The response has been going viral after the owner called the request ‘obscene’ (Picture: Google Map/TripAdvisor)

A customer was left with a sour taste in his mouth after being banned from adding Parmesan cheese to his pasta at an Italian restaurant.

So angry that he was denied a cheesy sprinkling on his crab ravioli, he took to TripAdvisor to slam the modest establishment’s service as ‘second to cow dung’.

But owner Massimo Donato didn’t let the reviewer get off that easily and told the angry customer some ‘ABC rules’ about authentic Italian cuisine.

They included never adding pineapple to pizza and ‘never, never, never, ever ask for cheese on a fish dish’.


Responding to the ‘obscene request’ Massimo added: ‘Try parmesan on cow dung, it should taste fine for you.’



The reviewer said he ate at Maximo Italian Bistro in Kennington, south London, in October last year.

He added he was shocked at the owner’s response when he requested some Parmesan to add to the dish that came with a cream salmon sauce.

The customer was left fuming after being denied Parmesan for his pasta (Picture: TripAdvisor)

He wrote on the restaurant’s TripAdvisor page: ‘Half way through the meal I felt like the dish needed a little something.

‘So I asked the waiter for some Parmesan cheese and he sort of gave me a bewildered look. I waited for his response which I couldn’t believe.

‘He literally refused to give me the Parmesan, stating you do not put Parmesan on any seafood because it would take away the flavor.’ (sic)

The customer insisted he liked his food ‘cheesy’ but didn’t want to make a scene and ate the dish.

When he got back to his hotel he said he ‘needed to get it off his chest’ and called the restaurant to complain about the service but the owner maintained his position on the cheesy matter.

Owner Massimo Donato has strict rules when it comes to Italian cooking (Picture: Massimo Donato Facebook)

The customer added: ‘He [the owner] said even if I insisted on getting the cheese he would not give it and seemed offended that I could even ask.’

After posting his grievances on TripAdvisor, Massimo said he had ‘no words’ for his ‘rudeness and silly request’ and found it frustrating he had to explain the ‘obvious reasons’ for his refusal.

But he still decided to educate the customer about the ‘rules of authentic Cucina Italiana’ which he assumed he didn’t know.

The owner wrote: ‘NEVER ask for pineapple on pizza;

‘NEVER put cream on your Carbonara;

Massimo shared the ‘ABC’ rules of authentic Cucina food (Picture: TripAdvisor)

Maximo Bistrot has otherwise been rated as ‘excellent’ on TripAdvisor (Picture: Maximo Bistrot)

‘NEVER ask for any Alfredo pasta (who is Alfredo anyway?);

‘NEVER put chicken on arrabbiata:

‘And, last but not least, NEVER NEVER EVER ASK FOR CHEESE ON A FISH DISH.

‘Simple rules as A,B,C. Luckily I hadn’t ruined your dish with it, you should thank us for it.

‘Anyway, I understand that your weirdness doesn’t know any limit, so there are a lot of fake Italian restaurants run by fool greedy and consciousless people that allow any kind of abominy.’

A screenshot of the argument has been shared on Twitter and liked by thousands, with social media user joolsd saying he had ‘absolute tears of respect’ for Massimo.

a one star review of my local Italian restaurant, and their response pic.twitter.com/pBPb6SMo4B — j̷̦̗͊̂̀̓o̶̭̐̈̑ͅǫ̸̢̱̽̄̎͘͝ḻ̴̝̋͛̕͝š̴͓̀͆d̴̘͇̜̀̐̆̈ (@joolsd) April 26, 2019



He added to all those interested, that ‘it’s a really good spot, by the way’.

Many called the owner a ‘legend’ but others said he had ‘belittled’ his customer.

Massimo has been known to call out poor reviews in the past and has responded to the 11 disgruntled customers who have left one-star ratings.

But it seems most agree that the restaurant is a great place for dinner, as it has a four-and-a-half-star rating with 103 reviews describing it as ‘excellent’.

Metro.co.uk has contacted both reviewer Zwelithini M and Maximo Italian Bistrot for comment.

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