Maria Trattoria

We had a group of six at Maria’s Trattoria one Thursday evening. Most of the group enjoyed their enormous serves of pasta. I had the ravioli — what can I say– being Italian it wasn’t very impressive. Most Italians can do these dishes at home with more pizazz, but for those in our group who weren’t Italian or home cooks thought it was good food. I guess if going to eat out for Italian food I want to be impressed with home cooked pasta and ravioli — interesting fillings or great sauces. Nothing like that here. However if you’re not Italian and want to try it, have it and can be bothered making it then this is a good place to go. I have to say the fish– entrée sardines and grilled fish mains were fresh, tasty and simply cooked.
Would I go again? Probably not for pasta but perhaps for the fish– being close to Victoria market you’d expect it to be fresh and it is.

Had the special of the night, agnotti, kind of a ravioli with pumpkin and ricotta filling and a mushroom sauce. Fantastic, the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente, and the flavors were well balanced between the sweet and the earthy.

Took some friends from overseas for dinner to show them some more of what Melbourne has to offer from a foodies aspect.

Simple, old school, good hearty food. Stuck in a time warp, but this doesn’t effect the food quality and friendly service. Warning — the meal sizes are huge. Entrée pasta is more than enough for most. Will come back.

To be fair, I had relatively high expectations of this place — I had heard that it was good, authentic Italian food, «kind of like Ti Amo but cheaper». Having spent most of my weekdays during university years lingering there over a pasta and carafe of house red, I was excited to think that a similar local gem resided mere metres from my door.
Maria’s has the kind of very understated, old-​school Italian décor that makes your mouth water in anticipation of really fantastic home-​style pasta, charming candlelight from Chianti bottles, and that lovable Italian friendliness. (Note: Today We Learned that Lauren D is Italian).
Unfortunately, Maria’s really didn’t hit the mark.
Main points to note:
1. Service — Not tragic by any means, but definitely flighty for 6.30pm on a Monday. I received the wrong pasta, but this was fixed up pretty quickly so no real drama there. But overall I got the feeling you needed to be a regular to get any consistent service at all.
2. Serving sizes — Holy mother of God who can eat that much for an entrée?! My friend and I both ordered entrée sized pastas, and both of them (Amatriciana and Trattoria) were large enough to serve as a main for a normal-​sized human, with some left over. I felt bad seeing the leftover pasta looking so woebegone but there was nothing I could do; I am only one woman, with a finite capacity for food intake.
3. Food — Sadly, nothing special. The garlic bread managed to be simultaneously soggy, burnt and lacking garlic. My friend’s Amatriciana looked OK, but my Trattoria had obviously been cooked too quickly after the meal mix-​up, and had a bunch of ingredients that *could* have been tasty if only they’d been allowed to cook for a few minutes.
Verdict: I wish I had better things to say, as I love the romantic notion of a delicious Italian trattoria being my local. But it just wasn’t very nice food. I might give it another go purely because I really want to like it, but if you’re looking for solid Italian food there are much better options for the same price.

Maria’s Trattoria is a family-​run Italian restaurant that for some reason, the people of North Melbourne seem far more fond of than the place actually deserves.
I’ve had several people rave about this place to me, but when I’ve been there, I’ve found it to be very hit and miss.
Depending on what you order, the food varies hugely in size. Some of the dishes are comically big (such as the Amatriciana that I ordered — way more food than a single person needs), and others are sadly small (such as the vegetarian ravioli that my friend ordered). The food also varies a great deal in terms of taste, with some meals having that genuine Italian home-​cooking vibe to them, whilst others look and taste like they came out of a jar.
The service is also a bit all over the shop. On one of my two visits, it was friendly and fast, and on the other, we got the impression that our waitress was shirty with us for some reason. It was all a little strange.
In any case, the food is cheap, and for the most part, there’s plenty of it.