Kanela Flamenco Bar & Restaurant

Was OK. Churros were dry and all the mussels of the paella had beards, one prawn, overcooked seafood and it didn't have that much flavour.

Took my girlfriend for a date at this place on a monday, we literally had the place to ourselves! Had cocktails and paella, food was great and so were the cocktails.restaurant has a nice, chilled vibe

Hi Owner/Manager of Kanela,

I am writing this email to request a refund on our bill. We had booked a table for three guests for Saturday 26th February at 8: 30 pm.

We were seated at a small table even after reserving a table in advance for the $85 per person deal. The instruction when I made the booking was clear that One guest is going to be vegetarian. Though the rest of the starters were to be vegetarian we at least expected that the paella would be served differently and we requested the same to the wait-staff. Our request wasn't accommodated and we were asked to share the same paella. The payment was made per person and not per table which is why this was really upsetting to us.

The starters we were served were small in quantities and again were served to the entire table and not per person.

Now we ordered a vegetarian paella as our request was just not considered by the team. The first look at the paella was disappointing as it looked like the vegetables used were directly from a bag of frozen veggies and they sure tasted the same. To our disappointment, the paella was also extremely bland and lacked even basic ingredients like salt, saffron and paprika which we believe are the essentials to the dish. On asking the wait-staff if anything can be changed about this it was said that the kitchen is closed to accommodate this request. The rice was so tasteless and impossible to eat that we asked for the paella to be taken away if nothing can be done about it. We requested to provide some discount on our bill as we were extremely disappointed in the serving and the way we were treated at your establishment.

We were constantly reminded that the $85 per person bill was for the show and the food together. While we understand that, there were a lot of other people at the restaurant who were just there for drinks and watched the performance without paying huge amounts. These people literally stood in front of our table and we were forced to stand and watch the show. Now in normal circumstances, this would be totally acceptable but it is a common understanding that if someone has reserved a table for the show specifically does not have to stand to watch it. No steps were taken to make it comfortable for the guests who actually paid huge amounts for the dinner.

The set menu of $85 per person clearly states that we will be served dessert too which never made it to us. Upon investigating we were told that if you wanted the dessert you should have asked for it as we can't keep a track of everything. Though I understand it was busy, the only people who were having the set menu was us and it is totally unacceptable that were not served the desserts. The wait-staff took away our mains which clearly meant the next step was to bring out the dessert.

Treated poorly by the wait-staff, not served enough food, really poor arrangements even after booking a table in advance, not served desserts and watching the performance standing, does not at all seem fair to pay $85 per person for this kind of hospitality.

It is our humble request that you only charge us for the starters that you served us as the rest is just not acceptable and extremely unfair.

Thank you

We were seated at a small table even after reserving a table in advance for the $85 per person deal. The instruction when I made the booking was clear that One guest is going to be vegetarian. Though the rest of the starters were to be vegetarian we at least expected that the paella would be served differently and we requested the same to the wait-staff. Our request wasn't accommodated and we were asked to share the same paella. The payment was made per person and not per table which is why this was really upsetting to us.

The starters we were served were small in quantities and again were served to the entire table and not per person.

Now we ordered a vegetarian paella as our request was just not considered by the team. The first look at the paella was disappointing as it looked like the vegetables used were directly from a bag of frozen veggies and they sure tasted the same. To our disappointment, the paella was also extremely bland and lacked even basic ingredients like salt, saffron and paprika which we believe are the essentials to the dish. On asking the wait-staff if anything can be changed about this it was said that the kitchen is closed to accommodate this request. The rice was so tasteless and impossible to eat that we asked for the paella to be taken away if nothing can be done about it. We requested to provide some discount on our bill as we were extremely disappointed in the serving and the way we were treated at your establishment.

We were constantly reminded that the $85 per person bill was for the show and the food together. While we understand that, there were a lot of other people at the restaurant who were just there for drinks and watched the performance without paying huge amounts. These people literally stood in front of our table and we were forced to stand and watch the show. Now in normal circumstances, this would be totally acceptable but it is a common understanding that if someone has reserved a table for the show specifically does not have to stand to watch it. No steps were taken to make it comfortable for the guests who actually paid huge amounts for the dinner.

The set menu of $85 per person clearly states that we will be served dessert too which never made it to us. Upon investigating we were told that if you wanted the dessert you should have asked for it as we can't keep a track of everything. Though I understand it was busy, the only people who were having the set menu was us and it is totally unacceptable that were not served the desserts. The wait-staff took away our mains which clearly meant the next step was to bring out the dessert.

Treated poorly by the wait-staff, not served enough food, really poor arrangements even after booking a table in advance, not served desserts and watching the performance standing, does not at all seem fair to pay $85 per person for this kind of hospitality.

It is our humble request that you only charge us for the starters that you served us as the rest is just not acceptable and extremely unfair.

Thank you

Definitely have to go to kanela at least once in your lifetime amazing food. Every bite is a piece of Spain on the the taste is like walking down the streets of Madrid with a sangria in hand. Best Sangria ever I want the recipe. The paella is made how it should with chicken and seafood. You can't eat it any other way if you do you'll be disappointed. So don't ask for your money back. I recommend the Gambas the potata bravas and the chorizo Frito and the setas. I was there last weekend and after I had the setas 5 people bought them also. The live shows is ecstasy and I become star gazed at the incredible talent. If you love your history and you want to know more about the spanish street life of Fitzroy come to Kanela. Can't wait to see everyone there. I'll add more photos promise ;)

Very disappointed. I give it 1 for the sangria. Chorizo plate and Paella for 2 both overpriced and poor quality. Paella ($25pp) came with very dry seafood pieces and actual full pieces of chicken wings and drumsticks! And paper plates and cutlery! Very ordinary! We left 3/4 of it and weren’t even asked questions. And when we complained on our way out, we were told that’s how paella is! Wow! When did Customer service drop to this low? We went right across to the food tents and grabbed a chorizo roll. Now we are content! And a third of the price!

We went on the 26th of January 2022

We were seated at a small table even after reserving a table in advance for the $85 per person deal. The instruction when I made the booking was clear that One guest is going to be vegetarian. Though the rest of the starters were to be vegetarian we at least expected that the paella would be served differently and we requested the same to the wait-staff. Our request wasn't accommodated and we were asked to share the same paella. The payment was made per person and not per table which is why this was really upsetting to us.

The starters we were served were small in quantities and again were served to the entire table and not per person.

Now we ordered a vegetarian paella as our request was just not considered by the team. The first look at the paella was disappointing as it looked like the vegetables used were directly from a bag of frozen veggies and they sure tasted the same. To our disappointment, the paella was also extremely bland and lacked even basic ingredients like salt, saffron and paprika which we believe are the essentials to the dish. On asking the wait-staff if anything can be changed about this it was said that the kitchen is closed to accommodate this request. The rice was so tasteless and impossible to eat that we asked for the paella to be taken away if nothing can be done about it. We requested to provide some discount on our bill as we were extremely disappointed in the serving and the way we were treated at your establishment.

We were constantly reminded that the $85 per person bill was for the show and the food together. While we understand that, there were a lot of other people at the restaurant who were just there for drinks and watched the performance without paying huge amounts. These people literally stood in front of our table and we were forced to stand and watch the show. Now in normal circumstances, this would be totally acceptable but it is a common understanding that if someone has reserved a table for the show specifically does not have to stand to watch it. No steps were taken to make it comfortable for the guests who actually paid huge amounts for the dinner.

The set menu of $85 per person clearly states that we will be served dessert too which never made it to us. Upon investigating we were told that if you wanted the dessert you should have asked for it as we can't keep a track of everything. Though I understand it was busy, the only people who were having the set menu was us and it is totally unacceptable that were not served the desserts. The wait-staff took away our mains which clearly meant the next step was to bring out the dessert.

Treated poorly by the wait-staff, not served enough food, really poor arrangements even after booking a table in advance, not served desserts and watching the performance standing, does not at all seem fair to pay $85 per person for this kind of hospitality!

Not friendly staff,
Food was not cooked well,
Music was Ok not WOW
Too small for such a venue

We didn't have a good experience, the staff had an attitude they kept forgetting drinks on our order, they wanted to pick up plates that still had couple things in. We felt like we were on a constant look out not to take anything. And it was bizarre as we were the only table at the time. Food was average. By the way no show either which they told us after we sat down.

The food was good - tasty seafood paella.
The waiter Carlos was great, very friendly and caring for his clients.
I was disappointed that they had no Flamenco show at all as they advertised on their website. The main reason why I chose to come to Kanela was to see a Spanish Flamenco show that took me to Seville. They only had a Cuban dancing show which was good but not what I paid for. Nobody reached out to me to let me know in advance and I waited the entire show hoping to see some Flamenco. I would recommend to contact them prior to booking anything, so you know what show you’re watching.

Booked for 2 people 3 course meal for $160 was a little expensive for what we got.we order a few drinks then of course we had some shots maybe 3- 4 shots we shouted the 2 singers one drink each then the bar staff started drinking shots and suddenly my bill was $650! Had to get a cab left my jacket on my seat. Have rang their number 4 times and emailed them 3 times on wanting to know why the bill was so high and if I could retrieve my jacket to no response. Very disappointing and having bar staff charging their own drinks on my bill is out of order!

Fraud. I was told I will have a 1.7% surcharge if I pay by card. I was charged $2.5 on top of a bill of $55.5. That is 4.5%. The food was average.

Nice restaurant, perfect for a date. Delicious food and cocktails. Flamenco show by Sara is wonderful. Highly recommended it

I don't recommend this restaurant. The food is expensive and the quality of the food is poor. If the quality was good I'm happy to pay for it, but this wasn't the case.
On the other side, I'm sorry, but I'm from Spain and what this restaurant offers is NOT Spanish food. If you want to enjoy Spanish food in Melbourne you shouldn't go here.
We ordered few tapas + paella and we didn´t enjoy any of the meals:
The paella rice was overcooked, the chorizo frito was dry, even the bread was dry.like when you open a packet of bread and you leave it in the kitchen for opened. Moreover, we ordered a plato de jamon, and the quality of the ham was very poor (the ham was extremely salty).

Really tacky experienced, way overpriced for what it was and personally I had a terrible experience.

You need to triple check the email confirmation that comes through because they're incredibly draconic about it. I have a screenshot of the booking for the correct night on browser which I showed to them, but the email came through with a different date. I don't know why that happened, you would think if they're going to automatically debit $320 on the night they would call you first like other restaurants - it's not like there's that many patrons in fact it was pretty empty the night we came, and basically dead after the first performance. Most places won't refund the deposit but here they whack you with the full amount, and it just feels like they're taking advantage. It's not like the food was procured fresh that morning and they kept preparing food the whole night and threw it away, to warrant such a draconic response.

Even without the issues, the food was bland and overpriced, one plate of dessert was missing, and by that stage we just wanted to go home.

Have had a few people ask if we would recommend this place and I would be telling them all tomorrow a hard no.

Went there mostly for drinks and the performance. I regret it though, because the food smelt soooo good that I wished I hadn't had dinner beforehand.
My only complaint about this place is how tiny it is. When all the tables are filled, it feels very crowded. And it's almost impossible to hear one another talk.
Other than that, the drinks were great, the performance was breathtaking, the staff was amazing.
Cannot wait to go back there again and this time have food for sure!

Such a great place with friendly staff. The food was nice, the sangria was great, and the show was awesome.
I would definitely come back here.
Really enjoyed myself at Kanela.

Have been here couple times, hadn’t been for a while due to Covid. Recently went here over the weekend to celebrate my birthday. The food, atmosphere and flamenco show is still amazing. The customer service is impeccable. I love the socarrat part of the paella (for those who don’t know this is the crispy part at the bottom of the paella dish and is NORMAL for this dish). For those reading reviews ignore the negative ones as they don’t appreciate the authenticity of Spanish food that Kanela provides! I highly recommend Kanela and look forward to returning again:)

Overpriced. Got the dinner and show package for 4 people. Disappointed how little our meal was and it was made 2 hours after we arrived so we had to watch the show while we ate the meal. Other guests were served food much earlier then us. The food was average, small servings for 4 people. The space was not made for a show. It is so small and people's heads blocked my view. Show was better at copacobana, same people operating but I felt sorry for them as the stage is do small for their performances. I wish they open up copacabanna again. Oh and forgot to mention that towards the end people were smoking inside the restaurant! Definitely not coming back.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening out. Waiters were polite and very attentive. Food was good. There was so much we couldn't eat it all and had some put into takeaway. Drinks were good. I ordered several margaritas. Entertainment was high quality. Violinist, guitarist and beautiful flamenco dancer. It was a shame there were not more people there to enjoy this. Johnson St used to be a bustling Spanish hub. This is about the last Spanish restaurant left there. If people don't support this worthwhile family business it won't continue. Price of $85 per head was cheap when one considers that you are paying for 3 professional entertainers as well as a dinner. PS we have no connection with these people.