Baci Restaurant — Restaurant in Ixelles - Elsene

A very lovely looking restaurant that at first seemed to avoid the « Instagram Restaurant » curse, but then…

The parmigiana at €19 was half of a small aubergine and arrived cold. My companions’ following pasta dishes were severely undercooked (not al dente - yes I know what the texture of properly prepared pasta should be) truly hard and just short of crunchy. They were also lukewarm at best. The carbonara sauce was severely undercooked as the fat in the meat was presented as chunks that hadn’t had the time to melt to a more flavorful and proper consistency. And the mezzemaniche were also undercooked and cold. My pizza included what must have been frozen mushrooms, a tasty saucisse and a thick covering of what the menu said was mozzarella, but certainly didn’t reflect its name in the taste or texture.

The wine glasses were embarrassingly under-filled (I know - it’s sooooo hip to serve tiny amounts… please!)… and reflected a certain arrogance that is simply dishonest and insulting to the customer.

Restaurant owners need to understand that just because we live in Chatelain we do not enjoy throwing our money at mediocre experiences where we know we are being over-charged and under-served.

I love discovering new places in my neighborhood - but we will not be going back to this overpriced, and frankly, poor restaurant...

I booked the restaurant for my partner's birthday. First the positive: Very nice terrace and great food, with an inventive menu. Now what went wrong: the waiting time between any order, food or drinks was exceptionally long. I am all for slow food but there is a limit. From arrival to getting our first course , which was pasta, was 90min, even with this long wait a glass of wine that was ordered arrived after the pasta., with two reminders giving to two members of staff. Then another hour for the main course, which the waiter advised us they actually forgotten. In total we were in the restaurant for over 3 hours. In addition to exceptionally long waiting time, most of the tables remained uncleared after dinners left with many of them having food and drinks uncleared on the tables and in some cases for the rest of the evening. We could also see inside that the all surface of the bar was covered with dirty glasses and bottles for the all evening. We noticed a lot of the guests were having words with staff and complaining about food, drinks, incorrect bills which made the evening even more awkward. As mentioned above i booked this restaurant for my partner's birthday (which i mentioned when i made the booking) and no reference to it at all. At this price point, our expectations were...

I was looking forward to dine at Baci , based on the good reviews here. What a disappointment it was! The service is absolutely terrible. We waited for so long to receive the menu, then waited 25' for the starters to arrive. Another 30' for the main dishes. Asked twice for wine, it took so long to arrive and only after persistent stares to the waiting staff. The food was tasty and it is a pity the experience was damaged beyond repair because of the poor service. They desperately need more staff. So many customers were ignored while trying to get the attention of the staff. I complained to the manager to give them an honest feedback and he was apologetic. However, for the prices they charge, this experience has been unforgivable. It has potential but it needs proper management and they need to decide if they are a good restaurant and invest on service standards or if they are just an overpriced...