lamaro’s hotel

we attended a 30th in a private dining room at lamaros yesterday which had undergone another change in ownership. i enjoy the ambiance here and the service was generally very good other than one incident with an extremely unfriendly waitress who practically accused us of ordering the wrong dish when the eye filet came out inside of the scotch (despite the fact that the sauce was not what we had requested either).

in the end maybe we would have been better off with the red wine jus that appeared as when they eventually did remake our steaks as the correct cuts the diane sauce we had was quite salty. one thing i will call out though was the exceptional complimentary bread. it was kind of nutty and utterly delicious. they also make a superb mojito. shame that onestaffmember soured an otherwise pleasant experience in what is a stunning venue

original review
i was sad to discover this has recently changed hands and is no longer the spanish inspired 'lamaro's bodgea' but now 'lamaro's hotel' reverting back to the more pub style menu it had a few years ago. i desperately miss those huge sharing plates like that whole chicken and the marinated lamb. please bring them back! they were so visually impactful and impressive.

it's such a beautiful venue i loved that there was previously a point of difference with the food. the world doesn't need another steak restaurant (although i must say the new menu is delicious) but the old one by default forced you to share and as such felt homely and warm and welcoming which suits a nice pub such as this

just went to have lunch at lamaro on sunday. it was very quiet lunch. we had the bar menu, that was like tapas menu, it was a small menu, and not many dishes to choose from. food was average, but the steak was cooked perfectly. the service andstaffwere very good, restaurant atmosphere was nice and clean, the music was not too loud! food price was reasonable!

we went to lamaro’s last night for the first time for the crab club night!! wow!!! the food and service was excellent and to a very high standard... as keen and avid crab eaters all the crab dishes and sauces were delicious... the atmosphere had a great
vibe to it and the all waiters/ servicestaffwere awesome! also had the pleasure of meeting the owner dimma, who was a very genuine hospitable host and gentlemen! thanks for a great night dimma and team at lamaro’s.. we will definitely be back soon!!!👏👏👏👏👌👌👌👌👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿😃😃😃

this restaurant has been our standing place for a group get together for some time and after this evenings fabulous dining experience we agreed to keep it going.

thestaffare friendly and knowledgeable on wines and on the meals on offer. we had a great recommendation for a red wine which originally we were going to order in a shiraz but in the end the waiter suggested we go for the merlot, i cant remember the name but we all thought it was extremely delicious, so good in fact we even ordered a second bottle.  

we dined on a range of veal schnitzels, steamed chicken vietnamese salad, red duck curry and the daily special of mussels in green curry sauce.  we pimped up the vietnamese salad and the mussels from entre size to main.  whilst everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals, i only tried my dish of the mussels. i found the portion size for the main way to generous as the mussels themselves were unbelievably large, they were extremely plump, in fact the largest i have ever seen.  they were just fantastic in the green curry sauce, one of my favourite ways to eat them, especially when i got a chili hit in a mouthful, yum.  

despite the fact we were all full, we shared a few desserts, i shared the dark chocolate tart with a delightful pastry, it was very rich and decadent.

we then retired to the bar for a night cap, a great way to finish a fantastic meal and a fabulous evening.
kd


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previous review
we came back to lamaros hotel for a catch up with old mates.

we all partook in some red wines this evening, there was an extensive wine list and we were not disappointed with the sangiovese we chose.

the popular mains within the group included the mixed grill which came with a red wine and cracked pepper sausage, lamb cutlet pork belly and steak. the other most popular choice was a steak with various toppings. while i didn’t partake in these meaty dishes, the comments were plentiful around the tenderness and tastiness of these meals, the following days later there was still plenty of talk of how great the steaks are.

my dish of choice was the whole baby barramundi which came with a biryani rice and 3 sauces. my dish was lovely and tasty and gratefully not a bone in sight which made for a very enjoyable experience. we shared a variety of salads, chips and roasted vegies across the table, all prepared with delicious combinations of flavours that i thought worked really well.

for dessert we had the poached pear with a hazelnut crumbled biscuit and orange curd. the pear was well poached so cutting into was easy.

we also had the chocolate pudding with white chocolate ice cream and decadent chocolate sauce. i’m so glad we ordered this dish as the menu indicated it takes extra time to prepare so we nearly didn’t.

kd

we went there o a friday night for some nibbles and drinks. had pol roger to start with. and had the sashimi plate, the scallops and the wild mushroom agnolotti(amazing) which were all delicious and beautiful. greatstaffand service. very cosy decor.

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 friendlystaffat lamaro's for a delightful evening.

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 servicestaffgraciously 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 thestaffcame 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.

i love this place ..happily eat the scallops every night for dinner..fantastic, clever combination.
the barstaffare 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.

duck curry is amazing!! sensational food and even better service. the barstaffare 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 servingstaffcome 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.

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 thestaffare 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.

recently visited from sydney and had an awesome time. thestaffwere incredibly helpful, suggesting wine pairings with our meals etc. the food is a cut above the rest - redefining casual pub cuisine. definitely gives the more pricier, more pretentious venues a run for their money. would happily recommend to anyone that asks (and even those that don't!)

gone may be the spanish share plates, but the new menu is far from “typical” when it comes to hotel fare. owners colonial leisure group have maintained their focus on local produce, supporting their other venture greenvale farms and various local suppliers concentrating on virtuous practice. while the restaurant was quiet during our visit (a thursday lunch), the lack of atmosphere that undoubtedly exists of an evening or friday lunch, was certainly made up for by the kitchen. starting with the beef tartare, burrata and grilled octopus, the clear winner was the beef. served with oyster mayo and bread and butter pickles with corn tostadas to give a crunchy edge, this dish stamped some authority on tartare as far as hotel cuisine goes.
 
the ethically farmed eye fillet for main was the perfect cut and cooked to perfection. a red wine jus with four accompanying mustards was everything this simple steak lover could ask for. crab and chilli pasta rounded out the mains at our table, excellent suggestions fromstaffwho were attentive and jovial throughout lunch.

full (and probably funnier) review on the blog now, link in bio :)

i had a work christmas function at lamaro's this past weekend. 

like other reviews on here, thestaffwere incredibly welcoming, and took care of us from start to finish. the only criticism is that they were a little too over eager to re-fill half full wine glasses. while in general that is not a bad thing, it does make it hard to track exactly how many glasses of wine you have.

onto the food, there was a lot of it, which in general was great. no complaints on the quality, was incredibly delicious. the suckling pig was amazing, while the lamb was succulent and juicy. the chicken was probably the weakest part of the meal, while the flavours were great, the meat was slightly dry...  but that's really splitting hairs.

no real issues, would love to go back for a quiet meal sometime that's not part of a big group to sample more of their extensive menu.