For a smallish city of 4 million people, I think that the Melbourne restaurant scene is disproportionately vibrant – it seems every month I add yet another dozen new restaurant openings to my must-eat-and-blog list.
Yet Melbourne has an even longer list of under-appreciated stalwarts, the restaurants and cafes who do their stuff without celebrities, fanfare and month-long waitlists, but who have, over the years, provided my hungry (and critical) tummy with consistently good food coupled with great service at an affordable price.
For me, Donnini’s is one such classic. The relaxed and stylish Italian restaurant is a beacon of culinary light in among the menu turistico disappointments of Lygon Street. I don’t often visit a restaurant and order the same thing every time, but ever since I moved to Melbourne six years ago I have never veered from the trio of Doninni’s fresh house-made pasta. Tris di pasta Donnini is basically a canoe of carbs – a long plate containing fat pellets of gnocchi in napolitana sauce sprinkled with basil, soft pouches of spinach and ricotta ravioli with a dash of cream and a handful of tagliatelle tossed in a simple Bolognese sauce. Even RM’s pumpkin and almond ravioli with sage and butter sauce (incidentally, his favourite dish at Donnini’s that he orders without fail as well) couldn’t tempt me away from my selection of soothing carb-goodness.
Donnini’s also sell their fresh pasta and sauces in their store further down the street at 398 Lygon Street so you can (almost) replicate the experience at home.
- Donnini’s Restaurant, 320 Lygon St, Carlton +61 3 9347 3128
I laughed when you wrote a “smallish city of 4 million”. We have 1 million population in Glasgow and is vibrant and competitive enough
Twitter: massimosglasgow
| April 24, 2010, 9:08 pm
Hi Massimo
Welcome to the blog! Yes you’re right, 4 million isn’t that small – I guess I was coming from the perspective of a recent resident of London. Glad to hear that the Glaswegian restaurant scene is live and well
Jetsetting Joyce
Terrible! Terrible! Terrible!
After taking our meal orders, one of our party of four ordered an entree. She was served promptly and the other three diners waited patiently for her to finish eating on the assumption that our mains would follow shortly after, as is the practice of every other restaurant we have ever frequented.
Forty five minutes after her entree plate had been removed, we asked our waitress when our meal would be arriving. She assured us that our order was next on the docket.
Another five minutes passed, at which point, we called the manager over to explain the situation. He dismissed our concerns and explained that after the entree was created our order for our main meals then went to the back of the kitchen queue and we had to wait. He then rudely stated, ‘now you know how our kitchen works for next time’. He then told us that our order was coming out next.
Another five minutes went past and we once again called the manager over to spealk to him. I explained that we had been at the restaurant for over an hour without our main meals arriving. The manager was extremely rude and dismissive and I asked for our order to be cancelled and for the bill for our drinks and entree as we wished to leave.
At no point, did he offer any solutions or apologies for the delay. He merely said ‘sure’. He then proceded to calculate the bill, not offering to cover our costs for the three drinks and bowl of soup we had consumed as we had waited for over an hour for food.
I am sad to say, that I will never return to Donnini’s again.
Hi Italophile
Sorry to hear of your poor experience at Donnini’s. I’ve had nothing but prompt and friendly service on my many visits there, especially important as we’re normally heading to a movie at Cinema Nova nearby so need to eat promptly. I agree, the manager’s responses were not appropriate and would have turned me off returning as well.
Jetsetting Joyce