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Caterina's Cucina e Bar
Ph: 9670 8488; Basement, 221 Queen St, Melbourne 3000 www.caterinas.com.au
Italian, $$ -
Open Mon-Fri noon-3pm; Licensed; AE DC MC V
Chef Niko Pizzimenpi (5-12-08) Owner Caterina Borsato (5-12-08)
Mietta's Review
Caterina's is only open lunches, it is primarily a businessman's dining room. The tables are well spaced, there's a comfortable bar as you come in, suitable for snacks and afternoon drinking. Opposite there is some light and movement coming from the kitchen and a large wine display. There is also the antipasto selection in the middle of the room to tempt you as you are taken to your table. Service is very good, pleasant and the staff have exceptional memories effortlessly reciting the daily specials which consist of more than ten elaborately described dishes. It's a quiet relaxed place with music playing and conducive to staying on for a few more glasses of wine but you do have to go home for dinner. Prices are not cheap but what you should expect to pay for the linen, the space and the level of service.
Other published opinions
Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 12.5/20 "If you want to know why they call it the good old days, descend into this basement Italian where the floor staff seem to know most of their (mostly male) customers by name and silverplate cloches are magically conjured for guests called away from the table"
Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 13/20 "The many regulars at Queen Street institution Caterina's get a welcoming peck on the cheek from Caterina herself. They also know to ignore the menu"
Herald Sun Dining Out, Stephen Downes, 19/9/06 Score: 14/20 "For traditional reasons, Caterina's is a favourite of many business lunchers. What it serves is rooted in great Italian culinary traditions - you're unlikely to taste light flavour brilliance here - and the prices are not cheap. Also expensive are the wines on the list, which is long and comprehensive. Fortunately, eight table whites and 10 reds are sold by glass, and Caterina's house chardonnay is $25 a bottle."
The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 14/20 "The effervescent Caterina Borsato may have diversified into television, but she continues to rule her restaurant. Every weekday she works the wood-panelled room, from bar to discreet corner, overseeing personable and efficient floor staff while attending to regular customers and small details."
The Age Good Food Guide 2005 "Caterina Borsato continues to oversee the happily slick service throughout the working week, her eponymous cucina catering to businessmen who know a thing or two about three-course lunches. This basement restaurant is a bit olde worlde"
Age Good Food Guide 2004 13/20
Herald Sun, Weekend, 8/11/03, Bob Hart,
The Age Good Food Guide 2003. Score 13/20.
The Age, 23.10.01, John Lethlean review. Score 15 out of 20"
The Sunday Age, 10.04.99
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