Fifteen Melbourne

Posted by: seriouslynn | 7 November 2009, 10.04am

I occasionally dine at Fifteen when visiting Melbourne, usually a pleasurable experience. The food is delicious & well-presented BUT recently I noted a change in waiting-on staff, affecting service & attention to detail; servers seemed under-staffed, flustered & a little unsupervised. The 'Fifteen' Foundation is a superb idea (dined at London one, too) yet their websites focus on training young chefs, sourcing of local produce and make no reference at all to restaurant staff.

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Posted by: baccala | 10 August 2009, 7.12pm

We expected more from fifteen. Food was very average and very bland. Not a very nice eating experience.
Service was great and unfortunately quality of food
served was poor considering our expectations.

Food:			Visit: Sat 8 August 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: FoodDiva | 23 April 2009, 11.21am

First time going back to fifteen since its opening. Have to admit that my first experience there was really good. Fantastic service and food.

But this was not the case this time.

When we got there at 8pm, dinner did not come out till 9.30pm. All of us were honestly feeling aggitated and bored of waiting.

The wait between the entree and the mains was slightly more than an hour, and the waiters did not seem the least appologetic at all.


We had three fish stews, two tunas, one lamb and two pastas.


The fish stew was over salted. The lamb was actually okay. The gnocchi, however, was really overcooked, while the ravioli was undercooked and quite oily.

Probably the best thing about dinner that night was the olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the bread.

Food:			Visit: Wed 22 April 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: tina123 | 21 January 2009, 10.05pm

First, may I say this is the most pretentious place ive ever been to. The staff were extremely rude, and purely because of that I'd never go there again.

The food was average- you can definitely find heaps of other places that are not as expensive, and that will provide you with a friendlier visit. The portions are incredibly tiny too.

The one positive of this place was the layout, there is an open kitchen which is quite nice. but honestly no matter how much money I had to blow, I wouldn't go to this joint, veryyy overrated.

Food:			Visit: Wed 21 January 2009 Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by: linguini. | 7 January 2009, 4.42pm

I heard great things about Fifteen and thought I'd bring some chefs from work out for dinner on our day off. I had booked a month in advance and seriously I could have walked in off the street and could have found a table. As we walked in we saw straight through to the kitchen, I personally thought this was a great idea. The whole kitchen was open, was nice to watch the chefs cook our food. As we were seated the waiter explained parts of the menu - I say parts because he really didn't know the menu well. I wanted to try the degustation menu although he didn't quite sell it. Although my party ordered something different, we all shared with each other. After ordering three courses we went home $460 lighter and still peckish. Would have been better if the food was a lot cheaper. Tiny portions. I suggest anyone who goes doesn't have high expectations.

Food:			Visit: Tue 6 January 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: M&B | 26 November 2008, 1.54pm

I went to 15 to celebate 20 years of friendship with a very special person. The night was perfect, however the restaurant only "met expectations".A few interesting observations: when i booked i was aked if it was a special occassion, however there was no recognition of the occassion during the evening; the service was good, however our waiter "got lost" when a table of 14 turned up & he had to assist; & our coffee, ordered to follow dessert, had to be followed up with the waiter.
The food was good, excelently presented & we can recommend the summer pudding, however the peaches were undercooked.
Overall a nice experience & the standards are high however there were a few rough edges to be worked on.

Food:			Visit: Wed 19 November 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: FOOD OBSESSION | 23 November 2008, 9.24pm

We were able to make a booking without any problems.

it was only once we got there then the problems started. Firstly our table was not ready, these things happen so we were asked to wait in the middle with a drink or too. no problems

the atmosphere was OK, a little crowded and squishy for the price you were paying $30-$40 for main courses. which is basically the top end of town. we had to wait a good 20 minutes to get menus given to us, the table next to us who basically arrived 20 minutes after we did were given menus first, and orders taken promptly.

The food orders took AGES, we had to wait 50minutes+ for our mains, once the food arrived, which it arrived all together which was good. there was 6 of us, and I believe that 4 or 5 out of the 6 people were hugely dissappointed with our meals, my meal was the fish which was about $37, and the fish was small and very plain, and the sauce had no taste, the presentation was very average, and the side was mushy peas or something similar to it,

Had the main course been $15, then it would have been fine, but the 50+min wait and $37 price tag for something that was very very average was not good.

I'd recommend people going there with very little expectations, then maybe your experience would be ok

Food:			Visit: Sat 1 November 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Erin N | 22 September 2008, 10.35am

After travelling an hour and a half & much anticipation to have dinner at 'Fifteen' we were told that our booking had been misplaced & we did not have a table. We were then told it would only be 30 mins till a table would be available & 1.5 hours later we were still sitting & waiting.... Meanwhile we'd spent half our money on drinks while we'd waited.

After finally getting to a table @ 10pm, we had to wait 15 minutes before being brought water & menus. The food came out quite quickly, but by the time it did our party of 5 were completly over the whole whole thing. The entire experience was very disappointing. Not one member of staff could tell me where my cretit card details had been put at the time i made my booking either.

I tried to contact the restaurant for 2 weeks following our dinner to speak to someone to be assured that the $350 'no show policy' charge would not be charged to my credit card, & after leaving numerous voice mail msg's i still haven't heard back 3 weeks later.....

I would have received better customer service having dinner at McDonalds. An utter complete waste of time & $300!!!!!

Food:			Visit: Sat 6 September 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: hounddog | 24 May 2008, 5.34pm

As a very regular restaurant goer in Melbourne (eating out once or twice a week) I have so far avoided going to Fifteen, given that I have been a little sceptical that the restaurant would not live up to its hype. On my recent visit with a group of friends, it didn't. When we arrived we were promptly shown to our table. So far, so good. Then we sat without menus or without the offer of a drink for almost fifteen minutes, a rarity in a Melbourne restaurant. When the menus arrived, the drinks menu did not. It was not until around the 30-minute mark that we finally got to order our drinks and food. We ordered from the a la carte menu which was fine, but when we had finished our bottle of champagne, no-one seemed at all interested in asking if we would like something else to drink. It was only a few moments before our main courses arrived that we were able to order our second bottle of wine for the evening. When the meals arrived they were adequate, but hardly outstanding. One of our company ordered the lamb, which was tough and gristly. To their credit the restaurant removed this item from our bill, but needless to say, this would not have been necessary had the meal been of a suitable quality in the first place. To sum up, very ordinary service and patchy food. We will not be returning.

Food:			Visit: Fri 23 May 2008
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Posted by: jannette | 12 September 2007, 1.08pm

A dream of mine was when I travelled to Melbourne that I wanted to go to the restraunt, Fifteen, which I had heard about through the media of tv and magazines. I have austar on so that I can watch the cooking channel.

I went with an open mind and was totally pleased with the results. I took my sister along and we a great experience which we can share.

The service was excellent from my first initial phone contact for a reservation to the completion of the meal. The food was fresh and incredibly tasty and the decor funky but comfortable.

I chose an entree of Grappa & dill cured Tasmanian salmon, grilled new season asparagus, fresh horseradish, baby leaves, crostini and Fiteen olive oil. A light starter that was refreshing and something I don't have at home.

My sister chose the roasted saddle of new season of Victorian Lamb, mushroom stuffing, garlic, fresh peas, capers and mint with a side order of warm spinach, pinenuts and balsamic. For her to eat all her meal is an accomplishment and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

My main was the Wicked Sicilian fisherman's stew. I know you're not supposed to follow a fish main after an fish entree but i just enjoy fish and this dish did not let me down. The dollop of saffron aioli was so divine.

We finished off the meal with a cheese platter which was a great taste sensation because I have never tried those cheeses before.

I walked out of that restraunt with a bottle of specially blended Fifteen olive oil, Toby's Daily Italian with his autograph and a great feeling of being alive. I have since cooked the Potato gnocchi with prosciutto and sage butter and feel that this cook book is going to become one of my favourites.

Thank you to everyone at Fifteen for making a wonderful
memory. Jannette Duncan Yarrawonga Vic.

Food:			Visit: Wed 5 September 2007 Mealtime: lunch
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