Cecconi's Flinders Lane Restaurant & Cellar Bar

Came here to celebrate after my law admission ceremony.
Great place for date night or special events. Classy Italian dishes with lovely wine to pair with (def ask the staff for recommendation)
Also the staff was super sweet in preparing a “congratulation” plate.

Good food. Premium. Closer to fine dining. Quite popular. Haven't had a bad mean yet here.

I’m visiting from the States. Had dinner here last night. The food was great but the service was terrible. We sat down and were asked about drinking choices, I ordered the wine and sparkling water. The waiter was short and barely gave anything recommendations and when he did recommend something it seemed forced. He barely spent any time attending to my table. Took a while before he asked what we wanted. We got the bill and they charged me for the sparkling water that I never got, despite asking for it twice. That was removed but the waiter disappeared when we were ready to pay until I got up to find him. This is my representation of what a Melbourne restaurant experience, I’m saddened.

Wow. Excellent food and service. An absolute gem of a restaurant and epitomises everything great about Melbourne!

Pros: seating, ambience and complimentary crusty bread with whipped butter

Cons:
Price of food is daylight robbery:
$28 for 4 arancini balls, $26 for a margherita (that tastes very average)
Poor customer service; if you're not willing to spend big, you'll get bad attitude. I forgot the receipt and when I came back to ask for it, the waiter rolled his eyes.
You can't teach good manners.

My advice:
Spend your money elsewhere. The nice ambience isn't worth it.

I have to say food was amazing here. But service? Terrible. We ordered appetizer, drinks & desserts because we had dinner previously, and the waiter was probably surprised. After he took our orders, quite rudely and curtly, we received a shared plate of scallops. They did not bother preparing them properly because we’re sharing. Bill came up to >$150 for this kind of service in a fine dining restaurant? My suggestion: Train your staffs better.

Had to cancel with plenty of notice. Restaurant informed me of no show charge but not for a cancellation. Insisted on charging me a fee for cancellation. Very poorly service. Won’t be dining here again.

Hands down our fav restaurant in Melbourne. We try else where and it just doesn’t compare to the food, service and atmosphere here. Heaps of long term staff so it’s nice seeing familiar faces.
This restaurant is a real treat

A disappointment. Overrated, overpriced and not even close to expectations. Most of the street food in Melbourne is better than this.
Haven’t had a pasta taste worse in my life. The meet was overcooked to the point it was bitter. Paid $300. Will never come back to this nightmare.

Beautiful ambience in this popular and long-standing ny style italian restaurant in the heart of melb.friendly service by most staff, however with some being dismissive, understandable on such a busy night.our main waitress, extremely attentive and friendly, informing us of all specials and answering all our questions, as well as often topping up water/cutlery etc.as for the food - we dined in a large group so were able to try a huge range of the menu.one of those places were mains are just as good as entrees.the scallops were an all-round crowd pleaser, with lots of flavour and textures, as well as the special prawn-stuffed zuchinni flowers.mains all hit the spot, as well as drinks.while there was a longer-sided wait on food, this wasn't a problem with the lively atmosphere (huge open kitchen!) and good company.some of the best food i have has in melbourne to be honest.fancy but tasty and generous.

The best Italian restaurant, I wanna have every dish in the menu, it's exactly how I like it. Come back for another visit after 5/6 years, the food still so amazing. Highly recommended for seafood lover: fish of the day; tiger prawn; scallop; oyster (deep sea feeling)

A fabulous experience! Delicious wine and food and the service was superb. Would definitely recommend.

The most beautiful dining experience. We are embarrassed to say it was our first time to Cecconi's, but better late than never. The food, service and atmosphere was exceptional and we will 100% be back.

Celebrated our anniversary here. We were made to feel so special. It’s a gorgeous space, comfortable and intimate! Sara served us, she was extremely knowledgeable on the menu and attentive with everything. Pasta was cooked to absolute perfection! Every dish was amazing and Ofcourse we had to finish with dessert! What a lovely Italian fine dining experience. Thank you! (Thank you for the gorgeous anniversary chocolate arrival to the table too. Unexpected and so thoughtful) cheers to the chef and Sara (and staff)

What an amazing restaurant. I was here for my wedding anniversary and the food and service and were impeccable I will definitely come back. Great range of menu options and the produce was fantastic. The service and attentive staff was incredible.

Beautiful restaurant with a nice romantic vibe. The lovely staff went to special effort to give my friend some yummy birthday chocolates for dessert. The food was fresh and well prepared.

Spacious New York style basement restaurant with slick decor, an open kitchen and a huge cellar bar. The restaurant gives off an elegant, romantic and intimate vibe.

The wait staff were charming and knowledgeable about the food and wine, and the service throughout the night was outstanding.

Featured dishes (- highlights)
Starters
? - Freshly shucked oysters [MP] - very fresh, a must
? - Seared scallops [$32] - plump scallops! I loved!
- Roasted Fremantle octopus [$32] - well-cooked octopus w/ cute little potato pieces, a good starter

Pasta
- Potato gnocchi [$44] - my favourite dish of the night! Good texture and flavour! A must order
- Seafood Linguine [$50] - good seafood-to-pasta ratio but overall, a little underwhelming

Mains & sides
? - Veal cotoletta [$60] - a huge serving, great for sharing between a group, but probably too much for one. The green apple salad balanced and complimented the cotoletta very well
? - Black Angus Scotch Fillet [$90] - tender with a nice crust, yum!
- Mashed potato [$15]
? - Broccolini [$17]

Overall, a very delicious dinner with many drinks! We were super full by the end of the meal, so we skipped dessert and finished the night with some Heradura Anejo tequila shots and orange slices - yum!

Follow me on insta or tiktok @evelineeats for more food content xo

Always the best service, food and wine selection. The best stuff don't come cheap. Will always visit here, on special occasions.

The food was amazing however the service was lacking and wait time for the food was slow. The stand out was the Mayura station steak, it's was decadent and moreish, cooked perfect medium rare.

The food was great and the atmosphere is perfect, we really enjoyed having dinner here with my friends.