Agostino

4 Reviews on “Agostino”

• Diandra.charisiou

  Heard great things about Agostino! Unfortunately I have to say I was underwhelmed. The staff seemed interested in us as diners, however when we requested a wine within a price range, the waitress totally ignored this fact and only recommended those that were very expensive. I dislike obvious up selling like this. She even offered a cheaper wine once we continually asked her to in which she replied ‘I mean I don’t like it but everyone else seems to because it’s apparently good value for money.’ RUDE We ordered the tuna crudo- to be frank it was completely tasteless! Next was the peppers and it tasted like they were straight from a pickle jar. The seafood pasta however was an absolute delight and saved the day- cooked to perfection and packing a punch of flavour. If only they applied this to their other meals. Overall it seemed a bit too pricey for what they gave and there are plenty of other impressive Melbourne wine bars that I would visit over Agostino.

  February 26, 2020, 12:07 am

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• Jonathan Ong

  ordered the prawn pasta, tomato vodka pasta & lamb pasta. stand out was the prawn pasta, with the tomato vodka pasta also very good. the lamb was just ok for us.

  February 20, 2020, 2:22 am

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• Food Comatose

  My love affair with Carlton continues. More new restaurants, wine bars and cafes keep appearing in the area—tastefully refurbished and transformed—tempting me each week to dine out. This time it was Agostino that tugged hard at my sleeve. ‘It’s all in the name of research!’ I tell myself, justifying the extra money I’ve transferred (yet again) to fund my costly gastronomic projects/hobbies/indulgences. Such is the life of a foodie. Agostino is what I envision a classy cocktail bar in New York would be like. It’s sleek, chic, intimate and moody—low-lit with shades of green and timber, soft leather and a boutique bottle shop to peruse post-feast. As a self-confessed fromage fiend, I ordered the cheese of the day: aged parmigiano with a generous drizzle of honey. It’s the tender marriage of salty and sweet; crumbly and lush. Then came the cacio e pepe ravioli with truffle pecorino: al dente handmade parcels swimming in a gold pool of cultured butter.With a full belly threatening to bust my jeans, I could’ve comfortably stopped there, but then I saw the dessert menu. There it was, my favourite dolce: the irresistible tiramisu with dark chocolate, cherries and grappa. With every bite a blistered, boozy cherry would burst and so would my heart.

  February 20, 2020, 2:22 am

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• Mustard

  Agostino is an extension to King & Godfree and when we arrived we were lead downstairs into an impressive basement wine cellar where there were quite a few tables and a bar. As it is part wine shop, you can shop around for a bottle and have it corked for $20 to have with your dinner, no judgement on the value of this approach but we enjoyed having a browse through their collection.Complimentary sourdough and butter hit the table, firm and airy. We started off with some roasted bullhorn peppers with squacquerone and drizzled with basil oil. This is just natural produce at its best, the peppers were sweet and the cheese was very creamy and soft, one to look out for in the future.The crudo del giorno was lean slices of bluefin tuna, anchovy mayonnaise, blood orange and witlof. It was very nice but quite pricey for the portioning, we ended up with a slice of tuna each (3 diners) and barely any blood orange to pair with it. At $24 it barely touched the walls of our stomachs.The culatello was a beautiful cured meat with a nice layer of glistening fat. The pear made a nice contrast to the saltiness. They also had prosciutto with figs as one of their special menu items which has the same concept. It also came with some gnocco fritto which tasted super fresh, fluffy and chewy.We also shared some grilled octopus, new potato, calabrese salami and salsa verde. Another excellent dish, I could taste the slight char on the octopus and it was really soft. Wish they threw in some more salami, again we had to do some awkward splits so everyone can try out all the elements on the plate.Pasta time! If there is cacio e pepe on the menu, that’s an auto-include. This was in ravioli format with cultured butter and truffle pecorino. Simply, we felt the flavours to be quite mild. They need to be more liberal with the pecorino romano and pepper. We did however thoroughly enjoy their mafadine with milk braised pork and veal ragu. The pasta was perfectly cooked with a good amount of bite and the ragu was juicy and salty.We ended with a few desserts. My friend ordered the panforte which is a Tuscan fruit and nut cake. I didn’t care for this, it’s just a dense cake that your grandma would eat with their cup of tea. We shared their chestnut honey crema with rosemary and pinenut croccante. This was quite generous and was a little more dense than a custard. The caramelised sugar on top gave it a nice crunchy textural element and overall it had a unique chestnut and yolk flavour. I polished off with an affogato, shot of espresso and scoop of vanilla ice cream, predictable and enjoyable. It came with a couple of biscuits which I enjoyed more than the cake aforementioned.Not having been open a year and it’s already snagged a chef’s hat. Having been to similar restaurants such as Agostino I felt that a few of the dishes here were quite difficult to share given the portioning. I am sure that most items are designed for sharing, some refinement is needed here and outlined in the review. Price-wise it is also a notch higher in most categories. In saying that we really liked the moody cellar space as well as the option of being able to select our own wine from the store. Keen to see what else King & Godfree has to offer.

  January 20, 2020, 2:22 am

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