Sebastian's Italian Cafe — Restaurant in Western Australia

As someone who works in hospitality and normally refuses to write public reviews, I felt disappointed having to post this.

I used to frequent visit a couple of years ago with friends and loved the experience, however this time not so much.

We were greeted and seated immediately which was great, we were asked soon after if we would like to order drinks and an entrée to start.

Drinks took around 10 minutes to arrive despite no other orders leaving the bar and bar staff polishing glassware.

I ordered an Aperol spritz, but when it arrived it was served in a “fish bowl” style wine glass, half melted ice cubes and no orange, it was just watery and flavourless and comically huge.

Our entree arrived and was carelessly thrown onto the table.

I figured bruschetta is a no-brainer for any Italian restaurant but the one we were served was awful.

Toasted dry slices of bread served with quartered cherry tomato, near no red onion, dried herbs, no olive oil and a fist full of dried mesclun salad on the side.

Completely tasteless and presented poorly.

We were asked if we wanted to order mains by several waitresses but we declined.

I was asked by the staff if we enjoyed our meal and drinks and yes normally I would say if something wasn’t okay so it could be fixed then and there; however I knew I wasn’t going get a better entrée or drink because that’s the service standard you’d already set.

You can send back a steak that wasn’t cooked enough, or a salad that got a little too much dressing, but how do you send back a bruschetta and have them resuscitate something that wasn’t served with any life or love to begin with?

It’s a harsh reality, but if a simple bruschetta and Aperol Spritz couldn’t be made to a reasonable standard by an Italian restaurant, I wasn’t going to wait and be disappointed by something else on the menu.

The staff on shift were very lovely, but I felt too embarrassed to tell them how terrible the food and drinks were.

All this being said, I’m not going to make a complaint without suggesting a solution.

Don’t serve your Aperol sprits in a giant fish bowl, you’ll always make it watery to fill the glass to the top because the ratio of Aperol to Prosecco and soda will be completely out the park, also needs to be served with fresh orange.

Dice or cube your tomato on a bruschetta so it doesn’t roll and fall off the bread, fresh herbs, an acid be it lemon or vinegar, some olive oil and cracked salt to serve.

I’m not writing this to get a refund, because it’s not about the money.

I’m writing this because you need to find the love in your food and hospitality again.

I hope to re-visit in the future and have a better...

We have been to Sebastian’s many times, but it’s been a while since our last visit. We had a booking for 13 and upon arrival of the first four people, the wait staff decided it would be a good time to ask if we wanted to order our meals or wait for the others, clearly we waited for others. A short time later we ordered drinks, some arrived and some did not, upon questioning where the remainder of our drinks were, they went and got some more but one was still missing. When questioned about this drink we were advised they didn’t have what was ordered, so rather than ask if we wanted something else they just ignored it. When we all finally got drinks, food orders were taken then after taking the orders the waitress told us that two people hadn’t ordered when in fact they had, this issue was finally sorted. More drinks were ordered and eventually after several follow ups these drinks arrived, although not as ordered, but by this time we had pretty much given up. All of a sudden desserts arrived, whilst this sounds great our entrees hadn’t been served and no dessert had even been ordered. When the entrees arrived we all proceeded to eat by hand like savages as there was no cutlery on the table and when we asked for cutlery, it took 5 minutes for the staff to locate sufficient knives and forks for the table. Whilst the food, when eventually received, was nice, the service was a shambles, with most of the staff appearing to have absolutely no idea. Then came the bill and given the shambles to date I checked the bill and found we had been charged for the crime brûlée and tiramisu that they tried to deliver earlier. I think they also charged for drinks we didn’t receive, but due to the confusion I really can’t be sure. At this stage it is unlikely we would ever return unless there is some major...

Went last night for my birthday, group of 6. Two diners had a BYO wine. Almost 30 minutes seated before we managed to snag someone to ask for menus, wine list, glasses, water.

Then another lengthy wait for those things to actually turn up! Bottle of room temp still water first, but still no glasses. Eventually, after yet again snagging someone and asking, the sparkling water and a bottle of wine finally arrived. Subsequently the remaining wine glasses arrived, on request, and then the piping hot water glasses, clearly straight from the washer. We used ice from the white wine bucket to cool the glasses...

Then we again waited to get the attention of any of the staff who went obliviously by, numerous times, to ask if we could please order our meal now 🙄

Order finally taken, 2 entrees, 6 mains and a salad. One entree arrived promptly (bruschetta, no cooking required) Still waiting for the second entree when the first and only proactive attention for the night - are you ready for your mains now? Well, yes, but could we have the other entree first?

Said entree swiftly delivered, no apologies for anything at this stage (or at all, for that matter). Mains finally arrived, staggered; we advised the first lucky diners to not wait, because who knew when the remaining dishes would be served.

The food, when we finally got it, was very good, and the portions were huge, but not sure it was enough to make up for the appalling lack of service.

Never book more covers than you have...