lamaro’s hotel

had dinner at lamaro's last night, the place is a little gem of a higher-end pub / almost fine dining bistro in the heart of south melbourne. the surroundings are quiet, but inside the pub and restaurant was buzzing on a friday night. they have an intensive drinks menu, plenty of amazing wines to choose from. decent selection of cocktails. the food was surprisingly incredible. the grilled scallops with pork belly was a definite highlight, followed very closely by the kingfish sashimi. as for main, we went with the ribs and that glaze on the ribs was just finger-licking delicious! i kinda wished the glaze/bbq sauce on those ribs came in a jar so i can have ribs that taste like that at home... 

finished with a coconut pavlova for dessert, opted for the fresh tasting one as the others sounded a bit more rich and we were already so full at this stage we almost just needed a refreshing palate cleanser. great decision. the passionfruit curd inside the coconut pav was pretty intense.. and pretty amazing.

overall, the ambience is pleasant and cosy with a fireplace in the corner. lovely dinner, thank you to the friendly staff at lamaro's for a delightful evening.

what a great place for a meal or social drink. pub classics with a twist with a mix of chef “signature dishes”. all of our party were delighted with their dishes. highly recommend.

what an idyllic spot for drinks or a feed. this south melbourne institution offers an old-school menu with modern innovations. while the mains are all meaty, there are a few vegetarian modifications available. the starters and sides are also extremely veggie friendly, not to mention market-driven and delicious. i started with the truffle and cheese ravioli- hands down some of the best truffle i've ever had. i could have eaten a bowlful, although the dish is so rich that it's probably best the serve was only three raviolis big. for my main, i had a large serve of the pea soup with some beautifully prepared tomatoes and samosas. i also got the green beans with walnuts, which were fresh and not too saucy. to drink, a cucumber mint spritz. all cocktails sounded great but this one was right up my alley- not sweet, plus a bit of fizz. finally, dessert... a welcome end to a relatively saintly meal. dessert was also pretty healthy and light. or at least, the one i had was. i got the poached pear on what resembled a weetbix and tasted like toffee. the pear was stuffed with cream and topped with a chocolate biscuit crumble. speaking of chocolate, i also tried the liquor-infused truffle on the menu. a perfect sweet bite to end the meal.

lamaro’s has become our ‘go to’ for special family occasions, and today was no exception. the main dining room has a lovely and warm ambience, and the service was attentive and welcoming. we all enjoyed our meal - with calamari, veal saltimboca, and authentic spaghetti carbonara the standouts.

it was wonderful to enjoy our wine and conversation in a space that wasn’t overcrowded or noisy like many restaurants are these days. the service staff graciously dealt with all of our special requests with a minimum of fuss, and the 2yo in the party felt especially welcomed. thank you lamaro’s - we’re already looking forward to our return visit!

note - the italian ‘winter special’ lunch (m-f) looks especially good value!

lamaro’s hotel is very much a local south melbourne pub, its very clear that 9/10 diners here live in the area.

we had a nice dinner on friday night with friends, the food clearly now relies more on the hotels name that its gastropub history and rests on its laurels.  

lamb was ok and is not worth the price point, the red curry exploded on my friend and none of the staff came to help or acknowledged it when we told them (shocking really) and the cheese board portion was so small its was a joke to charge that much for. 

its sad to see a great place become so average, the vibe not trendy and the service second rate.

gastropub food served in a plush modern venue. having eaten here once before returned for another casual night out. both times i’ve eaten here the food has been great. started off with a dozen oysters which were fresh and served the way an oyster should be served. main was a perfectly cooked to order fillet steak. service was good and attentive. definitely recommend for a casual night out with mates

a mate recommended going there to catch up, to be honest i did not have high expectations when i saw the place, given that it's a local hotel with down stairs bar, and i never had any expectations for pub food. but to my surprise, it had a separate almost fine dining-like area with a more expensive menu.

we sat down and were immediately greeted with friendly staff, who bought us the drinks menu. i was thirsty for some wine and asked for her recommendation. as was i was trying to decide which bottle to choose, she offered me a couple to try. i settled on the first one i tried.

i got the scallop for entree, scotch fillet for mains plus rocket pear salad as side dish. i asked for medium rare steak, half expecting it to be over cooked just like many other restaurants i have been to. so it was a very pleasant surprise to be greeted with a perfectly cooked medium rare steak, juicy red in the centre, crispy charcoal black on the outside. every bite was amazing, i finished it so quickly and almost ordered a second one! instead i got the peanut semifreddo dessert, which was not a smart move on my part, as the cream was too much after finishing a fatty steak, i felt i was over-eating at this point.

overall this place sure knows how to cook a steak, and i will definitely be going back.

food: 4.5
service: 4
ambiance: 4
price: 3

i love this place ..happily eat the scallops every night for dinner..fantastic, clever combination.
the bar staff are friendly and knowledgeable had the best expresso martini’s i can remember.
so good my colleague booked the private dining room for a special birthday in a few months.

all i can say is wow what a fantastic lunch we had. we came in for a table of 12 “feed me” menu and the food was just devine! the service was fantastic and everyone was so attentive to our needs. we ended up staying for drinks well into the night because the bar was so welcoming! thankyou for hosting our work event- will come again !

duck curry is amazing!! sensational food and even better service. the bar staff are out of this world!! highly recommend .. unmissable!!!!!!

we were a party of 3 on a wednesday night and had absolutely the most disappointing evening.  we all ordered the eye fillet at $42. those of us who ordered 'medium rare' ended up with medium well done and the person who ordered 'medium well done' ended up with something totally charred. at no time during the meal did any of the serving staff come by to ask how the food was. when they came around to collect the plates, we politely informed them how disappointed we were with the meat and that the diane sauce was so salty we had to scrap it off our meat in order to eat it. there was no apology or even an offer to pass on our feedback to the chef. being a local, i have dinned at nearly every pub in south melbourne and this is definitely one to avoid.

popular local with bar menu and more expensive dining room menu. the bar menu could do with a couple of hot dishes (croquettes, hamburgers maybe?) but it's a pleasant and laid-back spot. good and detailed wine list - not cheap (about three times retail prices)
special mention of dan - very efficient and courteous. can recommend with confidence

my partner and i ate here for dinner on a sunday night. the food (both meat mains) were good but the portion size of the veal was too big. the restaurant area itself is quite nice for an intimate dinner with family or friends but the service was terrible. the wine bottle was taken off the table but our glasses were left empty for too long - if you’re taking the bottle away, at least be prompt with service! also, there was a group of very loud drunk women in the restaurant area which the maître’d did not ask to lower their voices. i understand they were having a good time, but the entire restaurant could hear what they were saying and it ruined our meal / conversation. in all, i probably won’t be back in a hurry

exquisite is just one of the words that i'd use to describe south melbourne's hidden treasure lamaro's. tucked away on cecil street, lamaro's dining room is the place to go to if you're after fine dining with a local touch - there won't be a glimmer of pretentiousness or snobbery whilst your being served up your french champagne and oysters - just a friendly smile and a 'how else can we help'.

i had read so much about the this place and the exciting new change of management/chef, so was excited to have a meal there. lamaro's a great place to relax and the staff are superfriendly. the meals were nice but not outstanding. the food was simple, flavoursome and comforting . however the menu was abit stodgy in light of the heat and summer coming up.