Il Fornaio

It was overpriced and staff were rather prententious and arrogant however on a good day it could be ok. Now it has closed for the next chapter and let's hope it's a major improvement. At the moment give it a miss - uncovered dry "vegan" pastries outside waiting for bird droppings to land, surly staff shivering in the cold and a makeshift coffee stand.. oh dear

Last weekend I ordered some banana bread and a latte here. They were both good and our table was private enough so my friend and I could have a nice conversation. We may come back when we have the chance.

I came here twice. The first time I loved everything I ordered- it was simple, well-cooked, hearty Italian food. The second time I brought a friend and we were both disappointed, both by menu changes and by the quality of the food. It was ok but nothing special and felt the place was getting pretentious what with all the talk of masterchef. The breads, coffee and cakes are very nice. It would be better if the food/menu were more consistent. Nothing more disappointing than finding something excellent has been taken off the menu for the sake of something really ordinary.

came back to this cafe after not coming for a year or more (have 3 kids now and a bit hard to get out to st kilda, used to love this cafe for interesting quality ingredients, but was very disappointed this time. this cafe has recently always rated well among reviewers by fellow chefs (etc) in newspapers etc, so was very suprised. the cakes which this place has always been famous for very disappointing, few to chose from. we had orange and almond cake which was a lttile dry, tasteless, very small size for $7 and had no cream (very poor value)!

still have lots of interesting quality ingredients and combinations on their menu. we chose "famlily secret recipe" corn fritters (with poached eggs, ...read more

I had coffee and some pear tart here and it was beautiful (both were) - the breads also looked really great and the staff very friendly. This place is right next to the Prince of Wales hotel. In fact all the cakes looked amazing.