Circl - Food VIC

5 /5 H S: What a way to celebrate an anniversary! Amazing service, with a special mention to Carolina, and such a warm welcome. Great choice of wines. Excellent food. Thank you for having us tonight. We had had a great experience and will definitely be back !

2 /5 Christopher Wu: Circl Wine Bar ended up costing around $470 all up, and for me the price to quality sits at about a 6 out of 10. This was one of those places where I probably should have gone for the set menu. I understand it is a wine bar, but I usually go mainly for the food. The duck was benchmark and honestly one of the better duck dishes I have had in Melbourne. It had great flavour, a solid sauce, and was very tender. That said, it felt like a familiar supplier used across other venues, with the sauce doing most of the heavy lifting. I also ordered the Blackmore experience for $159. All three cuts were unique and cooked perfectly medium rare, exactly what you would expect from Blackmore beef if you have had it before. The potatoes that came with the steak were beautifully cooked, smooth inside, and not overly oily. I would not order the leaf salad again, as it was overly sweet due to the walnuts. The potato gnocchi had a nice creamy texture, but it lacked flavour and came across as a bit bland. Among the small plates, the calamari stood out with chilli oil and tender squid. The stracciatella was fine but nothing special. The best snack for me was the crumpets with the salmon roll. The tart with the purple topping was average for the price. Coke Zeros priced around $10 to $12 each made the overall value feel harder to justify. It made me question how much of the pricing was tied to the wine offering rather than the food itself. Especially when I had a meal the day before at around two thirds of the price that delivered better value. Overall, Circl is a nice space with decent service and some strong dishes, but for the cost, the food did not fully justify the spend for me.

3 /5 Hami Ron: The atmosphere is great and the building is stunning. The food could be better though. I was especially disappointed that the fries I ordered separately were mostly just crumbs. The eel tart was amazing, but the goat cheese eclairs and caviar tin were just so‑so. The wagyu steak was solid.

5 /5 E W: I couldn’t fault a single dish. The calamari was definitely my favourite! perfectly cooked and full of flavour. The service was excellent, and they also have a fantastic wine list. I’ll definitely be back. Highly recommend!