TAVERNA

It’s a fabulous restaurant that’s only been open for a few days. They have a nice variety of Greek food. The staff are very professional and friendly with the service they provide to the guests. Some of the food was a bit rich at some points but all the dishes looked very well presented every time my cousin and I were served. There can be no doubt that things will only get better with time. Easily the best Greek restaurant in Melbourne for my liking.

Only two weeks in, and I’m already obsessed with Taverna. This place delivers the real taste of Greece—no passport required! The famous Angie’s Mum moussaka is pure comfort, the keftedes are juicy, the lamb…..-no comments!!- and everything else is packed with flavor. Oh, and the warm, fresh bread? Absolutely addictive! Service is just as impressive—friendly, knowledgeable staff who sprinkle in Greek phrases, making the experience feel even more authentic. If you love Greek food (or just great food), Taverna is a must. Go hungry, leave dreaming of the Aegean!

Could not fault this little inner city gem. Beautiful, rustic and simplistic dining with incredible ambience and second to none service. I’m going to call it - Best Greek restaurant in Melbourne 2025! Highly recommend to everyone wanting delicious food and a perfect night out

Overall, the food was tasty but just okay. My favourites were the tarama and eggplant dips, however i would have preferred pita bread than a round roll. Whitebait and potatoes were enjoyable, little on the salty side though. Tad dissapointed with the octopus, overpriced for what little pieces we got on the plate. Prawns were cooked well and flavours were nice. Service was lovely and friendly.

Absolutely delicious Greek dishes, wonderfully balanced delicate flavours, and lovely friendly service. We will be back many times over!! The warm fresh bread rolls, and the chargrilled chicken skewers (kalamaki) were the standouts for us, the patzari (beetroot salad) was also fantastic. Taverna only opened yesterday, and currently aren’t serving alcohol due to licensing delays, but they have a range of very tasty alcohol-free options available.

I celebrated my birthday with my husband at Epocha. It was simply the best fine dining experience! We chose vegetarian options only, the chef was super kind to make a dish for us that was not there on the menu and it was my most favorite pasta ever! Special mention about the Tiramisu, it just melted in the mouth, it was gone in no time! Highly recommend this place for celebratory occasions!

The service here is good—very attentive and welcoming. However, having lived in Greece, I found the food, while tasty, not quite authentic and not reflective of the high prices. For example, the lahana portion was surprisingly small; I’ve never been to a 5-star Greek restaurant with portions this tiny. A pleasant experience overall, but I expected more in terms of authenticity and value for the price.

Wonderful Greek restaurant serving delicious, authentic cuisine. Very friendly staff and super efficient - if anything the service was a bit too speedy, hence the 4 stars.

Epocha had been on my list since I first arrived in Melbourne where an ex-colleague told me that Epocha and Town Mouse were her favourite restaurants. She told me she loved the cheese and the wine and the starters. Unfortunately, my experience was very mediocre and it could be because I ordered neither the cheese nor the wine nor the starters.  We booked for two at 6.30pm for a special occasion. The staff were very nice and had us seated right away. There is free on street parking after 6.30pm and plenty of spaces so I do recommend it.  At the look of the prices, we decided to go for the most affordable options and chose the goat's cheese risotto and then something interesting, the rudderfish.  We received complimentary black bread which just tasted like dark rye sourdough. It came with some herby creme fraiche. It was ok. Though I did like the bread but nothing special.  The fish arrived first and as we were sharing, the waitress cut it in half and served it for us. The cauliflower puree, the morsel of brussel sprout was nice, but the fish was very bland. Rudderfish basically tasted like snapper but less fishy. The consomme was like lemony water. It didn't add to the taste. I would have preferred some salt, pepper and maybe even some garlic aioli.  The risotto was floating and the rice very thick and large. The taste was quite grainy and tasted like raw spinach. Both my friend and I didn't like both the dishes. The goat's cheese helped with the taste due to its saltiness and the almonds definitely added to the taste. But on it's own, the risotto rice was below par.  We then ordered a dessert - the rum baba as we were told that it's the most popular. A large round cake (tastes like sweet bread) with a small dollop of vanilla ice-cream and some cream. It's literally floating on milky rum and there is a huge show as the chef lights it up with dry flame.  The flame does not add a smokiness to the flavour. The cake basically tastes like watery bread with a hint of coffee and a hint of salt (not a hint of salted caramel). If we had known we would have unearthed the milky rum from the bottom and mixed it with our watery bread. But we only got to it at the end. And by then, I felt like I was having baileys with milk .  We also got a complimentary lemon tart for which I'm immensely grateful. This lemon tart was radically sweet. Too sweet for my liking which detracted from the sourness of the lime.  The massive cheese blocks and honeycomb sitting next to us looked quite inviting and I think if we had taken my friend's advice, we would have enjoyed our meals. But it seems like we ordered all the wrong stuff.  Service is excellent. Waitstaff are thoughtful. Split billing is allowed. And the venue has a nice homely, romantic vibe. Good for special occasions.

Everything about this place says quality. It was our first time here, and Yelp gave us the tip-off. We phoned mid-Saturday afternoon, foolishly hoping for a table that evening, but it was sold out. The very helpful Alana promised us a place on the wait list, and about an hour beforehand we got a call saying a table had become free! Walking in, it was immediately obvious why this place is popular. It manages to tread the fine line between being classy but unpretentious. You're guaranteed an up-market feel but we didn't find any pomposity here whatsoever. The whole experience felt very intimate. We were looked after by somebody who took the time to understand what we were looking for, particularly when it came to wine. There were lots of wines unfamiliar to us here, and he guided us through them, eventually recommending one in limited supply which wasn't officially available, and it completely hit the spot. We opted for the sharing menu - four courses from the entire menu (snacks, small and large shares, deserts), which the chef chooses. There are two of these - the more expensive version gives you access to the steak. You just sit back and eat what comes. Our first course was a selection of snacks/starters, each beautifully presented and wonderfully tasty. We moved on to the gnocchi and the beef (sooo tender!), before a choice from the desert tray. Our experience lasted nearly two hours, and it was two hours of treat upon treat. Our eventual bill came to a little over $200, plus tip. We felt that was good value for what we had, even though it was more than we'd normally pay for a meal out. Once again, Yelp comes through with an absolute stunner of a restaurant.

This was one of our dining highlights in Melbourne and we were so glad we booked to eat here. We visited on a Tuesday night and had a seat inside by the window so had a beautiful view of the park and CBD which was just magical. Initially I thought the cuisine was Australian but it's actually European and the restaurant is based in one of the nicest spaces I've been in a long time. It's a terrace house and I loved how they'd transformed it into a restaurant and bar upstairs. We had a lovely relaxing meal where we ordered a bunch of stuff to share - they do have a sharing menu option but we didn't want to overeat, so mainly focussed on the snacks and small shares section. The highlight for me however was the main we got to share - duck with blood orange and fennel. It was absolutely exceptional. Service was slick and smooth and the price for a meal for two was reasonable. I'd make a special visit to Epocha next time I'm in Melbourne as it was just a really lovely restaurant to dine in.

It's a testament to the quality of the food and service of a restaurant when you regularly find yourself fantasising about being there again. This is what keeps happening to me with Epocha. I'd been once before for late night glasses of wine and nibbles at the upstairs bar and rather liked it, but it was when I was taken there for a long lunch fuelled by great wine, many plates and great conversation that I fell in love proper. In a multi-storied old home opposite Carlton gardens Epocha isn't flashy but rather quietly beautiful. The service is confident and clever - staff will guide your ordering and suggest wines that will match particular dishes. We ate many dishes on that particular long lunch but I keep dreaming about the grilled pork skewers with peach. They were juicy and sweet with a lick of charred flavour from the grill. The orecchiette with house made sugo was also a standout - it came to the table, hot and steaming with sugo and was then poured in to a giant wheel of parmesan table-side. The staff then scraped and turned over the pasta, coating it in the cheese before plating it individually for the three of us. It's so rare to get table service like this these days, and the theatre of it made the pasta taste extra delicious. It was these memories that kept drawing my mind back to Epocha and so this week I was stoked when friends and I went for dinner. We went for the $68 per head sharing menu because none of us felt like making decisions, though we did request those juicy pork skewers and they were as delicious as I remembered them. For late night snacks in the bar, family dinners or long leisurely lunches I highly recommend Epocha. My only word of warning - wear your stretchy pants and don't drive. You're going to want to eat and drink everything.

It's always a pleasure going to Epocha, great food, awesome smiley service and lovely decor. My favs there is always the crumpets w black salt, butter and honey comb, roasted chicken and now my new fav is the gnocchi. For the adventurous try the pig ears too, it's amazing.

Epocha is a delight. A wonderful, intimate place to dine where the service is always spot on and the food is fabulous. The best part is that loads of their dishes are vegetarian and the meat dishes feature biodynamic, locally sourced meat. The wine list is fabulous and Angie and the team will happily recommend something for you. In fact, just let them pick the menu for you, kick back, and enjoy an old fashioned long lunch or dinner. Bliss.

This restaurant is the new kid on the block at the the bottom end of Rathdowne Street, set in a terrace house overlooking the Carlton Gardens. Somewhat hidden away, this place ticks all the right boxes to become one of the big hits in Melbourne dining for summer 2013. Friendly, young wait staff in tailored aprons provide attentive, genuine service without pretension. If you've been to Press Club or the early days of Hellenic Republic, you will see some familiar, welcoming faces in the house staff. The food is somewhat pan-southern European with clear references to Spanish and Portuguese dishes. The food is all about sharing, with the menu set out by dish size (snacks, small plates and large plates). Fresh, clean ingredients abound, generally presented in a rustic manner with attention to detail. The Barilla bay oysters will not disappoint! There are some dishes that will challenge the perceptions of some diners (e.g. pigs ears, sweetbreads) but everything we tried was delicious. The wine list is reasonably long, with a wide selection of European wines set out by region. There is a good variety of Aperitifs and Digestifs to bookend your meal. The atmosphere is intimate with low level lighting and plenty of tables for two as well as larger tables which would be well suited to groups of up to 8 people. One star lost for the dessert, which was the only thing we didn't enjoy. We had a wild strawberry jelly, which was a little too jam-like. With no accompaniments to off-set the sweetness, it was a little too much. Next time, I think we'll avoid dessert. But otherwise, the meal was delicious.

Epocha is located opposite Carlton Gardens in a lovely old terrace; reminiscent of Hell of the North but with a better outlook. It was one of those perfect Melbourne autumn days - on the warm side of cool - so I asked for a table on the little front balcony to take advantage of the view of the park with glimpses of the Exhibition Building through the trees. I've been meaning to try the degustation here for a while now but the first time I booked myself in was a Sunday when they only serve roast, and the second time a few weeks ago was the tail end of the Food & Wine Festival so they were just offering an Express menu. Today, fortunately, the old adage "third time's a charm" actually held true. There are two sharing menu options for $68 and $80 respectively. I chose the $80 version which gives you a choice of duck or beef for main as opposed to chicken or fish. For a further $55 you can also match wines, which of course I did ;). My very friendly waiter seated me and returned a couple of minutes later with a bottle of Super Bock Portuguese lager and a little loaf of black bread tied in a muslin sack. The sommelier arrived soon after, bearing generous slurps of Madeira (which he suggested would go well with the bread) and a German Trocken Riesling called 50 degrees (made by Mumm) to go with my first course; a little breadboard of snacks. These consisted of a bowl of mixed olives, crudite with white anchovy creme Fraiche, a dollop of Austrian Liptauer cheese on a rye cracker, and some chickpea fritters with red pepper Mayo. Olives are olives so no surprises there, the slightly fishy creme Fraiche worked very well with the raw vegetables, and the red pepper Mayo saved the fritters from blandness. The soft, slightly spicy cheese was the pick of the four for me. Two salads were next; beetroot with pecan brittle and a sweet, whipped goats curd, and baked baby carrots with candied walnuts and almonds. I was a little bit sceptical about having two salad courses included in the menu, but both of these were really, really good. Interesting flavour combinations - particularly the beetroot and goat curd which worked a treat. And I could have eaten a bowl of the candied walnuts which were sugary, but beautifully balanced with a savoury finish. Both plates had a lot of sweetness, and matching them with a dry, slightly bitter Malagouzia from Greece was an excellent choice. My prior experience with Greek wine has been largely limited to cheap Retsina, but I actually quite liked this drop. The first of the "large plates" was next; Spanish mackerel in a red pepper sauce with potato dumpling. The fish was qufirm, tasty and salty and the thin, slightly spicy sauce complemented it well. It was topped with peppers coped with paprika. The wine match for this was a liminona, also from Greece, and was a little like a Rose version of the Malagouzia I just had. For the last course I chose the duck confit with pickled plums. This comprised two slices of duck breast and a confit leg. The breast was a little tough and would have been better served with a steak knife, and the plum a bit overpowering for my taste, but the meat was tasty and the sauce made from the meat drippings was great. This came with two French wines - a Closier Pinot and a Plan Pegau Grenache, both of which were quite nice. Dessert followed, which I negotiated to replace with a couple of choices from the cheese trolley; a piece of Ossau-Iraty and a nice, creamy Clarines. This came with a delicious sweet wine from the island of Stamos (if you haven't guessed already the owners of this fine establishment are Greek). Great finish to a long and enjoyable lunch. Epocha was worth the wait. Lovely setting, good food, generous servings and excellent service. And I may even be getting a taste for Greek wine...

Whenever you yearn for a sense of escapism, Epocha is one of those places - "we could be in Europe, Toto!". Adventurous and authentic in crafting the menu - tasty aperitif, Spanish wine, fried pig ears, salt cod croquettes, platter of pork done three ways, orange and cardamon creme brûlée, and a palate cleansing digestivé to end the meal. Friendly and helpful staff without coming across as overbearing. Comforting lighting and ambience allows one to just forget about the grind of reality and enjoy the night as it is. Must-haves: Pork platter, asparagus (seasonal), oysters with the vinaigrette dressing, friend pig ears, and the dark bread with tones of expresso and caraway seeds! Epocha does lunch Wed-Sat with a $45 Sunday roast lunch with the promise of "feasting like a king".

Best dinner ever! Had the best barramundi! Had the best chicken! Had the best everything! So glad we went and tried a bit of everything. Would definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone. Thanks for the ice cream for our baby too. :)

My wife and I had a wonderful evening this past Friday night at Epocha. Romantic ambience for our anniversary, impeccable service from the very experienced staff, and an amazing meal from chef Gerard Curto. Would highly recommend the 7-course tasting menu with paired wines. Outstanding! Will definitely be back.

I love the veggo dishes this place is so wonderful and the service is amazing. I would tell all my friends it's the place to eat!!

Absolutely stunning. Phenomenal. An incredible serving team and a brilliant maître d'. We were at the Carlton Gardens for an event (visiting from States) and needed a nice place nearby to have a lunch meeting. Saw the great reviews here and headed over. Wow. What an incredible surprise. The food was amazing. Thanks for such a super experience both food and dining. It was great and highly recommendable. You won't be let down.

A-MA-ZING. A group of 4 of us started with drinks and oysters at the bar upstairs, then got the chef's menu with matching wines, and it was all fantastic. The service was fantastic, the food was fantastic, the wine was fantastic. I'm not great at writing reviews, but I can't say enough how much I enjoyed my experience at Epocha.

Two of us had a series of great meals in Melbourne when on vacation last month. The meal at Epocha was wonderful. Great service, terrific food -- overall a really wonderful experience. I'd go back in a heartbeat.