Masani - Carlton

Wonderful eating, absolutely fresh, imaginatiw and cooked with carefree; the in-house pasta is delightful, crustacea fresh and perfectly cooked, the fasan with a hauch of cumquat delightful. highly recommended!

We have been here three times but will never return. We knew the service was a bit slow but were prepared to put up with that to eat in a quiet restaurant that was a little bit fancy for a family birthday. It was just awful. When we arrived (having booked and also having rung the day before to confirm and to discuss the nature of our occasion) we were not greeted, but had to hang around waiting for someone to notice us. Although the restaurant was no more than half full it was hard to get service throughout the evening. We arrived at 7pm and although admittedly a few members of our party were a bit late due a traffic snarl-up, we had our orders in by 7.45 pm. We got our main courses at 9.15pm!! Many of the dishes had no prices on the menu (is this even legal?), and the special board was not readily comprehendible. A waitress came over and whipped through the specials at about 100 miles an hour, and I had to ask her to slow down as two members of our party were aged 90, and even I could not follow it! We had the usual 'upsell' of crostini with no price provided, and we were not brought bread for a very long time. The starters had very small portions, so by the time our mains arrived we were starving and very tired. If we hadn't been there for a family occasion we would have left long before then. One of the mains wasn't cooked properly although 'well done' had specially been ordered. I thought this was pathetic especially considering the amount of time they had to cook it! The food itself, even apart from that, was only average. When visiting the toilets (which I had never done before at this restaurant) I noticed they were stacked with cleaning supplies. It really gave a very downmarket feel to the restaurant. As we had to eat so late we left without dessert, so it provided a pretty flat ending to our special family event.It's really expensive, of course, but I don't mind expensive for a good restaurant. I think the standard of service is actually quite insulting. Don't even try it.

A very pleasant sunday lunch with great food and great service, definitely will be back. It was a revisit after a long time.

This is definitely one of the best Italian restaurants in Melbourne. Amazing food, fabulous wine list and a level of personalised service that is rare. Situated in a beautiful old building in Drummond St, Carlton this place is also a completely charming place to eat. You can book a private dining room upstairs for bigger groups. A restaurant for repeat visits!

The overwhelming impression is that it's overpriced. While lovely, the entree ravioli (vegetarian) was $28.50. Two pieces. A glass of wine $17.50. A glass of soft drink $6.50. It was all beautifully prepared, but there are a lot of restaurants in the area that can give better value for money. There was also nobody else in the restaurant, which made it a bit uncomfortable. I'd go back, but only if somebody else were paying and I didn't feel guilty about spending their money!