We were pretty keen to try out Cafe Di Stasio after reading it had a score of 16/20 in The Age's Good Food Guide. We left with the firm belief that this IS one of the best value for money restaurants in Melbourne for the combination of the quality, execution, attention to detail, wow factor and price. It can't be considered cheap, but in comparison with other acclaimed restaurants out there like Saint Crispin, Pei Modern and Church St Enoteca - which we tried and were not impressed by (and hence no blog posts on them) - Cafe Di Stasio totally meets every expectation and more. They even have their own monogrammed butter.
The crayfish omelette with a bisque sauce was absolutely delicious, with soft tender crayfish meat blending perfectly with the herbs bound together by minimal amounts of egg. The bisque was superb.
The husband had the risotto of the day, done to al dente perfection and teeming with flavour. For the life of me I can't quite recall what it was - smoked pork?
Whatever it was, I remember it was really good. Vague, and sad, but true.
We also had a serve of the daily special, grilled Western Australian scampi and boy, were we glad we went that day. The shrimp was beautiful.
Lightly grilled with a smattering of mixed herbs, garlic and butter, seasoned with salt and pepper. Can't do any better than that. This, however, I felt was overpriced at $29 for effectively two shrimp cut into halves.
We also had another daily special, the tagliatelle crab meat pasta. This was also gorgeous, with rich and flavourful stock and the pasta cooked perfectly.
A closer look at the plate - absolutely gorgeous with all the fresh parsely.
The bill came up to $187, which included a bottle of Sauv Blanc for $59. With the pasta mains at $33, which is the average price for all restaurants in Melbourne with 1 or 2 chef hats, the value for money factor here is pretty damn good because of the quality of the food. Service was decent not brilliant, but no complaints there.
Website: http://distasio.com.au/
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