Taste of Rome in Clontarf — Restaurant in Greater Brisbane

My wife and I cannot understand the positive reviews this place has unless it is family and friends doing it.When we visited it was a Saturday evening just gone! And there was nobody there! Which is a big red flag for me! But anyway we sat down and ordered a garlic pizza. This was very salty. Then the mains came out. Which was pasta Carbonara and spaghetti meatballs (the meat balls might have been vegan as they did not taste like meat at all) The dishes had a huge amount of Parmesan cheese coating the top) instead of offering it as a condiment) this killed any flavour if there was any there unfortunately). I don’t think there is a fully qualified chef here! And if there is he has lost his passion! This restaurant needs Gordan Ramsay to go through it and give them a taste of reality and tough love. My family and I only live about 5min drive from the restaurant and after driving past it hundreds of times decided to give it a go, Because from the outside a taste of Rome looks very good. Maybe it is just a pizza place we don’t know as we had dishes from the menu apart from the very salty garlic pizza we had for starters because they did not offer garlic bread!. The mains dishes were not fresh pasta it appeared to be days old. There was nothing fresh and the bacon in the carbonara was cheap bacon chips. The waitress did her job well bringing out the very bland food! But to be honest in the hour we were there she spent more time with her boyfriend in the kitchen! And when the only two walk ins that came in over the hour we were there! had to ring the bell for assistance! Then still wait a considerable time to take their order! And if they were uber eats drivers this is not worth the few dollars they get paid per delivery in waiting time. As I said Gordan Ramsay needs to go through here and teach them how to run a restaurant that has a great name like a taste of Rome! Because it is anything but a taste of Rome unfortunately!. We took a doggy bag away with us and our chooks are still slowly sifting through it. We paid nearly $100 for chook food unfortunately. I am sure the owners will come back with excuses! And I am very sorry to write this review! But if you are going to call yourself a taste of Rome! Promoting Authentic ingredients. Then you are setting the bar for quality very high! And I am sorry you guys you need a new chef and a complete makeover and quality control of the dishes you are offering!. I was so looking forward to this meal and it let me down so badly with my wife laughing at me! Because I made her come with me!. Please improve as I can only think you do not have to pay rent there because it is at the back of your house potentially! So if you had to pay rent. I think you would not be operating now!. And I am sorry to say that. But the truth...

What a huge disappointment. Booked an early table after reading the whole propaganda package about the authenticity and the homemade Nonna speech. Arrived there to be met by nobody at the counter. Saw a group of young folk mucking around in the kitchen and, after they saw me there, a young fella wearing slippers ( yes, in a restaurant ) came to the counter. I told him I'd booked a table and was met with a " yeah, so what " attitude. Only two tables inside so, either that or on the walkway under a canvas canopy. No service so went up to counter. Ordered meals and two drinks ( out of stock of the sparkling water I wanted and it was only 5pm) and sat down. Had to get up and chase someone to bring our drinks. Food eventually came but no cutlery. Wife got up again to ask and some young lady just came over and dumped two knives and forks on the table. Also, had to ask for glasses for our drinks. The food was the most tasteless example of " Italian cuisine " I have ever encountered. My pizza was bland with just the taste of what seemed to be a bottled passata. No herbs or spices at all. My wife's filled pasta was just as tasteless and the portion was miniscule for the price paid. Can say, without any doubt, will never be returning. The food is shocking, considering the price and service and atmosphere are non existent. Don't be fooled by the " we make all our sauce etc from grandmother's traditional recipes " gumpf. It's the worst Italian restaurant I have ever been to, and in my 60 years, I've been to heaps, in many different...

After response from business

I am sorry to hear about your delusion with your knowledge of fine dine restaurant and will let you live with it.

As far as the ingrediants are concetned, the pantry shelf visible from front counter clearly shows the coles/woolies bought ingrediants being used.

The menu clearly states "Mozzarealla or Garlic Base" and as seen on photo there was none of that in our pizza.

Yes we ate evetything because our parents taught us not to waste food and also we paid $70 of our hard earned money.

Just so we're clear this is not the only "authentic" italian place we have been to.

We can see from the use your laughing emoji as to how seriously you take our feedback. Once again living in a delusion of being the best can do that to people.

This place WAS our go to for good food but our visit tonight was the last one. We paid $70 for 1 entree and 2 mains. (Similar price for a fine dine Italian place in Bowen Hills).

Our entree was foccacia which was very salty. We requested for side of oilve oil or chilli oil ans was advised that we would have to by 500ml bottle if we wanted it.

The pizza we ordered came with no cheese. It was simply an under cooked dough topped with non-seasoned grilled veggies.

The ravioli pasta we ordered tasted like store bought. The basil pesto lost its taste due to excessive parmesan used.

The person who was serving us tried to convince us that pizza didnt have any cheese because it was vegan..Thier menu clearly stats Vegetarian or Vegan. Also there is Vegan cheese available.

We won't recommend this place...