Zio's Italian East Melbourne

ZIO'S Italian Restaurat, East Melbourne

Cousin's gf seafood linguine

THE degustation plate!!!
With morton bay bug, smoked salmon, crab salad, an oyster, seered scallop, crumbed king prawn and lobster ravioli

My risotto - not as photogenic as I would have thought it would be with the saffron! I think I might have lucked out, in comparison to my fellow diners! I should learn never to order a risotto out... no matter how perfect the seafood is!

The cousin's lamb - he got in a bite before i had a chance to photograph!

My souffle - a bit of a wait but a light and fluffy dream pudding!

Zio's doesn't look like anything special from the front, but inside its' townhouse walls, a softly-lit white-table clothed dining room awaits.

14 Lansdowne St East Melbourne VIC 3002
(03) 9415 1224


Last night we went to Zio's in East Melbourne. A's parents have been going to Zio's quite a bit as it's a short walk from the flat.

The guy waiter is very funny and always recognises A and his mum when we walk in, which is always nice. We are also always seated at the same table - now that is old fashioned 'sopranos' style dining!

The first time A and I joined his parents for dinner at Zio's all four of us had the seafood degustation platter, it was wonderful, its always a treat to have well prepared and imaginative seafood. But after a couple of nasty experiences with seafood baskets elsewhere I decided to opt out of the degustation vote last night!

We started with bruschetta and marinated olives - both were delicate and fresh - I tried not to nibble too much though as I'd ordered the soup special, seafood chowder to start. The chowder was nice and creamy with lovely fresh mussels, prawns and scallops. There is nothing as disappointing as over cooked seafood (or undercooked) but the chowder was cooked wonderfully - i wasn't really a big fan of the red capsicum though, and might have fitted better as a main.

I ordered the saffron seafood risotto for my main, curious to see what it would be like - I think it's a good test of a kitchen if they cook seafood well in pastas and risottos.
The sister and I ordered a chocolate souffle each for dessert! Not quite sure how was I was going to fit everything in my tummy I was glad (at first) for the unexpected wait between courses. None of us were too fussed though and when our mains came everyone was happy!

In total we had three seafood degustation platters, two trios of duck, one 250g beef, one lamb, one seafood linguine and my saffron seafood risotto.

The duck eaters were both very happy, the uncle claiming it was the best duck he'd had in a long time. The cousin with the lamb said it was amazing, the three degustations were gobbled up with satisfaction and the cousin's gf adored her seafood linguine, very impressed was she with the morton bay bug on top! The linguine certainly looked yummy and photographed very well! The sister was starving so thankfully her steak satisfied!

The chocolate souffle was wonderful - what can be said about souffle really? Just look at the photo - well presented, deliciously fluffy and rich. My trick - I make a well and put the ice cream inside!

All in all, a very well enjoyed dinner - we were a little concerned with the wait between courses, but as we'd been to Zio's before and had no issue with the service, we weren't overly bothered. Because it is such a nice place to have a meal with family, eating isn't the sole reason for getting together. It's a nice and quiet place and the tables are a good size for conversation, it has a really comfortable atmosphere. I keep thinking though, they should move to a better location - somewhere in the city would be good, but I don't think the parentals would like that too much!

Have you been to Zio's - what did you think?