Mama Baba

This meal was nearly the best meal of my life. If money were no object, then Vue du Monde would win. But for value for money, I give it to Mama Baba.
We at here in February and tried a whole lot of dishes. My stand out favourites were parma (little burgers) — get one each, don’t even try to share this little piece of heaven! The gnudi was mind blowing — I don’t even like pumpkin, and yet this was one of the nicest things I’ve ever eaten. The other dish I loved was the orecchiette with braised wagyu.
The atmosphere is a bit like a nightclub or warehouse without being dingy. It wasn’t really a family place and people had dressed nicely for dinner without it being formal.
The best way to dine here is sharing! Jut don’t try sharing the parma burgers as it’d be a fight to the death.

Well presented and lively interior. Unfortunately the staff are very snooty making the dinning experience less enjoyable.
We had full meals rather than the standard pizza and pasta dishes. I found the beef cheeks were good but on the bitter side with rather unappealing presentation. Generally the food was good, but not great.
Given the price, availability of good dining in South Yarra and the snooty staff I don’t think I’ll be returning any time soon.

Mama Baba may be George Calombaris’s latest, but I dare say not it’s not his greatest. While the mash up of Greek (GC’s mama) and Italian (GC’s baba) really worked for me, the service, ambiance, and overall experience were lacking.
My pasta (the Makaronia) was gorgeous, delicate and slightly chewy with a generous amount of braised lamb. We shared a side of fried cauliflower tossed with sultanas, capers, and almond and a salad of hearts of palm, broad beans, and dates. The combination of flavours and textures in both dishes were fantastic, and both complimented my ‘mama’ inspired dish as well as my dining companion’s ‘baba’ inspired gnocchi. For the food alone, I’d give Mama Baba a ⁴⁄₅.
Where we got let down was in the dining experience (²⁄₅). First of all, our service was spotty Shortly after being seated and before we’d even had a chance to look at the wine list, much less the menu, we were asked at least three times by different waitstaff if we were ready to order. We finally ordered a cocktail, but instead of being allowed to sit and sip while we contemplated the menu, we were asked again. With the pressure on, we put in our order and were confronted with food before I’d even finished my pre-​dinner cocktail. But then, after the food arrived, the waitstaff completely disappeared. When I finally got someone’s attention to order a glass of wine to go with my dinner, I was halfway through my meal. This might have been understandable for a busy Friday or Saturday night, but for an 8.30pm seating on a Wednesday it smacks of lack of communication and coordination among the waitstaff.
Secondly, the ambiance didn’t really do it for me. The high ceilings mean that the dining room is a bit of an echo chamber, and even though the music was at a perfectly fine level we had a difficult time hearing one another. The floor itself is quite crammed with tables; I do understand the need to maximise space, but it was a bit much. It would have been much nicer if they’d left space for a bigger bar area (which coincidentally struck us as the best place to have a meal, more intimate and also quieter). Aesthetically, I did love the bottles along the bar area and the black and white movie screening on the wall — but, alas, it really feels like a restaurant in an upscale shopping area in South Yarra, and not even the windows looking out onto a lanewayesque brick wall were going to fix that (for starters, the brick wall is too clean).
All in all, Mama Baba serves up some great food but a pretty mediocre experience. I’m sure I’ll give them another whirl at some point, once they’ve had a bit more time to work some of the kinks out, but in the meantime GC’s north-​of-​the-​river institution, which is all about mama, is where it’s at for me.

Great decoration. Though place disappoints with gluggy pasta, inconsistent seasoning in chefs menu dishes (one too bland, one overly salty), daggy choice in music — perhaps it was the Tuesday night vibe but not for me. Desert presentation was somewhat lacking in effort eg tiny monochrome ferrero rocher cake served on cheap inedible base slides around on top a massive white plate, well eaton mess I guess was just plopped into a bowl. Perhaps better in a large glass? Service was nice.

MamaBaba nails it in terms of atmosphere. The noise levels are incredible, and the open kitchen a hive of activity. But all in all, the ambience is pretty amazing in the busy, seen– or– be seen chic downtown coolness of almost bare textures and materials. It is akin to a chic New York type establishment (I’ve not been yet but am told) that currently the reservations for mid– week stand at about one weeks advance notice. Which means its pretty accessible if you, like me, need that amount of time to round the troops up.
Another of George Columbaris’ ventures (yes, we saw the man himself come by later that night) means he does ensure his personal touch is there and also everyone’s experience is nothing short of marvellous. Of course the food is the standout.
MamaBaba refers to his ancestry of Greek and Italian, thus, the food is divided down the line like that. We were expecting a mash of the two but I think the decision to keep them separate was wise although when dining with a group you’re bound to sample each others dishes.
The condiments served together with anything you order is Parmesan cheese (Italian), a Greek cheese (sorry, bad I know but I can’t remember) and Chilli oil (huh, isn’t this an Asian thing?). Pasta is their highlight, and the names are very interesting and unless you are a native speaker, then you may struggle with pronouncing it right although the descriptions in plain old Australian is there.
Our table had a rabbit pappardelle, a beef ragout pappardelle, and an interesting beef and date orrechiet. Excuse the spelling if I’ve butchered it. But you get the idea. All were delish, with the date pairing a somewhat sweet unexpected combination. Rabbit was okay it was very creamy but the beef ragout was hearty and homely. And that’s what I think the aim was, to serve up homely styled dishes but with a modern twist of course.
Dessert was really sweet, try the Italian Mess, their version of eton mess which was triply sweet. The fererro richer cake. DON’T order it. What came was a cake smaller than a drinks coaster on a plate large enough to fit maybe ten of those suckers. Not impressed. It tasted alright but for the price of it, you’d want more.
The wait staff were ever present, engaging, prompt and attentive. Which is always great, and also a very mixed bunch all tied together with the same red thread of their all black outfits. We were greeted by smiles the moment we arrived, all throughout and when we were leaving. For a busy mid– week dinner service (full house actually) I reckon they did an amazing job. Can’t imagine Friday and Saturdays are like.
Yes, do check MamaBaba out. Parking can be hell in that area though and pay attention to the time the parking places close during the week.
Oh am loving the cutlery. Über cool.

You know when something happens to you and you talk about it so much that you start to repeat yourself? You’ll be about a sentence into your story and your good friend will interrupt you with a mixed expression of compassion and frustration, and say, ‘YEP, yeah you already told me.’
Okay, so it’s official. I’ve already told everyone in my life to go to Mama Baba. There’s only one place left for me to appease my motormouth: Unilocal.It’s just a shame I can’t review this place more than once.
Let me begin with this: I had been warned by many a trustworthy source that this place was not worth my time so I did experience this place with pretty low expectations. Another quick hint — I didn’t eat pasta (which is their speciality) — and I think that’s where I went right.
Here’s my meal in a nutshell (what, your meal was served in a nutshell?):
— Bolognaise arancini balls
— Fritti Misti (lightly battered mussels, scallops & calamari)
— Tuna and buckwheat salad
— Fig and gorgonzola salad
— Nutella donuts
I washed the above down with the house cocktail. I don’t recall it’s name but it incorporates a spirit similar to campari and it definitely got my vote. I shared the meal with a friend, who was equally and embarrassingly orgasmic with each mouthful. Seriously that smoked tuna and buckwheat salad. WOW. And the fig salad — so simple but packed such a flavoursome punch.
I’ve heard from a lot of people that the pasta really doesn’t hit the mark, but the share plates and the salads are well worth your time. The atmosphere ties everything together — the restaurant set below street level, it gives everything a very New York feel. I shall be returning soon. And sorry if I try to tell you about this again in about…6 minutes.

Finding fashionable venues in Melbourne is akin to being Alice in Wonderland. Inevitably you’ve found your way through a rabbit hole or a laneway to discover it. Mama Baba is no different. And standing outside, between a car park, a building site and a school, you wonder if you have come to the right place.
Inside it looks very much in keeping with the company’s other venues. It’s noisy, there’s a lot of polished concrete and the wide, narrow kitchen is open to the dining floor. The black clad staff are identified by a red and white polka dot kerchief located somewhere about their person. The menu is laid as a paper mat at each place setting.
I went for lunch. I found it to be very reasonably priced, however none of us were drinking as it was a work affair and that probably reflected in our final tally of $ 40 per head. We had three pastas, salad, two desserts and three coffees.
It was an enjoyable experience but the food was hit-​and-​miss. One pasta was very bland, another quite stodgy and the other so intensely umami that I was gulping down water with it. I sought solace in the chopped salad to offset that, but was disappointed to find it overwhelmingly salty.
The skins of the handmade dumplings were fine, the bag of bread with crispbread was cute, as were the twee flags in the cups of condiments.
But it took the dessert, a familiar ‘Burch and Purchese’ Ferrero Rocher mousse to sufficiently stir my tastebuds. The double-​scoop cone of ice cream very much satisfied the inner child of my dining companion, especially when he found chocolate half way down the cone. The post prandial coffee’s were also quite satisfactory.
Service ranged from intense to non-​existent. There was a point where there appeared to be no staff on the floor, and we might easily have skipped out without payment. I know the venue is relatively new, so perhaps deserves another visit in the future to compare it.