Antica Ricetta — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

I don’t like to leave bad reviews, everyone has an off day right? but after being treated with such contempt by the waiter on Friday night, I am still upset enough that I will share. The waiter didn’t catch my drink order, when we asked where it was he said we didn’t order, I disagreed and a simple ‘no problem, I’ll get that now for you’ would have been great - his response was then to state a few times that we didn’t order it.. he seemed upset that I wanted a drink..8 people at the table, usually a quick count would have told you you were missing one and hadn’t heard me.. no harm done but he was so insistent that I didn’t ask for a drink… other people heard me order! very odd. He also delivered a bottle of wine to another couple at our table - not the one they ordered, but the supplier gave them it instead apparently, so that’s what my friends got, no mention there was a change, just poured and left. And when they questioned he explained as if that was obvious. Again very odd. Another member who was running a little late asked what beers they had - his response.. ‘it’s on the menu if you look’ He proceeded to behave in a very passive aggressive way for the rest of the meal. I had the seafood marinara, which Unfortunately was served lukewarm with a few mouthfuls having actual cold spots. The fish had been cooked well and it was a nice enough pasta and sauce - so maybe mr passive aggressive just left mine sitting out for a while prior to bringing it over.. honestly.. who knows I wasn’t about to call him over through and question it, I just skipped dessert- he really seemed to take a dislike to me. None of our party of 8 could understand what his issue was, but we all found him distasteful and I can only assume he is a relative of the owners or he just has a job because staff are so hard to come by right now. Sorry but I wouldn’t go back if he was still working there. I would point out at this point that all other staff we spoke to were lovely - but one written egg really...

We’ve dined at this restaurant before and always had a great experience, but unfortunately, this visit fell short of expectations.

From the moment we sat down, there were issues. We selected a table, only to be told after sitting that it was booked. Strangely, later we noticed they seated someone without a reservation at that same table, which isn’t a big deal but was confusing.

The food was another disappointment. Every dish lacked seasoning, which really impacted the flavors. The lasagne had overcooked meat and no depth of flavor, we couldn’t eat it, risotto was undercooked, while the creamy pesto pasta wasn’t creamy at all.

Adding to this, the wait for our food was unusually long—over an hour. Tables that arrived and ordered after us were served, finished their meals, and left before our food even came.

It’s disappointing, especially because we’ve enjoyed both the food and service here in the past. Hopefully, this was just an off night, as the restaurant has shown it’s capable of...

Disappointing. Our first visit specifically to see what it was like with a view to a birthday celebration in a few weeks. Most meals were fine, my pasta was great and a reasonable serve, but my husband could not get the wine or dessert he wanted, and his much anticipated lasagne was dry, small and very similar to something from Aldi. At $26, not so great. But our biggest issue was all service stopped once we got our main course. By 8.45 the restaurant was fairly empty but to get our dessert order taken, and then pay the bill, the staff didn't want to know us. Dirty plates sat on the table, no follow up service of any kind. One waiter stood with his back to the room for ten minutes chatting to one table. The manager stood with his back to us chatting to his table of friends. The young waitress at the bar simply looked through us. Certainly, not what we were expecting given the reviews, and certainly not somewhere...