Fratelli Roma — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

If i had to sum up my experience at Fratelli Roma in once sentence it would be "could have been perfect" - Alas, it was not.

The atmosphere when we first arrived was pleasant, the waitstaff and service extremely helpful and friendly and our orders were taken promptly. The mood lighting was interesting and definitely gave it a good upper class feel. The small 2 person tables are borderline too close together, but still acceptable.

As can be expected on a Saturday night, it took a while (~20minutes) for our entrée to arrive, but it was delicious. At this point, it was a 5 star experience in the making. However from here on, the experience declined rather significantly for the rest of the time we spent our evening there.

It took more than an hour between the entrée and main (an hour an a half by my count) and although it was busy, we wern't even given attention by the staff for even another drink order. When the mains finally came, I couldn't believe that what i was served was luke warm, bordering on room temp. That was the highlight disappointment considering that it would have tasted absolutely delicious if it were served to me about 10 minutes prior. My partners meal was otherwise very good, although a little over-seasoned.

Dessert came out in good time, although it was a little uninspired (Tiramisu) - it had all the right tastes and flavours , but i felt it could have at least been presented better for what you pay (the ice cream was delicious though).

Up until this point, it would be a hard fought 4 stars. I'm giving it three because the environment turned absolutely nasty about half way through dinner by a particularly drunk and loud group of people drowning everyone else out. Granted it isn't necessarily the restaurant at fault here, but it would have been nice to be able to enjoy my meal without people screaming drunken rambles at the top of their lungs less than 2 meters away.

Don't get me wrong, all the right stuff was there to make this a great night out. It's expensive but i can see the value - however i do feel a little low to have been served a cold meal for $30 in a restaurant which sounded like...

We waited over an hour for our food on a Tuesday night and we are very disappointed in the attitude of the owner/manager.

We initially asked to book a table for 7pm but were asked to change this to 7.30pm due to other bookings on that same evening.

We arrived shortly before 7.30pm and placed our order. We then waited for over an hour and asked the staff when we could expect our meals. We were told that it was very busy and the kitchen staff were doing their best. I appreciate that it was busy and the kitchen was dealing with a large number of orders. However we would have been grateful for a simple apology and explanation. The staff member serving us did not offer anything resembling an apology. Just as we were about to stand up to make our way to Hungry Jack's, our meals were served, over an hour since we had placed the orders. The food was good (not amazing) but we found it difficult to enjoy it after waiting so long and being snubbed by the waiter.

When we paid for our meals we expressed that we were disappointed with the wait times and indicated that an apology would have been in order. The staff member insisted that they had apologised. They had not.

I would like to emphasise that I am empathetic of busy kitchen staff, however the attitude of the staff member was very disappointing. Perhaps the staff should not book so many tables if they are unable to service them within a reasonable time period. Suffice to say we will not be returning.

If you have any doubts about my testimony, take a look at ATTITUDE in the owner's responses to other...

First time at this restaurant, I was keen to try it with friends, we were a group of 4.

The menu- so much choice, and good sized portions.

Food is Freshly made and delicious, we all enjoyed a variety of , seafood, vegetable, meat, and pasta for entrees and mains. All food beautifully presented.

I loved the house made fettucini pasta, with beef bolognaise sauce.

We had a wonderful waitress with the rare talent to be able to answer all of our questions about the menu, without having to say 'I dont know ', she was a delight.

We brought our own bottled wine and champagne, as we particularly wanted to enjoy our wines that are not able to be purchased generally without club membership.

The only downside was the corkage cost of $12.50 per bottle. The cost , in my opinion was high, but was compensated by the excellent drinks service. Drink Waiters chilled our whites and unobtrusively served them as required.

As in photo, I had Al Fogotto coffee with Frangelico beautifully constructed, in lieu of dessert, and managed to fit it in as meals were served with sufficient break between courses.

Service overall was faultless. Despite us lingering as the last patrons with another couple, staff remained pleasant and did not attempt to rush us out the door.

As for the ambience, I found it elegant with a relaxed atmosphere. There is a view into the kitchen area, where staff could be seen cooking, it felt like there was a good vibe not only at front, but back of house.

I Highly recommend this Restaurant for quality food and service. We will...