at a good pace and the waiters were knowledgeable, but perhaps a tad absent. As it was my birthday, when they brought out the dessert they sang  'Happy Birthday Miss Lady' which was lovely and also made me giggle a bit at their choice of words.

Atmosphere: Luxurious Italian villa. Large murals adorned the claret red wallpapered walls as chandeliers hung from the ceiling, it's all quite opulent and perhaps a bit too formal. The dining space is quite small and therefore the tables were closely spaced.

Parking: Limited street but plenty of paid underground.

Website: www.grossiflorentino.com.au

Hours: Mon-Fri noon-3pm, Mon-Sat 6pm-11pm

Would I return: No, although the food was nice it wasn't anything truly memorable.