Cellinis — Restaurant in Sydney

We have to consider a xanthan gum allergy in addition to gluten when we go out to eat, which isn't easy.

We had found this place via Google Maps, and it advertised as having gluten-free options available.

We were greeted by a server who directed us to a table. I immediately asked about xanthan gum, which she hadn't heard of before. This is quite common, but if we show the odd spelling of the word, it's usually pretty easy to check for in the ingredients. This time, however, she advised that as she was new, I should talk to a different server. A second lady came over and said she also hadn't heard of it but would check for us. She then wandered away to other tables to take orders or loitering as though waiting for something to do. At no point did she go to check anything. A male server approached about 10 minutes later, asking if we would like to order. We explained that we were waiting to find out if there was anything we could actually eat. He retreated to his loitering spot near the lady whom we were waiting on.

Another few minutes passed before she decided to approach us again to take our order. My wife asked her to clarify whether the basil beef had any xanthan gum in, and, if not, I said I would take a club sandwich.

Another 10 minutes passed. I decided to get up. As i walked over to the interior of the cafe, a tall man who was carrying food asked if i needed anything. I explained the situation, and he went to ask for me (the girl who was initially going to ask is still loitering outside). To his credit, he came back within a few minutes and said that he was fairly sure there was no xanthan gum in the beef dish, citing that there was corn starch, but no mention of xanthan gum in the ingredients. By this point, however, my wife had lost faith and patience with the place. We decided to leave when my club sandwich, which I had not ordered, arrived.

My wife convinced me to stay and eat, as I was starting to get more than a little hangry.

It was ok. The chips were not the nicest.

As soon as I'd finished eating, I got up and paid. As I was on the lift heading down to the ground floor, I realised I'd been charged $58 for a sandwich. I went back up and questioned this, and it turns out they'd put the beef dish on the bill. The manager apologised and gave me cash for the difference.

To summarise, I do not expect servers to know what goes into the dishes, but wasting our time claiming you'll check with the kitchen, when in reallity, you have no intention of doing so,...

I have been a customer here for years and I have never heard a bad thing to say. The staff especially the owners have been very friendly and accommodating. I went there recently and I ordered the Mee Goreng and my partner ordered the stir fry vegetables and added chicken.... you thought he was vegetarian... didn't you?

The food came out, presented lovely and looked very tasty...... boy can looks be deceiving. I had a bite of my food and basically it tasted like someone didn't know what to do with scraps from the bin so they just put them together with a splash of something salty... could have been soy but then again could have been dirty water.

My partner's meal... he was enjoying it then he nearly gagged. A rotten piece of bean had been stir fried amongst the meal and had been carelessly added without checking the quality of the produce. He could not touch anymore of the meal and called the owner. Told her exactly what he found and she told the cook.

We went to pay and what do you think happened next. We got a discount.........not!!!!

She charged us for the full meal. My partner argued that we should not have to pay for his dish and she took the price off the vegetables but not for the grilled chicken that was added to the dish.

That attitude for me.. is a deal breaker. You have just served a rotten vegetable in your dish. For people to come back you would just forgo the bill charge and possibly say we will get you some beverages on the house.

Now don't get me wrong. In the 15 years I have come here I have never had an issue.

But all it takes is one incident like this, to turn you off altogether.

Sorry Cellini's, but it's goodbye from me.

Kellylee, while I very much appreciate the offer, i'm not here for free meals, that is not my intention. I just want to go to my favorite places and enjoy the atmosphere and the food. But the quality control needs to be tightened on the freshness of your produce. All it takes is one incident like the other night to turn people off a place and never come back. I will be back soon and in all fairness this is the first time... but I think it was how you handled the situation which could have been dealt with more...

I have visited your café before. I didn't have such an experience then. Actually, you deserve 5 stars. But sometimes, people can get tired in the service industry. Anyway, I visited your café on a weekday after work. I ordered a hot chocolate for myself, named Ghana on the menu... No matter what size you order, it's already one-fourth foam... Anyway, as I mentioned at the beginning, you truly deserve 5 stars. Your location is excellent, right in the CBD. You're a simple café in QVB, not much different from an office center. We're not on the Champs-Élysées or 5th Avenue... You're just one of the 300 cafés in Town Hall. But your location is good. Anyway... I ordered my hot chocolate and spent about 2 hours there doing some work. Then I paid about $10, the highest price you can pay for hot chocolate in Sydney, and left. By the way, a friend of mine came to visit me. Despite my insistence, they said they didn't want anything. We left together, and as we were leaving, I saw the waiter muttering something. When they talked to the staff, I noticed the staff looking at me. This is my opinion disrespectful... If I did something that should not be done according to your business, please tell me. I couldn't find any rule in your Terms & Conditions stating that it's prohibited to have a hot chocolate and sit for 2 hours. Also, when I was looking to my paperwork at the café, a customer loudly used profanity in a phone call, disturbing all the customers, but nothing was said to them because they had ordered a lot from the menu. Anyway, this is Australia... Here, what matters is people, and everyone deserves respect and dignity no matter who they are. Please be a bit more careful. If there's something I misunderstood, feel free to contact me. If I find out I made a mistake, I'd gladly delete this review. Have a good day.

And this was my previous review that is 6 years ago Here's bit quite, ancient, polite staff,...