Cucina Vivo — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

A disaster unfolded at Cucina Vivo, where incompetence reigned supreme. My 8pm reservation was met with a bewildering queue outside, as if awaiting a breadline in some bygone era. The manager, upon my polite attempt to enlighten her about the situation, snapped like a cornered animal, lashing out in distress.

The establishment begrudgingly herded us to our table, delivering service with a side of resentment. What followed was a parade of ineptitude: the drinks order was botched beyond belief—a comedy of errors featuring the wrong wine, cocktails dribbling out one by one, and a patronising warning to avoid the swill they’d initially tried to pass off as our bottle.

As for the food—where do I even begin? The oysters were smothered beyond recognition in Kilpatrick sauce, essentially turning them into an expensive, inedible joke. The veal was so insipid, it’s a wonder the cow hadn’t died of boredom. The pizza—oh, the pizza—a miserly distribution of toppings that made it the epitome of culinary despair.

The pièce de résistance? Spaghetti meatballs that would’ve had any Italian grandmother turning in her grave. Bouncing between rubbery and frozen, they were a testament to the chef’s apparent disdain for both cooking and diners alike.

The staff’s attitude radiated a sense of being personally affronted by any request from us, rushing through the motions, eager to rid themselves of the table that dared to expect the service promised.

To wrap up this sorry excuse for a dining experience, I can only say that Cucina Vivo is a masterclass in how to fail at the hospitality industry. It stands as the worst establishment within the casino, offering a symphony of culinary catastrophes and service that reeks of contempt.

Save your money and your evening: avoid this place at all costs. Cucina Vivo isn’t worth the gamble, and the only safe bet is dining...

During my recent visit to Cucina Vivo, I had the opportunity to try a variety of dishes, including a vegetarian pizza, rigatoni ragu, and sides of broccolini and roast pumpkin. Unfortunately, my dining experience did not meet expectations, primarily due to issues with the main courses.

The vegetarian pizza, which promised a hearty and flavorful topping selection, was overwhelmingly salty. The culprits seemed to be the eggplant and zucchini, which overpowered the dish's balance and made it difficult to enjoy the other fresh ingredients that adorned the pizza.

The rigatoni ragu, which I was eagerly anticipating, fell short of its traditional roots and description. Instead of the expected rigatoni, the dish was served with spiral pasta, which was a surprising deviation from the menu's promise. The sauce, rather than being a rich and meaty ragu, resembled a simple diced tomato sauce with scant pieces of meat scattered throughout. This dish was particularly disappointing, lacking depth and the comforting richness one expects from a ragu.

On a brighter note, the sides of broccolini and roast pumpkin were well-prepared, offering a pleasant texture and flavor that complemented the meal. These sides were the highlights of the dinner, showcasing the kitchen's ability to execute vegetable dishes with skill.

In conclusion, while Cucina Vivo offers a promising menu and the sides were enjoyable, the main courses I selected were underwhelming. The vegetarian pizza's excessive saltiness and the misrepresentation of the rigatoni ragu left much to be desired. It's my hope that these issues can be addressed to ensure future diners receive the quality and authenticity expected from such an...

Underwhelming and unimpressive. We were so excited for a beautiful authentic Italian experience to celebrate my 30th birthday last Friday. I will start on a positive I absolutely botched the booking with late arrivals of family members and noting my reservation down half an hour later than it was the staff were wonderfully accommodating and slipped us into a later booking with no feelings of discomfort, that was greatly appreciated. Things to compliment would be the pizzas are wonderful woodfired and beautiful texture, oysters were lovely and the carbonara was delicious, Wagyu was also nice. Everything else felt very subpar to the atmosphere and the price. Seafood marinara was underwhelming and flavourless as was the 2 other main pasta dishes. The bruschetta was almost comical, I don't know how they came up with that plating technique but it wasn't practical, although the mozzarella was beautiful the rest was odd. My $22 cocktail came out with no dressings it literally looked like a LLB and tasted almost the same. We asked for still table water and got given sparkling and then charged $11 for the bottle. My partner was served a $7 coke that was an entire year and month out of date, it was flat and the waiter didn't seem too interested in checking the date and seemed to not believe us even when we encouraged him to look at the date. It felt like they were following authentic Italian recipes with poor ingredients, which simply doesn't work. I took my pasta home and added garlic and lemon and herbs and it came up 10x better, we did the same with the meatballs. We won't return again, for a $600 night we didn't expect to be left feeling...