Orlo restaurant review 2024

After 18 months, a new restaurant by the Young’s Wine Room founder and a Guy Grossi alumni chef has finally opened in Collingwood— so was it worth the wait?

After 18 months in the making, Orlo has finally opened in Collingwood— but was it worth the wait?

Confession time. I almost gave up on Orlo.

I first heard about the then-Greek restaurant via email last year, which was slated to open in Collingwood. What followed was a revolving door of new concepts and big-ticket chefs until the music finally stopped in June.

The end result? A trip to the Mediterranean, with plenty of downtime in Italy (via a stop over in China) and many cordial spiked cocktails to go around.

Owner James Klapanis (Young’s Wine Rooms, St Cloud Eating House) appointed chef Matteo Tine (Grossi Florentino, Bar Carolina) to lead the kitchen, and hospo heavy hitters Carlo Grossi and Joe Jones dialling in their expertise on everything booze and food.

Whatever the cuisine, I’m convinced Klapanis wanted to open something inside the stunning old red-brick cordial factory on Oxford St. I don’t blame him.

Sfinci, or a Sicilian fried doughnut filled with cheesy fondue. Picture: Parker Blain.

The lamb ribs were so tender the meat slipped from the bone. Picture: Parker Blain.

The 1880s-built, three-level stunner has since been brought into this century with a character preserving makeover. Tan timber floors and furniture, exposed red-brick walls and white-clothed tables give a sense of old-school charm. While the food, drinks and service has a newschool mentality.

After 18 months of limbo, was it worth the wait?

Let’s just say Orlo isn’t reinventing the wheel, save for a few limit-pushing dishes.

The cocktails and wine offering? Solid. Service? Informative, friendly and attentive AF.

After dinner, I shrugged with a sense of ‘yeah that was pretty good’.

Not every new restaurant has to be life altering, I get that, though was expecting a little more on the food front: something to leap from the plate and commanded my attention.

On paper, each menu item reads as salivating as the next, but in practice those heavy-hitting flavours rudely overwhelming one another.

Take those lamb ribs ($30 for three) roughened in a ‘secret spice’ mix and cooked over red gum flames, served with splash of fermented honey toum.

The sauce tasted almost non-existent, intimidated by a suckerpunch of smoke and seasoning, yet the meat was wonderfully plush.

Lobster scotch egg is a twist on the classic. Picture: Parker Blain.

Cordial spiked cocktails are the go at Orlo. Picture: Parker Blain.

Same deal with the Sfinci ($6.50 each), white anchovy draped Sicilian fried doughnuts the size of tennis balls. Golden-fried, squishy and filled with a gooey fontina fondue, it’s almost too cheesy to notice the salty fish on top. Delicious, yes, though the anchovy was redundant.

Other solid eats include the Modenese style flatbreads ($12 for two; Tigelle from Emelia Romama), which will leave you with FMS (furry mouth syndrome) after being sizzled in pork fat and slathered in lardo butter bound to blow up any diet.

Lobster meat scotch eggs ($20 for two) remind me of a glam sea shanty (Google it kids!) hollowed by a runny quail egg, even if underseasoned, while the melanzane sugo ($26) is a posh and neater riff on your nonna’s eggplant parma, supple, smoky and sweat. Yum!

Orlo restaurant review. Picture: Parker Blain.

Give the char siu chicken a go ($44), which tackles the Cantonese BBQ pork classic head-on. Here Tine debones a whole chook and glazes it in a sticky sweet vincotto with fennel, soy and garlic before rolling into a thick parcel and carving off a slice — the flavours sing, meat perfectly cooked and juicy, though I question the need for fermented roasted chilli paste on the side — as it will blow your face off if not consumed sparingly. And the overpickled veg, that’ll have you squinting into next week. The Chinese link is a little confusing, though he nails the party trick.

Plus you’d be mad to miss the roasted spuds and flame tickled broccolini.

When it come to Orlo, there are two things I’m sure of: the restaurant will find its feet with a few tweaks and time, and many will be back (myself included) for a martini and scfini soon.

Orlo has plenty of old-school charm. Picture: Parker Blain.