Bistro Bakini

Not sure what happened here. Seated for dinner, water brought to the table and that’s where it ended as far as service. After waiting for fifteen minutes for a server to take our drink order and even our food order I tried to get the attention of a server. After being looked at twice but ignored, I was snuffed. The restaurant was not busy either, a few tables of people having drinks. The short, «Italian looking» server who was too busy hitting on a female customer was insulted that I bothered him. We finally got up and left. The short server seems to be glad he didn’t have to wait on another table and he could get back to flirting. There are way too many great businesses in Melbourne that have great service to spend any of my money here. If I could give less than one star, Bakini would get –5.

It was our mate’s last night in Melbourne before heading back to the States, and we wanted to treat him to a special dinner as a bon voyage. Bistro Bakini (right up the street from our home) was our first nearby choice. I’m sad to report, this won’t be one of my lengthier, in-​depth, rave reviews. Bakini was an unmitigated, uncontroverted disaster!
We entered. The interior is very chic and sophisticated. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news for us ended. We were seated at a bar-​height communal table — not at a dining table, even though there were quite a few open tables in the back of the restaurant. Okay; that’s fine. Waiter pops by to set our placemat menus before us. Being that this is a hotel restaurant, prices are higher than norm. No problem. We just splurged a few hundred bucks at Harry Hall’s the other night, and are on a spending spree!!!
Waiter leaves. Waitress comes by with waters. We take a few minutes to make our dinner choices. Okeydokey, ready to settle in for a memorable evening. We wait for service — any kind of acknowledgment of service would do… We continue to wait. The waitress walks by, straight to two blokes who are having drinks at the opposite end of our communal picnic table. They’re packing things up and are getting ready to leave. She’s yammering away with them — maybe she’s trying to get their room numbers??? I don’t know, but we’re still waiting. To my right, another service person (male) is yammering away with a single woman like some bad version of «American Gigolo.» I wave my hand to the batting-​eyed flirt. She’s quite oblivious as she’s batting her eyelashes like a school girl with a crush. I wave my hand to the Richard Gere wannabe. He’s got his arm on the back of the lady’s chair, oblivious, as well. I finally speak up, «Uh, excuse me… (Still oblivious.) Excuse me! We’re waiting for some service!» Oh, that grabs his attention. He saunters over. I say, «We’ve been waiting here for quite some time.» «Oh. Well, I was talking with a customer,» says he. I say, «Uh, we’re customers, too!» He looks indignant by my comment. At that point, my partner says we’ll simply go somewhere else. Wait-​guy says, «OK,» and starts picking up the placemat menus… No apologies. No nothing. I told Mr. Smooth Operator that he could expect a terrible review from me. He didn’t give a _​_​_​_​_​!!
There are WAY too many great restaurants in this town to put up with BS from service people! And this from a HOTEL restaurant, no less!!! The service at Bistro Bakini is the bottom of the dregs, as far as I’m concerned. If I could, this joint would get no stars. Luckily for them, I’m forced to give them one. Eek! Methinks not, indeed!!! :(

Staying next to this place, it was bound to happen that we would end up trying not only the coffee but at least a meal, the first was so good, we tried two!
Bakini will not disappoint anyone for an early morning coffee and breakfast or a late afternoon drinks and dinner. Truly italian inspired service, fresh and delicious food, with a modern, warm and inviting interior.
MORNINGS: The coffee was great, Melbourne is renowned for its coffee, and this I have no doubt drives everyone to ensure quality and consistency, they hit the nail on the head. The breakfast menu was diverse, with fresh ingredients and good quality, I have no problems recommending Bakini to anyone looking for a great breakfast on St Kilda Rd.
EVENING: We started with a few drinks, in the beautiful interior of Bakini. The service and atmosphere was so good we decided to stay for a meal, and no disappointment here. The menu was great, the quality was spot on, and again if your looking for a great italian meal, this should be a spot on your visit list.
Overall, check this place out, remember this, price isn’t always important, you get what you pay for. I am always happy to pay a fair price for a quality meal, I think the prices are more than reasonable, the quality and food are worth every dollar.

Five years ago we had honeymoon in Roma, Italy. Five years later we celebrated our anniversary at Bakini. It was kind of throwback — very delicious, friendly and truly Italian! Perfect place, perfect evening! We’ll definitely return!

Back in the States, we have a preponderance of dining establishments that think they can slap on certain key words such as «fusion» or «bistro» to their name and then jack up the prices 50% and cut down the serving size 50%. Most of these places don’t last very long (unless they can supplement their meager dining offerings with something like a lounge or nightlife area).
Bistro Bakini seems to fall hard into this category of restaurant. I get it — Australia (and Melbourne) is a very expensive place to eat /​live. That does not justify a $ 25ish small plate of bland risotto that I could have gone to A&P (that’s Safeway for you Victorians) for and bought pre-​made.
I will give them this — their décor is nice and their manager was very personable. Have a drink or a coffee here and skip the food.

MY FIRST 5 STAR EXPERIENCE!
This place is truly amazing. I first happened upon this place a few months ago when the coffee shop that I usually go to was just a bit too packed for my liking. Bakini is located at the bottom of an apartment/​hotel complex and is decked out in a very modern design. The music they play here is a mixture of chilled out jazzy songs and Spanish flamenco (think Gipsy Kings or Santos Bonacci [those guys that play the classical Spanish guitar on Bourke St outside of Myer]) which makes it feel very cool.
The staff here are genuinely friendly and helpful. Over the past few months, I’ve gotten to know Andre, Renee and Stavros (although the 1^st 2 have recently left) and I’d have to say outside of Pearl Restaurant in Richmond it’s the best service I’ve ever received (note to self: write up of Pearl coming soon). When you sit down for a coffee, you get CHILLED water in a nice glass and a few biscuits. Everything about this place oozes class, and it’s my favourite place to take clients for lunch where they have a pretty nice tapas menu (particularly the fried calamari that comes with this amazing dip) as it always leaves a terrific impression.