Number 8 Restaurant & Wine Bar

Ph: (03) 9292 7899; Crown Entertainment Complex, 8 Whiteman St, SOUTHBANK 3006 www.number8atcrown.com.au

Contemporary, $$ +, * for Food & Ambience
Open Mon-Sat noon-3pm; Sun noon-4pm; Sun-Thu 6-11pm; Fri-Sat 6-11.30pm; Licensed; AE DC MC V, Seats inside 140, Outside seats, Private room
Chef Michael Bannerman (7-11-07) Owner Crown Casino Pty Ltd (7-11-07)

Mietta's Review
In amongst the flashing lights, singing slot machines and fireball time keepers the last thing you'd expect to find is a good restaurant, but at the Crown Casino there are a couple, Number 8 is one of them. It is very swanky, has views of the Yarra, splendid surrounds, a large and very expensive wine list and good modern Australian food. The service is professional and the experience on the whole is elegant and thoroughly satisfying.

Other published opinions

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 13/20 "The soundtrack s more modern jazz than Jerry Lee Lewis but great balls of fire do make an appearance regularly outside - a spectacular sideshow courtesy of the Crown complex at Southbank"

Age Epicure Restaurants, John Lethlean, 5-9-06 Score: 13.5/20 "With no perceptible physical change in the place in the past four years, Number 8 feels more like the product of a big, faceless hotel company than at any previous stage."

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 14/20 "Number 8 is one of Crown's flagship restaurants, and plenty of dough has been lavished on its cosmopolitan glamour. More Manhattan than Vegas, it's a beautifully lit space, with chichi bar, lofty ceilings and leather banquettes. The wine cellar, one of the most extravagant in the city, could satisfy any high roller flush with winnings, but apart from the Crown swizzle sticks in the aperitifs, there's no hint of the trilling pokies nearby."

The Age A2 The Good Life Jane Faulkner 23/7/05 "It was packed, buzzing and loads of fun. Upstairs the private mezzanine area was fully booked, and downstairs in the main dining room about a dozen men started with beers at the bar before sitting down to along table and lunch."

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 score 15/20 One Hat "JOSEPH VARGETTO has perhaps achieved the impossible: he's written a menu to please most comers (high rollers included) without succumbing to bland-out. The dining space encompasses an outdoor area, a mezzanine and a bar, busy with staff opening and decanting wines from the impressive list. Even with a large menu, consistency and quality are tightly controlled."

The Age Melbourne Magazine 15/12/04 Barfly Melinda Houston "Beyond the pokies there are some first-rate venues in the Whiteman Street monolith, including this very classy restaurant and wine bar, One of things you can count on at any of the better joints at Crown are terrific views over the promenade, the river and the city"

AGFG 2004, score 15/20, 1 hat, excellent wine list, excellent bar

The Age, A2, 20/3/04, Jane Faulkner,'has one of the best fixed-price deals in town.The cost- $33.90 for two courses and $38.90 for three-is excellent for the modern Italian food...professional, pleasant service, modern, comfortable surrounds with crips white napery'

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, Excellent wine list,'this is one of the city's great dining bargains...No rustic throwaways or catch-all obvious cooking here.Vargetto is an Italian-Australian with rigorous classical training as well as experience in Italy, and what he's doing at Number 8 is a systhesis of those influences...Staff are good too, but wine prices can put you off a big night.'

The Age, Epicure, 10/2/04,'10 Hot Young Chefs - Sascha Randl'

Herald Sun, Weekend, 6/12/03, Bob Hart

The Age, Sunday Life, 28/9/03, John Lethlean

Herald Sun, Citystyle, 23/9/03, Simon Plant, Score 16/20

Herald Sun, Weekend, Eat, bob Hart, 9/8/03

The Age, Sunday Life, 15/6/2003, Eat Streets, John Lethlean

The Age, Epicure, Restaurants, 25/3/03, John Lethlean, Score 16/20.