Horrible service by the Asian male who was looking after the floor (seems like the manager) on 21/01/26. First of all we stood there for a while before even being greeted, no smiles or anything once he did bother to greet us. Further, when we ordered our food, one of the items we ordered was a completely different dish as they weren’t making the one on the menu (no idea why) - we were informed just before ordering that they will be making something else instead, we said okay. The slow cooked ragu was not bad at all, although it came with a maximum of 10 pieces of pasta. The item they had to switch that they gave us tasted HORRIBLE. Honestly, inedible. We took one bite and left it. We then wanted to leave as the whole experience was just bad - we told them to remove that second item from the bill as it was literally inedible and we had one bite. The same Asian manager was denying refunding and saying “so you didn’t eat it right?” I said “go check the plate please, we took one bite, literally, and couldn’t continue” he then said “I will ask the chef if there’s anything wrong with it, if not, I won’t be taking it off the bill” unbelievable. Apparently the chef is supposed to vouch for how bad that food tasted. We were not saying it was off, it just tasted bitter and horrible. Just horrible service, and food.

We came before a show at the Lyric. Booked online, but it wasn't busy so probably didn't need to. Food was great. We had the $40 special (2 courses). The specials were delicious. The cauliflower and the calamari were my favourite. The seafood pasta was good too. Everything cooked to perfection the tiramisu was excellent and a massive portion. Service was quick. We were able to have our meal a leisurely pace before the show.

I was excited to try the puffy bread since other reviews had praised it so highly, but it honestly wasn't anything that special in texture, freshness or taste, and also felt there wasn't enough dipping oil to go with it, had to use table chilli oil. The pasta was at least good and my barramundi was cooked very well, though I was disappointed at the small serving size for the price ($38 for 200g) at least add more side vegetables or something. I was able to use complimentary $75 dining credit as part of my stay at The Darling Hotel thankfully so that paid for most of the meal, though I would have been even sadder if I had to pay for it all out of pocket!

Looking for a family lunch to celebrate a birthday, picked Cucina Porto at Star for a crowd pleaser. I was surprised how quiet it was for a Sunday lunch but the theatre crowd had already gone in and we might have picked a good time. The staff are friendly, the venue is pretty good but was a bit disappointed with the food. The stone baked bread, tomatoes and burrata were good (think Tottis) and few people had pizza, which looked great. Those who had the pastas and gluten free options were disappointed. Mine had very little flavor and the seafood looked like it was just placed on the pasta and not incorporated into the dish which felt and tasted like pasta with olive oil. It did improve when I added some chilli oil, as did the gluten free penne and the undercooked vegetarian pizza. A bit hit and miss but certainly skip the restaurant if you need gluten free options.

I booked for Melbourne cup lunch. Prior to booking I called starcity reservations to check if the restaurant could cater for my gluten free lactose intolerance and vegan. The operator checked and said that the restaurant could. I ended up booking for the normal ala carte menu. When I got there the staff were able to take us in earlier than the booked time which was very convenient. Then it was hard to get a wait staffs attention to order. When I eventually got around ordering I was told they could not cater for me. The waiter was a really nice Korean girl, I told her that i had checked before I booked with them. She offered to check with the kitchen again this time they said they could modify a pasta for me. When the orders came out my dish was ok nothing authentic Italian about it I could have made it better at home myself. My friends ordered the prawn linguine which had a very fishy smell very off putting. One of my friends did not finish her food. This was very disappointing . Italian food is supposed to be good this was one of the worst I have ever tired. Their lemon lime bitters was good though. The price for the pastas were way overpriced. Do not recommend this place at all.