Settebello - Melbourne

We are here on a work function and the food all came up fresh and all at the same time. It's a hard ask at times. The food was full of flavor and staff were great. Parking is easy. Only thing that was annoying was the function room is a extension made of plastic cafe walls.

Parking: There is ample off street parking outside the restaurant.I dined with my wife and a girlfriend. The ladies started with a champagne cocktail and I had a light beer. Entree of Bruschetta was very well presented and tasted as good as it looked.Mains:Wife - Double roasted half duck over sweet potato puree, baby bok choy, spiced pear and duck glaze. Must have been good as her plate was left reasonably clean.Friend - Mud crab Rissotto - the crab was a fairly good size and seemed to have plenty of meat. Nothing left on her plate either.Don - Porchetta; rolled and roasted crispy skinned pork belly over potato gallet, pedro ximinez reduction, baby fennel and blood orange salad.I thought this was the poorest meal whilst elegantly presented, to my taste buds was overcooked. Not as good as I have had elsewhere.All meals were presented in the Art Norveau style on very large plates with the meal centered and decorated with Balsamic and other spices. As with this style of dining there were very little else on our plates with the Rissotto being the largest meal. June did well to finish it. All this was washed down with a bottle of NZ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. We passed on desserts.The service from Peter and his staff was exemplary and we enjoyed our Italian experience. They have two sittings 6-8 and 8- 10 we chose the earlier time slot. I was pleasantly surprised to settle the bill at just over $200 plus a reasonable tip to our main waitress.Recommendation: Would I recommend this restaurant the answer is a simple YESI gave the total experience 8 / 10.

Settabello is located in Hardware Lane - an area where there are lots of other eateries, some with outdoor entertainment. Settabello is quite small and has both inside and outdoor tables. The food is tapas style and meant to be shared. They also have a separate lunchtime menu and serve pizzas. There is a bar where you can get reasonably priced drinks. They had just changed the menu when we went and the food was more middle eastern. The beef was very tasty as was the couscous, however there was a lot of fat as well. The chocolate delice dessert is definately a reason to return there. The staff are pleasant and it was great sitting outside on a Thursday evening enjoying the food, passing parade and entertainment.

Hardware Lane, one of Melbourne's many laneways, connects Bourke and Lonsdale Streets.

We were here for a work event and the food was all fresh and served simultaneously. It can be challenging at times. The flavors were delicious and the staff was wonderful. Parking was convenient. The only drawback was the interior, which felt like a plastic café extension.