Luci

Gorgeous venue, great drink options and attentive waitstaff. The tiramisu is a must! The complimentary focaccia was so good, and we loved our mains (snapper - fish of the day for myself). Are waitress Hermione was very lovely and attentive, helpful with answering any questions we had and recommendations. Would highly recommend coming to Luci and will be back when i’m back in Melbourne because it was a highlight of the trip.

The food was outstanding and the service was unbelievable. We had our toddler with us, and without asking or prompting they came up with crayons.

We were early diners on a Friday night and were the first seated when we arrived at 6pm. The interior of this restaurant was stunning and really reflected the historic building into its design.

We started with a couple of drinks from there by the glass wine menu. This was a short menu but had plenty of intriguing wines of offer and we both enjoyed our selection.

We started with a selection of bites and loved the white anchovy crostini and the steak tartare. The octopus was a stunning looking fish and ultra tender and my dry aged sirloin was cooked perfectly as my main. For dessert we shared the tiramisu which was anything but typical. It has a lovely citrus to it and more defined layers

Service was generally pretty good with most of the staff engaged and helpful with suggestions and advice.

Thoroughly enjoyed our dinner tonight. Beautiful Italian / Australian fusion restaurant, great quality delicious flavorsome food. All tasted amazing. Table and wine service was very attentive and professional.
Would definitely recommend Luci Italian dining to anyone who enjoys great food, tasting plates, entrees, mains and tasty desserts.
Located at front of The Hilton Hotel on Bourke St Melbourne.

Very good food in a beautiful room. I had duck & a pasta; both were perfect. The sommelier is lovely too.

A really nice dinner spot! Good food, nice ambience, great wine list and friendly service. Doesn’t quite grab the five stars but would recommend to others

I found this restaurant by going into Open table and seeing who had available time slots that same evening.

Upon arriving I was gobsmacked by the interior, it’s gorgeous art deco. Let’s move to the food. OH MY GOSH…. The gnocco fritto…. I could eat a bowl all by myself… the spaghettini with spanner crab.holy mother of god…. The sirloin was cooked to perfection and the tiramisu special was WOW! If I could give 10 stars I would.

ORDERED:
  Duck fat gnocco fritto: truffle salt, Reggiano ($7.00)
Steak tartare: horseradish, confit egg yolk, tapioca crisp ($9.00 each)

Octopus: chickpea & nduja, potato ($26.00)
Spaghettini verde: hand-picked spanner crab, heirloom tomato, pagratto ($29.00)
Saffron tagliatelle: wood roasted lamb, fennel, tomato, pecorino romano ($27.00)

We spent $71.08pp, between 2 people, including credit card surcharge and a mocktail.

REVIEW:
Let's start with the food!
The pasta at Luci was noticeably thinner than the norm. When you twisted it with your fork, it broke apart instead of holding its structure. Surprisingly, this worked really well in the Spaghettini verde dish. It added to the overall lightness, and I thought it complemented the seafood flavour really well. Could've had this dish to myself!
Conversely, the fragility of the pasta did not work well with the heaviness of the wood roasted lamb.
The most disappointing was the duck fat gnocco fritto. I'm not too sure what I was expecting, but something that seemed a bit more complex than what seemed like fried pastry dough, puffed, and quite salty.
I felt like the octopus could've really been interesting had it been more charcoaled/grilled, adding a smoky taste.   For 2, we ordered a lot of food and felt like we could've gone without this octopus dish?
Overall, the food was quite mid except for the spaghettini verde, which I adored and enjoyed.

?   The service was great in the beginning. It was really attentive, quite friendly, but dropped off when it was time to request the bill. It took an inexplicably long time for the bill to come and unsure why it was delayed (almost 10 minutes).

️ Atmosphere is the most appealing factor about Luci. Grand, glamorous white columns washed against a moody, dimly lit interior. It screams luxury and classiness yet an untouchable coldness. You don't normally get this kind of atmosphere anymore (warm and wood tones are really popular in Melbourne), so it was really cool dining in something that felt regal.
maps will direct you into the alleyway, but you could and should go through the Hilton hotel.

If you dont know that the place is inside Hilton, you’ll probably have a hard time looking for the place like we did.

Food is good and great ambiance though.

Great food and fantastic staff. Charlotte was warm, friendly, professional and attentive - made our evening excellent.

It was my first times at Luci. I decided to go this restaurant because I thought it is a part of high standard Hotel name as Hilton. But sadly, the way Me and my friends were treated at restaurant made us feel like we were not welcomed there.

Definitely recommend the chef's tasting menu for a special occasion - every dish was mouthwatering and perfectly paired with delicious and interesting local wines. I especially enjoyed the crab and the pork fillet. Excellent service, too!

A fantastic selection. An amazing flavour selection with great potential. It just lacked finesse with some presentation, the portion sizes are mis-matched between dishes and the sauces range from jelly to water. Great venue, and fantastic staff. Nearly there, but not quite.

It was our first time in this place. Beautiful ambience, delicious food, great staffs. We'll return here for sure.

Friendly service, but the portion of the food is too small even for a hotel like Hilton & its price point. The food were good but nothing spectacular. Much better food out there in Melbourne.

Went here for dinner, nothing special about this place. Mains took 55 minutes to come out after entrees after continuously asking when our mains will be ready. Responses were always vague “it’s on its way”. Honestly, just eat somewhere else

Great restaurant. We had the Chef's menu and everything was delicious. Very nice place and great service. Perfect for a date.

Beautiful staff in a beautiful building with great food and atmosphere to boot! Feel like I found a little hidden gem.

Truly outstanding. We dine out several times per week and rarely say we will return as we always like to try new places. This is one place we would return in a heartbeat. Beautiful fit out and decor, outstanding food and perfect service. They even offered to customise the mains to our taste. Just go.

Friendly helpful staff
Breakfast was tasty but unexciting
Amazing art deco interiors of the dining room