A taste of the Med at Glenelg at Mediterranean Cafe Ristorante

The food is right on par, the buzz good, aided by a chirpy service team, and everyone is happy at Mediterranean Cafe Ristorante.

Seafood paella at Mediterranean Cafe Ristorante

On a warm and easy soft-breezy night, with café windows flung wide open, and fresh white

décor, we’re feeling beachy in the back streets of Glenelg at Mediterranean Cafe Ristorante.

For tonight’s golfy gathering, this neighbourhood diner is a fair alternative to the 19th hole at Glenelg, the food on par, the buzz good, aided by a chirpy service team, and everyone is happy.

Thoughts and analysis of the food are quite secondary to the summery vibe. And so long as there are some fine flavours and generous meals, this group is easy to please.

It’s fairly standard café fare – a lot Italian, a bit Moroccan, some Lebanese, and, plenty of fab-looking pizzas being delivered to tables around us.

Veal ala funghi

And, surprise, there’s Spanish paella, in a big single-serve paella pan. It has no crusty soccarat on the base and there has been a heavy hand on the turmeric, but there’s a pleasant toasty effect at the edges where the texture and flavours are best. Seafood scattered through the rice has been well timed, only the prawns a little overdone.

A generic Caesar salad is thoughtfully presented in a mod stripe through the centre of the plate.

It’s loaded with chunky chicken, enough extra anchovies, as requested, and a good balance of the right cos lettuce, lightly dressed.

Baked cookie dough dessert

Veal a la fungi is a rich and tasty mass of deep browness covering a big bed of mash, plus a scant stem of broccolini to garnish. More of those greens, please.

Pastas get the tick, as does a pretty plate of risotto. Try the one with brandy-flamed blue swimmer crab, and ask for extra fresh chilli on the side.

Desserts are the usual refrigerated cakes, and a bounty of colourful gelato. Or, another surprise is baked cookie dough fresh from the oven in its own little pan, toasty on the chocolate base, the rest doughy and rich. It’s a bit of decadent fun to finish, albeit a giant best to share. Oh, and the coffees get a good rap.