This is a great little chic italian restaurant. The hostesses were very helpful with my reservation. The food and drinks were great.
Tempest W.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Sydney, Australia
Hey! I liked this place! Simple food done very well! Possibly the most delicious bruschetta I have ever eaten. It had a lovely bread base with a good crunch, but not enough to hurt your gums, it was spread with pesto, topped with superbly warm and flavourful tomatoes, some soft goats cheese and baby rocket. Simply delicious! The garlic prawns were bang on point! beautifully cooked, not swimming in a bucket of oil, like a recent experience. We had some chicken skewers that were on a bed of the most tasty and lovely salad. It contained warm tomatoes, tiny diced bits of spanish onion, minute crumbles of feta, rocket and small pieces of zucchini. Completely delicious. Crumbed calamari was crunchy, and served with a capered mayo style dipping sauce. Quite nice. The service is pretty slow though, but once someone manages to decide to take your order, they are friendly enough. I am not sure why one man asked about our meal,(Because one of our skewers had very dry chicken, and when I told him so, it was met with a shrug and I was told I was not eating it properly!) Anyhow, I can forgive all of that, because the food was worth it.
CJ F.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Melbourne, Australia
If I had a date and a budget of $ 100, Rococo would be my choice. It’s walking distance from the St Kilda foreshore and it has romantic al fresco dining. I always feel like a glutton when I dine here because I literally want everything on the menu. It’s reliable, rich, tasty, Italian food and if you get a couple of small plates as your appetiser you get to try a bit of everything — I recommend the meatballs and the deep fried polenta. Meals are so generous that sometimes I can’t squeeze in dessert but try save room for the strawberry meringue.
Lesley S.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Goleta, CA
Food is good, but service is lacking. And I really dislike that they do not take a waiting list when they are full. The only way you can wait for a table is to sit at the bar. Which is a rude way to try to force people into paying for extra drinks before their meal. Taking people’s names and putting them on a wait list is not hard.
Christopher B.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, Canada
It was a pretty good breakfast for a reasonable price, I had the berry pancakes, fairy small pancakes from what I’m used to and it lacked some berries but the food was ok. The service was ok, the servers were fine, a little on the slow side but overall it was ok.
Gavin C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Earlwood, Australia
Walk in with five on a Saturday night. Great food with proper serving sizes. Pints of beer, nice ambience.
Michael M.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Melbourne, Australia
Had Eggs Fotina, waited 35 — 40 minutes for food. Toast was burnt and food was luke warm and just not of a quality I’d expect here. Was told this wait time was standard and we should have been told this. Won’t be back here again.
Andy B.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Melbourne, Australia
It’s not listed on the menu but the linguine ai fungi is sensational. As is the linguine with prawn… But that IS on the menu…
Anatoliy M.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Unlike what other people have been saying here, I don’t think Rococo is expensive at all. It definitely worth the money. The food is great and the place is a cosy busy restaurant. I have to mention a staff member called Lucie though, she’s the best hospitality person! Even though it’s busy, she always help and make sure the dining experience goes well. She’s friendly and always smile. So dining experience is great in the restaurant despite of the busy environment.
Madeleine J.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Melbourne, Australia
For some reason, every time I go here there isn’t ever someone waiting at the door to take customers, and I usually stand there looking awkward for about 20 seconds before someone notices me from the back of the restaurant and comes rushing over. I always get the impression that Rococo is trying to be fancy, but their sub-par service and average food causes it to fall short of that mark. Although the Acland street Rococo’s is big, it actually has a fairly nice and intimate environment inside. This is of thrown off, however, by the large, cackling, groups of people they always seem to seat amidst the quiet couples trying to have a nice lunch. It’s always very loud and the service is always a little slow — both to take the order and to deliver food. I can recall one afternoon when it took them about fifteen minutes to deliver an english breakfast tea. So far as food goes, I’d probably advise staying away from the mains. They’re overpriced and usually aren’t really that fantastic. On the tapas side of the menu though, you’ll find some winners. All of the cut meat is pretty good, the dips are tasty and the bread is always super fresh. I’d highly advise ordering the ciabatta regardless of whatever else you’re ordering. The little beetroot salad is a gem — soft, tangy beetroots with a creamy, sweet dressing, parsley and pistachios. I pretty much always order it every time I go. Honestly, all in all, this place isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. Although the prices are a bit high for what you get, I usually walk out satisfied. It’s a nice spot close to the beach for brunch or tapas, and it’s in a cool, trendy part of St. Kilda. If you’re looking for something a little bit quieter, take a walk up to Fitzroy street — they have another Rococo open and it’s usually much less busy, has cheerier staff, and has basically the same menu.
Paul G.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Central Coast, Australia
Nice food… A little loud, will get busy. need to book on those prime times. They have a large menu with tapas, pizzas great pasta and have a good wine selection. Worth a visit.
Phuong H.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Saratoga, CA
The location is great, close to St Kilda beach, easy walk to other shops. We walked by several places and decided to try this place bc of Urban Spoon/Yelp reviews. The ambiance is nice and the waitresses were friendly. We ordered two pizzas and one had olives with anchovies which was by far the worst pizzas I’ve ever had… maybe bc the pizza was overly salted as the anchovies and olives were salted. The other pizza had broccoli and fennel sausages which was good, it helped lessen the saltiness from the other pizza. The sodas are about $ 5 each and I’ve learned that free re-fills do not exist in Melbourne.
Kobie D.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Prahran, Melbourne, Australia
Busy sunny Sunday morning, St Kilda, craving coffee and something sweet for breakfast. Thank goodness I found Rococo because I had the most delicious banana pancakes. With a scattering of candied pecans, sliced banana’s and a dusting of cinnamon & icing sugar. Service was impressively quick as it was a very busy period and I didn’t have to wait long for my coffee or pancakes. Very happy indeed.
Lara P.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Australia
Rococo isn’t bad, but in my opinion it isn’t that good either. It’s always packed, but the food quality and service for me does not always match the high-end prices which they charge. The menu offers everything: antipasti, salads, soups, pizzas, fish, pastas, risottos, meats etc. In my opinion, if a menu is going to consist of just about everything rather than specialising in certain dishes, then the kitchen better know what it’s doing, but unfortunately I think this restaurant is taking on way too much with its menu offerings. My friends really enjoy this restaurant, so I have been here on a number of occasions, but I have to admit that I have had a few unpleasant experiences where the service was terrible: my drinks were ordered to the wrong table, I received the wrong meal which meant my friends finished their meals before I received mine, and once our entire table docket went missing from the kitchen, which meant that the tables around us that came later received their meals before us, and not one staff member noticed this. We ended up waiting an hour and a half for our meals, and weren’t compensated for their huge mistake, other than an apology from a waiter who wasn’t even looking after our table, which was extremely disappointing.
Donald Y.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Melbourne, Australia
A wonderful place to relax on a warm summer arvo/evening in St. Kilda’s Acland St. Came here on a sweltering Saturday afternoon, and needless to say St. Kilda was busy. This place was just as packed, and we managed to grab a spot indoors — the al fresco seating was understandably full. We weren’t too hungry and were more after a late arvo snack with a glass of wine so we just ordered two pizzas at around $ 20 each. Bit of a mistake — these things are pretty damn big. Thought this place would have followed the current $ 20 thin-crust four-slices minimal-toppings Melbourne pizza trend that seems to be doing the rounds. We ordered a meatball pizza, and the pork and fennel sausage pizza. The meatball pizza was bloody good — really nice tomato sauce, reminded me of some of the amazing slices I had in NY. The sausage pizza was good too but overshadowed by the meatballs. Couldn’t finish it all so they happily put them in a takeaway box for us, which was not something I was expecting them to do.
Alexander R.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Melbourne, Australia
Rococo is really popular and constantly busy. They seem to attract large groups of annoying people, which I suppose isn’t their fault but makes it hard to enjoy when there are loud and invasive groups in your ear the whole time. I actually moved tables once to try and get a quiet corner but was unsuccessful. Some people really enjoy places that are busy and buzzing with noise and people where it becomes a competition to see who can talk the loudest. I’m not a huge fan of that type of atmosphere; I’m more of a casual and quiet chat with a friend over breakfast or lunch kind of guy. I feel like with so much going on it stresses the staff out a bit as well where families with prams and children running around makes it hard to get comfortable. It might be the fact they are situated smack bang in the middle of the busy street where both times I’ve been there it has been the weekend. It might be different during the week, however it’s always interesting to see how places handle peak times. Their traditional Italian food is good but hard to enjoy amongst the cackles and screaming of children.
Shara S.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Melbourne, Australia
I love Italian food, I love St Kilda, I love Acland st and I love a cruisy and comfortable atmosphere. Rococo delivers all of the above in spades, and at a great price! Unfortunately I haven’t been here for a while, but when I used to go frequently they had great tapas options as well. The Ciabatta bread here has to be the best anywhere, and the pizza’s and pasta are all tremendous, hence the frequent and regular crowds nearly any day or night of the week or weekend. I can’t say too much else that hasn’t already been said, apart from offering my suggestion of what’s good to eat, which for me has to be the spaghetti bolognaise with a fresh garden salad with Italian herb dressing. Bellissimo!
Tallulah f.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Melbourne, Australia
Rococo has been in St Kilda for a long as I can remember and it has always been a tried and tested favourite for me. The Italian cuisine is always at a consistent level and although they do tend to be very busy late at night as well as on weekends, you never have to wait too long for your meal to arrive. The menu features no fuss traditional Italian cuisine, with all the usual favourites as well as some contemporary additions. Some of my usual food choices are the traditional Spaghetti Bolognaise with a serving of Garlic and Herb Ciabatta, the Chargrilled Seafood and the Mushroom Risotto. Mmmm. The atmosphere at Rococo is funky, casual and happening, they have seating outdoors which is great during the Summer months, however these are the first tables to go a nice barmy night so best to get in fast and snag yourself a prime dining position.
Stephanie W.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Melbourne, Australia
One of the most popular restaurants on Acland st, Rococo’s is packed every evening. Considering this the service isnt too bad at all. There seems to always be a waitlist for the outside tables, and the service team is always rushing about madly taking orders and bringing drinks. But the vibe is upbeat, the customers enjoy their time here, and the food is pretty good. I like the Risottos here, particularly those with mushrooms in them(mmm, mushrooms).The Italian cuisine is tasty yet not overly complicated, and the antipasti selections are a great way to start ff your meal. Add a bottle of wine from their extensive list, a few friends, and voila! a very enjoyable evening.
Julia L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Melbourne, Australia
Rococo has always been that ‘go to’ place for me when i can’t be bothered trying something new. I suppose its like comfort food, that serves comfort food. The pizza’s is good, the pasta is good & the service is good. Va Bene!(Its’ all good). The atmosphere is always good with no particular complaints about the wait staff. Yes, they are frequently busy but the food always seems to arrive on time & if its been late I haven’t noticed. The have recently expanded their dining area which is always positive as they tend to get pretty hectic during summer with there outdoor area, often needing an extra space to seat customers. Aside from its trendy location I would probably class it as an upmarket, no fuss pizza & pasta joint.