"We were shown to the lower level of the restaurant and at first we thought that we were being put out of the way, but it transpired that we were being given a prime table next to a water fountain where Caravaggio used to sit and drink his expresso It was still a little early in the evening, so the restaurant hadn’t filled up sufficiently for the waiters to be gainfully occupied elsewhere. I must confess that it’s an irritation when waiters are constantly topping up your wine glasses when they can’t find anything better to do. Especially when they carelessly spill it on the table linen. As for the food, it was variable in its quality. The bruschetta bread was so tough that it was impossible to cut with the knife provided let alone chew. The bread provided for the table was also verging on stale; fine, since neither of us really wanted it anyway, but if it’s going to be provided it should be fresh. I had the pasta with porcini mushrooms and Italian sausage, which was okay, but unusually bland and therefore a little disappointing. Thankfully the grilled seafood secondi piati was superb. The tuna was the best I have had, whilst the octopus was tender and the grilled prawns were perfectly fine. We were going to order a vegetable side dish to accompany the beef cheek that my partner ordered, but were told that it wouldn’t be required. Of course the seafood was fine on its own, but the beef really did need to be balanced with some vegetables. It’s a lovely, historic setting for this restaurant, and it presents itself as a fine dining experience. For the most part it delivered, but it’s a shame that it was let down by a lack of attention to the detail and proper training for the staff."
