Cafe Cavallino — Restaurant in Melbourne

Sat down with friends for dessert. Ordered 2 tiramisus, a tea and a serve of ice cream (2 scoops per serving). Upon ordering we had asked the waitress if the pistachio ice cream and the lemon ice cream could be served in 2 separate bowls due to a pistachio nut allergy. She took note of this request.

When the ice creams were brought out in separate bowls, the white lemon sorbet ice cream visibly had neglectfully been contaminated by green pistachio ice cream on it. We brought this to the waitress’ attention at which point she noted it and brought it back into the restaurant but instead of presenting a new scoop of lemon sorbet, she shortly returned and said that she was told that all 4 ice cream flavours (vanilla, chocolate, pistachio and lemon) came in the same box so if we have a nut allergy, we can’t have any of the ice cream at all.

This frankly seems a little hard to believe but nevertheless, the frustration stems from the fact that we had mentioned the allergy from the get go when ordering, and were still haphazardly served contaminated food. If the advice was that customers with nut allergy should not consume any ice creams at the restaurant, this advice should have been made known clear on the menu, or at very least by waitstaff when a nut allergy has been brought to their attention.

Lemon sorbet tasted decent, pistachio ice cream was sub par....

I'm so glad there are still Italian restaurants like this in Little Italy - Lygon St, despite being surrounded by unappealing Afghan, Indian, Korean, Egyptian and Turkish dives. It's like stepping back in time with the "interior design" (perfect for Ferrari fans), reminding diners of old traditions. There are more refined Italian restaurants in Melbourne, but they wouldn't exist without the foundations of more basic restaurants operating for so many years that they become "institutions". What is fantastic here is the service, extensive menu, and one of the best Limoncello Spritz' in Melbourne of which is hard to stop at only one. The food is generous, simple and honest. You won't get a puffy wood-fired crust or basil on your Margherita, but it will be wholesome. Your spaghetti marinara will be the garden variety with what seems like a surprising addition of scallops albeit 5c-sized, but thankfully there's no old-fashioned carpet of parsley. The service here is very good with attentive polite staff ready to assist at a glance. The atmosphere outside is best, as far away as possible from the small toilet that smells of mould and clutter of Ferrari memorabilia (unless that's your thing). The music and atmosphere outside makes you feel like you really...

5/5 for my experience here.

Came on a whim with my best friend, and felt why not try something close to a genuine Italian experience.

We were most definitely not disappointed. We asked for their recommendations for both a Pizza and a Pasta,

We were recommended a Sciliana, and we loved it. The pizza we received was a Paesana and it was incredible. That's all I can say.

The experience was incredible, the staff was fantastic and very friendly and accomodating. From fhe advice on how to eat the food and savor every little taste.

To go with our food, we had a humble Bélena traditional red wine, 2021.

Lorenzo, a kind and passionate elderly fellow explained some history to us regarding the desert we had, the Terramiso, and it was quite a learning experience.

To end the experience, the restaurant was kind enough to let us try the Limonn cello to refresh our palate after all the for all the food we had. In summary:

The service was great. The recommendations were excellent. The food, was amazing.

Definitely come here for a date, bring your family or even your child. You...