NewsBite

Advertisement

Join the party at Rocco's Bologna Discoteca

Besha Rodell

Old-school trattoria meets new-school hipster fun at Rocco's.
Old-school trattoria meets new-school hipster fun at Rocco's.Bonnie Savage

14.5/20

Italian$$

If there were a restaurant ranking system solely for fun, Rocco's Bologna Discoteca in Fitzroy would ricochet off the top of the charts and explode in an illegal firework whirligig of sparkles.

It's one of those places where you can tell that the people who conceived it – the owners of nearby Poodle – set out to create a place where they'd actually want to hang out, cook food they'd want to eat themselves, and inject a little (actually, a lot) of their own rollicking personalities into the venture.

Take a peek at Rocco's website: if these dudes in their sauce-stained clothes look like people you'd want to hang out with, you're going to love the place.

Advertisement
Rocco's signature meatball sub is available at lunch and late at night.
Rocco's signature meatball sub is available at lunch and late at night.Emilio Scalzo

Rocco's was shaped by various pandemic-related limitations. First, it was a kind of sandwich speakeasy, serving meatball subs and fried bologna from a doorway on Gertrude Street. If you ordered more than $100-worth of food, they threw in a magnum of wine for free. There was a delivery phase.

Then in early March, the full vision came to life: the wood panelling, vinyl booths and white curtains a throwback to the Italian joints in which many of us grew up eating. There's a full bar, a cosy courtyard out back, an upstairs dining room (which was not yet open when I visited) and an evening menu that goes well beyond sandwiches.

During lunch and late at night, the sandwiches still reign supreme. There's a meatball sub ($18) that's exactly as saucy and laden with cheese as you could hope, perfect for curing a hangover or padding your stomach to prepare for the hangover to come.

Baked Stella Alpina cheese with figs.
Baked Stella Alpina cheese with figs.Bonnie Savage
Advertisement

There's a clever spin on a tuna melt, substituting baccala (salt cod) in place of the tuna ($16).

The fried bologna sandwich ($9) has been described by chef Josh Fry as "Italian Maccas".

He isn't the first to use fast food as inspiration, the fatty, bready, pleasing glory of the genre used to full effect while employing better ingredients to get the job done, but this sandwich is a very welcome addition to the category.

Go-to dish: Vitello tonnato.
Go-to dish: Vitello tonnato.Bonnie Savage

I'm also thrilled to see a continental roll ($16) on this menu. I've long missed the Italian subs that are commonplace in the United States, and I've hoped that the similar conti rolls of Western Australia would make their way to Melbourne. Rocco's was out of the special – made with four kinds of deli meats, marinated vegetables and lettuce – both times I tried to order one, but I'm hoping their popularity here will inspire others in town.

Advertisement

At night, the menu morphs into more serious snacks, pastas and proteins. The best way to approach the dinner menu is with a lot of people who have big appetites because you're going to want to try everything. The food here is maximalist, loaded with flavour, big on appealing to your base instincts.

There is an entire round of gooey, baked Stella Alpina cheese ($26), set off with the fudgy sweetness of figs. Cotechino sausage ($20) is all fatty goodness, slathered in tomato salsa.

Crudo of the day.
Crudo of the day.Bonnie Savage

The vitello tonnato ($21) is a glorious pile of thinly sliced veal tongue, tender and juicy and crisped at the edges, smothered in a creamy, tuna-tinged sauce. I wanted to put my whole face in it, which is, I suspect, the aim of the chefs with much of the food here.

A bigoli pasta special of bolognese made with chicken hearts ($36) had the same meaty, saucy effect. Fry imbues his garlic bread with bone marrow, for heaven's sake. It's all very silly and very delicious.

Advertisement

But he is entirely capable of elegance, too, as evidenced by his crudo of the day ($18). The version I had was a sampling of fresh, raw silver trevalla and a large, sweet prawn dressed with wild fennel pollen and pickled chilies. I've eaten similar dishes at some of the hottest new restaurants in town for double the price (or more) with less than half the food. Despite Rocco's penchant for meaty fun, this is the dish I'll be dreaming about.

Rocco's gets mobbed – on the weekends especially – and this isn't the place to come for a snappy, quick lunch: settle in, things will take a while. But who wants to rush fun anyway? Bring your friends, order a bottle of local natural wine, get sauce on your shirt. Join the party.

Vibe: Old-school trattoria meets new-school hipster fun

Go-to dish: Vitello tonnato

Drinks: Short wine list focusing on funky Australian and Italian varietals. Classic cocktails, Italian sodas

Advertisement

Cost: Flexible. Come and get full easily for $30, or go for small plates and a steak and spend $100 before drinks

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine

Continue this series

Melbourne restaurant reviews 2022
Up next
Go-to dish: Shallot tatin.

Plant-based food goes back to basics at Patsy's

There is no fake meat, the menu is vegetarian rather than vegan, and the pleasure on the plate is dictated by the quality of the produce and the cooking, reviews Besha Rodell.

Golgappa filled with potato and green chilli and served with tamarind dressing.

Does Elchi's Indian food suit its inherited room?

This swish dining room is an entirely appropriate canvas, but do the "curry queen's" dishes match those of her Melbourne contemporaries?

Previous
Go-to dish: Half lobster with sambal.

Bubbles, boozy balls and 'bargain' lobster at Bar Bombay Yacht Club

Unlike the yacht clubs of yore, pretty much anyone can wear the captain's hat at this Melbourne bar.

See all stories

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up
Default avatarBesha Rodell is the anonymous chief restaurant critic for The Age and Good Weekend.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/melbourne-eating-out/roccos-bologna-discoteca-review-20220412-h232qd.html