Fellini Cafe Bryn Mawr — Restaurant in Lower Merion Township

Great customer service although service was very slow. The first entree brought to me wasn't even what I ordered (which was fine-I understand that sometimes we make mistakes).food was not anywhere close to being up to par. One of My orders (Veal Oscar) was supposed to have lump crab meat but instead it was a thin pale peice of veal smothered in some type of oil with a few sprigs of spinach that had been drowned out by all of the oil, was told the pasta was homemade but was clearly boxed pasta that tasted like it had been left out all night. I set the dish a side and ordered another plater as to not insult them. I asked the waiter what is a good dish HE would recommend, and I ordered that!(fruti de Mar). A few bites into it I realized the seafood was not fresh and pasta; Again was not home made or fresh. I waited the entire day to eat and was terribly dissapointed with my food. My friends ordered dessert so I ordered dessert as well, I figured since we were celebrating their birthday...why Not! I ordered the Tiramisu. It was the worst I'd ever tasted. the lady fingers were extremely soggie as if they had just taken it out of the freezer and let it defrost on the counter; it was still cold, watery and tasteless. With a bill of $140.00 for 2 people who brought their own wine I was beyond dissatisfied. I resolved myself to thinking " I Will Never come back to this resteraunt again and paid the bill". I headed home, it had been around midnight before I had gone to sleep (late night). I woke up around 4am this morning in a hot cold sweat and began vomiting uncontrollably. I was so sick and nauseas. My husband was the best man in the world....he had gotten me up and helped clean up everything and myself. I do not recommend this resteraunt. I do not know how they have achieved a 4.8 score but you will never see me patronizing this resteraunt again. Thought I was supporting a small neighborhood business, but in this case it back fired and I paid dearly for it in more...

TL;DR — It’s a shame that this place is directly next to that Americanized italian place… the minimalist ambiance threw us off and we ultimately chose Fellini for its warmth. And thank god - every single moment was worth it.

Quite literally the ONLY authentic Italian place on the main line/lower merion/delco area. I’m talking truly Italian where you’ll be addressed as senora, the owner is taking orders, and everything is resemblant of hole in the wall family places in the heart of Tuscany. The owner welcomed my family in and immediately offered a complimentary glass of wine. I’m not even a big red wine fan, but it was fantastic.

Ordered: Arugula salad, homemade lasagna, the capellini alla fruitti mare, fettuccine alfredo, and the penne alla vodka. even though the alfredo and vodka are American dishes, they put in authentic Italian methods. It’s not just cheese or vodka sauce. It’s in the details. The owner immediately offered a complimentary appetizer, the bruschetta, along with what we ordered. We will definitely be ordering it next time.

Everything came out in record time; I think I’ve waited longer for a cocktail at a bar. The owner communicated so clearly and promptly to us, including the kids, how long the food would be often. And honestly, it was maybe 10-15 minutes after the appetizer. So fast! My brother also spoke Italian so they conversed!

To end it on a high note, he offered the adults a complimentary homemade coffee liqueur. Better than anything you’ve tried. And I’ve driven the length of Italy - it’s comparable!

Do yourself a favor and get everything on the menu.

Oh! And the prices? Fair and worth it. The bill made me want to hug him....

My comments here assume that Fellini Cafe was just having a bad night last night. (It happens) so I must advise caution if considering this restaurant. I normally give a lot of leeway if the staff is courteous, and explains if not apologizes for delays, or whatever issues there may be. (7:30 reservations, we showed up at 7:15, did not get seated until 8:45) no explanations, no apologies, no nothing. When we got there he (the owner?) asked if we had reservations, then said he'd be back in a minute. It was at least 20 minutes later that he came back to the front, only to ignore us and ask the other people that showed up if they had reservations, and tell them it would be "10 minutes." I could go on, but the service was very poor last night. I have to say the bus girl was the exception; she was working very hard, and she was very pleasant. The food was acceptable. I ordered the chicken marsala. (One of my favorite dishes) the flavor profile was sweater than I expect in a marsala, and the chicken cutlets were fairly plain cutlets with sauce on top. The pasta dishes that everyone else ordered seemed much better. My working conclusion is that this is a pasta place and you're better off ordering a pasta dish here. Will I go back? I'm not sure. Maybe early one evening, if it's not too busy, I'll give them...