April 18, 2013
-
Meatball & Wine Bar
I think I’d probably be the LONE blogger out there in Melbourne who didn’t enjoy my experience at Meatball & Wine Bar (135 Flinders Lane, Melbourne). This place is a few doors down from the famous and very busy Chin Chin… in saying that- this place is JUST as busy. The first time we tried to get a table (because they don’t do bookings unless it’s for a large group) we were pretty unsuccessful and I wasn’t willing to wait. I’m not a big fan of standing around waiting for my food especially when I’m hungry. Watching OTHERS eat whilst hungry is the worst torture you could inflict on yourself.
Anyway, so Mr_54632 made sure that he grabbed a table straight after work – I fear he may have literally ran like a girl to do this… but alas, I was not there to witness it.We sat at the back, on a large shared table that actually sat 8 and seriously the place at 5.30pm was pretty busy as office workers were leaving their offices and all looking for food. And I know, 5.30pm is early for dinner but it’s either get in quick or stand around waiting… just not worth it.
The menu itself- is obviously full of meatballs (with a name like Meatball &Wine Bar- what did you think? they were going to serve sushi?). Different styles of meatballs. Different sauces.
I don’t know why, but I found the menu a tad overwhelming. Perhaps it’s the layout- a lot of words where you need to absorb. I guess I wasn’t the only one who felt this way- two different waitresses approached us and the first question they asked us was “have you eaten here before” when we said no, they proceeded to explain to us how the menus worked.
We had decided on the little burgers- “sliders” which were 3 for $16 bucks for our entrees. We choose the beef with “white creamy sauce” as I was going to have the red sauce and Mr_54632 opted for the pesto.
Unfortunately our sliders came out exactly the same time as our mains. The waitress realized the mistake and profusely apologised. I was somewhat annoyed. It meant that if the food was good, we wouldn’t have enough time to enjoy our meal before it got cold.
I don’t know if it was the creamy sauce or the bun itself- but I wasn’t a fan. I also found it to be a bit of a ripoff. I think if they charged $8-$9- I’d probably be okay with it. They are afterall quite small.
Our mains comprised of 3 meatballs(choice of meat), a choice of sauce and something to sit on. Mine happened to be Beef with red Italian sauce sitting on SB Potato Smash.
Mr_54632 had the chicken with pesto sauce with greens.
Unfortunately for Mr_54632 he found his to be a TAD tooooooooooo oily, when I say a tad, i mean it was dripping in oil. So much so that it put him off.
Mine was okay.
I don’t know why, but I expected a LOT more from this place. Afterall they specalized in meatballs, but their meatballs- in all honesty wasn’t THAT spectacular. The servings were too small for the prices they were asking and the service was haphazard. I wanted their meatballs to be bigger or perhaps tastier. It was neither. I have been to OTHER Italian places where the meatballs are twice the size, half the price and a LOT tastier and lots more “yummier” to eat- I think perhaps I’ve been far too spoilt for choice over such a long time that I’ve become perhaps a food snob.. I dunno
I was extremely surprised after having a conversation with a few friends that it was the “BEST” place to have food. Even on Urbanspoon- it has a rating of 87%. I’m still scratching my head as to how it got such a high rating. But it’s okay NOT to like it and be the 13% of haters out there…
Maybe I’ll give it another try…
but even Mr_54632 who’s an easy eater walked out sorely disappointed. (he’s also banned from choosing new restaurants)
