Il Desiderio — Restaurant in Melbourne

I’d love to give this place a better review. We’ve ordered their food as takeaway a few times, and we were always impressed. So we decided to go in person for my mum’s 92nd birthday dinner given it’s close. The food was very good as usual. The decor is lovely, especially the fairy lights. However, when we arrived, a live jazz band was playing. Musically, they were very good; certainly talented, and appeared to have a sizeable fan base in attendance. Unfortunately, the volume was turned up so LOUD we could not hear each other speak. As a neurodivergent person with hearing and sensory issues, it was utterly impossible for me. I found it incredibly stressful and was unable to communicate properly with my family, which was upsetting.

I can understand that many people enjoy this, and certainly the place was full. However, there was no indication whatsoever on the website that this band would be playing, or more importantly, that they’d be so bloody loud our table had to yell or text in order to communicate with each other!

I’d really respectfully ask this venue to please advertise on their website in future if a live music act will be playing at a volume that precludes conversation. Unless the point of the night is the gig, or dinner and show, surely any music should be pleasant background ambience?

I’d definitely recommend anyone considering dining here whose party includes people with sensory conditions such as autism etc to exercise caution. Definitely NOT accessible, disability friendly, or indeed, conducive to anyone wanting to actually converse with their...

I'm sorry to say the worst food and experience I've had in a while. If you weren't a freind or relative of tonight's booking then it was a complete waste of time, money and energy going tonight. It was like our table of 6 that was booked in Advanced was an inconvenience tonight. No service, meals were extremely late and the food was absolutely disgusting. The place does not know how to cook a pizza or pasta/gnocci. It was like eating a ball of pizza dough and the sauce was not as described in the menu. Then the staff had the nerve to defend themselves saying we were wrong and that the other tables had to try their food. Overall there was no apology for the random slow food that appeared eventually at our table. If you are going to book and look after your mates then don't take any further bookings and you clearly didn't care about the other tables ours included. I felt sorry for th3 people waiting for out table which wasn't on us as we waited 3 hours for ALL dishes to come out. Think twice before going unless you are known to the owners. With the economy the way it is you can't afford to loose good customers. Get your priorities right for the next...

This is the second time we have ordered from this restaurant in the past 4 weeks and while the food is excellent the ability to get the order correct seems to be lacking. On the first occasion I ordered baked gnocchi and mushroom risotto. When I got to the restaurant to pay there was some confusion about a "baked mushroom risotto". It took a few minutes but we were able to sort that out. This Saturday I ordered amongst other things spaghetti with olive oil and chili. What I received was spaghetti with olive oil, chilli and seafood. I tried to reduce the chance of this order being incorrect by ordering online. Obviously that didn't work. On both occasions the staff have tried their best to fix the issues but when ordering take away once you get home it is too late unless you want to drive back while the rest of the family eats their dinner to change things over. If I was to eat here again, and the food is worth it, I'd eat in to try and see if that minimises any issues with getting the...