Ombra Salumi Bar - Melbourne

This restaurant offers fantastic food, a lovely atmosphere, and exceptional service. We were indecisive about what to order, but the waiter kindly helped us choose. The cheese platter and salami platter were delicious starters, followed by eggplant fritters, cuttlefish, lamb ribs, and clams (dish of the day). While it's not a budget-friendly option, it's definitely worth it for a special night out.

This was the second time I had visited Ombra. The setting of the restaurant itself is amazing and rustic.We ordered drinks that took 20 minutes to bring up

Ombra, as with all of the Grossi Florentino fine dining establishments, provides high quality Italian cuisine and a hospitable, friendly environment that seems effortless and yet every detail is authentic and considered. From the bread to the salumi, pizza and cicchetti, all the food is the best quality, house made, and delicious! The food, service and ambience collectively provide a feeling like one is enjoying the true Italian lifestyle and produce as though you are in Italy, or a family member (keeping the best for the family). It's not easy to get right so far from Italy, but the Grossi's do. We sat upstairs near the huge window which overlooks Bourke St. We chose the Mama's menu which was very ambitious, but we had the time to work through it and were able to take home the remainder of the pizza that we couldn't finish. Mama's menu provided a sampling cross most of the menu culminating in a slow cooked ox cheek - amazing, and just the right portion sizes. We finished with an Amaro digestive and felt great! If I lived closer, Ombra would become my weekly local eat out. Everything is good about it.

I recently decided to hold a small dinner here with a group of 10 friends, having been to the restaurant once before. I requested the table by the window on the second floor. It provides a nice position for a group and has a lovely view of Bourke St which is wonderful at night. The service was excellent, it was a busy night and they were attentive and responsive. We ordered a number of things off the menu to share (rather than their own option) and it was delicious. The eggplant fries were moorish with a smokiness that complemented the aioli. The arancini were the perfect size and just perfectly cooked with a crisp exterior and a soft rice inside. The polenta was my favourite served with amazing mushrooms. The calamari was hit, perfectly flavoured and cooked. The lamb ribs were tender with meat falling off the bones. We then shared a number of pizzas. The potato and the ricotta ones were my favourite. The ricotta and mushroom sounds odd but the textures and flavours play off each other perfectly. The only comment is I wouldn't recommend the prosciutto pizza, it lacked flavour and you would be better off just ordering prosciutto as a starter. All in all an amazing meal and my guests were pleased!

A friend and I dropped into Ombra for a 'snack' at about 3.00 pm on a city-break weekend in Melbourne. We exited at around 7.00 pm absolutely chock full from grazing all afternoon with perfectly recommended and paired drinks by our waiter. Every morsel was incredible. The service was impeachable. We had no idea so much time had passed, we enjoyed our afternoon so very much.