Educazione napoletana — Restaurant in Ixelles - Elsene

A truly disappointing experience. I’ve eaten here many, many times, but yesterday I really noticed a drop in quality, and I feel compelled to write this critical review precisely because I know the high standards this place usually upholds.

I had guests with me yesterday, and I took this place for granted—which I now regret.

We ordered some crocché, which arrived in less than two minutes, but of course they were still frozen cold in the middle. We asked for them to be remade, and while they were cooked properly the second time, the taste was still far from good.

We also ordered 2 pizza fritta and 1 mortazza. As an expert in doughs and pizza myself, I could tell the dough was good quality but most likely over-leavened, as there was a clear lack of sugars and it tasted very, very acidic. At first, I thought it was the tomato, but the other pizza fritta, which had a mozzarella base, had the same acidic taste.

The service was extremely quick—maybe too quick—because the non-fried pizza was clearly undercooked. It was also very watery and the ingredients were unbalanced. More than being quick, it felt rushed, although the place wasn't crowded. I ate my pizza for hungriness, but my friend left it basically untouched even after asking for it to be more cooked. Her mother managed to eat only half of the fritta as it was acidic as mentioned.

The waiter was nice but seemed somewhat inexperienced. Also, the stoves were dirty and we had to ask to change our table.

After all, I thought that a bad night could happen, we talked to the staff and we got offered some amaro and a little (maybe too little) discount for what had happened, considered that we went to eat somewhere else after, as most of the guest stomach's where empty and all the food stayed untouched.

While paying we also noticed ants going back and forth on the counter table. I don't know what happened as the staff is really nice and it was east to talk with, but this place doesn't hold the high standards anymore I believe.

As a confirmation, I have a terrible tummy ache which is surely related to what I ate yesterday evening as I was the only one to forcefully finish the plate.

The (discounted) bill for -1 Crocché -1 Mertens -1 Maradona -1 Mortazza -2 Jupilers (25cl!!!!)

was still SEVENTY-ONE EUROS. I don't think we will come back and we will start considering...

We really have to write separate chapters for this review. Let's start with the food, the pizza itself: it's a very good pizza. To be fair, it is probably the best "cornicione" (crust) I ever had, which clearly means the quality of the dough is outstanding. Super easy to digest, it felt very light, the only two flaws I can highlight is that my pizza was probably a bit too wet on the base and the dried tomatoes were not of the best quality. Nevertheless, it is a great pizza and it is fair and right to say so. Chapters two concerns the service. Our waiter seemed really....out of place...we got the sensation that it was his first day ever working as a waiter, he did not know very well what to do, how to do it, felt constantly insecure, did not know how to put the pizzas on the table, how to put anything on the table...I don't know, maybe he needs some training...but for sure it affects the whole experience. Chapter three is about the place itself, its design, its vibe. Of course this is a matter of personal taste but we found the place not welcoming at all. Walls are painted with dark colors, tables are superclose to each other, decorations are quite confusing and include, among others: a Diego Armando Maradona graffiti-portrait, a Virgin portrait, a trumpet, a Belgian car plate, pictures of the owner smiling or making pizza, a black and white picture of a lion, motivational slogans about pizza written with chalk. The lighting is very strong, like in dental studio. Last but not least, we also did not like very much the choice of the plate in which the pizza is served, with the image of a pizza and the social media of the pizzeria imprinted on it. So, in a nutshell: good pizza, unexperienced staff, a lot to improve in terms of...

Looking forward to having a nice experience expecting to eat a napolitan pizza with a group of Italian friends turned out to be a long wait of 1 hour if it were not for one of our Italian friends to check with the waitress. 3 out of 5 people ended up having their pizza's. It took another 10 minutes for the waitress to notice 2 people remained without food. She went to check and after a while she came back as the 2 orders went missing. Finally after 1h50 minutes I got my napoletan pizza. The experience was already ruined after the long wait. When I saw that the olives on my pizza still had the seeds in it, I had enough. Seeing Italian people coming to eat here and be disappointed is a complete joke.

While having to eat alone while others had finished their plates i noticed other tables having similar issues.

The floor we were seated at had ornaments of best prizes. Impressive at first.

As we went down to confront the owner of our dissatisfaction he literally told a new waitress to take care of it. No apology, no explanation, nothing. Just smiling while being arrogant, while preparing his pizza's in front of us.

I haven't read any other reviews about this place, and I genuinely hope that this was an isolate situation. Was it because the restaurant was full, or the unexperienced waitresses. Whatever the cause.

If I would improve something here is that there is a better follow-up when people are waiting for a long time. Even offer them something like olives or bread with their drinks. I would also recommend for the owner to learn how to manage complaints or at least say sorry.

Anyway. I hope this feedback will be read by the owner and that next time things will...