Masani Italian Dining & Terrace

Beautiful meal. The fish with crustacean bisque was exceptional. Elegant, genteel atmosphere and friendly service. Great experience.

Great night, great food and very beautiful and delicious food, all staff were extremely nice and we enjoyed a great late dinner service, thank you everyone at Masani for making our night memorable,

Exquisite food and wine. They really know their stuff. A beautiful venue and just course after course of fantastic food. Will be back!

What an incredible find! I was simply walking past to the carpark and it enticed me in. Beautiful atmosphere, service equivalent to the finest dining, and the food equivalent. I couldn't go past the specials board pappardelle di funghi, my weakness and was not disappointed. The flavours were excellent. Truly up there, with generous servings of truffle. Appreciated. This was paired with a mellow Italian Zenato Valpolicella Classico Corvina. Worth a second glass. Not in a hurry to leave, I could not go past the poached pear orange blossom frangipani tart with bee pollen. Finished with a dessert wine of Sicilian Carlo Pellegrino Passito Liquoroso di Pantelleria. How did my solo night out turn into a patch of heaven? Nice touch that the chef himself came out to check if everything was ok. He said they'd been here 40 years! Let's keep a Carlton treasure like this going, it would be a true loss otherwise. Highly recommended.
Convenient paid parking nearby.
Relaxed fine dining.

9 October 2023 Update:
This restaurant does 'Requests POA' (Prices on Application). See attached photos taken on 9 October 2023

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Hi Kara, thanks for addressing my review! I’ve ensured that I have blurred you in my photos

My 3-star review mainly comes from the table services charges (as shown in the attached receipt) that weren’t listed on your menu nor communicated during my order.

I kindly request that you provide upfront communication of all prices and charges, either in writing (menu) or in person while taking orders, to ensure complete transparency for customers like me.

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The crab pasta was quite enjoyable.

Around 5 tables were occupied from around 7pm until the 11pm closing time on Friday, 6th October, 2023.

This restaurant offers 2-3 course meals at a higher price point, with table service charges not listed on the menu. I paid $150 for an appetiser, two courses, a tea, and some table services.

They are renowned for their extensive wine list, but keep in mind that it can significantly increase the bill if you plan to indulge in a few sips.

Masani Restaurant on Drummond Street provided an unforgettable dining experience for my birthday celebration. The food was delicious, with the Steak Florentine impressing my husband and the surprise Vanilla Soufflé being the best I've had in ages. The suggested wine pairings were spot-on, enhancing our meal perfectly. The attentive service led by Ricardo and his staff made the evening truly special. Highly recommended for any occasion. We'll be back soon, bringing others along to enjoy Masani's excellence.

This is a lovely old school, fine dining Italian restaurant. The wine list is extensive and the food is faultless.

The food was really delicious! The pasta is one of the best pasta I have ever had. The service was great and felt really personal.

Masani is a beautiful restaurant with an old-world charm, serving high quality dishes which transported us back to Italy. We couldn’t fault a single dish – the food was so fresh and made with local ingredients. Best of all, Masani has an impressive wine list curated by an award-winning sommelier, featuring unique wines from across the world.

Aperitivo: Italian green olives, terrine, pickles and house made crusty sourdough bread.

Primi piatti: Piatto del orto – seasonal zucchini flower with goats curd, ricotta cheese, truffle water and balsamic vinegar. This was such a well-balanced and fresh dish which had a nice crunch.

Pasta: Paccheri pasta with slow braised oxtail ragu, venetian spices, sage & thyme – our favourite dish, the pasta was cooked perfectly al dente.

Dolci: bonet – dutch cocoa, nocello & amaretti custard, and hazelnut praline. The use of dutch cocoa (70% cocoa chocolate) gave this dessert a lovely bitterness which was balanced out with the sweet custard.

Second time here and absolutely loved it! The food is fresh and the flavour is insanely good. Staff is welcoming, professional and the wine list is more of a wine bible. Will definitely come back.

Recently had a lovely experience at this restaurant. I love the heritage and history of this place, playing host to some famous chefs and a strong passion to cooking fresh Italian cuisine with local ingredients. Recommend adding this restaurant to your list of places to visit in Carlton!

Loved the ambience here! Food was delightful, can’t rave more about the oxtail pasta! Staff were friendly and attentive.

Great authentic food. Great host. What a great night we had here! I would 100% come back when I’m visiting Melbourne again! Amazing wine selection too!

Delicious dinner tonight. Beautifully presented yummy food, fresh and vibrant flavours. Very attentive, friendly service. Look forward to next time.

Do not go here. Went to lunch without checking the most recent review, big mistake.

Firstly, being seated as the only people in the place (red flag #1) you would think you get good service (we didn’t), secondly having to dodge cleaning supplies on the way to the table was interesting, even more interesting was when the cleaner came and mopped the floors around us (red flag #2). Choosing your lunch while listening to the slop of a mop and the smell of disinfectant wasn’t the Italian experience we were after.

Food and drinks ordered, eventually, we were brought Olives and a slice of bread each (not ordered). Drinks arrived, we had to mix our own G & Ts with the mini cans provided, and food soon followed. It was utterly average, I’ve had better and bigger microwave meals from the Coles deli.

Cut a long story short. Stay away.

We got charged $6.50 EACH! For the slice of bread and olives.

The self mixed Gins with the mini cans were $23.00. EACH!

Mains were at least $32 each. They weren’t worth even half of that.

Like I said, i wish I had read reviews beforehand rather than just looking at the rating. Do not give this ripoff joint your hard earned money. They don’t deserve it.

Have been going for special occasions for 15 years, it never disappoints. Great food and excellent service

Awful experience! The waitress, manager and sommelier who thought was in control and running the show expected us to sit for over an hour to be served as long as we had a drink and bread we were told. We politely asked for someone to take the order after half an hour of waiting and we were told not to rush and not to skip others in the queue waiting for their dinner to be served. One person on the floor serving six tables in a fine dining restaurant is a no go! Common decency would have been to apologise, let us know that you re short staffed and give us a drink on the house. Instead you were rude and arrogant (just like what other reviews stated). Also, you charged us $60 for a drink each a bottle of San Pellegrino we hadn’t even drank from because you gave us no choice but to go. Siete una vergogna! We will make sure to let friends, family, work colleagues and members of the Italian community know not to come any close to your business.

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Fine dining experience turned into a horror show. Seated at 7PM and no attempt to take our food order by 730PM. With a movie booked at 9PM we thought we should notify them that we need to order our main meal. So I asked the waiter if he could take our order.

What followed was purely unacceptable, the Maitre d, came over clearly upset and in a rage, and I quote said "I don't need a whirlwind tonight".

No problem, I will take my money elsewhere and we walked out, and if you are reading this you should do the same. All we simply wanted to do was for some one to take our order for mains. It seems from many of the reviews, that i'm not the only one to experience this utter contempt and arrogance.

Be like a whirlwind and move rapidly, without hesitation to a fine dining experience elsewhere, where your patronage is TRULY appreciated and not scorned.

I feel like I've been hiding under a rock! What a fabulous restaurant! My mum and I stopped in here for an impromptu lunch. We were greeted by beautiful smiles and a very warm welcome. The food was outstanding! Absolute quality and the perfect portion sizes. And the wine list. I just enjoyed reading it like a book. The pricing was as expected for a restaurant of this quality. I would have lingered longer for another rwine or coffee and dessert but sadly had to go to an appointment. I can't believe it's taken me this long to try this place. I will def be back for another vino or 2. Do yourself a favour and book a table now!

One of the best Italian restaurants in Melbourne for sure? Highly recommended, fresh and tasty.